Jayashri KAL Starts Tomorrow!!

That’s right friends and neighbors, it’s time! I am so excited to be hosting my first KAL with the wonderful Stacy over at Musings and Motion. If you are still interested, it is always open to anyone with the wild urge to make a sweater! 🙂

** The Details **

• The pattern we are doing is the Jayashri Sweater available from Knit Picks.
• There is NO TIME LIMIT to this KAL – this is meant to be fun, not stressful!
• We would love to see pictures of how things are going – just link back to All Night Knits – even use the spiffy banner I’ve attempted to make above if you please.
• I myself am going to do a post every MONDAY on my KAL progress. You can do the same or whatever day you please – Again. This is supposed to the a fun, communal thing.
• Don’t feel like posting a blog? Why not POST ON TWITTER! We are using the hashtag #kalAllNight – post pictures or questions any time or any day, I’ll be there!

** THE AWESOME MUSING AND MOTIONS GIVEAWAY! **

If you are all set and ready to go between September 16th and September 27th check out → THIS LINK ← from Stacy over at Musings and Motion for her FREE Ravelry Pattern Participant Giveaway! Details also listed below ↓

This Monday, September 16, 2013, Rachel from All Night Knits and I will begin the Jayashri Knit-Along! To get you even more excited about knitting this gorgeous pullover sweater by Meghan Jones, we are going to buy some lucky participant a knitting pattern from their Raverly queue. All you have to do to enter is comment below with a link to your blog post or twitter feed that features a photo of your cast-on row (or more).  I will randomly choose a winner from all entrants. This giveaway will begin on Monday when the KAL officially starts and will end on Friday, September 27. This gives you two weeks to get cast-on. I will announce the winner here on Saturday, September 28.  Happy knitting!

** THE PATTERN **

Need another look at the gloriously awesome pattern Stacy found? Here it is!

I AM REALLY

Jayashri Pullover from Knit Picks

MAKE THIS!!

Hope to hear from all of you soon – I feel like a little kid on Christmas Eve! Keep a look out for more giveaway fun, goodies, participation banners and links.

RaT Day #5 – Cover Title Scramble & A Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On!

So the challenge for today is pretty self explanatory – Love.Life.Read has given us the lists and we are to try to crack 5 for each month. I have to say that my OCD driven mind is SO PLEASED with this challenge – this type of puzzle is right in my wheel house! Do I have it in me to figure it out? Well, lets give it a whirl shall we?

May Titles:

1.  hte   h5t   vewa – The 5th Wave ( By Rick Yancey)
2.  eht   scetrsahnen – The Enchantress (Michael Scott)
3. ginwre – Winger (Smith Andrew and Sam Bosma)
4.  sujt   neo   skis – Just One Kiss (By Susan Mallery)
5. yan   shduesc  lwil   od – Any Duchess Will Do (By Tessa Dare)
6.  ti   dha   ot   eb    uyo – It Had To By You (Jill Shalvis)
7. tols  dan   dfnuo – Lost and Found (Nicole Williams)
8.  het   yelbon  gnki – The Boleyn King ( Laura Andersen)
9.  neoc  noup   a   niprec – Once Upon a Prince ( Rachel Hauck)

June Titles:

1. het   nomo   dan  remo  – The Moon and More (Sarah Dessen)
2. egies  dna   ormts – Siege and Storm (Leigh Bardugo)
3. rtas    dsceur  – Star Cursed (Jessica Spotswood)
4. teswe  lsat   ira  – Sweet Salt Air (Barbara Belinsky)
5. het   crenwmeo – The Newcomer (Robyn Carr)
6. veorfre   oto   rfa – Forever too Far (Abbi Glines)
7. het  miatng   fo  deyrr  uanacvhga – The Taming of Ryder Cavanaugh (Stephanie Laurens)
8. wot  fo  a  dnki – Two of a Kind (Susan Mallery)
9. neo   etswe  deri – One Sweet Ride (Jaci Burton)
10. hwta  hte   kedu   sesdeir – What the Duke Desires (Sabrina Jeffries)
11. 11) kifagn   ti – Faking It (Cora Carmack)

July Titles:

 

1) fi   het  ohes   tisf  – If the Shoe Fits (Megan Mulry)
2) eth   eegd   fo  vnere – The Edge of Never (J. A. Redmerski)
3) rfits  gisht   a   veonl  – First Sight: a Novel (Danielle Steel)
4) utre   lvoe  – True Love (Jude Deveraux)
5) ehtre   tletil   rdswo –  Three Little Words (Susan Mallery)
6) eht   gniht  si  velia – The Night is Alive (Heather Graham)
7) feprcte  gifln  – Perfect Fling (Carly Phillips)
8) scoeh  hte   gronw   ugy   veag   imh  het  gwonr  gefrni –  Chose the Wrong Guy Gave Him the Wrong Finger (Beth Harbison)
9) meoh  ot   kewihsy   kecre – Home to Whiskey Creek (Brenda Novak)

August Titles:

1.  lafl   fo   veif – Fall of Five (Pittacus Lore)
2. wrnco    fo    gdminhit – Crown of Midnight (Sarah J. Maas)
3. hte   desah  fo  het   onom – The Shade of the Moon (Susan Beth Pfeffer)
4. sero  bahrro   ni  mlobo – Rose Harbor in Bloom (Debbie Macomber)
5. eht   rohe – The Hero (Robyn Carr)
6. gib   ysk diwengd  – Big Sky Wedding (Linda Lael Miller)
7. yatacasw  veoc  a  ltehrse  yab   venlo – Castaway Cove: A Shelter Bay Novel (JoAnn Ross)
8. siht   rilg   a   veonl  – This Girl: a Novel (Colleen Hoover)
9. mtetapinto – Temptation (Sherryl Woods)

Yes, I did all of them…the Panic Monster insisted that I finish what I started. I should also mention that I have never heard of a single one of these books….how out of the loop am I?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

 ** Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin On **

Let’s do book shimmies! We made it through the week-long part of the read-a-thon!!! Congratulate yourself and your new bookish friends on their progress so far. Did you get as much read as you wanted to so far? Have you changed your goals for the 24-hr marathon read?

Despite what feels like doing loads of reading, I haven’t finished nearly as many books as I thought I would. So far I have finished:

The Girl in the Green Raincoat

The Psychopath Test

Dark Places

And I am currently reading: Double Feature by Owen King

Joe Hill and author Owen King read “Double Feature”.

So have I changed my plans for the 24 hour RaT? Not so much. I am going to read for a whole 24 hours, but I don’t want to feel pushed to put up big numbers. It doesn’t really matter how many books I read, just that I get to put aside time to catch up on all the reading that seems to have fallen by the wayside (or is buried under yarn). Either way I am very excited to participate – and also to see if I can sit still and read for 24 straight hours!

The Very Inspiring Blogger Award…For Me?

I don’t think that I could possibly hide my surprise when Movies, Silently sent me this nomination. I love her blog, the magic and mystery of the silent movie era are described in such a vibrant tone everyday – I look forward to reading each and every post. Old souls are far more common here in the blogging community than I imagined, and she is this wonderful, inspiring writer reminding us of the golden age of movies. My thanks to her will never be enough.

There is a small part of me that hopes that this award is true, that somehow I have inspired at least one person who has read this blog. Maybe a knitter wanting a new pattern, a reader wanting a new book or someone up against the odds who can find some sort of strength in what I write…and more importantly all the wonderful comments that come through this blog. The readers of this blog have made me a better person, and I mean this. I hope this doesn’t come off as pompous or pretentious – hells bells it comes straight from my heart!

So, now let’s get down and dirty with the awards rules!

1. Display the award logo on your blog. (√ CHECK!)
2. Link back to the person who nominated you. (√ CHECK!)
3. Nominate 10 (yes, I changed it – it used to be 15 but I hate to bombard people with the need to post awards. Also, I figure with less nominees the chances of having their blogs discovered is higher.) other bloggers for this award and link to them. (√ CHECK!)

4. Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements. (I will get right on it – with great pleasure I might add!)

 

** So, here are my wonderful, amazing, talented, super awesome bloggers! **

1. lollyknits – Lolly has shown me the wonderful world of artist expression through her spinning, knitting and writing. She is also a wonderful source of encouragement and support to her fellow bloggers.
2. Cross(stitch) Your Heart – Another blogger that is always willing a helping hand, her blog boast beautiful pictures, rich prose and a wry sense of humor. Yes – I know you already got this award but I want to give it to you because you inspire me. Deal with it 😉
3. A World Created – There are just not enough good things to say about Hannah Rose and her huge, inspiring heart. My advice, go see for yourself!
4. Intricate Knits – I have been personally inspired both by her blog and her comments. She takes her time,  you never feel like she is rushing to get through her posts or her conversations with other bloggers.
5. Rob’s Surf Report – My daily dose of writing and brow furrowing thinking comes for his brain to my computer screen every day. He is a joy to converse with and his blog is incredible! If I had half his writing talent I would just up and quit my day job.
6. jelliefishcrafts – She is a relatively new blogger on my list but I just love how her mind thinks. She has these amazing to-do lists she plans to conquer and she has been quite helpful with my quires on my blog. I wish I could give her the Amazing Team Member Award as well.
7. Sara Crafts – When I first started blogging and was struggling with getting it all together, she almost (at the time) single-handedly kept me from throwing in the towel. If that isn’t inspiring I don’t know what is.
8. feelgoodknitting – Inspiration comes from this blogger because she really reminds you that it DOES feel good knitting! Forget frogging, socks that are too big or sleeves that aren’t the same length – take strength from someone who loves what they do!
9. knitrun4sanity – (@knitrun4sanity – you know you are totally deserving of this award twice over). To the rest of the readers, this runner/crafter awesome blogger is not only a great read but a great reference. I love her posts, I love the convos we’ve had and I love that she reminds me to keep up – no matter what!
10. Through a Cracked Lens – Want to talk inspiration? This blogger talked me into sharing my photos on my blog – something my particular Panic Monster was keeping me from doing. Her photos, her writing, everything about her blog resonates with me. I love seeing it in  my reading queue and throughly enjoy our commenting back and forth.

Still with me? ACES! There is one more bit of fun that Movies, Silently has set up for us!

But it wouldn’t be fun to just give this award out without a little bit of a challenge so here are three questions:

1. What is your favorite post on your blog (please include a link): My favorite post is actually one I did just a few days ago – A Quick Call to Knitter, Crocheters and Designers! This post was asking how to go about writing a pattern for my niece and received a whopping 153 response! Everyone came up and wanted to help, to share, to contribute. Since I don’t curse on my blog (often) I am going to pretend to be British for a moment…It was BLOODY AWESOME!

2. Did you consider blogging about any other subject? If yes, what? I have wondered a great deal about blogging about my families genealogy, there are so many wonderful stories to tell that I think people would get a real kick out of!

3. Is there a particular time or place when inspiration strikes you? If yes, when and where? When I go to bed, my mind starts racing with ideas of what I want to write about next. The best time for me to write however is late at night, the house is quite and I can focus of what I am doing – from there my mind just takes over and I just try to keep up!

Thank you friends and neighbors, thank you so much for making blogging this much fun. As a bonus for getting through 1,000 words – ANY COMMENTER TO THIS POST IS FREE TO NOMINATE ONE PERSON IN THE COMMENT SECTION AND PING IT BACK. LET US NOT HIDE HOW WE FEEL ABOUT OUR FELLOW BLOGGERS – LETS SHARE THE LOVE!

 

Read-a-Thon Day #3 – The Mysterious Page 99 Test

Since quite a few books suddenly turned up at the library today after sitting for months on our queue there is an abundance of new things to read! This is both a blessing and a curse; a blessing because books! YEA! and a curse because I really need to get on it. It seems a bit fortuitous that they all showed up during the read-a-thon. So here goes the 99 page test!

** Rules **

The object of the game is to pick a book you have not yet read, turn to page 99 and read that page. Then you give a synopsis of that page and tell us if, based only on that page, would you want to read this book.

• 

  The Good Nurse

  The Book: The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder

• The Author: Charles Graeber
• The ISBN: 978-0-446-50529-1
• The Synopsis: Page 99 outlines a conversations between two employee’s discussing the accidental overdose of two separate patients in their care. This isn’t a spoiler – the guy was found guilty. The two are mumbling against one another about whether or not these deaths are not a police matter due to the type of drugs found in each overdose. Is it an accident? Is it on purpose? Well – neither know, and they are both clearly befuddled about it and very hesitant to involve the authorities. To me, they both seem like weak, resistant members of a staff that couldn’t fathom the idea of purposeful overdoses occurring on their shift.
• Would I Still Want to Read This Book: Yes! How could not want to read what happens next! Do they call the police? Do they ignore it and crazy nurse goes somewhere else? Do more people get hurt as a result of the huge decision based on what these two decided? How could you not want to know! Fact of the matter, it is going to be hard not to stop the book I am currently reading just to find out!