Cal > Recent Status Updates

You had me at "dragon"

The hippocampus, which is responsible for memory in women’s brains, is larger than the hippocampus in men.

How did anyone let that pass unedited?

First time reading a friend's favourite author. A bit of a lazy researcher (poorly described shortie dungarees as hotpants with a bib and straps, for example), and some of the sentences are poorly parsed, but largely good. Her narrative voice is also, interestingly, similar to how Friend expresses herself

I love Kaffe's sense of colour. I'm a child of the 80s, and his designs since Glorious Knits embody the fun and wild colour of that era. Only these have evolved with the times, so are perhaps a little less "out there"

Why are you trying to strong-arm me into making a sweater?

And another absolutism: this thing that I vaguely described is the only other common cast-on.

Um, no. That sounds very like cable cast-on, which is less common than knit. Provisional chain is also widely recommended to absolute beginners who start too tight, and there's at least one more though I can't remember more distinctly. Don't take absolutism literally, kids

I find the absolutism creeping in distasteful. Wool is not the only worthwhile yarn, there are times when you have to sacrifice fun for the desired result, not all bamboo needles have a finish (mine have all been carbonised) are what I caught in just the last three pages

Ah yes, I don't like the forceful bias for wool here. No mention of the benefits of other fibres at all, so quite unbalanced. And then there is a return to the implication that wool is the only valid yarn on this page

As someone who failed to learn knitting for decades simply because I didn't know that there was more than one way, I love the book so far. I previously got a bit further, and dimly recall not liking her attitude to wool, but an essential read for those who work and/or think a little differently or are failing to start knitting

This is a strange book, part history and part spiritual guide. It may take a bit of getting used to, but I shall definitely read it again

I had been vaguely aware of Stjepan's work thanks to Deviantart, so was intrigued to come across this unknown project in Waterstones. Given that it is all too common for 6 people to work on a graphic story, I had never seen one person do all the work before and rarely since.
A quick flick, and the art enchanted me. A gorgeous mix of fantasy, gritty realism, and gothic, I knew that I would read it for that alone

Getting really sloppily written now. For example: The word “chec kilometersate” in chess comes from the Arabic “Shah Mat,” which means the king is dead.

Not checkmate, then?

Clumsily written. For example, it says: The country with the longest coastline on Earth is Canada. I would write: Canada has the longest coastline, [expansion]

Some things are inaccurate (such as "purple carrots used to exist") and some intrigue me but omitted detail

A fair bit of this feels like barely edited info dumps

I didn't realise/process when ordering that this is aimed at teens. Will be perfect for a young friend who wants to be a mental health nurse

So far, I either read it, vaguely meant to, or am given no good reason to. I was expecting more than a dry essay on what the book is about, some clue as to why it's worth bothering with would be helpful

Quite different to the series and radio play, richer and more subtle