Finished Scarf and Finished Book

I finished two things yesterday and today, a scarf that has been on my loom for months and a pretty good book.

As for the scarf, it is my second weaving project that I have completed. Weaving doesn't actually take that much time (it's setting it all up that takes the most time--the actual weaving goes quickly) and it took only an hour or two to finish the scarf. The scarf that I started several months ago (I can't remember exactly when). Why has it been sitting unfinished for so long? Because, to be honest, although weaving does have its perks, it's just not my "thing" especially compared to knitting and spinning. I've had my loom for well over a year and have made just two scarves. I've considered selling my loom, but I got such a great deal on it that I fear that one day I might want to get more into weaving and I'll never be able to replace the loom for what I paid for it. So I'll hold onto it for now. (But if any of my local fiber people want to borrow it for a little while, I'm happy to loan it out.)

Anyway, the yarn I used was given to me by a friend who had tried several knitting projects with it and nothing really worked with the colors. I do think that the yarn was made for a weaving project, as it does look quite nice. It's not super soft though (superwash wool and nylon), even after a good washing, so I'm not sure how truly useful it will be to wear around the neck. Anyway, without further ado, here's the finished woven scarf:

So the other thing that I finished this morning was a book I've been reading, Derivatives of Displacement #1: A Pair of Docks by Jennifer Ellis.

I discovered this book through Indie Books Gone Wild; one of the editors there did a proofreading on the book.

It took me a little while to get into the book (part of that could be that I'm a distracted reader these days with the toddler around) and to start to like the main character, Abbey. At first she seems like just a brain walking around in the body, rigidly wanting to sticks to rules, scientific or otherwise. But as the book progresses, she starts to bend a little and by the end of the book, although she hasn't thrown out her belief in science, she comes to realize that the world contains things that can't always be explained through scientific terms. Once she does start opening up, her character becomes much easier to relate to and care about. (Caring about the characters is one of the things I find most important in books I enjoy.)

Because this is the first book in a series and also because the kids themselves are trying to figure out what is going on with these stones and where they are traveling, it does take the reader a while to get any sort of answers to what is going on. But the second half (and especially the last third) of the book really picks up and it was at that point that I found myself wanting to pick up the book more often and leave the toddler to his own devices so I could finish it (sometimes that worked better than other times).

And although some answers are provided in the book, it ends with more questions (especially after what Abbey learns right at the end) which lead directly into the setup for the next book. Although I don't feel the need for the next book RIGHT NOW as I do with some books, I am disappointed to have to wait for the next one instead of being able to go straight to it. So I'll be keeping my eye on this series and picking up the next book when it does come out (according to the author's Amazon page, it will be coming out in October).