Double point needles and recorded books

No, this isn't a deep space docking station, it's an unfinished sock in the middle of being knitted:


Last summer I bought three skeins of yummy baby llama wool yarn with some birthday money intending, with my infinite skills, to turn it into socks. The yarn is sooo very soft. But not being armed with correctly sized double points in my knitting arsenal (which is otherwise well armed, I assure you, having inherited a plethora of pointed sticks from my great aunts), I tucked the yarn away.

But for Christmas my son presented me with a set of #5 double pointed knitting needles. Oh joy! And also a gift cart to Panera Bread (look out chocolate croissants, here I come).

Here is the second sock in progress with one of my very good helpers. She is especially helpful at the beginning of things when one must cast the starting stitches onto four different needles and then join the round without twisting:

Here is the first sock, which is already complete:

My other foot awaits its equally artful construction of llama wool (please don't look carefully enough to spot the mistakes in #1).

And what is it that I do to engage my mind while my hands are furiously knitting away at my socks? I listen to recorded books. Mostly young adult fare because that's what I (try to) write. Here are the books I'm listening to at present:

I went through The Magician's Apprentice and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe while working on sock #1. I am ashamed to admit that I've never read these books. Ever. But I did see the two movies (Narnia and Prince Caspian). The books were beautifully read by Kenneth Branagh and they guy who played Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet and John the Baptist in that Jesus movie (you know who I mean, right?). I can't remember who read which book, but I think I liked Mr. Branagh's reading best.

And as far as readings go, I would skip this rendition of The People of Sparks if I were you. I'm presently on disk 2 of The Sea of Trolls and the reading is pretty darn good. I haven't started Specials yet.

It would be fun to read for a recorded book. I always enjoyed reading to my kids when they were eensy, and when I read a small selection of one of my novels for a critique circle at a writer's conference once, everyone ga-ga-ed over my reading so much that I wasn't sure what they actually thought of the writing.

Ah well. Back to knitting!