Judging a Book by the Cover

The old saying goes that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. For the most part this saying is accurate and I try to live by it. Especially when it comes to people. People are usually more complex and first impressions can be deceiving. People can surprise us in good and bad ways. There is a reason why this expression still exist.

However, is one area of my life that I almost always throw out this saying: BOOKS. If I am looking at a book that I have never heard of before I will judge it by the cover. Now I am not even talking about the back cover where it might have some information. I am talking about the front cover. If a book has a clever title and an interesting design or picture it will most likely be coming home with me. But, only from the library. I am a little more picky when paying for a book. A couple of weeks ago I was at my local branch and took a gamble on a couple of books in a series.

Now I know what you might be thinking. Isn't this "Joy With Yarn"? Shouldn't she be talking about yarn?

But wait, I am talking about yarn. The series is called Tangled Web Mystery. With titles like Yarned and Dangerous and A Knit Before Dying, how could I not be interested? Also look at these covers.

I just had to pick up these books!

They seem like a cozy mystery and just the type of book that I didn't know I was looking for. Sadie Hartwell, the author, also includes a couple original knitting patterns in the back of each book. I thought this was clever and not typical. I've seen recipes in books, but not that many knitting patterns. But be warned the patterns are spoilers. Don't be like me and read them before you finish the book.

You don't have to knit to enjoy this series. The main character, Josie, isn't even a knitter. These books are for anyone that enjoys a mystery with some laughter along the way. Although there are some twists and turns the books are not extremely suspenseful. Josie just seems to keep stumbling over dead bodies. Some might call these books fluff or a guilty pleasure. But for me they are just enjoyable. A place that I don't mind traveling to when I want some adventure, but not too much.

In the first book Yarned and Dangerous Josie reluctantly leaves New York and the fashion designer that she works for to go back to the hometown she was glad to leave after high school. Her uncle was injured in a car accident that killed his wife and her mother begs Josie to go and help out. She has three things that she needs to get done on this trip: 1) do chores for her uncle, 2) close up her aunt's yarn shop, and 3) design a clothing line that might keep her job.

However, there are many more questions that Josie needs to answer. Why does she try so hard to please a boss that she can't stand? How long will it take to close up the shop? Why does the mother of her old high school boyfriend still hate her? Why is there a dead body in the yarn shop? And finally the most important question. Why did she even come back?

Overall the books are just a fun read. I highly recommend them. The characters are interesting. They have twist and turns that will keep you guessing. Josie is easy to relate to. Although she is trying to solve the mystery she doesn't always have the right answer. Sometimes she leads the reader down a rabbit hole because her theory made sense before she voiced it to others. She is the outsider in the town, so almost everyone is a suspect to her.       

I encourage you to read them and to check out Sadie Hartwell's Facebook page. I am already following her, so I will know when the next book comes out. I will let you know if I ever get around to knitting one of the included patterns. A couple of them are on my list, but it is a very long list. 

Can I Get A Do-Over?

On Monday I started a new project with some new yarn that just came in straight from Turkey. It feels almost as good as it looks and I just couldn't wait to use it. I had already decided that I was going to use it to make a gift for an upcoming birthday. Although I was excited, I thought I would be a good little knitter and make a swatch to test the gauge.

I am not a huge fan of gauging, but that is mostly because it takes time. I just want to jump in and get started. I guess you can call me impatient. This time I wanted to make that swatch first. This was more than just to test if the recommended needle size would work. I wanted to see how soft and stretchy a finish project might be. I am not using the yarn that is called for in the pattern, so I wanted to test it out first. I wouldn't want to realize after starting the needle size wasn't right and have to start over. Little did I know at that moment that do-over would be the name of this new project.

Since it is a birthday gift I want it to look just right, but I am also in a bit of a rush to complete it. Rushing, I guess I didn't carefully read the instructions. Or maybe I got a little cocky. The pattern is simple and doesn't even have a chart, so after testing the gauge and glancing at the instructions I got started.

First try was a bit loose 

Now starting always seems to be the slowest part of any project. My cast on method of choice has always been the long tail cast on. Now some people have a good idea of how much yarn is needed for casting on in this way. I am not one of those people. I guess. I guess every time and usually I am wrong. This means I have a lot of false starts. I will get down to only needing ten stitches or less and will run out of yarn. But, after all these years I am used to it and will start again and again until I finally get it right. After about three or four times I finally had the right number of stitches and could start the actual project.

Second try has tighter stitches

Fast forward to Tuesday evening where after a closer inspection, I realized that I was using the wrong needle size this whole time. I had mistakenly started using the needle that I used for the gauge rather than the smaller size. So, I started over. For me this in not that big of a deal. I know that problems will happen and mistakes will be made that require a backtrack of some sort. Now let us skip to Thursday. This is when I noticed that I had dropped part of a stitch a few rows back. This caused a small bubble. I had overlooked this mistake because I wasn't looking at it from the right angle. Once I stepped back from it and was picking it up again I saw what had happened. It was not that obvious, but once I saw this bubble it was all that I could see. I was also worried that it would get snagged on something and cause more problems in the future. I am used to similar mistakes and learned a long time ago how to fix them without starting over.

As you can see from the pictures below, I was able to just take this single stitch back down a few rows and then work my way up. I don't let these mistakes bother me because I know that eventually I will get it right. I will learn what I am doing wrong and will understand how to perfect it.

Before (see the little bubble) 

During (working my way from that bubble)

After (see how smooth) 

This leads us right to Friday. I was starting to think over this post and what exactly I would type up. I knew that it would be about this new project and these redoes that I had been working on. Mistakes happen and we learn and move on. But, I wasn't in the best mood and was already frustrated. The last few days at work were not the best for me. One mistake or problem kept building on the previous one. Some of these problems were avoidable and others were not. They seemed to keep coming. By Friday evening I was overwhelmed and knew that how I was feeling had the potential to ruin my whole weekend.

Time to unravel 

This is when it hit me. I needed to learn from my knitting. With knitting I was not worried about starting again. I would not let the problems build on one another. I was allowing myself to be overwhelmed because I was not treating each day as a new day. I would drag the problems along with me instead of fixing what I could and starting again. Rather than problems I need to see opportunities. Opportunities to step back, look at it from a different angle, and start fresh. Opportunities to learn and grow.

From that time on I refused to let this week affect my weekend. I will make an effort to see each and every problem as a learning tool and every day is a day to refocus and start again. Going forward whenever I have a problem and feel overwhelmed I'll have to picture unraveling purple yarn. Maybe that will help me to find joy with mistakes in my everyday life.