Gray Seeds, Green Gables & Brontë Sisters

Marissa's classic literature collection multiplies like Gremlins. She puts a glass of water on her nightstand before bed and in the morning twenty more books published before the invention of Aqua Net appear.

I admit never hearing of half the writers, nor how to pronounce their names. It's not that I'm unfamiliar with classic books (c'mon, I was reading Flowers in the Attic in the fourth grade!), but recently I've come to realize I am less familiar with them then I thought (c'mon, didn't you think David Copperfield was about a little orphan magician too!?).

Sometimes Marissa will surprise me with a pop quiz.
Marissa: "Can you name all the Brontë sisters?"
Me (confident I will totally ace it): "Easy! Jane, Joan and Olivia!"
Marissa: "YOU CREEP!"

When I was younger, I read all the time. The majority of my money was spent on true crime and young-adult books. Hell, I even dated my favorite author. But over the past few years, my concentration for reading has faltered miserably. Being realistic, I know I will never read many more of the classics. Listening to them, however, is a whole different story.

I'm not keen on Kindles or Nooks, but because of 'em, I know there are thousands of free eBooks in the public domain you can download. Which got me thinking that there might be a source for free audiobooks too! And that is how I discovered Books Should Be Free. I absolutely love being able to scroll through the visual book covers for stories I want to hear! So with over three-thousand titles to choose from, I immediately loaded up Anne of Green Gables to my MP3. I thought it would be fun to revisit a childhood classic. After all, the beloved miniseries starring the adorable Megan Follows as Anne Shirley remains one of my favorite things ever.

A few minutes into the recording, I was so relieved by the pleasant voice actors, and how I still found it easy to follow along while crocheting, and already two characters were knitting, and dude, I never read this book in my life. I had confused watching the miniseries for reading the book series, which had me worried — did I really read Trixie Belden? Thankfully, yes, since Trixie has never been portrayed on television.

While I listen anxiously to find out if the Cuthberts decide to keep Anne like they did in the movie, I am knitting a seed stitch scarf. The scarf is for someone not too different from Anne, but I'll go into more details in another post. In the meantime, if you are a new knitter, go grab a pair of number 9 needles, cast on 20 stitches and follow these stupendously simple instructions of how to knit the seed stitch!

I will never stop recommending the seed stitch scarf for a knitter's first project! You will learn the garter (knit) stitch and purl stitch equally, and learn how to easily recognize 'em on your needles, and in the end, have a beautifully textured scarf as your first knitted creation!

As for me, here's hoping that I'll want to adopt Anne as my audio companion for several new crafty projects I have planned for 2013! And now I want to hear from you! What is your favorite classic literature book? Can you name three Brontë sisters without Google? Are you on Joan or Olivia's side? Do you wanna learn something new next year? Who would you rather have your back, Nancy or Trixie?

Comments

[CraftyHope]

Oh, Anne is such a great book. I remember devouring it when I was a kid...and loving the mini-series as well. To pick a favorite from childhood is hard. I love me some Roald Dahl and Shel Silverstein, but if I have to pick a classic it would probably be Little Men, the follow up to Little Women. Don't get me wrong LW is great, but there was just something about LM that totally appealed to me. Thanks for the heads up about the audiobooks. I'm always looking for something to listen to while I craft as well and Pandora's getting a little stale. :)

[Barbara B]

Anne of Green Gables was one of my favorites as a child. I could just melt into her world, and dreamt about her home, her world, her best friend - it really comforted me. I wish I could go there now, actually. Where life didn't seem to be as hard, and decisions were easier.

[BellaKarma]

CraftyHope: Ah! Thanks for mentioning Little Men! I saw the book for the first time while scrolling through the audio site, and was very curious if it was any good!

Barbara ~ No kidding. Even with just 'hearing' the story from watching the movie, it has stuck with me for over 25 years.