I don’t know about you, but I have some serious Knitting-ADD going on right now. I can’t seem to focus on any one thing and keep at it until it is finished! I spent some time last week going through my stash and odds and ends to see what I could find to make a sweater for Winston. I settled on five colors from two Blue Ridge Yarns Footlight sets and some left over yarn from a previous project and printed off a copy of ML Egan’s Leland (sorry no links to Ravelry any more) and cast on Monday night! I think it will be the perfect wintry sweater and I am loving how these colors look together! Why did I suddenly have the urge to cast on? Well, my daughter sent this photo and it was the best reminder that I needed to get moving on a sweater for that sweet boy! My nana heart aches that I cannot hold him, but Vivi promised me she is holding him all.the.time! I think she is doing an excellent job!
Vivi’s winning the mani/pedi contest (and I am in awe that her mom found the time to do that!) and that yawn!!
I have not forgotten Ranunculus, but neither have I picked it up since Sunday…I am on sleeve island and almost done with the first sleeve and I really want to get it done but, yeah. That desire is not inspiring me to stay project-monogamous..at all, lol.
Fortunately, my reading has been much more focused! I do love audiobooks, but sometimes a book does not work in the audio form… Song Yet Sung was one of those books for me. But The Summer Book was PERFECT!! And I have been reminiscing about similar conversations I had with my nana and chuckling to myself. I had sooo many questions and so many crazy ideas but my nana was as lovely as Sophia’s grandmother! I am sure my nana spent lots of time wondering where the hell that conversation came from! Haha!
Sometimes listening to a book is not the way to read it. This was one of those times. I struggled to keep up with the cast of characters. I needed to have a book where I could flip back to remember. Still, the story is compelling… I recommend reading it versus listening to it!
Gathering is peculiar, because you see nothing but what you’re looking for.
This book was wonderful. A friend stated that this book was one of the best reads of the pandemic and I wholeheartedly agree! This book is a conversation between a grandchild and her grandmother, and I loved every word! I saw conversations I had with my nana in these words. I laughed, I cried, and I did not want to leave Sophia’s island! I highly recommend!
That is all I have for today, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
Yesterday, Garrison Keillor read Hands by Jack Ridl. The words were brilliant and when I realized it was this Jack Ridl, I just had to share with you. I am pretty sure I have run into Mr. Ridl a few times when I lived in Holland, and I had the pleasure of knitting with his wife occasionally at a local knitting group!
But, back to his poem…it is brilliant, and so appropriate for a Monday! Here is to a week with my hands being busy…and no boredom!
What a week, eh? There is only so much avoidance one can do in any given week. I tried mightily to ignore, but sometimes that just does not work and that happened a lot this week. But despite the onslaught of bs, there were some pockets of goodness. And that goodness was enough to inspire me, lift me, fill me, and carry me through the chaos. So let’s get started!
First, are you missing intelligent conversation? Mm-hmm! Need a fix of a nostalgia for what was? Oh yes, I do! Well look no further… The Michelle Obama Podcast started this week! I mean really, stop everything and queue this up right now! You won’t be disappointed… at all! I promise!! Just do it!!
Then this piece just amazed me yesterday. John Lewis wrote it two days before he died… words for us, instructions for us… marching orders, as it were.
While my time here has now come to an end, I want you to know that in the last days and hours of my life you inspired me. You filled me with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you used your power to make a difference in our society. Millions of people motivated simply by human compassion laid down the burdens of division. Around the country and the world you set aside race, class, age, language, and nationality to demand respect for human dignity. – John Lewis
Thank you for these final words, Mr. Lewis. May you rest in power.
But the best was Barack Obama’s eulogy for “St. John”! It was so amazing. It is must watch…so settle in and be filled and inspired!
But it was not all inspiring finds this week because the Ravelry imbroglio continues, but there was this update from Jess which, frankly had me shaking my head. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. Honestly, all of this is so unacceptable. I don’t know what the fix is to all of this, but I do know this… I am not using Ravelry until it becomes accessible for everyone.
And if that was not all just enough, there was this update from Cat Bordhi… my heart is breaking for her and her dear family. If you’ve a mind to send her an email, you will find her address in her post.
That’s all from me this week… (have you requested your mail in ballot? The deadline is fast approaching!) See you all back here next week!
Let the blue sky meet the blue sea and all is blue for a time. — Moncy Barbour
I am in sea of blue knitting and it is so good! I am working away on my second Ranunculus… I have put the body on hold and have started on the sleeves. One thing I did not take into my calculations on the first sweater was “growth” which does happen with this yarn knit at this gauge. So, I wanted the sleeves and body to be a wee bit shorter, and I ordered 1 less skein of yarn. But, that niggling feeling that I might not have enough yarn is circling around my brain. To appease that feeling, I started on the sleeves.
I also went back to trying to finish up the “never-ending” seed stitch section of Purl Strings. I am happy to say, the little bits of time I plugged in worked and I am done with that section! Woo!
One would wonder if I am actually trying to achieve a Bingo Cover All, lol… or perhaps which bingo card will get that cover all first! Ha! I am in a bit of a holding pattern on bingo card one, and have focused on bingo card two mainly because of holds that became available from the library. That was the case with this week’s reading (and will likely continue next week…and I should definitely get bonus points for creative square filling!!)
Finn has “moved” back to Lewis and is grappling with his past, his present, and his future. He is working to make his parents house livable. And what happens? A body found in the peat, a mystery to be unraveled. What unfolds is a bitter tale of life for orphans. The story was gripping, the writing brilliant and this was an excellent continuation of Finn’s story. I highly recommend this book!
I had higher hopes for this book based on the brilliant start, but I soon got lost in the weeds of jumping around from problem to problem…The book touches on some significant topics but never really goes beyond scratching the surface of them.
That is all I have for today. Do you have a “never-ending” project going? Inquiring minds want to know!
As always, if you wrote a post to share today, please leave your link below and thank you!
I am joining Honoré and friends again this month to share an update on my word.
Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen Hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is. — Mary Anne Radmacher
I am discovering that living intentionally in Coronavirus Times can be more steps backwards than forward. July was one of those months. In a very big way.
There were so many steps back (I shared a bit here) and it felt a bit like a month of failure. But as I look back and contemplate, perhaps that is not one hundred percent true. I found that my day was a bit like filling buckets… time spent filling my meditation bucket, time spent reading, time spent knitting, and the largest bucket of all… my garden where I spent oodles of hours watering, picking, and tending…in the 900 gazillion degree weather. My garden truly needed my attention and it was an excellent diversion.
But I also intentionally ignored many things…the internet and my PC topped that list. I learned that living with intention means stepping back from things that are not good for you…finding a new rhythm and breaking the cycle that was fueling my stress. All that was surprisingly easy, which is shocking to me – who knew I was so good at avoidance! Haha! I think August will be another month to avoid those things that are stress-inducing.
No big “ah-ha” moments, but a series of small “oh!” moments worked for me!
The Mystery… she is finished! (and, as you can see above, I did have enough of EACH yarn!!) It needs to have all the ends woven in and some blocking, but this humidity means that won’t happen this week. But I am sharing it sans blocking. I am not so sure I like the bind off. It feels a bit like the designer thought “I need to have something different to finish” and this is it. I just am not sure “it” works. Maybe I will feel different post blocking, but right now I am thinking it is not staying. If that is the case, it will just have a simple…plain… bind off. Overall I am happy with the results, however I am putting mystery knits on the back burner for a bit.
Even unblocked, it is beautiful!
After all the beauty of this shawl, this ending is just “meh”
I know that LOTS of people were disappointed in this book, but I enjoyed it. It had all the bits of the previous books that I loved plus a main character I loved to hate (I had hopes Coriolanus might be salvageable, but nope… I hated him to the end) I also found this book to have an interesting take on Science Gone Absolutely Wrong.
“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time.”
“They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.”
The writing in this book is absolutely incredible. I listened and the narrator was excellent with the beautifully nuanced text! I loved Janie’s journey… it is compelling, honest, and full of hope and love. I cried at the ending… and I highly recommend this book!
That is all I have for this week. If you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below! See you back here next week when I join Honoré and share my Word Update!
Song Yet Sung by James McBride
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
