Monthly Archives: April 2013

Audio Books

AUDIO BOOKS ARE NOT JUST FOR OLD PEOPLE, CHILDREN WHO CAN’T READ, AND CAR TRIPS.

I frigging love audio books (I would have used the real F word, but my mom reads this. Hi mom!). In my opinion, a good audio book is by far superior to a print book. I know, I know, this is heresy. But hear me out!

Actors. Good audio books are read by really great voice actors. Like, totally amazing actors. Jim Dale got Grammies for his work narrating the Harry Potter books. For Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he performed a record 146 different character voices. How cool is that?
You can listen to audio books while you’re doing other things (like knitting?). Listening to an audio book frees your hands and eyes to do something else. Housework and gardening goes faster when you have a story to focus on.
You can listen to audio books wherever you want. Download them to your Mp3 player/iPod/smart phone etc, and go. Doing errands? No problem. On the commute to work? OK. At home on the couch eating ice cream out of the carton? I’m not going to judge. Much.

So, I’m not saying that you should stop reading real books. As a former employee of a public library, I think I would be shot if I said that. But, think about trying an audio book or two. You might like it.

So, where do you find audio books?

-Your library. They probably have audio books on tape or CD that you can check out. But unless you have a yellow Walkman that you want to rock, you might want to go for the next option.

-Your online library. Many libraries now have mp3s available for download through their website through a service called Overdrive. You’ll need to go to your library to sign up for a pin number, but after that you can download audio books to your heart’s content.

–Librivox. Free public domain audio books. Mr. Darcy? Yes please. These are read by volunteers, so some of the quality is questionable, but there are some good ones. And it’s free and legal, so yay!

–Audible. Not free, but legal audio books. Great selection. I’ve never actually used Audible because my library has a pretty good catalog, but I know people that swear by it.

-iTunes. Not free either, but if you’re into the whole Apple thing, this might be the way to go. I am not into Apple, so I do not do iTunes. I tried it once when I had a gift card. It made me mad. Things were thrown.

–Pirate Bay/other torrenting websites. Not technically legal. I would *never* tell you to download your favorite books from this website. I would *never* say to use uTorrent as bit torrent client to download these books. Pirate Bay… not even once.

Anyway, however you get it, try giving an audio book a listen. Start with something fun and light (War and Peace might be a little much at first). You might be surprised.

Slouchy Hipster Hat

Freaking hipsters. Here in Seattle, they’re everywhere. With their smug attitudes and their fixed-gear bicycles, and their super skinny jeans. And suddenly, it’s cool to have gigantic glasses? For real. The poor kids who have perfect vision are actually wearing glasses frames without lenses because they think they look cool. How weird is that?

Admittedly, if I really wanted to get away from hipsters, I could a.) not live in Seattle, b.) not play roller derby, c.) not hang out in brew-pubs and independent coffee shops or, or d.) all of the above. But I like doing all of those things.

Actually… I think I might be a hipster. Oh shit!

I like eating from food trucks, and think “organic” is pretty swell. I wear cardigans and scarves, and my idea of a nice afternoon is one spent blogging from my local coffee shop.

God, that’s depressing.

But, I suppose, if you have to do a thing, you might as well go all-in.

So, fine! I give in! Here’s a slouchy, hipster hat. It’s knit with pretty fine yarn on largeish needles to give it a plenty of floppiness. Deal with it.

(I even tried to make instagram-ish photos for this pattern, because why not. Don’t laugh too hard.)

Materials:

1 skein sock or fingering weight yarn. (I’m using Dale of Norway’s Baby Ull in color 9436)

Size 5 16″ circular needle (or size to get gauge)

Size 7 16″ circular needle (or size to get gauge)

Size 7 double-pointed needles (or size to get gauge)

Scissors and Tapestry needle

Gauge:

Size 5: 6.5 stitches/inch in stockinet stitch

Size 7: 5.5 stitches/inch in stockinet stitch

Size:

Women’s Small(Women’s Large)

Shown in size Large

Instructions:

Using your size 5 circular needle, cast on 120(136) stitches. Mark the beginning of your row. Work in the round, in a k2p2 rib for 2 inches.
Change to size 7 circular needle, and knit in stockinet stitch (knit all rows), until the piece measures 7(7.5) inches from the edge.
Work crown decreases as follows:

1. [k6, k2tog] around
2. & 3. Knit
4. [k5, k2tog] around
5. Knit
6.[k4, k2tog] around
7. Knit
8. [k3, k2tog] around
9. Knit
10. [k2, k2tog] around
11. [k1, k2tog] around
12. [k2tog] around

Cut yarn, leaving a longish tail. Draw the yarn through the loops at the crown of the hat to close up. Sew in ends.
Put on hat and jump on your fixie to go down to the coffee shop for a nice organic matcha green tea latte with soy and a vegan cupcake.

Inspiration: Clueless

1 Reply

Nothing says “grace, poise, and timeless beauty” quite like the cinematic jewel that is the 1995 film, Clueless. Never before and never since has there been such a stellar example of the meaning of the word “chic.” If they were alive today, I know that Audrey Hepburn herself would bow to the genius of Alicia Silverstone’s seminal performance, and Coco Chanel would redesign her signature suit.

How can you argue with the bright beauty of this ensemble (and although you can’t see it in this photograph, but the sweater is fuzzy… Fuzzy! Genius!):

Or what about the understated grace of this outfit:

Or the classic use of color and pattern in these two? Just stunning!:

Want to make some of your own Clueless inspired fashion? Break out your fun fur and try these:

Uptown, Downtown Cardigan, by Lion Brand Yarn 40001ada_medium

#20 Fur Collared Jacket by Charlotte Quiggle

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