by Kat | Feb 28, 2018 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
And, with a blink of an eye – February is over!
I must confess, I am loving the extra moments of daylight this month brought as well as the bit of spring weather we have had for the past week or so.
This week, there was some unraveling – I ripped out the neck on my Carbeth and am in the process of re-knitting it. I hope that this “theory” works.
I also have had a great deal of fun swatching for the Lunar Phase MKAL. I am undecided with my “dark” yarn. I sent some photos to Vicki yesterday and will wind more yarn today for more swatching! I have narrowed things down a bit:
Option One:
Option Two:
I have one sleeve almost done on my Strokkur, and I hope to get sleeve two done this week, which ushers in the color work knitting which seems to me to be the “fast” portion of lopapeysa knitting. We have snow in the forecast this weekend, so that might give me some incentive to get it done! Ha!
I also got back to work on my MKAL sock. I am to the heel on Sock One. I am listening to The Complete Patrick Melrose Novels on Audible, so I have 25 hours of listening time! More than enough to get these socks caught up (and done as the last clue is out tomorrow!)
Speaking of reading, February was a very good month for books and I finished 11 books!
I loved Winter by Ali Smith, The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry, You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie, and Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingale. However, as the month ends, The Woman Who Smashed Codes remains the best book I have read by far!
I have some good books in the queue for March as well! I am especially excited to start reading Rosie Colored Glasses by Brianna Wolfson and Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson.
What did you read this month that you loved?
If you are joining us today – welcome and thank you! Please leave the link to your post in your comment.
by Kat | Feb 21, 2018 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
I have lots to unravel today, so let’s get right down to it!
First up, today is my 1,111th post here on As Kat Knits! I had planned on acknowledging that momentous occasion on the 1,000th post, but yeah… it blew by with little notice from me! When I realized it, I thought it would be best to then wait for a nice uniform number… and today is that day! I had no idea that when I started this back in 2006 that I would have this much to say! But, what I love most about this blog is all of you, Gentle Readers! I have met a few of you and have found the nicest community of people anywhere on the internet! Thank you for stopping by here to read what I have to say!
My Olympic Knitting has come to a finish and my Carbeth is s-l-o-w-l-y drying! I had hoped for some photos today, but she is no where near dry enough and since I am using Ann’s plate technique… I am not moving her until she is completely dry! I am also having a bit of an internal debate on the collar, but I am waiting to see how it blocks out.
However, I have moved back to my “regularly scheduled knitting” … that’s right my Mystery Socks are moving through clue two and I will start on the sleeves of my Strokkur today. Yesterday it seemed quite odd to be knitting sweaters and socks with the temperatures soaring into the upper 70’s! I am not ready for warm weather yet, so slow down there winter!
The good reading streak continues with my finish of When We Were Yours – I really loved this book! It is heart wrenching but beautifully told. I gave it 5-stars and highly recommend it!
I also finished God of Howl Mountain, which is an ARC from Net Galley. It was good and shares the way of life in the mountains of South Carolina in the 50’s. I gave it 3-stars because some of the things that happened seemed a little unrealistic and could have been left out, in my opinion. But, all in all, a good read.
I am listening to a bit of a palate cleanser with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. So far, so good – but this is truly light reading for me.
I finally picked up and really got into Ali Smith’s Winter and wow… I love how it is progressing!
And last night I started Paula McLain’s new novel Love and Ruin which I got an ARC from Net Galley.
What is occupying your time this week?
If you are joining us today – thank you! Please leave the link to your post in your comment!
by Kat | Feb 14, 2018 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Happy Valentine’s Day – or as Compassionknit says, Happy GALentine’s Day, Unravelers!
I got my knitting back on track yesterday and the body of my Olympic Carbeth is done and a sleeve is under way! Despite the little bits of time that I have had to knit on this, it is going amazingly fast! However, thanks to the Olympics, I knit an extra inch on the body. I don’t think it will matter and I am not ripping back! Yet…when I have the sleeves done, I will try it on and see what I think. It is a bit hard to tell in its current state.
All other knitting is in a holding pattern…that means the socks are on hold as is my Stokkur. I have marked my place in both patterns, however, so I don’t forget where I am! Hopefully, I will be back to knitting them this weekend!
My reading this week was so good!
I finished Sherman Alexie’s You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me (so so so good!) and The Snow Child (also so good!) but I have made little headway with Ali Smith’s Winter, because knitting and Olympics watching!
I started listening to Before We Were Yours. I am not quite halfway through but I am liking how this story is being told, very much!
At night I am trying to stay awake long enough to get into a Net Galley book, Gods of Howl Mountain. Sometimes, staying awake to read more than a page, err a paragraph or two is a Herculean task! But, I hope to get it done this week…if I can stay awake that is! Haha!
Did you see some of the new titles coming out this month? I am on the wait list for several of them at my library already!
As for Valentine’s Day… we are staying in. I am making my own riff on Surf and Turf with Lamb and Shrimp. Do you have special plans for dinner tonight?
As always, if you are joining us today, thank you!! Please leave the link to you post in your comment!
by Kat | Feb 7, 2018 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers! It is a snow day here in Pittsburgh, so Steve is home today. Yeah, that changes up my day a bit! But, the knitting is really heating up and we are only seven days into February!
Clue Two will be out tomorrow and my mystery socks are eagerly awaiting more knitting time.
I am coasting on Strokkur, the joy of Lopi Knitting is perhaps one of the greatest things ever for me. I can see Sleeve Island in my near future as I am less than 20 rows from the sleeve join.
But, on Friday night, these projects will be put on pause for a moment, so I can begin the Olympic-Bang-Out-A-Carbeth Knitting frenzy! Now, all other Bang-Out Knitters began on the fifth, but I am patiently waiting for Opening Ceremony and this project a Two-fer – Bang-Out-A-Carbeth-Olympic-Knitting! All the yummy brown yarn in the photo above will soon be a Carbeth and I can’t wait!
My second Olympic Project, because I am positive that Carbeth will be done quickly, are some Log Cabin Mitts I am just in love with them and I have lots of bits and bobs of left over yarns to use! These might take me more time to knit that the Carbeth! Ha! And, maybe some mini-hearts! The cuteness!
Now, on to the reading:
I finished The Woman Who Smashed Codes. Oh.my.gosh. I loved it and I really hate that I have finished it, there should have been more chapters to read! As others have said, this book might be the best book I will read all year. I am utterly and entirely in love with Elizebeth and William Friedman. I cried. I laughed. I said wow more than once and oh my gosh is she so smart! This is a 5-star book that I highly recommend. Really, add this book to your read list right now!
I also finished Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. This book…just wow. I sincerely hope this dystopian world never, ever, ever becomes reality. It is well written, thought provoking, and profound. It spurred some very interesting discussions on the value of life. I gave this book 4-stars.
I have started listening to Sherman Alexie’s You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me and I am reading The Snow Child on my iPad at night when I get into bed and I just started Ali Smith’s Winter which came from the library this week.
If you are joining us today, welcome! Please leave the link to your post in your comment! What’s keeping you warm in February?
P.S. Please excuse the absolutely horrid photo, it is dark, grey, and super icy-rainy-snowy here today and the light is almost non-existent!
by Kat | Jan 31, 2018 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Welcome, Unravelers!
And, just like that January is over!
It was a good month for knitting! I managed to finish three projects! And, I have cast on another sweater for Berroco’s Lopi-Along! I started Strokkur yesterday but, I am not too far along. I love how Ysolda has me counting rows rather than measuring. I did get row gauge (which is very good) but I did not get stitch gauge, so I am knitting accordingly. It was a cold and blustery day yesterday, which makes for wonderful knitting time!
But, better than knitting was my January reading! The month started out with a bit of disappointment in the book selections, but it closed out with some really wonderful reads and I somehow managed to finish 12 books this month!
I finished reading The Girl in the Ice and loved it! A well written crime mystery. I gave it 4-stars and will try another book from this series!
I also finished listening to A Trick of the Light! Ahhhh! There is just something wonderful about Armand Gamache, and this is my favorite one yet! (I know, I say that every time, but really – the character development is just amazing and so touching in this book!) 5-stars and I highly recommend this series!
I started listening to The Woman Who Smashed Codes on Monday and really did not want to stop listening! It is wonderful!
I started reading The Snow Child.
Here is to this long month being over. The days are feeling less dark and February, while still cold, is, thankfully, not long! And, there is so much fun in February! Want to Lopi-Along? You can still join in, there is plenty of time! Are you up for some Olympic Knitting? I am pretty sure Team Rules Schmules still has openings! Perhaps, you dream of Banging out a Carbeth…and, if none of those strike your fancy, tomorrow clue #1 of Kirsten Kapur’s sock MKAL starts! So much knitting, so few days!
If you are joining in today with all the Unraveler’s, please leave your link in your comment! Have an amazing Wednesday and thank you for stopping by!
by Kat | Jan 24, 2018 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Winter time, and the knitting is easy…
The last time I talked about my knitting, I was in the midst of determining if I had enough yarn to finish my Stopover. So, some crazy knitty math was done and it will be close, but by my calculations, I think I will have the tiniest bit of yarn left so I will have enough to kitchner the underarms! I have started my second sleeve and am inching along on it. I have not been doing much knitting (outside of that birthday knitting that is finished and will be blocking today!)
However, Death Cleaning is winning big. I don’t know what got into me, but maybe this stretch of warm weather we have had has given me a bit of Spring Fever and I have been cleaning accordingly!
However, reading has not slowed at all and it has improved dramatically from last week!
I finished The Orphan’s Tale and Lie With Me. One was awesome, the other not so much. I gave The Ophan’s Tale 5-stars. It was moving and at times heartbreaking. I fell in love with Noa and Astrid and I highly recommend it! Lie With Me got 2-stars from me. I had high hopes for this book based upon the description from the publisher but, honestly, for most of the book I felt like this… what the heck is going on??? The story unfolded so slowly, it almost didn’t. The main character is horrid. I disliked him immensely and could not muster any sympathy for him. The ending did tie up so loose ends, but I felt it the story could have been told better. The ending felt rushed after the slog of the first 2/3’s of the book and sadly, I do not recommend this one at all.
I also began and finished Behold the Dreamers. It was so wonderful, and I really loved it. It is a 5-star book and I highly recommend it. I listened, and the narration is marvelous and even better is the singing that would be lost in the written word. The melodious language is captivating. I laughed, I got angry, and I cried. It is a powerful and moving story!
I also started The Girl in The Ice, I am not far into it, but so far, so good!
I also have some very, very, very good things in my queue:
The Woman Who Smashed Codes, Never Let Me Go, You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, and up next is Armand Gamache in A Trick of the Light.
I just want to do nothing but read all the things!
What about you? What is consuming you this week?
If you are joining us today, please leave your link below in the comments and thank you!
