Thursday, December 9, 2010

The Christmas Sweater by Leanne Dyck

Congratulations to Linda Henderson - winner of Leanne's giveaways!!

On this, the last day of Hanukkah, gifting is uppermost in my mind. A gift from me to you, here’s a quote from my paranormal psychological thriller.

The Sweater Curse explores the birth, life, death and possible redemption of an artist. Knitwear designer Gwen Bjarnson is stuck in Purgatory. To escape, she must re-examine her life, journey through her past and right a wrong. Which wrong?

In this quote, Gwen is shopping at her local yarn shop.

“I want to make Jay a sweater for Christmas,” I said.

“What yarn?” Mrs. Padisak asked.

“Well, he lives in a Peruvian sweater.”

“Peruvian. Peru. Alpaca. Come.” I followed her to a shelf stuffed full of yarn. She handed me a skein. “Alpaca. You use before?” It was so light and soft in my hands.

I shook my head. “No, I haven’t,” I confessed.

“Too bad. Beautiful yarn. Suri, you hold, luxurious, fine drape.” She took the skein from my hands and replaced it with another. “Huacaya, like wool. Ah, wool/alpaca blend best.” She handed me another ball. “This, yes?”

“Oh, yes, you’re right. I prefer this one.”

“Now, colour.” She swept her hand over the rows upon rows of different colour skeins, lightly touching each. “Look. Find the perfect colour for your husband,” she encouraged, smiling.

“Oh, no, Jay is my boyfriend.”

I watched as her smile faded to a look of alarm. “You knit sweater for boyfriend?”

“Yes, I’m going to design and knit him a sweater. It’s our first Christmas as a couple. I want to do something very special.”

“No sweater. Hat instead.”

“Why?”

“Sweater curse. You knit boyfriend sweater something very bad happen.”

A cursed gift--have you ever encountered one? Did you give or receive it? What happened?

Me? I’ve never…but my dad did. One year he gave my shy mom a sexy nightgown. She was so embarrassed that she stormed out of the living room. Definitely not the reaction he was hoping for, I’m sure.

Your turn…

One lucky commenter will receive a present—a copy of my cozy mystery Maynely A Mystery as well as my audiobook Novelty Yarn.

Please visit my website www.oknitting.com

The Sweater Curse blog offers knitting-related fiction and non-fiction, free patterns, interviews and reviews http://sweatercursed.blogspot.com

33 comments:

  1. honestly i think the panties i got from an ex were a curse we broke up a few weekes later so maybe that wa sor thatc ould of been ebcausethey were used by another woman lol not sure really

    great post ur books sound awesome

    mortalsinn@yahoo.com

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  2. To me, my cursed gift was a breadbox. It was Valentines Day and I was expecting lingerie or perfume and my ex whips out this breadbox. I wanted to hit him with it. He was such a romantic devil.

    seriousreader at live dot com

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  3. A cursed gift... hmmm. I would have to say when my mother once said, "Wait until you have two girls of your own. Then you'll know what it's like for me..." Yep, they are truly wonderful gifts that are cursed about once a month!And it's usually butt up against when I'm cursed! LOL
    fascinating and intriguing concept for Sweater Curse. :)

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  4. Giving a loved one a gift related to a new hobby you'd like them to embrace.....guarantees they'll never participate in that hobby again.....ever.
    Thanks for the chance to win!
    SheilaP52@yahoo.com

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  5. LOL Interesting idea about gift curses. Can't say as I've ever gotten one, but my characters sure get them all the time! *cheeky grin*

    Best of success with The Sweater Curse!

    ~huggles
    Gracen
    P.S. No need to enter me in the contest, as I'm a fellow DP author.

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  6. I received a magnifying makeup mirror when my husband and I were dating. I wanted a ring, but he thought it was more appropriate to give me the mirror from hell that allowed me to see every new hair on my chin. lol

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  7. Panties that another woman wore...oh, kick him to the curb.

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  8. Oh, Linda, a breadbox. That's like receiving a duster or a vaccum. Hope there wasn't a note inside saying, "Fill me".

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  9. Yup, Deena, the wonders of living with other women. As a teen, I lived in a group house our periods were soon all in sink. Oh, those poor guys in the group--they had to treed lightly. : )

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  10. Hi, Gracen
    Yeah curse those characters makes for intriguing plots.

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  11. Oh, Kathleen Ann, I hear you. I'm cursed with those dreaded chin hairs as well.

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  12. Okay, seeing as you've all been so generous with your comments I'll come clean. I did give a cursed present. It was unintended. What I intended was to make my husband laugh.
    You see, he requested an X-box for Christmas--way out of my price range. So what did I do. I drew an 'x' on a small card and placed it in a small Christmas box. He opened it, but didn't laugh.

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  13. I once got a CD from a friend of burnt songs when we were in college. At the time, whenever we went somewhere and got lost (which was frequently) the same Creed song would play on the radio.

    Of course, we put in the CD, head off somewhere, and the CD magically turns to that song just as we realize we're lost.

    Cursed? Hmmmmm

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  14. Since the in-law discovered Costco...every year it's the same...whatever was on the end of the aisle at Costco gift. Something I consider a curse!

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  15. LOL, Costco--gotta love it. Thanks for commenting, Maureen.

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  16. Too cute! I love the premise for this book.

    Wondering...do you knit and enjoy it? I once got knitting needles and yarn for a Christmas gift and they are still sitting in the lovely gift basket on the floor of my guest bedroom. It looks pretty but I just glare at it.

    No sewing skills whatsoever!

    --Carlie
    carlieangelus@gmail.com

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  17. Thank you, Carlie
    Oh, you glare at your knitting basket--my knitter's heart cries.
    I confess, with pride, I am a knitter.
    My gandma taught me how when I was about eight. She also taught me how to quilt (by hand with scarp pieces of fabric) and crochet--those skills didn't stick.
    I knit and I don't know when to stop. I have over twenty designs in my sweater collection. You'll find them here: www.oknitting.com
    Recently, I've transformed from a knitwear designers who writes to a writer who knits.

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  18. I haven't encountered a cursed gift.
    I do knit and am looking forward to exploring your blog.

    kissinoak at frontier dot com

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  19. Thank you for your comment, Estella. You may also enjoy visiting: www.oknitting.com Please use the navigator on the side of the homepage to find my patterns.

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  20. Hey there Leanne. Great post! As far as cursed gifts, well my boyfriend of three years gave me a little box for Christmas. I hoped it was a ring...opened it up, and it was a necklace with a hummingbird on it. I don't even have a particular liking for hummingbirds. We broke up three months later.

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  21. This is Leslie Soule, by the way. :)

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  22. Thank you so much, Leslie, for commenting. I'll return the favour tomorrow.
    Sorry to hear about your cursed gift. Some guys need to be handed a manual.

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  23. My only cursed gift was a packet of coupons to have my car washed. My husband will never do that again. debby236 at att dot net

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  24. The thriller sounds so good! I'd have to pass on the contest since I'm deaf and can't use the audio. But good luck readers! Cool on the blog. I don't knit but love to crochet! So checking it out!

    cathiecaffey @ gmail.com

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  25. I would've love to be there ..to see your mother reaction !!

    raluk.93 at gmail (Dot) com

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  26. LOL, Debby. Sometimes they do need a nudge in the right direction.

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  27. Hi Caffey
    Thank you for commenting. I can't wait to share the news that The Sweater Curse is published. For updates, please log on to: http://sweatercursed.blogspot.com
    Oh, yes, and of course www.decadentpublishing.com
    Much thanks to all the wonderful editors who worked (and are working) on The Sweater Curse.

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  28. Hi PinkStuff28
    Um, yeah, it wasn't pretty. : ) Feather flew and my dad ducked. But, like Debby's husband, he learned.

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  29. I can top the curse gift idea...bad acceptance of gift?? 2nd year of marriage Hubby got me a nice necklace I had looked at while we were shopping for others. I went off on he shouldn't have, no really, we couldn't afford it, I didn't need jewelry, etc! It was BAD! And the saddest thing is that I really liked the necklace! Took him a while to forgive me. And I didn't blame him, I was a butthead that time!

    vickykerr[at]sbcglobal.net

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  30. I like your version of X-Box. Sounds like something I'd do! My grandmother taught me to knit and crochet when I was about 8 years old, too. At her eulogy, I mentioned that because it's one of those things I will always fondly thank her for. And I taught HER how to cross stitch. And she was better at it than I am! So...knitting reminds me of grandma. As for cursed presents? I don't really remember any that were cursed but I do remember throwing a tantrum when I got a cheap version of a Barbie doll instead of the David Cassidy record I really wanted from my friend. That was about the same time I learned how to knit, so I'm blaming it on being a stupid 8 year old. LOL

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  31. Oh, yeah, Vicky I can relate.
    That's the exact reaction when my husband gave me my electric bike. The first thing I did was ask him how much and the second was to tell him that couldn't afford it. Thankfully, just he laughed.

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  32. Hi Valerie,
    Yes, 8 years old, tantrums--they do go together. Not that I'd have first-hand knowledge or anything, you understand.

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