Diamonds

diamonds for jen's stars

diamonds to stitch to make stars. still a long way to go. but then, its for retirement. i'm confident to finish it in given time.

Attempt

crochet

macam kek lapis

my first attempt at crochet. the colours riot. i know.

hexies in progress ii

upside down?

close up

done but not finished. the stitched up top cover is a tad smaller than a single size bed. so, i have to add 3 inches along the perimeter. calling up for more hexies. sigh!

Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving

The story ran over the course of Danny (Daniel) Baciagalupo’s life. From his 12 years old self at a logging camp in Coos County, New Hampshire, as a son of a cook in the camp to him being a famous writer in Iowa and towards him being alone, old and finally find his Lady Sky (his angel) in Toronto.

Being on the run after Danny accidently killed his father’s lover, who happened to be ‘crazy’ constable Carl’s woman. He and his dad (Dominic) became a fugitive and try to stay low and safe by the help of their old friend, a former river driver, Ketchum.

But, staying low and safe was hard when Danny became a famous writer and his dad, an accomplished Italian chef. They shifted town a few times, first from Boston to Vermont, then to Canada, just to avoid being tracked down by the constable. They decided to migrate to Canada when Danny’s son Joe went to college in Colorado. Joe died of a car accident when he was 23.

Over the course of the story, myriad of characters were introduced in their lives. Many interesting circumstances were thrown together. Enough to make one questioned the meaning of fate.

In the end, the constable traced them up through Ketchum’s Christmas Holiday visit and managed to kill Dominic. Danny gunned down the constable. Ketchum was devastated and hold himself guilty not only for the demise of his old friend but, also because of Danny’s mom (Rosie) long time ago. So he killed himself by cutting off his left hand and bleeds himself to die.

My verdict: expect to read a long and detailed novel. The only resentment I have for this book is Irving’s repetitious entries. But, if you’re devoted to Irving (like me), you’ll never let the resentment dampen down your love for the book. Owen Meany and Garp are still my favourite Irving’s, but Twisted River comes really close.

Rating: 9.5/10

Price: RM 39.00 (paperback)

p/s: Kowalski (also a favourite author of mine) wrote a very interesting review of this book here. i wrote of him (slightly) here, of his book Eddie's bastard.

for retirement purpose

jane's stars

This is a perview of Jane's 'retirement' gift. muahahhahaha...

9-patch block kick start

just look at these gorgeous colours and patterns!

IKEA's carpet

mosaic pattern on a building in Putrajaya

mosaic pattern on a wall of a building in Putrajaya

this is just too inspiring to ignore. but, i'll stick to the easy and traditional block to start my 'end of the year' quilt. i'm starting a 9 patch block quilt. 80 blocks in all. guys.. encouragement needed

sickly project

stitched.

squares

one of the project in my 'in progress list' projects. the top cover was sewn together last month. i took the other half for our little sister's blanket in Ranau (after i changed my mind to make a single size instead of queen size blanket, as initially planned). The top cover need basting (something i never did before) before i can haul it off the list.

you wont believe how many sewing projects i have in the list. i hope, somehow, i'll ended up completing one of those piled up sickly projects.

the blanket's name? Dawn's (she's in my mind the whole lot of time me doing this)