Knit in Public Day!

Knit in Public Day - June 18

Who says size doesn't matter

On June 18 you can come out of your closets, your pantries, and your basements and fully embrace who you are!

You are a KNITTER! (Or a CROCHETER - I don't discriminate around here).

If you're a WEAVER or a SPINNER, or a DYER (not to be confused with dying or the angel of death on Touched by an Angel who's real name is John Dye - no I'm not making that up) - I like
you too!

I know, I know, it's hard to admit to it. Especially when yarn arts are associated with grandmas and even though you may have grandchildren you are not that age yet (talking to myself here).

He can knit for me anytime.

But yarn isn't just for old people anymore. Or just for women. Yarn is ageless and genderless and can be celebrated by all!

No one says you actually have to know how to knit.

Apparently aliens knit too

Run out of people to knit for? Even trees need love.

Evil laugh

Book Review: Patchwork Mysteries #1: Family Patterns - Kristen Eckhardt

In this first book of the series Patchwork Mysteries, we meet Sarah Hart, a widow who makes her living taking in borders and restoring antique quilts. And she likes to solve mysteries too.

The first mystery revolves around her grandmother Molly, who disappeared in 1920, when she was a young married woman, leaving behind a husband and six year old boy.

Molly was never found and her husband lived with the towns suspicion for the rest of his life, many convinced that he had murdered her.

When Sarah's twelve year old twin granddaughters discover a hidden passage in the family home, it leads them to the quilt that belonged to the six year old boy - her father.

While Sarah restores the quilt for her father who now resides in a nursing home and is suffering with bouts of Alzheimers she discovers clues to the mystery of Molly.

This mystery honestly had me stumped. I can often solve them before the protagonist, but this one I couldn't. However I would add that the author cheated a little. Sarah had information that wasn't given to the reader. Still even with that, there were clues that could have left the reader to jump.

My other complaint and I have this complaint with any author that does this, is characters who have names that begin with the same letter. In this case there's two sets and they will all be part of the regular series. Sarah's twin granddaughters are Amy and Audrey - yes I know people often name twins like this, or they give them rhyming names, but not all the time. It would have been better to give them completely different names. I had to keep checking to see which one was which.

The other problematic set is her best friend and neighbor Martha, and her daughter-in-law Maggie. Both names are similar and have been around for a long time and don't give clues to age.

So authors, if you are reading this, please watch what you name your characters.

This is also a book put out by Guideposts, a Christian publication, so there is references to Christianity, however I did not find it heavy handed. Sarah utters a few prayers, there's one unlikely coincidence that can be chalked up to the hand of God, and a few mentions of a church, but it was all well done and not over done. Still this might be a problem for some people.

Fortunately I like inspirational fiction and although the mystery is tied up, the problems of the characters aren't, which makes it real.

Sarah herself is a likeable character. And I also enjoyed the attention given to the restoration. I never knew before how it was done and it was very interesting and meticulous. I would never want to restore an old quilt - I prefer creating a new one - but I can appreciate the artistry that's involved. It can be very painstaking. It's not too often that I learn something new from a cozy, and I found this fascinating.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

Book Review: Annie's Attic Mysteries #11: The Wedding Dress - Mary O'Donnell

Somehow Annie missed seeing this dress in the attic before even though it was on a mannequin. True, it was covered, but...for someone who likes to solve mysteries, she sure doesn't explore the attic as much as most people would.

However you have to play along to enjoy the series and it is a fun series.

Annie knows this dress wasn't her grandmother's dress, so who did it belong to? We get to go back to the first owners of Grey Gables to find out.

And there's a new kid in town. Annie's Hook and Needle Club friend Gwendolyn has a son who has returned home, and he's brought with him his fiance, Dervla, a young woman he's met in Ireland. Trouble is Gwendolyn isn't very welcoming, so Annie takes Dervla into her home.

And there's a famous artist in town who wants to do a painting of Grey Gables.

The book's first chapter takes us back in time and is intriguing, and then the author ruins the next chapter by doing information dumps all over the place about stuff we already know. Now, some might argue that it's necessary, but this book is a part of subscription club, so it's likely that readers would have read the previous ten books, and if not, information dumps are unnecessary. Readers don't have to know everything. They can put pieces together. And important information can be put in here and there. Shame on the author and editors for resorting to this.

So once we get passed that, the book is entertaining. Gwendolyn who is normally a nice person is completely unlikable in this but that's okay. People are complicated and even nice people can act horribly. I like to see the faults in characters.

The author wraps things up nicely in the end, taking all the different elements and tying them together. And she moves the possible romance between Annie and the town mayor Ian closer without rushing it. We suspect they will eventually get together, but it might not happen. And that's just fine.

I've tried finding out more about the author, but she isn't the only one with that name and I get led to different places.

Book Review: Annie's Vineyard Quilt Mysteries #1: Threads of Deceit - Mae Fox & Jan Fields

I fell in love with Annie's Attic Mysteries and now I'm trying a new mystery series by Annie's as well.

This is the first in the Vineyard Quilt Mysteries. Antiquities bounty hunter Julie Ellis and her business partner Hannah Marks are on the run from those that want to harm them. They obtain jobs at the Quilt Haus Inn. Julie as the manager and Hannah as the cook, thinking they'll settle down to a more peaceful life in rural Missouri where Hannah can make creations in the kitchen and Julie can take up quilting again.

But it isn't long before Julie stumbles on a murder mystery when Daniel walks through the door of the inn. He convinces her he's a quilt expert (only quilters are allowed to stay in the inn) but after he's signed in he reveals he's really an archaeologist looking for a sunken ship.

Soon Julie is up to her old tricks as she helps Daniel.

This was a fun book with a unique setting and interesting characters such as the flamboyant Shirley who runs the tea and quilt shop that is part of the inn and gives wild history lessons during quilting time, and Inga, the uptight and meticulous housekeeper who disapproves of Julie.

There were a couple of spots that jumped suddenly from one moment to the next without any warning or obvious space, and one ridiculous plot point (I don't care how much you like to stitch, no one is going to embroider a threatening message). The ending seemed rushed as well. It would also be interesting to read about Julies exploits that got her into trouble in the first place.

At this point there's only two books in the series. I'm looking forward to the next one. Fields has written for Annie's Mysteries before.

Jan Fields Website

Annie's Attic Mysteries #10: Emeralds In the Attic - Jan Fields

It's masquerade party time!

While looking for the perfect outfit in the attic...

Hold on here. After two years there's still stuff in the attic that Annie knows nothing about?

Apparently so. Anyway, she, good buddy Alice, and Peggy (who can be a bossy witch sometimes as we found out from the last book but isn't one in this one) go up to the attic to see if they can find some formal gowns to wear to the party. And they do. And they fit perfectly. Of course.

And they also find some costume jewelry. Emeralds in fact. Fake ones of course. A necklace, earrings, hair comb and a brooch.

Mary Beth has also given them a challenge - that Mary Beth just can't leave them alone to do their crafts. Nope, they've always got to be working on something to give to charity. In this case, it's masquerade masks that need to be gussied up for an auction.

So Annie uses some of the emeralds from the broken earring for her mask. And on the night of the party when Ian Butler picks her up - they're dating but not dating, as in "friends". As in no kiss goodnight - Annie just can't figure out what to do with her hair, she puts in the emerald comb.

But of course, strange things are going to happen because this is a mystery series. Why on earth are rich people vying for and stealing her fake emeralds?

And her house gets broken into again! This has happened in several books now. You would think she would get a series of new locks and an alarm system attached to her phone with all these people breaking in and leaving a mess that she has to clean up.

Another fun book in the series.

*****

Jan Fields

Jan Fields Website

Jan Fields Annie's Books

Rag Doll in the Attic Review

Book Review: Annie's Attic Mysteries #9 - The Deed in the Attic - K.D. McCrite

Life really isn't fair.

I can't get one house of my own but Annie (yes, I know a fictional character), gets three.

This time she finds a deed in the attic showing that Grandma Betsy had ownership. So that means Annie owns a house in Texas which she shared with her now dead husband; Grey Gables, the house that Betsy left her, and now this other house that is apparently scary and not in good shape and haunted.

Yes, haunted.

So Annie and a few friends from the Hook and Needle club decide to go on a ghost hunting expedition and investigate the house. Turns out a couple of Hook and Needle friends don't get along so well when they're not crafting - that Peggy can be a bossy witch. And it also turns out that you need a kit to take with you ghost hunting. Not just flashlights.

It also turns out that although the house has been severely neglected because it hasn't been lived in (houses do that. The less you use them the older they become. It's like they need to be loved or something) the house itself is still in good shape, and although not big, it just needs some love and kindness to bring it back to its glory days.

Still, Annie wants to solve the mystery as to how Betsy obtained the house. She didn't just go an buy it. It was given to her. But why?

Now if I weren't so bitter about Annie getting three houses while I can't even have one...still, it was a nice little cozy.

*****

K.D. McCrite

K.D. McCrite Website

Annie's Mysteries (not just the Attic ones but others too)

Confessions of April Grace

Book Review: Annie's Attic Mysteries #8 - Boxed In - Karen Kelly

The book picks up on the return of Annie from a visit to Texas to see her family. And for some reason everyone is funnier than they were before.

Which is probably about the author. We actually get to see some of the authors style in this book. 

Annie goes back up to the Grey Gables attic with its Mary Poppins bag of never ending stuff. This time she finds a birch bark box holding a Native American ceremonial collar and a poem. And the question as always is - who's is it.

                                                                                                              

I'm starting to wonder if Grandma Betsy was a kleptomaniac and not just a holder of things for everyone else. 

So there's a trip to the museum, rose hip jelly - I have no idea what rose hips are. I didn't know roses had hips - a new friend at a senior's home, more fun with the mayor - which doesn't sound as innocent as it really is, and a new challenge to the Hook and Needle Club from Mary Beth. That Mary Beth always has something she wants the members to do instead of just letting them do their own projects.

Another fun mystery in the series. I am so hooked on them I can't wait for the next one to come to my door.

*****

Karen Kelly is an author who shares a name with several other authors. A google search revealed a Karen Kelly that writes inspirational fiction to another Karen Kelly who writes steamy romance. Not the same author as this one.

So no website link for this one.