I know, those aren't lilacs. They are lupines. We spent the morning chasing the season's last lupines. And we found them. Still handsome and in their prime near the cool lake shore. I think that we'll go to them again tomorrow.
I officially finished a version of Maddermade's Livie Sweater over the weekend. I had to pry it away from my sweet girl while she slept because, as I mentioned last week, she was already wearing it with only one sleeve - its unwoven ends trailing behind her like kite strings.
I'm really excited about this pattern. I adore it's modern shape, it's unique technique for raglan shaping, it's long garter cuffs. This will most definitely not be the last Livie that I knit. I'm plotting a scrap cardi in stripes to follow this one up. I may size up next time but I'm really happy with how this one fits. My Ravelry notes are here. The antler button was made by my Grandpa.
I talked about Miss Dandelion Doe, her doll, over here. And about her shirt here.
In the spirit of keeping up with the Small Things readers and knitters, this week I finished listening to Behind the Beautiful Forevers.
The book wasn't at all what I expected. The writing is spare in comparision to other books that I have read about India, which seem to go to great pains to describe the beauty of the culture and countryside. In her own words, Katherine Boo found slumdwellers to be "neither mythic or pathetic [and] certainly not passive. They improvis[ed], often ingeniously, in pursuit of the new economic possibilities of the twenty-first century (249)."
It was important to the author not to sensationalize experiences that would be shocking to Westerners. She focused on the economy in the Annawadi slum during the period before and after America's recession. Because the book's focus was narrow and because the author chose not to decorate the narrative with metaphors, readers will, I think, come away from the book with an academically influenced understanding of the economics of this particular slum.
It is an important read, though not an easy one. It is redundant-seeming at times but not because the author is artless, the style of the book reflects Mumbai's culture which is complex and layered.
What are you reading and knitting on?