Boost your Productivity with an Audiobook (by Stephen King)

I'm not sure when I discovered audiobooks. I remember a radio serial that KCJB radio used to play in Minot North Dakota back in the 1990's. Yep, I'm feeling old now.  This was just before podcasts and just after cassette players. Each week a mini drama broadcast far and wide on the mighty am waves. I didn't have to go far to hear it though - I was working as a radio announcer through college and these radio dramas and Paul Harvey were tied for my favorite part of my work day.

Reading has always been hit or miss in my life. I'm either indulging in book after book insatiably or without one for months on end. I guess the busy life of a Mom can do that to you. But when I started walking and working out (the first time around) I realized I didn't care to listen to music. I wanted an audiobook. I would leave in the morning with "Twilight" or "The Hunger Games" playing on my iPod and after finishing my walk I'd spend an hour (or two) weeding the yard just so I could keep listening.

Soon I had devoured anything written by Nicholas Sparks, Jodi Picoult and John Grisham - all while walking, shopping, cleaning or just puttering around the house. That's when I rediscovered Stephen King. I had forgotten that he wasn't just a ghoul writer. Some of my favorite movies like: The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Stand by Me, Hearts in Atlantis, and Delores Claiborne were all based on SK books. They are great stories and so are many of his other works.

Now I was able to discover his new works: Duma Key, 11/22/63, Under the Dome, and Mr. Mercedes are now my new favorites. I have recently been trying to listen to ALL his books.

I had never read Carrie or Christine and was surprised at how much I enjoyed them. While tales of psycho-kinetic girls and psycho cars were playing in my ears, I happened to be working on solving a puzzle that had plagued me for about a year. I wanted to make an entrelac shawlette. Not just a shawl but a long and narrow obtuse triangle. Wanting and doing were two different things however and I could not get the shape of the shawl quite right.

Over the course of about 2 months and right about the time that Christine and Carrie were queued in my iPod, I had a breakthrough. First developing a scarf that starts narrow and grows into a long 90 degree triangle and then my obtuse triangle shawlette that I had been striving for. I named them: Christine and Carrie.

Christine

Carrie

Christine

Carrie

It took me another 2-3 months to write all the instructions, photograph the steps and create illustrations to explain my vision. All the while - I was listening to even more Stephen King. I now have both patterns published and have been astonished at the interest in them. I love sharing the things I love with others and I'm hoping that any other Stephen King fans who knit (yes, I know I'm narrowing the field a bit) will appreciate the theme I decided to use to name my shawls. 

If you are interested in picking up a copy of Christine you can visit my Ravelry store by clicking the buy now link below. 

 

Carrie is also available at my Ravelry store and no account is required to purchase. 

If you are feeling particularly generous - give this a look too:

It is a flowchart detailing how Stephen's Kings characters pop up in his other works. Only a genius could keep this all straight. 

Don't click the photo - click here to purchase.