Recently - knitting and reading
I feel like I have been marginally productive lately. Firstly
I FINALLY FINISHED THAT GOD-DAMN SCARF!!!
I'm really proud of it actually, but by the time I got to the end I was just so tired of it, and I wanted it to be over. The pattern was fine - helluva lot better than some others I've done. But there were these stitches on the sides and they just weren't working and I was so annoyed with the way that they looked that I put off blocking the scarf, because I wanted to try to fix it first. With some help from fellow Ravelers (I spend way too much time on Ravelry )
I finally just washed it and stretched it out to dry, and I liked it a lot better afterwards. I like this pattern and might do it again at some point but I will definitely drop those side stitches. But I learned a new stitch, cast-on, and bind-off, so it was worth it. But you don't really wanna hear me babble about technical stuff, I'm sure. So here's the pics -
Since I finished that, I've started a new one! Supposed to be my grandmother's Christmas present... but I have decided to make these Christmas/birthday/winter holiday season presents. I hope Argosy (the name of the pattern) won't take me as long. It's a bit tricky, and definitely more complex/interesting, but I started it the other night around 4 am and it's zipping along. Let's see if my momentum keeps up.
I had some spare time today, and I decided to do some reading, and get started on my list of books to read this year. Naturally, I started with the shortest one, my the first volume of Fables that Nick got for me for Christmas. Spoilers/rants below the image.
There's a few things about comic books that I'm always uncomfortable with. One, I have the same issue with comic books as with manga and animation - if I don't like the drawing style, I can't make myself go through it, regardless of the content. This one is fine - the style isn't my favorite, but I can deal with it. Part of the reason I don't read comics is because I always feel like I'm supposed to put a lot of effort into looking at the panels, with all the details and such, and I really don't do that when I'm reading. When I'm reading, I want to find out what's going on in the story, and I'm more likely to follow the words than anything else. For that reason I prefer to read prose - I don't feel guilty for not looking at the pictures, and the description is already inherent - I can imagine it however I like. But then, I rarely fully picture things in my mind, even when I'm dreaming. Also, that removes immediately the possibility of an offensive drawing style.
One thing though that still bothers me is the annoying habit in comics of bolding/italicizing. I realize it's for emphasis, since comics are a primarily visual medium. Prose is too, but I tend to think of that more as a
mental medium. That's not the right way to describe it, exactly, and I'm sure it make me sound like a snobby holier-than-thou (haha, Aslan) book reader, but I'm going to blame it on the recurring wave of general sleepiness I've had all day. But regarding the formatting, it annoys me because it interrupts the flow of my reading for an unnecessary reason. Sure, I know that's the point, but I'm a smart girl. I've had enough experience reading that I know when characters are emphsizing things through context. With comics there is so much more information than I need, yet I still feel bad about only glancing at a scene that probably took hours to put together.
But then, I feel better knowing that this is one of those books where I will go back and reread it and discover new things in the art and the story.
