Libraries are for...books??

Have you seen this article yet? To summarize, a library in Ontario has discontinued craft activities, including a knitting group for little girls, because they want to reshift their focus towards books and reading.

As a knitter, it is sad to hear that others who share my love of the craft aren't welcome in libraries of all places. As a librarian, though...it is just so damn refreshing to be reminded that the reason libraries exist are for books and reading and literacy! (The Long Sault Library is apparently continuing its video game nights, however, due to the broad appeal. So discontinuing crafts programs isn't entirely for literature-based reasons.) I'm not at all opposed to providing internet access for the public, lending movies and video games, or holding non-book related programs. But I do like to think that people still come to the library for books too, and it's easy to forget that when you read all the popular library blogs and attend conferences and so little of the information is about books. I actually start thinking that librarianship is incredibly boring and how the hell did I get here?

But no, no. Libraries are not all about wikis and Second Life and playing video games in the library with homeless people instead of at home on your couch in your underwear like everyone else. They are also places to get books, a whole lot of really interesting books! For free! Books that you may have not even heard of until you found them at the library and now they are your favorite! Books that you wouldn't have wanted to pay for, but that you learned something interesting from! Books that you hated and were glad to give back!

While it is indeed unfortunate that this library in Ontario had to make cuts and get rid of any programs at all, I feel a certain sense of satisfaction that they have stood up for books and literacy. I wish that more libraries would focus their services similarly, as I refuse to believe that people no longer read books, or just download them to their Kindles. Books should be the primary focus of libraries; they are the reason why libraries exist in the first place. And honestly, there is no real reason why you need to go to a library to knit when you can just do it at home on your couch in your underwear.

Ravelympics check-in

No, a multicolored snake did not shed its skin on my coffee table - that's my Lace Ribbon Scarf for the Ravelympics. I've got about 9 days to complete it and though it's progressing at a steady pace I wonder whether I will finish on time.

I look forward to seeing how it looks after blocking!

FO: Big Bad Baby Blanket

Here's a project I finished over a month ago but couldn't show you until now:




It's for my friend's new baby who was just born at the end of July. Because I'm a slacker, I didn't send the package until I heard the news. Hopefully she has received it by now and isn't just learning about it by reading it here!

I used the pattern for the Big Bad Baby Blanket from Stitch n' Bitch. The original pattern is just four panels made through a pattern of knits and purls, though I broke it into smaller squares to give it a patchwork effect. The yarn is Bernat Cottontots which is my favorite yarn for baby knits because it's machine washable and dryable. I wish it came in more colors I liked though. If it looks familiar, it's because I used it - in the same color - for the Haiku baby sweater.

Ready for Ravelympics!

It's been so long since I picked up my Lace Ribbon Scarf, I forgot how far I had gotten. It was a nice surprise to pull this out of my knitting bag and see that it no longer matched the last picture I had taken. (As an aside, by "knitting bag" I mean plastic bag from the Apple store, which is great for holding projects but not especially cute. I need to work on this.)

This is for the WIP Wrestling event of the Ravelympics, so my challenge is to finish the scarf by the end of the closing ceremonies of the Olympics in Beijing. Of course with a scarf, "finish" can be a rather fluid term. It needs to be able to wrap around my neck but beyond that it's not unheard of to just stop when you're sick of knitting the damn thing. My plan is to use up the yarn, but if the scarf gets too long I won't because I find that I don't like scarves that hang down below my coat like some sort of bizarre front-of-body tail.

I took this picture last night so I can keep track where I started and mark my progress. Prepare to see more progress pictures in the weeks to come as I race to complete my goal!

Not wowed by Oscar Wao

In the last few years I've been able to stop reading books without finishing them, which is great psychological progress for me. I used to always think that I should finish any book I was reading, that if I stuck with it maybe it would get better or at I'd reap some reward for my determination. No more. Life is too short to read books I don't enjoy. Books like The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

This book has won awards and has gotten fantastic reviews, but it wasn't enjoyable to read. I was interested in the title character, but the book didn't focus on him enough and so what I liked was outweighed by what I didn't. It contained long extensive footnotes that cluttered the narrative. Also, a hell of a lot of it was in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish, and felt left out of some of the conversations.

But that's the beauty of literature. There are so many different kinds of books out there that whatever your taste is, there is something for you. I've moved on and am now reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. This is a book for me, and I'm sure there are others who hated it. That's why talking about books is so much fun, and why book discussion groups can become so heated and tense. Our tastes are so personal and so important to us, we must defend them as though they're our friends. Maybe that's why I was always so hesitant to put down a book I didn't like - I didn't want to hurt its feelings.

Camping

No knitting last weekend - I was camping! I suppose knitting would have come in handy during the thunderstorm, but it somehow feels wrong to bring a project on such a rustic trip with so much potential dirt and wetness. My copy of How To Knit in the Woods hasn't arrived yet, so maybe once it does I'll change my mind.

Willard Brook State Forest is a small, but quite lovely park.

There is a brook, as you might expect:


And wildlife:


And a cute little covered bridge:


See how happy we were to be out in nature:

I wish we had gotten a picture of our spacious campsite or the cute little frogs we found, but there's always next time.

(I know this post is veering off topic, but I'm sure you didn't want to see yet another picture of that damn sweater.)

"When I think of Queen I can remember my whole life"

Freddie & Me: A Coming-of-age (Bohemian) Rhapsody by Mike Dawson: a review

I think that Mike Dawson and I are kindred spirits. We both name Queen as our favorite band and have been listening to them since childhood. We both borrowed their tapes from our older brothers (His brother is named Andrew; mine is David, but his middle name is Andrew. Coincidence?) He sang Bohemian Rhapsody a cappella in a talent show; I sang it karaoke at a librarian cocktail party. Neither of us got to see Queen in concert while Freddie Mercury was alive, but we both remember what we were doing when we heard he died.

This graphic novel is not just about Queen, but about growing up and how linked our favorite music is to our personal lives and our memories. It reminded me of listening to Queen on 8-track in my brother's bedroom, and of buying their Greatest Hits album, the first cassette I ever bought. It reminded me of the moment I found out that Freddie Mercury died, when I was a freshman in college watching the news with my roommate who had no idea who he even was. He also reminded me of so many great songs I haven't listened to recently enough. Excuse me while I go update my ipod.