Finishing Things

I finally finished Kiernan's hat. I ended up purling the first two rows of the cable cast-on. The ribbing behaves well when it's on a normal sized head. One friend suggestion that I think about Elizabeth Zimmerman's recommendation to reduce garter stitch ribbing by 10% of the body of work. I would have done that next, were this not successful. I used alpaca this time - a first for a hat. Now I can no longer say I don't like to knit with alpaca, because it makes an awesome hat that will also be very warm.
I'm using a technique that Sara Lamb suggested in her SpinOff article on the falling leaves shawl. She said that you get a nice cable effect on the edge if you slip the first stitch of every row and purl the last stitch of every row. I think it gives it a nice finish.
This sweater was actually finished during NCAA March Madness but I didn't care for it and had decided to donate it to the guild while elephant sale. However, I find myself wearing it quite a lot, so I've decided it must mean I like it after all. I used the Vogue Knitting instructions for a sweater-in-the-round but just made the neckline bigger. I've come to realize that I don't like tight necks or long sleeves.
We are beginning to get a little sun in between the clouds and I couldn't resist this shot last night.

I'm disappointed that I won't be able to finish my daughter's dish towels in time for her birthday next week. I hurt my back yesterday, moving tables and getting the room ready for the library book club. We had 15 people, which is the largest group we have ever had. The book was A Prayer for Owen Meany and I suspect a number of people came because of that. Since it is a library program, we seem to get new people all the time. I don't know if a group can be effective and satisfying if it stays at this size, and it's pretty difficult to facilitate.

I recently finished While I'm Falling by Laura Moriarty. I read her first book twice but skipped her second due to mixed reviews. I loved this one, a story of how tenuous our security is and how quickly a change in circumstances can take away our safety net. Veronica is a dorm resident assistant in Kansas, in love with her boyfriend and with a supportive family living nearby. Divorce suddenly turns the family upside down, and when her boyfriend asks her to move in with him, she declines because if the relationship fails, she'll have nowhere to live. She no longer knows what she wants, her happiness seems to be slipping away, and her mother appears to be cracking up. Moriarty doesn't suddenly tie up the story with a happy ending but it ends well nevertheless. I always love a character-driven story and especially one that has a plot. This book met my expectations.