If you’re not making some mistakes, it probably means you’re not trying hard enough. — Evan Davis
Greetings, Gentle Unravelers!
May is unfurling like the leaves on the trees in my yard and it feels so good! Me Made May is underway and it is off to a good start! My usual is to mix together things I have. made with things I have purchased. Jeans are my making hurdle and I have not attempted them…yet. I think about making them a lot, but the fear of making a glorified mess of them is holding me back. I am afraid to make a mistake.
I have so much other inspiration though, I might not need to tackle my jeans fears this month! The latest issue of Making is full of things I want to make! From some adorable quilted coasters to an incredible linen tunic…
And have you seen Sonya Philips new book, The Act of Sewing? I was lucky and nabbed a signed copy from Kay and Ann (sorry, they are sold out right now.) Sonya was the reason I started sewing again after a very long hiatus – her designs are comfortable, easy to wear, and so much fun to make! I love her encouragement to “make it your own”! I have paged through it and have started reading and my mind is full of new ideas! I am excited to carve out some sewing time!
On the knitting front… I am making progress on my Marled Purl Strings. I have divided the sleeves and am just knitting round and round and round… punctuated by occasional k1, p1 rounds. It is knitting at its best!
The reading this week was just so amazing:
As It Is in Heaven by Niall Williams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
There are only three great puzzles in the world, the puzzle of love, the puzzle of death, and, between each of these and part of both of them, the puzzle of God. God is the greatest puzzle of all.
What an incredibly tender story told as only Niall Williams can. His gift of writing makes the story of Phillip and Stephen and life “after” – each has their own life and the two are not twined together but for a weekly gathering to play chess in silence. Together, yet very much apart. It is a story full of joy, sorrow, pain, death, and life… so much life.
I highly recommend.
The Boy with the Narwhal Tooth by Christoffer Petersen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I think this book was an Amazon offering for a dollar or something… it is a novella and not long at all. It was okay. The characters are interesting as is the location in Greenland. Don’t expect any great depth though, it is exactly what you’d expect for a dollar book.
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The truth is we don’t know what we don’t know. We don’t even know the questions we need to ask in order to find out, but when we learn one tiny little thing, a dim light comes on in a dark hallway, and suddenly a new question appears. We spend decades, centuries, millennia, trying to answer that one question so that another dim light will come on. That’s science, but that’s also everything else, isn’t it? Try. Experiment. Ask a ton of questions.
This book was amazing, thought-provoking, and yes… it made me ask myself a ton of questions! It is the story of a family who immigrates to America – to Alabama, of all places – from Ghana. But more it is a story about life in America, it is about addiction, it is about religion, and it is about faith. It is brilliantly told and one that will stay with you for a very long time after you stop reading it!
I highly recommend you get this book today and start reading it!
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I will see you all back here on Friday with a bit of a spinning update!
Oh I can’t wait to see what you make from Sonya’s book. I’ve toyed with the idea of getting it. I do have one of her patterns for pants…perhaps I should try that first. Your marled Purl Strings is so pretty – you are going to have that finished in no time!!
So much wonderful making and reading right here! I hope you’ll share what you make from Making and The Act of Sewing. Your sewing is always inspirational (jeans or not!) and your Purl Strings is just lovely. I’m off to check my library for As It Is In Heaven. It sounds like what I need to read right now!
Do you think Sonya Philip’s book would be good for someone who knows next to nothing about sewing garments? I feel like I might be ready to tackle some simple things after doing masks and project bags last year, and I know her patterns have a good reputation.
I am so glad you loved Transcendent Kingdom! I think Yaa Gyasi is an amazing writer and I was so impressed by how much she managed to cram into what is a relatively short book.
Sonya Philip has gotten so many people back to their sewing machines (or even . . . getting them to sit down at the sewing machine for the first time ever!). She’s an inspirational wonder. I can’t wait to see what you make!
(And I think Transcendent Kingdom was just wonderful.)
I’m also looking forward to Sonya’s book! Thanks as always for the book recos I think I’m going to be reading at least one of them.
what a beautiful photo today! My reading has been good when I finished a Stephen King book (The Outsider) and bad when I finished a first reads book from amazon. So now I get to start a few more books! yay! my knitting is minimal.
Your sweater looks like it is coming along nicely. I’m anxious to see it finished. I may put a Niall Williams book on my summer list. I looked at that sewing book. I did some clothes shopping this week and I always come home thinking I should just get out the sewing machine. Sara of Yarns with Yinhoo Podcast does quite a bit of sewing and maybe last year? made a pair of jeans. I believe she talked about some helpful video, the specific pattern, and buttons, etc. that she used.
I used to sew all the time . . . every day, in fact. Now I rarely sew anything but I do sometimes miss it. I may just see if the library has that book!
Transcendent Kingdom has been on my radar for a while. I don’t know that it’ll be on my BINGO card, but I’m going to put it on my fall list! Jeans…what about experimenting by making a mini pair for Vivi? When I wanted to knit a dress for myself (which I didn’t end up doing), I did one for Elsa first. I LOVED it on her, then decided I’d make the largest child’s size dress and wear it myself as a tunic!
I treated myself to the British edition of Transcendent Kingdom and it arrived yesterday. Sadly, it is not at the top of my TBR but I am committed to reading it before the Women’s Prize announcement next month! I have a little bit of sewing mojo but nothing like the last two years of MeMadeMay – go you!!!