Ann Hood and The Knitting Circle*

Ann Hood was on the show yesterday. I had been aware of her work for years, but it wasn't until Pages magazine asked me to review her new novel, The Knitting Circle, that I read her. I loved the book, a story about a range of women with stories. I then picked up her collection of short stories, An Ornithologist's Guide to Life and it knocked me out. The tone of the stories was much more flip, less serious than the novel (based on Hood's life), and with each story, I grew more and more impressed with her skill and seeming alacrity with which she writes. I want to read more of her stuff--all of her stuff, in fact. We didn't discuss this on the show, but I believe her book has been optioned by Julia Roberts, a confirmed knitter. Hood is especially great at short story endings. Every writer knows how hard ending a piece is and she does it just right, tying things up a bit, but not too much so as to seem contrived.

* Cross-posted at http://penonfire.blogspot.com.

Some of the yarn that lives at my house.

Bushoong Zigzag bag and more

Here's what I've been up to lately.

Finished the Bushoong Zigzag bag from Vicki Square's Folk Bags. I'm basically happy with it but it pooches a little bit--probably because some of the yarn strands pulled too tight in the felting process. But when it's full of my junk, it's hard to tell.














Here is my Mason-Dixon warshcloth/potholder. Brian held it up and said, "It's charming!"




And buying yarn, of course--too much, perhaps, though can a knitter ever really have too much yarn? What you see hanging on the candle sconce is Claudia Handpaints in seafoam. The color is much lovelier in person. I met a woman at Suzoo's Woolworks in Costa Mesa--Sandy was her name--wearing a shawl made from the yarn and it was incredibly lovely--ethereal, even.