Knitting Squirrel

Beautiful Sock Yarn & Wool for Your Next Project

Header with squirrels
Home | Nicolette

Nicolette

Mad Men, Bad Girls and the Guerilla Knitters Institute

By Leave a Comment

I love reading books! Don’t you?

And a novel that has a knitting element to the story makes a wonderful change from reading actual knitting books. I’ve intended adding a few reviews of these novels for a while now. Okay, Mad Men, Bad Girls and the Guerilla Knitters Institute is a bit of a mouthful so I can quite understand why the title was shortened to Mad Men, Bad Girls for the print version of the book.

Mad-Men-Bad-Girls-and-the-Guerilla-Knitters-Institute

Mad Men, Bad Girls and the Guerilla Knitters Institute is an enjoyable book written by Maggie Groff. I listened to the unabridged audio book brilliantly read by Georgie Parker whose Australian accent brought Scout Davis to life. I don’t know about you, but I think audio books are just brilliant to listen to while you’re knitting or sewing.

Mad Men, Bad Girls and the Guerilla Knitters Institute is an intriguing mix of mystery, romance and comedy. The story unfolds against the backdrop of Byron Bay and the Gold Coast. As I’ve never been to Australia, I found this to be a refreshing setting for the novel.

The protagonist Scout Davis is a freelance journalist who’s investigating a secretive American cult that has recently relocated to the Australian Gold Coast. We find out a bit about her; she’s in her early 40’s and has a long distance romance with another journalist who’s away more than he is at home. She loves real tea (with tea leaves and a teapot), is a diabetic and shares her home with a cool cat called Chairman Miao.

The main story line is about the investigation into The Luminous Renaissance of Illustrious Light. Which leads to Scout planning to infiltrate the cult as a possible new recruit. The story looks at the egomaniac leader who entrances vulnerable people with a message of peace and love but then controls them with brutality and fear. This investigation becomes more personal for Scout when she finds out that a one of her daughter’s childhood friends has left her family while suffering from post-natal depression and joined the group.

There are other subplots running through the story. With strange goings on in the private school her sister Harper teaches at. A blossoming romance with Rafe a local police officer. And a crazy plan for the Guerilla Knitters Institute to yarn bomb a public building in the middle of the night in which she involves her nephew. I don’t want to reveal too much as it might spoil you’re enjoyment of the book.

The only bit I found a little, well naff, was when taking an insulin injection was used as, mmm… how should I put this… foreplay… yeah, well, don’t really see it myself. When I take my insulin, I just find it to be painful, best done quickly, certainly not by someone else, and definitely not an interlude to romance. But maybe, that is just me!

Other than this Mad Men, Bad Girls and the Guerilla Knitters Institute is a fun light read for the summer. An interesting mystery. A bit of silliness. Some quirky humour. A touch of romance. And a very likeable character in Scout Davis. Would have enjoyed a bit more of the yarn bombing but maybe this will happen in the next book.

Multistripe Stole Time

By 1 Comment

What happens when a new Kaffe Fassett book arrives in your house? If you are anything like me everything stops while you look through the new book.

Multistripe-Stole-Time-1web

Inspiration Strikes

It’s impossible not to be inspired by the beautiful photographs and vibrant colour choices. By page 15 of “Knitting with the Colour Guys” by Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably, I was ensnared when I looked at the Multistripe Stole. These guys are masters at styling their knitwear. The knitting becomes a piece of art elegantly draped across a chair.[Read More]

Circle Socks

By 3 Comments

Circle Socks pattern designed by Anne Campbell is a really cute free sock pattern. Love the finished socks. Although, it took me a long time to actually finish the pair.

Circle-Socks-1web

I am embarrassed to admit that I started these beautiful socks at least a year ago. I knit the first sock. I admired the lovely texture and tried it on. Then it went into a box labelled, Circle Socks, WIP (Work in Progress), where it languished unfinished on top of the bookcase in my Studio, as I got swept away on a different wave of motivation, inspired by a new pattern or yarn.[Read More]

Lightwaves Shawl

By 10 Comments

I cast on Lightwaves Shawl designed by Susan Ashcroft, on the eve of St Patrick’s Day, after spending a wonderful day at the garden centre with my friend. I think my choice of colour was influenced by the shades of green and shamrock I was seeing everywhere.

Lightwaves-Shawl-1web

After downloading the pattern, I joined the Stitchnerds group on Ravelry, and found reading the posts and looking at the colours and yarn choices used by other people who have knit this lovely shawl very helpful.[Read More]

Revisiting my Araucania Gloves

By 4 Comments

In the Autumn of 2010, I needed a new pair of knitted gloves, as the weather was becoming chilly and at the time I was walking with Gillie and Shane twice a day.

Revisit-Araucania-Gloves-1web

It can be frustrating buying gloves as they seldom fit well. Often, the pinky finger will be too long, while other fingers are too short. I wanted a comfortable basic glove pattern that could be knit reasonably quickly, using 4-ply or sock yarn. At the time most of my yarn stash consisted of lace weight, sock yarn and 4-ply yarns as I did a lot of knitting for Sasha Dolls. My yarn stash has really only expanded to include a selection of DK yarns.[Read More]

Moss Stitch Cowl

By Leave a Comment

In my yarn stash I had a fabulous skein of Halycon Hand Dyed Yarn that I bought from Flamboyance Yarns last year. Halycon is a luxurious 4 ply blend of 50% silk and 50% merino wool. This skein was in my favourite colour combination of deep purple/plum colour with a contrasting turquoise/teal. I wanted a project that would really do justice to the gorgeous colour and sheen of the yarn.

Moss-Stitch-Cowl-1web

In Spring 2010 Simply Knitting had an attractive infinity moss stitch scarf designed by Emma King and knit using DK Cotton yarn in two different colours. I liked the draped style of this scarf when I saw it in the magazine.[Read More]

The Sky Scarf

By 2 Comments

I came across a wonderful idea for a scarf while browsing Pinterest that really appealed to me. Sky Scarf involves watching the weather. A cool idea as discussing the weather is a national pastime in the British Isles. Each day you knit a stripe in colours that match that day’s sky/weather.

Sky-Scarf-1web

The sky can change from moment to moment let alone hour to hour here in Northern Ireland. So, I decided that I’d note how the Sky looks above the Cavehill, every morning, when I open my bedroom curtains.[Read More]

Moss Stitch Fingerless Mittens

By 5 Comments

When I was planning these fingerless mittens, I remembered the astrakhan mittens that my mum wore when I was a small girl in the late 60s. I remember loving the soft textural top of the mittens contrasted with the plainer suede of the palm. This was the effect I wanted to capture for these fingerless gloves with the textural moss stitch on the cuffs and the top.

Moss-Stitch-Mitts-1web

Moss Stitch is one of the simplest and most attractive textural stitches that I know. I love the way the stitches look as though they slightly skew as the pattern develops.[Read More]

Keeping a Knitting Notebook

By Leave a Comment

Broken Rib Socks Notes

I love, love, love, the notebook I am using for writing down all my in process notes about the Broken Rib Socks (or any of the other works in progress that I am knitting at the moment). The notebook was created in January when I treated myself to joining the New Beginnings Journal online workshop by Juliana Coles.

Broken-Rib-Socks-1web

The Knitting Squirrel Ideas 2013 notebook started life as an RSPB spiral bound diary. Making it involved lots of taping with masking tape and painting over the tape. I should have used more decoration on the pages but I wanted to retain plenty of writing space. The wonderful thing about this notebook is what a pleasure it is to write in. I quickly started using it for my works in progress. I’ve even found myself using the images to influence colour choices for new projects.[Read More]