Reading, Writing and Knitting Projects

I have a new knitting challenge. In addition to making a Christmas present, I'm going to start doing some hats. My church has a group that serves a hot breakfast at a homeless shelter every Christmas morning, and there's usually a collection of gifts that goes with that (stuff like socks, blankets, toiletries, etc.). This year, we're trying to get at least 400 stocking caps to pass out as gifts, preferably handmade. That's something I can do with my epic yarn stash, and it's a far more portable project than the blankets and throws I'm usually making. I don't know how many I can do between now and Christmas, but since it's not my usual elaborate lace, it seems like something I could knit pretty quickly. And then I can use all the baby yarn in my extensive inherited stash to make baby caps. The county hospital needs them and the knitters at the church have also taken that on as a project. We had a women's ice cream social last night to let everyone know about the various social and mission opportunities, and I ended up chatting with the knitters. Other than the gifts (I do have a bit of a waiting list from family and friends), I mostly knit for the sake of having knitting to do, so this provides me with a healthy outlet for my habit. And having multiple projects going means I can switch when I get bored with one (a hazard of the bigger projects).

I've been remiss about discussing recent reading, but I've mostly been catching up on series in progress where I've discussed earlier books in the series. I read the third book in the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. Now there's just one more (until the next one is published), and I may wait a bit before reading that one. And there was the second book in Sherwood Smith's "Prisoner of Zenda"ish series about the ballerina fencer and the magical European kingdom. She's going to be the guest of honor at ConDFW in February, so I'm kind of excited about that.

Otherwise, I'm doing research reading as part of the brainstorming process on a couple of projects. It's weird having two vastly different books percolating in my brain.

I should soon have a cover reveal and more definitive release info on the new fantasy series. I'll admit that I'm nervous about this because it's an odd book to begin with, and then it's a new series with new characters in a new "world," and I don't know how well my fans will react to it not being the other series they love. There are some authors I've happily followed from series to series, but I'll admit that I've sometimes resisted something different from an author, especially when I was madly in love with the characters from another series and wanted more about them.  I just hope readers will give this a shot instead of boycotting because it's not about the other characters, and maybe I'll find new readers who'll then discover the other books.