Controversial Knitting & Romantic Suspense

It's been brutally cold the last few days here at the Jersey Shore. While I much prefer summer, snowy weekends are perfect for staying indoors to read and knit. This past weekend, I worked on a number of new projects including another scarf using a Caron Cake my son gave me for Christmas:

Unless you've been completely cut off from civilization, you're familiar with these colorful cakes of yarn. You might remember I knit a Moss Cake Scarf with the teal gradient cake known as the Faerie Cake. This time around, I decided to knit a version of Tin Can Knits's Wheat scarf in Funfetti. (My son was a good sport and braved Michael's right before Christmas to get this for me as his present.)

I altered the pattern slightly; instead of knitting 3 inches of garter stitch before starting the 1x1 rib, I knit 5 rows of garter stitch to make the bottom symmetrical with the 5 stitches on the left side of the scarf. I think the pattern looks very Art Deco (but that could just be because I hang out with art teachers).

I also started a new cowl pattern. My goal for 2017 is to create a cowl pattern for each of the 4 seasons with an optional 5th cowl if I get inspired. The early spring cowl is entitled "Flock of Seagulls" because this stitch reminds me of a flock of seagulls taking off from the sand:

I admit, the song "I Ran" from the early 80s runs through my head each time I sit down to knit this, but I'm going with the name! This version uses Madeline Tosh DK, and I plan to knit another version with farm yarn from Prado de Lana assuming the weather cooperates this weekend for Vogue Knitting Live.

Finally, I hopped on the bandwagon for "that hat". I knew this pattern was political, but I didn't think it was controversial. Boy was I wrong! We had some serious snow this past Saturday, so I decided to dye up some yarn in hot pink. As I often do, I posted this on Instagram.

Controversy ensued.

I support women's rights as demonstrated by my use of the "f word" (feminism) in my last podcast, and, for me, this is a way to demonstrate not only the power of women but the power of craft. Here's the yarn I dyed as well as the start of my version of the hat:

I look forward to wearing the hat next weekend as a show of solidarity and support.

In book news, I celebrated my birthday last week, and my kids were very good to me:

I started The Fisher King by Melissa Lenhardt during the snow storm and am enjoying this sequel to Stillwater. This is the second in a series that takes place in east Texas quite near where my parents live. The main storyline follows Jack McBride, a former FBI agent, now small town police chief, and Ellie Martin, lifelong resident of Stillwater with a rocky past. Jack deals with a drug war at work, his bad boy twin brother Eddie, and his sociopathic wife at home while Ellie runs for a city council seat against the man Jack suspects is the town's drug kingpin.

My children referred to this as a "sexy thriller" based on a review on Amazon, but it's more of a "when/if they will", much like Murdoch and Dr. Ogden on The Murdoch Mysteries if you watch that show.

The best part of this series is Jack's relationship with his 13 year old son Ethan. Much of the first book deals with their adjustment to being abandon by Julie, Jack's wife and Ethan's mother. Jack and Ellie experience a strong attraction in that book but this abruptly ends with Julie's return. I'm enjoying this installment so far although I hope Ethan plays a bigger part as the book progresses.

Today I'm joining The Really Crafty Link Party and Nicole at the Keep Calm Craft On link party.  On Wednesdays, I participate in the Yarn Along on Ginny Sheller's blog. Please join us either by contributing a link to your fibery work in progress and current read and / or by checking out the posts to the link parties.  You may find your next book or project waiting for you!