The Gauge Wars: Yarn Along: My Ideal Bookshelf and Brooklyn Tweed Turnagain Cowl

Yarn Along: My Ideal Bookshelf and Brooklyn Tweed Turnagain Cowl

I'm still plugging away on my Iknitarod lace shawl even though the Iditarod is over. But it doesn't look much different than the last photo you saw so I will spare you another. This cowl is the gift I abandoned a few weeks before Christmas when I realized that there was no way I was going to finish it in time. I still really like it but am having a hard time coming back to it. Hopefully I can finish it long before next Christmas. The colors are: cream, bison, masala, sweet potato, almond and clover. I purchased turmeric too but decided against it in favor of using both masala and sweet potato (the 2 orange colors). I am not sure if I regret that or not.

My Ideal Bookshelf is a book full of short essays by "famous" people about books they would have on their ideal bookshelf. I checked it out from the library a few weeks ago and have been thinking about what books I would put on my ideal bookshelf. The book gives 7 categories/ideas to choose a book for. Though the Bible and the Book of Mormon would both be top on my list for books that changed my life, I've read again and again, and the books that made me who I am, I decided to leave those off the list instead of filling every category with them. Here are the categories and my answers today:

my favorite book: Gone with the Wind. It is huge. Almost 1500 pages. But I love the character development that a long book provides. You hate Scarlett. You love Scarlett. You better understand the South and their "War of Northern Aggression", even if you don't agree with them.

book that changed my life: Believing Christ by Stephen E. Robinson -- I read this when I was 18 or 19 and it helped me better understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how to apply it to my life. Being able to apply the power of the Atonement to my daily life has changed my life for the better.

book I read again and again: anything by Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Persuasion- especially Persuasion are my favorites. I've lost track of how many times I've read them or watched the movies.

the book I love the most: Uncle Tom's Cabin. I definitely have a thing for Civil War literature. This is a good balancing book for Gone with the Wind. I own this book but have never read my copy. I listened to it on CDs. And loved listening to it. The characters are powerful and their stories are "heartwarming and heart wrenching" as one reviewer said. I also really liked Roots. These are important books to read.

the book that made me who I am: Professional speaking, it is There are No Children Here . My US History teacher had us read this book in high school. She had come to Anchorage after teaching at an inner city Chicago school and wanted us to understand what it was like. This book follows the lives of 2 young boys growing up in the Projects. I think it was my first real picture of poverty and what started leaning me towards my desire to do meaningful work, which led me to social work in college. For similar reasons, I also really like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

the best book I ever read: I think the Chronicles of Narnia are the best books I have ever read. They are creative and amazing. There are so many levels of understanding to these books. They tell a great story for some and a wonderful allegory of Jesus Christ to others. I particularly like the last book, The Last Battle, for the metaphor it is for the end of our world and life after death. I also like The Voyage of the Dawn Treader a lot.

the book that makes me cry every time: Little Women. I cry every time Beth dies. Every. Time. And I've read it probably as much as I've read Jane Austen's stories. One of my best friends in high school, LaToya, introduced this story to me in my junior or senior year of high school surprised that I had never read the book or seen the movie. It is just a wonderful story of friendship, family, and love. And, you know, it is another Civil War story.

Ginny

Tami

Nicole