Greetings Dearest Unravelers!
Christmas is now Looming Large… I hope that means that you have all the things you wanted to complete… completed. We got a bit of snow here in the ‘Burgh and I love it! YAY! I am feeling all the Christmas Feels with a spot of snow on the ground, a chill in the air, and a nice queue of Christmas movies to amuse me! (Thanks to all of you, by the way, for all your fun suggestions! I added several to my list!)
I am plugging away at my sweater… with my MacGyver Fixes…sigh. When one pays for a pattern one always hopes that it is error free… I realize no one is perfect and I do not expect perfection but what I do expect is some measure of responsiveness. However, here we are on Wednesday and the designer has still not contacted me regarding my question/the error. I could not see any close ups on the button holes (or the pockets) so I did what any knitter would do… I tried figured out what the designer might have wanted and then did what made sense with the pattern I was knitting and the functionality of the garment. However, if you decide to knit this sweater, please note that in size 7 there are some significant errors in the button hole construction and the rejoining of the held stitches to the pocket flap you made. (There are also errors in the sleeve transition from ribbing to the sleeve…but that one was easier to figure out.) Frustrating… yes but none of the mistakes have delayed the knitting… much.
I also figured out… successfully… the perfect necklace for Fancy Gnancy. (who is now hanging on Vivi’s Christmas Tree so I can share with you all!) I used Perle cotton and some “turquoise” beads I had and it worked perfectly. I then tacked the “necklace” down under the brim!
Fancy Gnancy with her pearls!
I am at a bit of a pause on my Mystery Gnome-man… waiting for the arrival of some florists wire to help his arms… well…. be arms! Still no picture… suffice it to say that he has sad, pitiful arms currently but once those arms have some wire threaded through… well, he will be putting Frosty to shame!
What I really should be working on are Temperature Circles… and I will be catch-up-stitching this week and next to get myself close to the finish! (I have much of November and all of December to go… so a good bit of stitching!)
The reading this week has been brilliant… just brilliant! I was lucky to get an email from Netgalley for Tommy Orange’s new book, Wandering Stars. I downloaded it and started reading and really had a very difficult time putting it down! It is beautifully written, heart-breaking at times… and very heart-warming at other times. I highly recommend it!
I also finished the third installment in the Max Tudor series… and delightfully the author led me down a bit of a rabbit hole with this week’s read… I was lucky my library had A Train in Winter available so I began listening to it yesterday.
I also read my last “week” in Poetry Unbound… drawing to close my almost year of Poetry as Meditation. This is a habit I am carrying to 2024 and Bonny asked what I might be selecting as for the year. After some consideration, I have chosen Poetry of Presence II: More Mindfulness Poems for next year. If any of you want to join me, I’d love the company!
AND!! Tomorrow I am ever so excited for Winter Solstice! Why? Well… that is the day I begin reading (again) The Comfort of Crows.… I will spend the year with Margaret… reading each week and adding my own reflections about my Backyard Year!
Now, a bit of Blog Housekeeping to bring us to the end of the year. I will be here tomorrow with my contribution to A Gathering of Poetry… and I will have a final update for my word on the 26th but there won’t be any Unraveled post next week. The next Unraveled link up will be January 3rd, 2024!
I will spend the first couple of weeks in January doing a bit of a 2023 review… best knits, best reads, etc.
Finally, I wish you and your families a very happy Christmas! I want you all to know how much I appreciate your willingness to share what you are making and reading each week… you all inspire me with your making as well as keeping my reading list full!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
Your sweater is so beautiful Kat. I’m sorry about the issues with the pattern – frustrating for sure, but glad you have been able to work through those issues on your own (because you don’t seem to be getting any help!). It’s hard to believe that we are winding down to the end of this year and the beginning of a new. 2023 has flown by. I’m off next week and am hoping to settle in with time for knitting, stitching, reading and maybe even getting out for a brisk walk! Merry Christmas!!
Have a marvellous Christmas Kat, and thank you for bringing us all together every week!
Fancy Gnancy will be delighted with her early Christmas present 😊
Your sweater is lovely despite the errors and unresponsiveness! And you’re an experienced knitter so I wonder what someone with far less experience might do. I hope you carry on knitting and have a beautiful sweater in spite of the issues. Gnancy is very fashionable with her fancy necklace!
I realized yesterday that I hadn’t read There, There so I started that and requested Wandering Stars. I will join you in reading Poetry of Presence II next year, and I will also be giving myself the gift of Poetry Unbound. I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and thank you for hosting Unraveled Wednesday. It is one of the highlights of my week!
In response to Bonny’s wondering, I can tell you what a less experienced knitter would be doing. Sweating + fretting + sending out an SOS right here! I’m so glad the errors haven’t delayed the knitting much–but you make a fine point: Frustrating! And there are, certainly, reasonable expectations when you’ve paid for a pattern. Perfection would be nice, of course, but we all have room for humanness. Communication and/or responsiveness count for so much, though.
So fun to see Gnancy on Vivi’s tree! And we, too, are delighting in some snowfall here. Enjoy the cozy catch-up time with your temperature project (a ‘feels like 20 degrees’ day seems a fine day for that!). And enjoy that basement and closet time. A great reset.
I am sorry you’ve had such frustration with this pattern! I’m glad you’ve made it work, but as you’ve noted, a less-experienced knitter would have struggled. I do hope the designer does respond and corrects the pattern.
I’m reading Wandering Stars right now and hope I can find time to see and do some sustain reading because a few minutes before bed is just not enough!
You have convinced me to Order A Comfort of Crows and to join you on a year long devotion of my own backyard – thank you!
I am so sorry about all of the pattern frustration, Kat. I hope you’re able to take your time and work through the errors in a satisfactory way. And that the pattern becomes more enjoyable!
Fancy Gnancy looks quite elegant in her pearls! She is adorable.
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and I look forward to seeing your year-end wrap up.
I look forward to joining you reading A Comfort of Crows during the next year! I really enjoy Renkl’s writing! Wishing you a wonderful Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
I love the addition of that necklace for Fancy Gnancy! I have the new Tommy Orange book as well and I think I will read it next week when I’m on Christmas Vacation. It’s one of my favorite weeks of the year! Happy Christmas, Kat!
love the necklace!! I cannot believe we are at the end of the year. I’m in recovery mode with my lovely illness and hope I have the energy for my company when they arrive. Merry Christmas!