Book Review: Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair

This must be the longest title for a book I've ever read. The full title is:

Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair: The True-Life Misadventures of a 30-Something Who Learned to Knit After He Split

It's very wordy, kind of like the author. I first stumbled across Laurie's blog a couple years ago and I've been a constant reader ever since. She's just hilarious. I love the words that she makes up and it's so much fun to read about her adventures as a transplanted Southerner living in LA. I had tears streaming down my face when she posted the news of her oldest cat, Roy's passing. I can still recite the story of how he got his name by heart. I even made my husband read it.

When the announcement came out that her book was was almost ready to hit the stores I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy it. We have very little in common:

She's divorced with no children, I'm happily married with a son
She's from the South, I'm from the North East
She lives in LA, I lived in Chicago and now in Central NY
She has an obsession with new shoes, I wear the same pair every day until they're worn out
She has a long commute & works in an office, I work out of my home
She runs into massive traffic issues, I might run into a delay due to a tractor in the road

Very different perspectives on life. But I must say that I can relate to her. Her fear of being social and going to social events is spot on. I can't say that I'm afraid but it is much easier to stay home, much more comfortable. Even though when I do go out with friends I have a great time and always say that I should do that more often. It's very comfortable to stay home and not venture out, especially now with a toddler at home. You just never know when a meltdown is right around the corner and it's just easier to deal with that in your own space.

OK - back to the book. It's a very quick read with several patterns in the back for ANY level knitter. I would have liked a few recipes to be included too but maybe her next book will be more cooking related. I read my copy cover to cover while delayed at the airport. I had to keep myself from laughing out loud many times. My giggles got many strange looks. Her decent after the divorce is touching and very real. Her discovery of herself and network of friends is even more inspiring. Maybe "empowerment" is the best way to describe her path. Her identity was rolled up into a neat little package and when the wrapper came off, all of her issues came spilling out. It was an honest story, sad and comical just like real life.

I decided to post a book review today because it's a great book to read by all knitters but even better for those of us that just need to move out of our comfort zones and live a little. It's priced well and thoroughly empowering and entertaining at the same time.

Starting That Resolution List Early

Last night I got thinking about how it's already November. I did fairly well on my Resolutions for this year so I think it's time to get started on my 2008 list (all craft related of course). After listening to a few Knit Picks podcasts I came up with my first one:

1. Learn how to knit using two circular needles

I really like this one. I do like using DPNs but I don't care for the spacing they tend to leave in my work. Using circulars seems to help this but there's always the decreasing stitches that you have to use DPNs for. I'd like to learn this technique and see if there's a big difference in my finished work.

Techniques are a great place to start for resolutions because you can always build many projects off of them. It's better than being project focused in my opinion because there's no pressure or deadline associated with it. I just want to learn it and try it out on a few projects. See? No pressure.

A Post on Saturday?

Well, since I joined up with the NaBloPoMo I am required to post every day. I don't think I've ever posted on a Saturday before. This could because my weekends are filled with playing with my son. Here's Will showing us his big mouth:


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Originally uploaded by Angela & Gerald

But I am happy to report that the back of my first adult sweater is officially done and I've already cast on the front. So cool.


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Originally uploaded by Angela & Gerald

Finished Object - Basic Hat

Pattern: Basic Hat from March 2, 2006 entry from the Knitting Pattern-a-Day 2006 Calendar
Yarn: Wool-Ease sportweight (discontinued) in Wood #232
Needles: US 6 circulars and DPNs
Time frame: about 4-6 mights of knitting

Inspired by the Warm Up America initiative, I contacted our local Rescue Mission to see if they needed any specific hand knit items. They requested hats for adult men since many items that they get are not suitable for a man. I then realized that I could not possibly meet their need myself, I just knit too slow. So I contacted my peeps over at Knitting Help in the Charity section and they all have risen to the challenge! I've already received hats from 2 people so I got motivated to finish the one that I was working on. My husband liked the hat and said it was manly enough. YAY! Here it is modeled by my husband:

Happy All Saints Day!

We always have options for costumes because you never know what's going to work and what's going to horribly fail. For example:





The pirate costume was great in theory but when it came to reality it failed. The shirt was too tight, the strings on the shirt were dangerous for a toddler to be near and the scarf was just not practical (who will tie a scarf around a toddler's neck?). The hat was unwearable and the pants were too thin and too short for our cold weather. Off to Plan B:




Bumble Bee costume. Absolutely adorable, very comfortable and practical for our cold weather. He loved running around the front yard. The only problem with this costume is that his daycare/school is kept very warm all day so we would have been unbearably hot in this costume all day. So . . .




Back to an old favorite: Batman. It's a t-shirt and shorts with a Velcro cape on the back. Perfect to wear underneath the bumble bee costume when outside and very comfortable for school during the day.

We ended up not going trick or treating this year because he still goes to bed so early at around 6:30 pm (sometimes earlier). It wasn't even dark by then so we just watched for kids in our neighborhood and played. Next year should be a great time to go. Even though the weather was great last night we didn't get too many kids. I'm not sure if it's just not in style anymore or if parents are trying to keep their kids from eating the candy. Maybe more are just going to Halloween parties instead . . .

As a I kid I went trick or treating every year until I was at least 16. Then it was just getting dressed up in dark clothing and preparations for the egg fights. It was such a good time!

Dyson

I'm In!

I saw a reference to National Blog Posting Month over on Robyn's blog and I thought it sounded like fun. You sign up to post every day for the month of November and you might be selected randomly for a prize. Since I love contests I signed up, here's my profile.

Let me give you a warning now though. If I'm knitting on the same thing for a week I don't think I can make that interesting enough to talk about every day. Expect some non knitting related posts over the next month. I will try my best to stay interesting.

It's a great exercise in getting me to write again. I used to write all the time when I was younger. I found that now that I'm happy and satisfied with my life I don't have the urge to write. Somehow I got the strange notion that I have to be miserable to write passionately. I will admit that my work has a much higher quality when I'm upset but I wouldn't trade that for the world right now. It's a strange feeling being satisfied with your life. Sure I could always lose that 50 pounds and make more money but overall I am simply happy.

Anyway . . . you've been warned :)