So no socks to present yet. Instead of FOs, I can offer a book recommendation: Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. I read it in print but I imagine that it would be the most suitable book to listen to while knitting. It is a novel, but very episodic: therefore it is, in a word, perfect for reading on the bus or listening to while knitting. I read it mostly one chapter at a time, one there and another here, as each chapter is very much like a short story by itself.
Elizabeth Gaskell was a contemporary of Dickens, and is a fine example of those authors who are "found" by modern media in search of something that would be as popular as Jane Austen. I first heard of her novel North and South in a comparison to Pride and Prejudice. Actually Gaskell's style of writing differs greatly from that of Austen's, but apparently that marketing trick has nevertheless worked. In recent years I've seen many new editions of her books as well as heard of some BBC tv-adaptations.
The title of Cranford comes from the name of the small village the novel tells about. It concerns the lives of a group of elderly spinsters living in the village, reported by a visiting friend (the narrator, who remains anonymous for most of the book). The events range from highly comical to most tragic, with some very humorous sequences being interrupted by genuine sadness. As an added bonus, there's quite a bit of knitting and crochet, with one character being even rather obsessed with the latter.
