Ravelry CAL Afghan 8

This afghan was originally named Ravelry CAL Afghan 3, but I've changed it to 8 because I found another colorway I'm using for Afghan 3, which I think is perfect for the recipient of Afghan 3. I ended up adding two more recipients, thus two more afghans using these squares, for a total of nine Ravelry CAL Afghans now in progress.

So far, I only have three out of the nine all caught up with two January squares, two February squares and two March squares all completed.

I'm currently working on the new Afghan 3, for which I have to crochet all six squares to get caught up. I'm alternating working on those squares (one Dreamcatcher square finished so far!) and the squares for the Pineapple Square Afghan. Everything else is on the back burner for now.

I decided to make a new section in my left-hand column--Mini Book Reviews. I wasn't too keen on writing detailed reviews of the books I've read. The dread was somewhat like it used to be in school having to write book reports. But I do want to at least share a thumbs up/down for the books I read in case anyone wants to give them a try. I especially like sharing about books I enjoyed reading and a little bit about why I liked them to encourage others to read them.

Speaking of reading, I'm currently slogging my way through Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I got a volume from the library--The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll, and in this volume, Alice is the first selection and is only 132 pages long, but I have had to force myself to get through those measly 132 pages. I think I'm on 120-something, and I still loathe the thought of getting through those final few pages.

I don't know how this book became such a classic. I don't find Alice endearing and don't like any of the other characters, either. The whole thing is terribly boring. It reminds me of some of the reality TV shows lately--no one to root for and wearying nothing-really-happening episodes.

This is the selection for one of the reading groups I joined on Ravelry called "Knitting 19th Century Novels". For me, the 19th century evokes thoughts of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and Mark Twain, among my favorite authors, but I'm all about trying new authors and books, so I thought it would be fun to read Alice. It's just not my cup of tea, though.

On the positive side, I do already have my knitting design for this book pictured in my head, and it will be fun translating it into a knitted block for what I'm now going to call my "Reading Afghan", since I now belong to more than one reading group.

I'm still awaiting the arrival of the copy of A Thousand Splendid Suns I purchased on eBay so I can get started reading that for my other reading group. The waiting list at the library was way too long! After that, the next 19th century novel selection is Around the World in 80 Days, and I'm hoping that will be a big improvement over Alice.

A kid funny: There was a Book Fair at the kids' school, and I asked them to look to see if they had A Thousand Splendid Suns there and for how much. One day, my 8 year old told me he had looked for that book I wanted--"Seven Thousand Rainbows"--and wasn't able to find it.