Here is an update on the Monday Night Book Group. We are in the process of suggesting books to read and discuss in 2022. Our deadline for submitting suggestions is September 30, 2021. We choose one classic, four non-fiction and five fiction each year. The suggestions received as of September 15, 2021 are:
CLASSICS
NON FICTION
FICTION
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Hello, My comments today are more about reading than knitting. Some persons can read while they knit. I cannot do that, but I can think while I knit. I can think about what I have recently read. That works for me--seeing a piece of knitting take shape while I reflect on recent reading or experiences. Today I am thinking about the Monday Night Book Group and how much we value the process of selecting books together. Each year we each have the opportunity to suggest books in three categories: one classic, four non-fiction and five fiction. We vote on the suggestions to choose the ten we will read and discuss in the coming year. We often remark: I never would have read this book on my own. I read it because this group chose it, and I am glad I read it. We don’t all like every book, but the total experience is stimulating. The titles that have been suggested so far this year are listed below. We still have time to make suggestions. The deadline is September 30. Also sometimes it takes two years for a suggestion to be voted to the list. So if any readers want to repeat a suggestion that wasn’t adopted last year, go ahead. Also, it is fine for two persons to make the same suggestion. with best wishes, Ruth Ann Monday Night Book Group: List of suggestions as of August 19
CLASSICS
The Monday Night Book Group (MNBG)was started by Luba Sawczyn some time before 2011. Luba was Head of Reference at the Chapel Hill Public Library at that time. The year 2011 was the year that the library was closed so that construction could begin on a major enlargement of the building. From fall 2011 until spring 2013 the library books and staff were located in what was then called University Mall. Pictures below show Library Drive at the time of the closing and the main entrance closed and after the re-opening. At the mall, there was one small meeting room where the MNBG and other library groups could meet. In the newly remodeled and expanded building we began meeting in one of the new spacious meeting rooms. It has been a good space for welcoming new participants to our book discussions.
Since the spring of 2020 we have met via Zoom due to pandemic restrictions. Ruth Ann The Monday Night Book Group is a public book group open to persons interested in discussing a selected group of fiction and non-fiction. In 2021 we have discussed the following:
January 18: Caste: the origins of our discontent by Isabel Wilkerson February 15: The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham March 15: Real American: A Memoir by Julie Lythcott-Haims April 19: The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka May 17: Dutch House (2019) by Ann Patchett June 21: Wilmington’s Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy By David Zucchino And we look forward to discussing these books: August 16: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng September 20: One Long River of Song: Notes on Wonder by Brian Doyle October 18: The Storyteller's Secret by Sejal Badani November 15: The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle Reflecting on a book you are reading fits well with knitting. Now that we are curtailing our in-person book discussions because of the Covid-19 virus epidemic, I am wondering if this blog can stimulate any online discussion. The Monday Night Book Group is an independent book group with monthly meetings on Monday nights. The Monday Night Book Group is reading The Bluest Eye, a classic by Toni Morrison, a noted author and editor who died in 2019. The person who suggested it wrote: “Published in 1970, this is Morrison’s first novel. She was the winner of Pulitzer, Nobel and National Book Critics’ awards. It is the story of a young African American girl named Pecola who grows up in Depression times. She has an unusually dark skin and is consistently regarded as “ugly.” Perhaps as a result, she has a powerful desire for blue eyes, which she equates with “whiteness.” The novel is told in flashbacks by Claudia MacTeer, a daughter of Pecola’s foster parents. In addition, sections are inserted told by an omniscient third-person narrator. Pecola’s story involves, rape, incest, an unwanted child. The book is frequently challenged but continues to appear on college syllabi. A good beginning for those who have not read Morrison and a great re-read for those who have.” Several references in the book resonate with me because I am old enough to remember the 1930’s when: -- Shirley Temple was smiling and happy in the movies --Baby dolls were displayed in stores at Christmas, promoted so that girl children could pretend to be mothers, and --Dick and Jane books were our first readers when we started school. The Bluest Eye begins with a passage similar to the Dick and Jane readers. It begins:
Here is the house. It is green and white. It has a red door. It is very pretty. Here is the family, Mother, Father, Dick, and Jane live in the green-and-white house. They are very happy. See Jane. She has a red dress. She wants to play. Who will play with Jane? . . . . Portions of this Dick and Jane language introduce other sections of the book. Morrison sets up a stark contrast between the idealized life of white children pictured in these school books and the lived experience of black girls in Lorain, Ohio in the 1930's. It was an idealized life for many white children, too, during the Depression, but farther in the distance for black children. Do you have comments or questions? The saga of my attempt to knit a sea lion has a happy ending. I am pleased with the final result. My older granddaughters helped me think through how to make the face, and their advice was important. I also looked at online images of sea lions. I added whiskers and tiny ears neither of which was part of the original directions. Most stuffed animals are, in effect, caricatures of the natural animals they represent. This sea lion is a little more realistic. Knitting allows for subtle shaping which matches photos of actual sea lions. In this picture you can see the slight narrowing of the neck above the front flipper and the rounded top of the head.
I welcome comments and questions. Happy knitting, Ruth Ann My favorite page in Andrea Berman’s book, Knitspeak, is the page about when to rip out a mistake and do it over. As an experienced knitter, I can tolerate minor mistakes and can repair others, but sometimes there is a disappointment too great to live with. At present I am enjoying the satisfaction of having ripped out an almost-complete knitted toy and started over.
At my granddaughter’s request I knitted a sea lion. The completed body sat in my knitting basket until I got the safety eyes to make a face on the creature. Inserting these eyes is a non-trivial task. I carefully looked up instructions for putting the eyes together, and carefully inserted them opposite each other. However, I then discovered I had put the eyes in the tail end of the sea lion. As I studied the situation and my options for repairing my mistake, I had to admit that my sea lion looked more like a snake than a sea lion. It was a long, straight body, narrowing at both ends. The flippers would be sewn on later, but it would still look like a snake. I tried putting in the stuffing, but then I discovered another problem, when the body was stretched by the stuffing, the white stuffing showed through the black knitting. I let it all rest for a couple days and then started over. The changes I made all contributed to a much better stuffed animal. First, I used the same size needle, but I used a double strand of yarn. When I stretched this, the white stuffing would not show through. Second, instead of knitting on two needles, I knit it on four, like a sock. I planned to make a horizontal opening on the underside where the neck turns up from the body. Third, I studied online pictures of sea lions to see the streamlined shape of their bodies. I kept track of which end was the tail, and then added subtle shaping at the beginning of the neck and the top of the head. I am happy with what I learned about subtle shaping from this experiment, and I enjoy looking at my new sea lion. This sea lion still needs a nose and a mouth, but I am reasonably confident they will turn out ok. I find it helpful to look at online images of sea lions both for the shape and for the face. The first sea lion attempt is shown below. Happy knitting, Ruth Ann Knitted toys can be fun to make. This baby penguin was a joint project with my granddaughter.
For babies, for a first toy, I like to knit a pattern with strong contrasts, one that is interesting to look at, even for adults. A baby can hold this safe soft toy. I developed this toy from directions for geometric shapes in the book, No-Pattern Knits by Pat Asforth and Steve Plummer. Happy knitting, Ruth Ann As a gesture of support for friends and family who have gone to marches in support of women's rights and human rights, I have knitted nine pink hats. Some of them are shown above. A knitted hat may be a political symbol, or just show the warmth of friendship. It can convey a message that "I care about you and I support what you are saying and doing."
By the way, the old doll belonged to my father. He had two older sisters. My grandmother thought that if her daughters had dolls, her son could have a doll too. She was an advocate for gender equality. Let's keep exploring the possibilities of knitting. Ruth Ann If you are a beginning knitter and you see someone knitting and they are holding the working yarn in their left hand. Don't let this confuse you. Sooner or later you will discover that there are different ways to hold the yarn, different ways to make a knit stitch.
I have described what is often called the American style of knitting where you hold the working yarn in your right hand. Another way to accomplish the knit stitch is to hold the working yarn in your left hand and pull the new stitch through the old stitch with your needle. This is often called the European style of knitting. Both styles accomplish the same stitch. Whether you are a beginning knitter or an experienced knitter, it is good to have a knitting companion you can talk with and share questions with. It is good to learn from each other. Let's knit together. Ruth Ann |
I am Ruth AnnI have been knitting, off and on, for decades. My mother taught me to knit during World War II. It is a craft with many possibilities. I will comment on some of them here. |