Read with Kennie
Book Reviews, Analyses, and Ramblings
MY BOTANICAL GARDEN
Something you may not know about me is that, in addition to reading, I am also an avid crocheter. At some point, I had the thought that I could combine my love of reading with my love of crochet, and I began making bouquets based on some of my favorite books. Now, this hobby of mine has really blossomed (ha) into something bigger, and I'm constantly scouring the books I read for references to flowers, just in case it becomes a new favorite.
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If this is something you're interested in, I invite you to take a tour of my virtual garden here. Maybe it can inspire you, too.
THE ROSES OF MAY
By: Dot Hutchison
This is the second book in The Collection, following the Butterfly Garden (which is one of my earliest posts here). The story follows a young girl named Priya, whose sister was murdered a few years prior by a serial killer who decorates his victims with flowers — a new kind of flower for each girl. When the book starts, Priya is receiving mysterious flower deliveries that follow the order of the victims. It's a pretty dark book series, but I've never found it particularly grim; actually, I think there's a lot of light and love to be found in those books.
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This bouquet has 17 different flowers in it, and there are 42 individual stems in the bouquet. It's so big that I never tried to put it in a vase. Right now, they're hanging in a net on my wall.
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HAMLET
By: William Shakespeare
Spend any amount of time on this website and it will become immediately clear to you that I'm a big fan of Hamlet. I've enjoyed it since we first read it in high school, but I didn't realize quite how much I liked it until I was in college. ​I remember, like many high school girls, writing a paper about Ophelia's flowers back when I first read it in class. Even at the time, I thought that scene was so powerful. When I made my initial bouquet plans, Hamlet was an immediate inclusion.
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These flowers are based on Ophelia's ramblings in Act IV Scene 5. The crocheted flowers are pansies, columbines, daisies, and one technically-unwilted violet. Fennel and rue are very similar, so I used a pattern for baby's breath in yellow and then bought an artificial version and decided it was close enough to cover both of them. The rosemary is also artificial.
THE KING OF
INFINITE SPACE
By: Lyndsay Faye
With as much as I love Hamlet, it shouldn't be too surprising to learn that one of its retellings is one of my all-time favorite books. I found the way that Faye captured these characters — particularly the main trio, being Hamlet/Ben, Horatio, and Ophelia/Lia — in the modern era to be so compelling and beautiful. I love it both as a book in its own right and as a retelling of Hamlet. And while doing her flowers seems like it would be a repeat, Lia actually works in a flower shop (although a very mystical one), so she mentions far more flowers than Ophelia does.
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To be specific, Lia lists out 36 plants/flowers by name, and I made 16 of those (and then used artificial rosemary and eucalyptus). I prioritized flowers that I could find patterns for, and even then, this bouquet is bursting out of the vase.
REMARKABLY
BRIGHT CREATURES
By: Shelby Van Pelt
This is a recent addition to both the Favorite Book list and the garden. I was able to read Remarkably Bright Creatures in April, after having requested it from the library back in February. I loved it immediately, so I was highlighting the different flowers as I read. But first, I knew I wanted to make Marcellus himself. As I was making the bouquet, I was able to get a physical copy of the book, so now I feel like I have a completed set.
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This bouquet has daisies, "sunflowers" (except I did little ones), asters (I made a creative decision to make purple daisies), a daffodil, tulips, roses, a hydrangea, a rhododendron, and a clematis. I also added some fake rosemary, just for vibes.
TAYLOR SWIFT
BONUS:
Taylor Swift's music is actually where I originally got the idea to make these flower bouquets, and I'd argue that music and songwriting could be considered literature. But while she may not technically be included in the official canon anytime soon, it's hard to deny the magnificent storytelling that she is capable of (and I'd encourage you not to try).
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This bouquet is also technically unfinished. It includes all the flowers she has mentioned so far, but I plan to add to it if TS12 (or any of her music after than) uses flower symbolism. And considering every album except for "Fearless"/"Fearless (Taylor's Version)" has included some reference to flowers, I expect I'll be adding to it more often than not.
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Currently, the flowers used are: roses, violets, daisies, a poppy, morning glory, carnations, clover.
