This lovely "ikat" scarf is made using a self-striping wool sock yarn and a rayon yarn that is very soft and sleek. I absolutely loved working on this project as it was exciting seeing what color was coming up next. I think the final product is pretty spectacular. 
David said it reminded him of peppermint candy. This scarf is indeed sweet. It's pink variegated bamboo with brown pearl cotton. Shimmery and soft. And the weave structure allows it to be darker on one side ad lighter on the other.
It's a commission for Gaye. Hope you love it!
A super-skinny brown bamboo scarf. The yarn is actually brown, black, white and burgandy threads twisted together that create a tweedy type look. The yarn is very soft and drapy. Fringe is twisted. It measures 4x68 and sells for $60.
I really love the way the twill creates horizontal stripes on this scarf. It is made using a kettle dyed merino wool that is extremely soft. The kettle dying process creates a tonal variegated look because the dye takes differently throughout the yarn. It is very soft and textured looking.
So soft and silky, this rayon and polyester chenille scarf is wonderful, simply wonderful. The chenille is very fine, so FEELS soft, but isn't really fuzzy. I love that yarn.
The scarf measures 10.5x68 and has twisted fringe. I'm trying to find a good place to donate it for breast cancer awareness, so it isn't for sale, though I can make another one just like it if you are interested. (it would sell for $65).
Usually I wait a day or so after finishing a book to write the review. Gives me a little perspective and keeps me from totally spoiling the plot for potential readers...but I just finished Fatlands and wanted to write about it tonight because I found it so wonderful! Terrifically written. Loved the protagonist and a gripping story.
Fatlands is the first novel by Sarah Dunant (you may know her as the author of Birth of Venus or In the Company of the Courtesan, Italian renaissance historical fictions). It's a crime novel with the main character of Hannah Wolfe. Ms. Wolfe is a delightful character. I absolutely loved her. The story and writing are fast-paced and perfectly executed.
I'm not usually a reader of detective novels, but I enjoyed Dunant's historical fiction so much that I wanted to read it and see if I had issues with the detective novel genre or if I could enjoy one written by a writer that can really put words on a page. Apparently, I had issues with the writing of other detective novel authors.
Highly recommended.
I love it...I'm getting used to it but I love it.
Kinks:
------all-in-all though I'm very happy I bought it and don't know how many new books I'll purchase in print simply because this is so compact and portable. It will hold approximately 1500 books...and I don't have but 1/3 of that on my "to be read" list :) And now I have room for at least another outfit in my suitcase in December! yea!
Trilogy (wool, cotton and rayon) is combined with soy silk for a bumpy, soft, silky, sparkly, fun scarf.
It measures 6.5x64 and sells for $55. Fringe is twisted.
Just a quick reminder for those of you still considering a holiday hand wovens order. There are only 6 weeks left until the end of October.
Kitchen linens
Priced as follows:
Scarves or shawls:
If you would like to give a nice hand-woven scarf or shawl, prices are specific per item and are based on the yarns used and time taken to make it. Prices generally range between $50-80 for most scarves made with cotton, wool, alpaca or a synthetic fiber. Silk is more expensive and usually runs in the $100 range. Tencel, bamboo, and soy silk are generally less expensive than silk and have the same sheen and drape so are great alternatives.
Other:
Other custom made items that you can order are blankets, place mats, table runners, pillows, or purses/bags. Prices for these items vary based on the material chosen and time investment in creating them, but they will definitely be unique items that are sure to please.
Inspiration:
If you need inspiration, check out the past projects on my blog. You can search by type of gift by selecting the category you are interested in under the “labels” section in the upper left corner.
If you are interested in placing an order for the holidays, please contact me either by e-mail (leslief150@yahoo.com) or phone (601.310.9372).
I’m looking forward to making your special items!
Leslie Suzanne
Cold Sassy Tree is a story about family, growing up, the influence of "modernity," and faith. Will Tweedy, the narrator, tells how his grandfather, Mr. Blakeslee, marries the milliner in his store only three weeks after his grandmother died, much to the dismay and embarrassment of his family and the town.
Miss Love, the new wife, suffers under the presumptions, gossip and snubbing of the town, but learns to love Mr. Blaskeslee and gets a family in the process.
The story is told from the perspective of 14 year old Will Tweedy as he goes through the trials and tribulations of being a teenager at the turn of the century in Georgia. It addresses racial and class issues as well as the effect of modern machinery (such as automobiles and grammophones) on society.
Well written, very lovingly told, this is a great story. The dialect can be difficult to interpret at times, but it's worth it.
Recommended, especially for lovers of Southern fiction.
I was prepared to like this book a lot becuase of the amazing review that Rosina Lippi (one of my favorite authors) wrote about it....I was even prepare to love it considering that it's about a topic near and dear to my heart--women's relationships. I don't know that I was prepared for it to wriggle its way deep into my brain and make me think and feel in a way that I haven't done in a long while about a book. Wonderful is my best descriptor simply because words don't do this book justice.
Stockett tells the story of the relationships between black women "help" and their white women employers and the children they raise. The inconsistencies in 1960s racial codes and blatant racism and the love that these women share for one another is unexplainable, yet somehow is explained in this book. Two quotes from the book, on facing pages, almost exactly opposite one another, sum the book up very nicely:
I understand why this book has risen to #3 on the NYT Best Sellers list. It's excellently written, and tackles a topic that people need to read about, but does so in a way that is accessible while being revealing. I'll be thinking and talking about this book for a while...not just at bookclub.
Highly recommended. (Aunt Janice, this is her first novel, and I know you like to read "firsts"...it's a really really good one!)
Book 2 in Kathie and Leslie's "assignment".
The Handmaid's Tale tells the story of Offred, who has become a handmaid in the Gileadian society. It is set in the "near future" (a the time of writing, it would be "now" today) America after a fundamentalist Christian group takes over America. Atwood imagines a world where Rachel Carson's predictions in The Silent Spring come to fruition--our pollutants have created an unsafe environment, with whole species becoming extinct and the human population in decline because of environmentally influenced sterility.
Women and men fit into proscribed roles, but since the story is about Offred, we really only delve into the position of women. Offre, who has proven her fertility in the "before" time by having a child is put into the Handmaid's role: she will have children for the new society. Emotions and love are absentin Gilead and people behave in an almost robotic way.
The most haunting aspect of The Handmaid's Tale for me was the memories of "before" that Offred has. She remembers times with her husband and child and piecemeal tells us about their relationship and how she got to where she is now.
Atwood is an amazing writer. The writing in this book makes it worth reading. The story told makes it worth re-reading. I think this book should be required reading for all college students. Amazing.
Dimity is a fabric made using a plain weave ground with stripes of twill. The twill stripes are set so that they are twice as dense as the plain weave and they "puff" up a little. The effect is very formal and pretty.
The scarf is woven using tencel and cotton. It is gorgeous and very silky soft. Fringe is twisted. It measures 7x65 and sells for $80.
I loved this book. I didn't want it to be over. I loved the characters and felt for them during all their tribulations and joys. Superbly written and just plain fun.
Sophie falls for a rake and fears marrying him because her father has made her mother's life so miserable. In order to avoid him, she agrees to marry a "safe" man, only to decide not to and to marry Patrick, the rake, instead.
The marriage plot happens pretty quickly and then the remainder of the story is about the two newlyweds learning the miseries of poor communication in marriage. They are consistently given the advice to talk about things and just as consistently avoid talking about things until an event happens that forces them to address what's going on.
Highly recommended for romance fans (read Potent Pleasures first) and literature majors who enjoy being rebellious and reading something outside the canon. There are so many cleverly disguised jokes and funnies that it's delightful finding them. Though, according to my Aunt Betty, you don't want to read Eloisa James aloud to your mama.
Earthly Joys tells the story of John Tradescant, gardener to gentry and royalty during the reigns of King James I and King Charles I. Following his life as he serves one lord and then another, Gregory offers a very interesting insight into life during the tumultuous time in England after Queen Elizabeth I died.
Tradescant's family are exploring their own faith outside of the newly formed and established Church of England, at a time when the royalty seem to be backlashing into catholic ways. The tension for John is that he staunchly believes in the great chain of being--god ordained the king who ordained the gentry who ordained their servants, etc. He can't seem to understand how his family can question this way of knowing the world, and thus all of John's decisions are based on what he believes he should do to serve is Lord.
I wasn't crazy about Earthly Joys, but I did like it. I really liked the perspecive Gregory takes by looking at life from a garderner rather than from a gentry or royal person. But I really didn't like how Tradescant so stubbornly held to his service to his masters despite the fact that he knew logically he shouldn't. I also didn't like the section in the middle of the book when Tradescant was serving the Duke of Buckingham. I finished the book with a strong curiosity about the sequel, so plan to read that one at some point in time
If you are a big fan of Gregory, I recommend it. If you like historical fiction, I say give the book a read and see if you like it...Otherwise, I don't know.
