by Kat | Sep 13, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers!
**Sorry for this late posting, I thought I scheduled it to post, but apparently that did not work out… sigh. Entirely operator error… not at all a WordPress issue.**
It pains me to say this but September is just racing along, isn’t it? This week the temperature switch was flipped… sigh. I was hoping the humidity would depart first. I have little to show for my making this week but I do have a healthy start on a soprano and bass gnome.
Gnola just needs her music and she will be complete. Her twin brother, Gnolan, needs a bit more knitting time. That will leave me with just an alto gnome to knit and I will have my singing quartet! I also have a vision of a tall tree that they can sing around…which should get me to the next mystery gnome! I am not on the bandwagon for all the goodies but I do love the slower pace that the December mystery knit brings!
I “reactivated” my afternoon spinning reminder as well – and those few minutes have been productive! I have one bobbin done of the contrast for the heels and toes and one bobbin of singles for the yarn done… two bobbins to go! I want to get this done to have a handspun sock to knit on vacation next month! This is a “bird” color way from a club that Fibernymph Dye Works did a couple of years ago… some Blue Jay socks will be so fun!
The reading has had a good book and a not so good book. I had two finishes, one I enjoyed: Martin Walker’s The Patriarch with Chief Bruno Courreges. A great mystery, and as always, Bruno’s delectable cooking! The one that was no so good (at least for me) was The Librarianist… a disappointing read. This is a very character driven novel… which is great unless the characters are not so likable.
I am much more enjoying the characters in My Friends… and the writing is so much better than The Librarianist… so much better. I am just over halfway through and loving every bit of it. I also dove into The Bee Sting and am roughly a third of the way in. It is long but I am loving it thus far!
What about you… what is occupying your time this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Sep 6, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unravelers!
My knitting mojo is on the thin side this week. Soaring temperatures have put the kibosh on a lapful of wooly knitting… so there has been little progress on my Pressed Flowers wrap.
Instead I cast on a sock… which is barely begun so you can see it has not had much attention.
Another pair of Pressed Flower Socks!
Instead I have been stitching… appliqué pieces to their little squares and circles.
I have nearly 25 squares done now and I really don’t want to stop. The simple joy of needle, thread, and my thoughts are the perfect thing. One thing I loved about August was the intentional quiet and I have found myself eager for those quiet moments! It is amazing where your thoughts can go when there is intentional quiet!
My temperature circles are well past the halfway point… there is a whole lot of yellow and red. And one significant thing… in my neighborhood we have only had a handful of 90+ degree days (until this week that is! LOL) And we have not reached 100° F once! I am almost at the August mid-point… so I have some catch up to do!
The reading this week though… oh my! So good. I finished Michael Cunningham’s soon-to-be-published book, Day was so incredibly good! I did not rush through it… I savored every word. I also finished Brotherless Night… which was fantastic! I wanted to go slow, but I could not put it down! I cried a lot but it was so incredibly good! (and it was the perfect thing to read before discussing the Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. (and while I really liked Seven Moons, I loved Brotherless Night so much more!)
In my ears this week, I am back in Saint-Denis and loving it! And at night I am reading a book that Netgalley recommended to me… My Friends by Hisham Matar and it is so good.
And that is my making this week… what about you? What are you making or reading this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Aug 30, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers!
We have arrived at the last Wednesday in August! No lies here… I am more than a little excited for September and my week of knitting reflects that.
I finished my Pressed Flower Socks and I love them! Kym asked last week about sock thickness… and yes, these are a bit thicker than normal hand knit socks. But they will work perfectly for me… I like to wear clogs in the winter and they work well in my Haflinger clogs!
I have not cast on another pair, but I will be – it was a great pattern to knit! Clear instructions and the best part is that you get the “look of color work” without the tension problems one might have with color work… they are mosaic knitting so you only are ever knitting with one color.
Instead of casting on another sock, I pulled out my Pressed Flowers wrap and have made some good progress (until I started adding in random flowers to transition into the “border pattern” that is…That has caused a bit of unraveling…sigh.) But I think I have it on track now and once I have the rhythm, it goes quickly!
I have also been fascinated by Emily Greene’s latest design – Archetype. I love how it looks and I am intrigued with the construction…it is knit flat, in pieces! I have not knit one of Emily’s patterns since Calmus and I think that this fall might be the time to try again. I might even have some yarn in a cart while I think about it. Stay tuned!
The reading this week was so good! I finished Jesmyn Ward’s Let Us Descend… and wow. It was so incredibly good! (not easy, but so good!) I loved it and believe that when too many people are trying to ban books… this book is a necessary read! Let Us Descend comes out October 3rd if you want to get on the list for it! I leaned into the challenging reads this week with Matthew Desmond’s Poverty, by America. A life changing book… and a very eye-opening read.
I also enjoyed my romp in Saint-Denis with Bruno… and I highly recommend the series!
My current reads include the start of the next Bruno book (thank you so much Hoopla!) and a soon-to-be published novel by Michael Cunningham, Day: A Novel. Both very good!
So tell me… what are you trying to wrap up in these last days of August?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Aug 23, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
Here we are closing in on the end of August and I am very much ready for the humidity and mosquitos to depart! Those two things…my most disliked parts of summer.
Those pesky mosquitos have been making morning porch time… challenging. And the humidity has been nixing my afternoon time on the porch as well. Sigh.
But indoor time has meant I have a finished sock and a good start on its mate, some more squares done, and even more temperature circles completed. (big hint… I had all of July *and* August to do… and I have almost got July done!)
A sock and a third…
I promised that I would share the details of my Hitch on the Move. I knit it with fingering weight yarn (not DK as the pattern called for) I started with a 100 gram skein of solid sock yarn and 227-ish grams of handspun yarn. I used a US 4 needle (which gave me a lovely, drape-y fabric) and knit the “a” section until I had 55 grams of the solid yarn left. I then began the “b” portion of the pattern. In the end I had just 5 grams of the solid left and 9 grams of the hand spun yarn. (Yes, I worried for those last few LONG rows! You can see my leftover bits and bobs above) My finished dimensions are: 108″ in length and 24″ deep… a lovely LARGE shawl to wrap up in! I love how Martina’s “knit by weight” works for fingering yarn as well as DK! I love it and am contemplating another!
Sorry for this repeat photo but heat + humidity = no self-modeled shots.
The reading this week was Perfect Late Summer Reading if ever there was such a thing! My favorite book of the summer will absolutely be Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake. I loved every bit of it! I mean what is not to love about summer, theater, Michigan, cherries, and a compelling story! (and Meryl Streep reading it did not hurt either!)
This week I am tucked away in southern France with Bruno Courrèges and a murder mystery. It has been too long since I picked up one of Martin Walker’s books and this week I discovered they are all available on Hoopla! (yay for no wait books!) At night I am reading Jesmyn Ward’s soon-to-be published Let us Descend which is not light at all… so I am slowly digesting the story.
I need to read a bit faster as the library hold avalanche is looming… such a delightful problem to have! Ha!
But what about you? What are you loving this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Aug 15, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Hello dear Unravelers!
It is Wednesday and that means a bit of a check in with my making and reading…and while last week had little progress this week the making and reading are strong!
I have been doing some more stitching… and I have broken the 60 minute mark on a square! Ha! I have 4 done and am thoroughly enjoying the learning process! I am enjoying my afternoon stitching (although the humidity has kept me from sitting on the porch to do it… sigh.)
I have also found the rhythm of my Pressed Flower Sock! I am nearing the toes. I have one repeat to go before Toe #1… I am a bit nervous about length but I am going to go with the suggestions that Amy Christoffer’s gives. I have yarn picked out for a second pair as I think these will make wonderful “clog” socks for the fall/winter.
And yes, I do have a finish this week! Hitch on the Move is done… almost. She still needs a good soak and some better glamor shots (it was pretty grey and cloudy here yesterday.) Some notes on the pattern… when you get to the point where you are no longer increasing on “both sides” make sure you have a stitch count on side “a” that is divisible by 10… I did not and had to do some creative adjusting in the last few “teeth” because there was no way I was unraveling any of those long ass rows! Anyways, it is the perfect size and really love it! It will be a great addition to brisk walks (when brisk weather ever returns here… lol.) I also weighed my “a” yarn and transitioned when I reached Martina’s suggested weight and I worried I would run out of yarn but I did not! (and my leftovers have gone into the mitered square bag!)
Speaking of which… I only added one square this week but that is okay. I did go through the Deep Stash of leftover bits and pulled out a few more to add in.
Now how about a reading update! It has been another incredible week! I had 3 finishes that were so, so good! And my current reads are just as good! I am back with Gabriel Allon in The Collector. I am thrilled that the “old gang” is back together. I missed them all very much in The Portrait of an Unknown Woman so having them back is excellent! And in my ears during the day is Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake. I am loving that as well!
And there you have my making and reading this week… what about you? What are you excited about this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
I will see you all back here tomorrow with some poetry!
;
by Kat | Aug 9, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers!
Last week… I finished no books… this week, I have little to nothing to show for my making!
First up… I had high hopes to be done with my Hitch on the Move… but I am at the portion of knitting where the rows are LONG… so long. I have roughly 20 more long-assed rows and 20 very short rows to go to and then bind off. I am persevering and trying to get a long row or two done a day…trying but not always succeeding!
I have gotten a couple more mitered squares done (thanks to morning time on the porch!) But this is not a race to the finish, but rather an exercise in the joy of stitching. And it is all kinds of joy!
My big project this week has been all about the appliqué… I have watched the first two lessons and have started. I paid less attention to the “color picking” lesson – as I am using a couple of charm packs which all coordinate. I have watched the second lesson on the actual appliqué process twice and I started on a “block”… whew. That one square took me over an hour to stitch. I feel very much like I did when I started watercolor lessons… you know, that doing-something-new-is-not-at-all-easy feeling. I picked the “easiest” shape… and boy was it hard! Yes you can see my stitches, but by the last bit, they were better… not great but better. At this rate, I will have enough “blocks” to make a Happy Hour table runner by Christmas! LOL But!! I like it… very much. It is absolutely portable. It is very engaging and I think that soon… it just might be relaxing as well! Ha!
One down… a lot more to go!
The reading this week… so, so, so good! In my ears I am listening to Master Slave Husband Wife. I will likely finish it today and it is just so good. If you like history, you will love this story. At night, I am reading The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons, another in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, this time by Karin Smirnoff. It’s good and probably not a wise choice to read before bed, but there you go.
That is all I have for today… what about you? What are you making progress on?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
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