Raindrops on roses and Vampire mittens....

These are a few of my favorite things...... la la la....

Ok, seriously, I have two sets of Bella's Twilight mittens to show off. One for myself and one for my eight year old niece, who is very into Twilight. (Don't ask me, talk to my brother!)

The adult size are worked in a tweedy chunky wool blend, it's Paton's of some sort. I don't remember the exact yarn, now. For Jesse's little Bella mittens I re-worked the pattern a bit. I dropped of one row of cables, but otherwise followed the pattern. I used smaller needles and a worsted weight yarn. Again, it is a Paton's brand (I am quite loyal to Paton's, it's a Canadian thing) wool blend. It's very soft and not itchy. I didn't want to traumatize my niece by making her the worlds coolest, yet most uncomfortable mittens.

In the movie the mittens are a kind of steel grey. I choose a more grey blue for both pairs. I have a request for one more pair, which I will be starting soon. Gotta get 'em done. It's finally cold in Texas and our mitten wearing season is limited.

Here is a clip from the movie featuring said mittens. I do have the link to the pattern in a previous post about the Twilight mittens. Now that I have a grateful recipient, I will be doing a bit more Twilight knitting. At the very least a hat to match and there is a really nice scarf that Bella wore in the baseball game scene. At least Jesse lives in Canada were it is cold and will actually get to use them.

Book #14

Dead as a Doornail - Charlaine Harris

Yes, yes, Sookie Stackhouse again. (Book #5 in the series)

These books are like crack to me, dammit!!

We can now add Fairies to the list of creatures. Plus snipers and arsonists. Never a dull moment in Bon Temps, Louisiana.

I am now watching the first season of True Blood on DVD. Hubby is home!! I couldn't wait for it to be delivered via Netflix or to borrow it from my co-worker. Went out and bought the first season this past weekend. Can you say instant gratification!! Now, same above mentioned co-worker has the 2nd season coming from Amazon and has also graciously offered to lend it to me when he is finished with it. I'll probably buy that one, too before he gets to bring it to me.

So, about the TV series. It is different and yet the same as the books. It actually lends an additional dimension to the books, I think. They compliment each other. I don't know the story behind Charlaine Harris's input in making the HBO series. I expect she is pretty heavily involved. This merits some further research. As always, kudos to HBO. I heard some blurbage on the radio stating that True Blood is the new Sopranos from a popularity and ratings standpoint.

I gotta shake this vampire thing, but not until I've re-read Interview with the Vampire and completed a couple more Twilight Vampire knitting projects. Hmmm, that's really kinda nuts...I am not normally trapped in the brain of a 16 year old girl. (Although, I hope that there are not too many 16 year olds watching True Blood...yikes, a lot of VERY adult content!!)

Book #10

Club Dead - Charlaine Harris

This is the third Sookie Stackhouse novel aka True Blood

Ok, I never said that this 50 book thing was going to be brain food, so stop judging me. There is no disclaimer about fine literature.

Whahahahah!! I love this series. Chew 'em up and spit 'em out. Super easy reads and entertaining my ass off. I will have to take a bit of a break though, savor them, but I think there are at least 5 or 6 more books in the series at the moment which means I at least don't have to wait for them to be written and published. (think Harry Potter.....what....yes, I am literary riffraff)

So, there is now a running tally on supernatural creatures. We've got vampires, telepaths, shape shifters, maenids and enter werewolfs (werewolves, hell I don't know if there is a correct plural for a make believe creature) Plus Kings and Queens and mercenaries and sheriffs....kinda nutty.

I am still not watching the HBO series, yet. I am holding out until Hubby gets back from Cali to start watching. Yes, my love, I will be patient.

Book #8

Living Dead in Dallas - Charlaine Harris

Another Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire novel. aka True Blood

I see the appeal of this series of books. Funny, creepy, naughty...

Of course this also had the Dallas angle, too. Albeit it didn't talk about the city in great "real" detail. The commentary about the traffic and urban sprawl is legit.

Introduce more supernatural creatures.

What the hell is a maenad anyway?? (a crazy ass possessed woman from Greek mythology, if I remember my myths correctly)

I am now going to have to take a break from vampires until the 3rd book in the series arrives. I have several more that my Beloved so thoughtfully found for me at 1/2 Price Books, but alas, he was unable to find #3. Paperback Swap, you are my friend....snail mail, not so much.

Oh well, I have a good rotting bodies book that is next in the que.

Book #6

Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris

A Sookie Stackhouse Novel

Yuppers, True Blood! This is the first book in the series that HBO's True Blood is based on.

Pretty cool. I see why everyone raves about True Blood. I have watched the first 3 or 4 episodes of True Blood from NetFlicks and liked them alot. The series, from what I have seen of it, follows pretty truly to the book. Who's to say it continues on like that, but I imagine it does. HBO is pretty reliably good.

I have read a few vampire books in my time and this one is quite good. I will be reading the next in the series, so that says something right there.

This leads me off on a tangent. I have to comment on Stephanie Meyers (of Twilight fame). She is not as original as one would think, after they have read about Sookie Stackhouse and her vampires. Ms. Stephanie "borrowed" a few ideas I do believe. Loosely, but similar all the same. Things that make you go hmmmmm.... But, in defense of Ms. Stephanie, she may have gotten some inspiration from Ms. Charlaine, but the Twilight books are G rated and Sookie Stackhouse is definitely not.

Ok, confession time, if it isn't obvious already, yes, I read the Twilight series, all of them. I have only seen the first movie and that will probably be the only of the movies that I will watch. Enough on that, I can save Twilight for another time. Maybe if I ever knit the Twilight mittens, I'll post a picture and devote some creative energy to a dissertation on Twilight.

So, Dead Until Dark....I will be reading book 2. That sums it up right there.