Happy New Year, Dear Unravelers!

In the “Dead Zone” that is the week between Christmas and New Years I did some “retail therapy” with Miss Babs. Why, you ask, could I need more yarn?!? Well, suffice it that it felt right and so I did it! My year of making is going to include a bit of a Gnome-a-thon! Yes, I am joining Imagine Landscapes for her Year of Gnomes! There might have also been a few things that “fell” into my cart from the MDK sale as well. I got notification yesterday that my yarn from Miss Babs is on its way but have heard nothing yet about the MDK extravaganza heading my way! I am hoping that soon every.single.field.guide. will be here. If nothing else, it will be some excellent reading! Ha!

Meanwhile… I did begin the Base12 Advent Spin. Oh my, is this going to be fun. My plan is that I will spin half of the twelve packages on one bobbin, the other half on another bobbin and I will ply them together. I have no clue what is in any of the little packages but the first package (Number Five thanks to the roll of the cute little die) spun up beautifully. I don’t know the exact content of the wee little batt but there is silk… gosh it is lovely! And the tiniest bit of something shiny! (And that color! Yes, I am liking it!)

I also cast on a new knit! Remember that mohair silk from the hat I knit for myself last year? Well… I started a cowl (Thanks to Karen at Pumpkin Sunrise!) So far, so good… sort of. If I look closely at the fabric under very bright lights the pooling is quite horrid, imo. (It’s the mohair that is causing the problem… grrrr!) However, I am telling myself that I don’t think any of the pooling will be at all noticeable when it is around my neck and that is working… kinda, lol. Further, I am reminding myself that when I am wearing it I won’t be looking at it. Anyways, I am loving that the mohair seems much fluffier when paired with the handspun yarn that it did with the Weld. I would kind of like to have this done soonish, as we are finally supposed to get some actual winter-type weather in these parts!

Whew!! That is all the making that I got done since we last spoke!

The reading had highs and lows last week and I have NO finishes at all this week, thus far. I started Still Life but could not get it finished before it was due (yeah I did not start it when I got it… and silly me thought that I would be able to read it in a day or two which was not the case. So I am back on the holds list… sigh.)

In my ears is the very compelling tale about the Sackler’s – Empire of Pain… I might be finished with it next week, but maybe not… it is not a story that I can just “sit and get lost in” kind of book.

I did get one more book finished last year… it was a book from Netgalley and boy was it good! As for the other finish…well you can read below!

State of TerrorState of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Oh my… I really, really, really wanted to love this book but boy did it fall flat.

I have read every Louise Penny book and a good number written by Secretary Clinton and separately, I love their voices… together…not so much.

I hated, hated, hated the “Three Pines” mentions… really… they did not work at all for me. I don’t like an abbreviated Gamache.

If you love Three Pines writing, and you love the things Secretary Clinton has written… you probably won’t like this book.

2.5 stars rounded up to three.

An Abolitionist's Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the WorldAn Abolitionist’s Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World by Patrisse Khan-Cullors
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was the perfect way to end 2021… and I believe this brilliant little book is “must reading” for every single person in America. Really.

Patrisse Cullors gives the reader a road map to be a catalyst for change in the world… and I am not talking radical change (although I think if one applies all of her 12-steps it would radical!) This book seemed to me a series of love letters to yourself and to the people around you that you might interact with every single day.

The only reason I am giving this book 4-stars is because I truly wished it was longer… gosh, it was so good I did not want it to end.

If you want to be a better ally… read this book. But realize that if you do read this book, you will be setting yourself on the path to becoming a better human. And wouldn’t it be a wonder if everyone who reads this book suddenly finds themselves on the same path as everyone else!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC of this audiobook. I highly recommend!


And that is all I have for today! What about you… any New Year Cast On’s? Any new books? Do tell!

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