by Kat | Mar 20, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
A very short post this week… I seem to be at the “in between stage” at lots of things!
Yes, I spent some of yesterday seaming up Deschain. Thank you, Mary for the fantastic suggestion on how to make the yarn work – splitting it worked perfectly!! Today is all about doing a bit of an in-the-round gauge swatching to see what size needles I will need to use for the sleeves! (Just sleeves and the neckline and this baby is done!!)
In the not going to be done soon category – I did find some time yesterday afternoon to work on Tegna – and I worked on it more at Knitting last night! It is truly to the “easy knit” stage and it will get lots of attention during March Madness so maybe I can get this done sooner than I am thinking! But, still, I have miles and miles and miles of knitting ahead of me on this one, so I don’t think that even all of March Madness will see this finished – but who knows!
I finished just one book this week – but what a book it was! I think that Kym was the person who put The Heart’s Invisible Furies on my radar. Her review was so excellent that I immediately got on the wait list for it and fortunately, I did not have to wait long!! I realize that it is only March, but I predict this will be in the top five of the best books I read this year. The writing is just fantastic. The story is compelling – so compelling I could not stop listening! I laughed often, and cried hard more than once. It gets 5-stars and really – you need to read this book, it is just that good!
I have several books going right now, and hopefully by next week I will have at least a couple of them done!
That is all I have for this week, and as always:
Thank you for your participation!
by Kat | Mar 13, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Tegna has finally become a practically mindless knit! Yes, the lace work is done, and I have reached the stockinette portion. Woo! I have also started my second skein of yarn!
Although, it has not had much attention this week as I thought a new spring/summer sweater might be a lovely thing. In my stash reorganization from a few weeks ago, I found a large bag (17 skeins!) of some Jo Sharp long discontinued, cotton blend yarn and I have been thinking about what to do with it. I did some swatching over the weekend and found that the fabric I liked best from this yarn matched the gauge exactly of Deschain! Perhaps this is how I should swatch in the future – knit a fabric I like and then find a pattern to match my swatch!! Haha!
Anyways, it is a fluid, drapey fabric – and I have more than enough yarn to make it a bit longer and I think I am also going to do some short rows in the back as well. And, can I just say how quick this is knitting up? Honestly, I only knit it on Monday, give or take a couple of rows I squeezed in before bed last night and I am just 2 or 3 repeats from finishing the front! I have high expectations to have this sweater finished and soon!
The reading this week has been mostly very good and I finished four books!
The very good reads:
Sir Ernest Shackleton’s South: The Story of Shackleton’s Last Expedition, 1914-1917. This was an amazing read – the bravery of the crew just astounded me as did their temerity at surviving in practically impossible odds. I listened to this book, and highly recommend it – 4-stars.
Maria Shriver’s I’ve Been Thinking… This book came at the perfect time for me. I recommend it as well! 4-stars.
Paul Auster’s Timbuktu – hands down, this was the best book I read this week. I laughed, I cried more than once, and my love of Paul Auster’s magnificent writing grew even deeper! If you love dogs, you must read this book. 5- stars.
And, finally – the book I really struggled with:
Louise Erdrich’s Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country: Traveling Through the Land of My Ancestors. This book was a struggle for me – I had a very hard time keeping track of all the details and it just felt very disjointed. I sadly am giving this just 2-stars.
That is all I have for this week, and as always:
Thank you for your participation!
by Kat | Mar 6, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
I confess that I love this very lion-like start to March. I am hopeful that means it might have a lamb-like ending!
But, really… this weather is entirely normal, amirite? (And, this was from yesterday – I have not seen today’s numbers yet… but Sunday!! What?!)
My knitting on Tegna marches on wonderfully and I am just past the halfway point on the lace work! I also have a few less stitches also, so the rounds are going just the tiniest bit faster – or at least it seems that way to me!
Every year my church has a woman’s luncheon where items are provided for a Chinese-Style Auction. They have asked me to knit a shawl for them again, so I have been looking at things on Ravelry. But honestly, I think it might be time for me to jump on the Hitchhiker Band Wagon, because I am more than positive that I have dozens of lovely skeins that would work beautifully for it! I even have some gradient skeins that might work well. My question for all you Hitchhiker devotees: How do you feel about a Hitchhiker made with just one skein of yarn? Are there enough teeth? Is it sufficiently wrappable? This inquiring knitter wants to know – please do share your thoughts!
On the reading front, it has been a very good week again.
I finished James Baldwin’s Go Tell it on the Mountain. This book was published in 1953 and it is still profoundly relevant today. The writing is magnificent. If you have not read any James Baldwin, I strongly suggest you do, and this book is an excellent place to start! I highly recommend and I gave it 4-stars!
I also finished Michelle Obama’s Becoming. I listened and it was almost like having Michelle sitting in my living room having a conversation with me. It is excellent and sadly, it makes me long for more Obama’s… much more. 5-stars and this gets my “must read” recommendation!
Katrina Rodabaugh’s Mending Matters was also devoured, and I loved it so much I headed out last weekend to get a copy for my library. If you want to start mending, or start sewing, or start stitching – this book is full of incredible ideas. 5-stars and this is the perfect addition to your stitching library.
That is all I have for the week – and thankfully there was no unraveling! If you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Feb 27, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
It has been a very good week for knitting – I have finished my “Shawl of Many Colors” and I simply love it! It was worth every stitch. And, the weather forecast tells me that I will be able to wear it a couple of times this week, so yay!! And, it is substantial – I can wrap it twice around my neck with room to spare!
My next project is one that is involving some very deep stash. I am going to give Tegna another go, and yes, more knitting with mohair silk – this time Colinette Parisienne. I got gauge and have begun the casting on process – 420 stitches are a lot to cast on, but I am being smart and including the markers you add in the first round of knitting. This makes all that counting infinitely easier! The tricky bit will be the lace section and not twisting the cast on…hopefully, I am not jinxing myself even mentioning it – but once that is done it is just round and round stockinette!
The reading is also good this week, I finished Kingdom of the Blind and wow. I won’t give any thing away, but I cried quite a bit. And, the breadcrumbs left for the next novel have me eagerly awaiting the next novel. 5-stars and I highly recommend this series!
I also finished Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy. Another wow! This is a book I will be thinking about for some time to come. I gave it 5-stars and if you loved 4 3 2 1, I think you will enjoy this set of intertwined mysteries.
What about you? Have you started anything new?
As always, if you wrote a post to share – please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Feb 20, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Eight short days and February will be over and the question remains…can I finish my Shawl of Many Colors in that amount of time? I am close – so close!! If I go by the Twenty-Five Days of Knitting, I have 4 colors to go, but then I added in 2 more colors (although one will only be used once) that means I have 6 colors to go and I started another repeat last night… yes, I think this is doable, even if I do one last repeat of the very first color I used – I am not certain about this, but I think it will make for a nicer finished scarf.
Also, can I just say how lovely it has been sitting and knitting with this in my lap? Despite today’s snowy weather, my thoughts are really turning to spring! However, reality tells me that there will likely be a good bit more winter weather and I will get to wear it quite a bit in March.
The reading this week was interesting.
First, I sadly did not finish The Widows of Malabar Hill before it was due back to the library. I am back on the wait list, but it is not too long – so hopefully soon I will be finishing it!
I finished Vox, which was such a disappointment. If you are looking for dystopian fiction, I suggest The Handmaid’s Tale or if you want a novel where the women are in control, The Power was a great read! Two stars, and really don’t waste your time!
I finished My Year of Rest and Relaxation and I have very, very mixed thoughts about this book. I gave it 3 stars, because for some strange reason I could not stop listening to it – I guess sort of like watching a train wreck. It is the story of one extremely messed up young woman who lives in NYC and how she lives the most medicated life ever – and for several months she medicates herself to “sleep” with an “end date” that she will suddenly just be normal and not need to medicate herself anymore. Yeah, I thought the ending was more than a bit lame. I am not certain I would classify drugging yourself into a stupor as “rest and relaxation” but there you have it. Somehow, miraculously, she does not kill herself, and I have no clue how she did not.
I said Monday that I was going to ration dear Armand Gamache, HA! You might have even asked yourself how I remotely thought that might be a possibility!! Yep, I am over half way through and thought I might be able to finish today, but Steve is home because of the snow – so my listening time will be drastically reduced, lol.
And, on my Kindle I am more than half way through Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy… oh, my goodness! LOVE!!
That is all I have for this week! If you wrote a post to share, please leave your link and thank you for joining us today!
by Kat | Feb 13, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Sometimes the “unraveling” happens inside your brain. I had thought that I had figured out how to proceed with my Thea Rachelle Raglan, but then I saw something on Instagram that stopped me in my tracks. Someone sewed the “vision” I had, and it was not at all what I imagined it would be. I won’t share the link, because, sadly, it was not at all what I imagined it would be. And, so I just kind of froze on the project and pondered… but eventually, I got back to the drawing board. Enter the flat, without pleats version of the Thea Rachelle and I am hopeful enough to cut out the pattern and I am reminding myself that it is just a “muslin” and I will go from there. A small investment to determine what works, right? But that feeling of fear – not going forward – unsure of what to do… it is not at all a place where I find comfort.
I don’t like these feelings at all – my inner self just wants to put it all away and do something else! Something that I don’t fear, can move forward because I am exactly sure of what I will do. However, learning sometimes is a challenging process for mind and body!
There is a big lesson in here for me – growth comes with learning and learning is not always comfortable…and it is okay to feel uncomfortable!
All that thinking time allowed me to knit a sock – ahem, in less than 3 days!! And, while I had hoped it would be a sock for the “gift basket” I think it will be too big for my daughter. I have started the mate and have pulled some yarn from the never-ending sock yarn stash and will soon cast on another sock in a smaller size! And, Sarah!! This is the most awesome pattern! There is enough interest to “keep knitting” and it falls into the practically instant gratification category!
I am also about six colors from finishing my Wrap of Many Colors! I cannot tell you all what joy this brings me – I can see the finish line!
The reading this week had some bits of disappointment and that makes me sad.
I finished The Library, which I wanted to like so badly, and perhaps I might have if I had read it versus listening to it. Even with the author reading it, it was a challenge to stay engaged for a number of reasons. First, each chapter begins with her reading the library information for a list of books – title, author, and library numbers… yeah, umm it was so distracting. The story was often rambling and hard to follow. She throws in tidbits of information that are interesting, but I wondered how they pertained to the story – and she never tied up the loose ends before the story ended. It got two stars.
I also finished The Friend – imagine a friend dies and you end up with his dog – a Neapolitan Great Dane – and you live in a very small apartment in NYC, that does not allow you to keep pets! This story unfolds in a most interesting way and it is beautifully told despite it having parts that I felt could have been left out. This book got 3.5 stars.
What about you? Do you have any making challenges this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share, please leave your link and thank you!
