Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Yarnalong: "Flowers in the Snow" afghan and "The Queen of Attolia" by Megan Whalen Turner

These are the many, many circles for my "Flowers in the Snow" afghan:
There are 192 of them. You'd think that was an accomplishment, but the real accomplishment is going to be when I finish weaving in the 1000+ ends.

The novel I'm reading right now is "The Queen of Attolia" by Megan Whalen Turner, which is the sequel to "The Thief" (you can read my review here).
Wow! Talk about a palate cleanser. Whalen Turner is just everything that is good about literature. Give me a clever hero with a conscience, and I'm yours. Give me that plus a well-realized setting, a subtle romance, and a twisty plot, and I'm downright ecstatic.

More yarn and book fun can be found here, over at Small Things.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

7 comments:

fjord girl said...

Oh my they all looks so beautiful- love all the colors and pattern- beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Just gorgeous! Have fun weaving in all of those ends! :)

Amber said...

Oh the thought of all those ends is truly daunting!! But the afghan circles are lovely and I am sure it will be beautiful when finished!

I have been thinking about you a lot as of late - I am reading a book that is making me remember just about every nugget of how to write wisdom you have posted over the years. Unfortunately the reason why I am reminded is because the author should have read them too! It was a book I bought from the author at a little bookstore in a historic Gold Rush town. And now I wonder... Since I had a conversation with the author and I have her email address, do I send her an email with some constructive criticism?? I should probably finish the book before I do that though, and I am not sure I can take it. But it also has made me realize how much I have enjoyed your writing about writing!

Mistea said...

Your circles are gorgeous all lined up like that. I think I would have been weaving some of those ends along the way - that is a big number.
Enjoy the story.

Lori ann said...

wow! what a treasure you'll have!

Jessica Snell said...

Amber! :) Yay - it's so nice to see your name in the comment box!

About the criticism . . . if I were the author, I'd want to know. And knowing you, I'm sure you'd frame it kindly. It's hard to take criticism, but feedback is so necessary to improvement! If there was anything you did like about the book, I'd make sure to include it in your letter, so that the author has a bit of hope to sweeten the stuff that's harder to hear.

It's also hard, because sometimes books just don't work for a particular reader, and so the things you didn't like might be things she *does* and you'll just have an honest disagreement about it. But I think, when everyone's courteous about it, criticism's just fine.

Amber said...

Thanks for your feedback! I haven't made myself pick up the book again yet, and I feel like I should read at least a few more chapters before offering any criticism. I really hope she gets going after this rough start - I don't want to say anything at all if I can't find at least something I like about it!