Greetings Unravelers!
The knitting is slow and steady this week and please forgive the lame photo of said slow and steady knitting. I am just over half way through the arm increases for my Vodka Lemonade. I should be a bit further, but I was distracted by the first clue of KK’s MKAL! I got it done with some days to spare and clue two will be out on Friday! So far, so very good! I love the lace work and how it flows along. (No spoiler’s here… if you want to see how the MKAL is progressing, you can see photos here!)
I am also looking at the calendar and figuring out what days might work best for my participation in Marie Greene’s Sweater in 4-days KAL. I have not settled on the days yet, but this is something you absolutely need to plan out!
The reading has fortunately been much better, and I have a couple of finishes to share with you!
First up, I finished The Kremlin’s Candidate…this is perhaps the best series I have read in a very long time! (Outside of Armand Gamache, but more on him later) I will give no spoilers away here, but I will tell you that the ending made me cry. 5-stars all the way!
Next, I finished The Feather Thief for my “Set in a different county” square. This is an intriguing true story about a heist from the Tring Museum in London. It is well done and fascinating. 4-stars and I highly recommend this story!
Now, on to Armand Gamache who is my current “listen” for my Mystery square. The Nature of the Beast is the first book after dear Ralph Cosham passed away. I admit I am struggling mightily with the transition to the new narrator, Robert Bathurst. Now, don’t get me wrong, Mr. Bathurst is not a poor narrator at all, but he is not Ralph Cosham. And, I am finding myself deeply missing his way of reading – his inflection and how he related the story to the listener. I had hoped that I would ‘get used to’ Mr. Bathurst, but this will likely be the last story I listen to in the Armand Gamache series. For me, I would rather hear Ralph’s voice in my head as I read the story than be distracted by the voice I cannot get used to at all. However, Penny as usual, is doing a masterful job in this the eleventh book in the series and I should be finished with it later today!
Up next: This is How it Always Is for my ‘with a cover that matches a current WIP’ square and then Gilead fills the ‘one-word title’ box. And, Gilead does double duty as it is also on The Great American Read list!
This week I also started a second bingo card…I know! What the heck? But, The Kremlin’s Candidate helped me out by filling the “Thriller” square and I have books that have come in from the library that I did not have a square for, so it seemed logical to begin another card. As luck would have it the book that came from the library is Fredrik Backman’s new book, Us Against You, which will perfectly fit the “originally published this year” square on my new card. I am not sure how far I will get on this card, but there is still a good bit of time between now and Labor Day!
If you wrote a post to share today, please leave your link below!
And, what are you making and reading this week?
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Vodka Lemonade is looking gorgeous! And WOW! Once again, you are flying through books. I love the Armand Gamache books, but I do read them rather than listen. Several of those you mention are on my Overdrive wait list. My (quick) update is on my blog.
I also struggled with Robert Bathurst’s narration. No one will replace Ralph Cosham, but Bathurst settles into the job well and your ear will become attuned to his pace and voice. I’m having fun fitting books into the squares I’ve been given, but Bingos are on the horizon! This year your summer knitting is full of sunny colors!
I love the color of your new sweater — summery and light. I, too, grieved Ralph Cosham’s voice — but like Margene said, your ear will become attuned to Robert Bathurst’s narration. It took a while, but I eventually accepted him as the “voice of Gamache.” 🙂 I am reading “Gilead” right now. It is a simple, lovely book — and gives much to think about. XO
I just love the color of your sweater with all those lovely tweedy bits! Given that it’s supposed to go up to the 90s this weekend, I would not be at all surprised if you didn’t feel much like knitting a wool sweater.
I’ve finished two books this week (which I mentioned in my blog post yesterday) and got a very few pages into a new book last night, so I’m not sure yet if I like it or not. It was a giveaway from Goodreads, so it’s got that going for it!
I read Gilead several years ago and thought that it was such a lovely story-I hope you are enjoying it! I recently finished Song of a Captive Bird, about the Iranian poet & feminist, Forugh Farrokhzad and I finished the first clue of the TTL mystery shawl. I enjoy seeing your progress on your sweater!
I have my yarn next and my pattern. Think I might need to start on July 1 because I will likely need more than 4 days. This is the summer or orange for you!
Those arm increases always seem to take forever, but even slow progress is still progress! and ha! – I shared a big ol’ spoiler for the MKAL on my blog today … maybe I’ll re-think that for next week 🙂
I’m always happy to see your wip photos, no matter whether they are slow and steady or fast and speedy. I’m looking forward to your thoughts on This Is How It Always Is, and especially Us Against You. You’ll probably be done by next Wednesday since you read so fast and so much!
slow and steady wins the race! assuming there is a race of sorts 🙂 I am battling a back ache so my knitting is minimal but I’m hopeful I’ll be blissfully knitting soon!!
I wont add my post today because it is all about teachers and not much knitting. Im ripping out what I did last night on the log cabin . hee hee.
I love thatyou miss someones voice. I miss my moms voice
A SECOND BINGO CARD!! Haha. I’ll be lucky to get a Bingo at all. Vodka Lemonade is looking great — gorgeous increases, and loving all the orange yarn over here!
Some great book suggestions, I have 3 cards going and figured I’ll fill up at least one of them. I have Nature of the Beast on hold, so I appreciate the heads up that we’ve got a new narrator. I’ll probably end up frogging puntilla for the 2nd time as I apparently can’t figure out simple sweater construction!?!
I am just beginning to read/listen to Armand read by the “old” narrator so I will have to pay close attention to the change when I get to the “new” one. Knitting/Stitching of any sorts quietly awaits, making no demands as I deal with the “current events…”