by Kat | Aug 1, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers! It has been a week of new starts here… yes, I have a raging case of Cast-on-itis.
So I have given in and cast on…. I started a new pair of socks, yes those socks! This is a knit is not conducive to mindless knitting… so I have not gotten far but I have moved to the “second chart” (don’t ask… but I’d have done the charting differently.) These socks are something that needs some focused attention, but that attention is not doing anything to detract from how much I like them!
My other start (that does settle in neatly into the mindless knit category) is a scrappy (and currently very portable) mitered-squares blanket. I don’t have any idea of this being done any time soon, but rather I just wanted something portable that would use up some of the scraps of yarn I have accumulated. All those that are close in gauge (so fingering/sport) will make their way into the fabric. I am loving it… really so very much.
I continue to make progress on my Hitch on the Move… but no pictures this week. I am hopeful it will be finished next week!
I do have a new introduction to make to you all… Meet Gnrico Caruso, the great great gnome-son of that famous tenor. Gnrico inherited those musical skills and you can find him serenading the other gnomes with his beautiful tenor tones! O Solo Mio is his favorite and he sings in regularly. My inspiration for Gnrico came from this pattern from the most incredible Gnome Creator and a button I got at the very first Michigan Fiber Festival I ever went to (from the Briar Rose Fibers Booth.) Lovely button but not really great on any garment… they are much too heavy but it was the perfect button for a gnome hat!
I think there needs to be a Gnome Choir, so stay tuned for more musically inspired Gnomes as the year progresses!
Stunning to think, but I have not one single book finished since last week! I know!! First, I bailed on Demon Copperhead… it was not the book for me in this space in time. Instead, I have been listening to The Postcard by Anne Berest… I will likely finish it today and it will be a book that stays with me. It is a beautifully moving story. I highly recommend. My at night book is equally good but in a very different way. I love how Christoffer Carlsson works into a mystery. His characters are so amazing… I am so loving this second book. (It will be published this fall!)
In an email I got from my local PBS station, I noted a new program is in production. It is another book based series so I have Robert Thorogood’s The Marlow Murder Club waiting in the wings! A new-to-me cozy mystery series sounds delightful!
What about you? Are you casting on anything new? Reading something amazing? Please share!
As always, if you wrote a post leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Jul 25, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings and Happy Wednesday, dear Unraveler’s!
The heat is absolutely on in my neighborhood… Sherman’s afternoon outings are not something he or I enjoy… they are short and quick so we can return to the comfort of the AC.
I confess I have some unraveling this week… as in that skirt start. Sigh. The yarn arrived but not even creative blending could make the two different dye lots work together in one garment. So, dammit, I need to begin again. I have yet to cast on the skirt from the new Tides… and I think that idea is circling the drain for completion this year.
However, I have made the most excellent progress on my Hitch on the Move though… my handspun rows are getting much longer as my solid rows grow shorter and my delight remains high! It is very good consolation prize knitting from my failed skirt attempt.
And I have eased myself back into Gnome-land… The cosmetic knitting has been completed! Gnifty is quite adorable with his new nose. He is happiest out in nature and is quite the ornithologist! Knitting the birds was so much fun! There is a wee bluebird, a greybird, and a crow, of course! As you can see they have all settled in well in Gnome-land!
I have plans to start another gnome… I have picked out the yarns and will begin knitting later today. I will be using this pattern and will be listening for inspiration and direction as I knit!
I have also pulled out my “next spin”… something I got a couple of years ago from Fibernymph Dye Works. I have divided the fiber into three equal-ish sections and I will be spinning for socks.
And while my knitting may have had a less than stellar week… my reading has absolutely not! I continue on my Reading High with 4 finishes and I have begun listening to Demon Copperhead and at night I am reading another Netgalley book, Christoffer Carlsson’s Under the Storm. I am uncertain about Demon Copperhead… but the Carlsson book pulled me instantly in.
But what about you? How’s your reading and making this week?
As always, if you have a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Jul 18, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers!
Last week, I shared that I was waiting for the arrival of more Tides to finish Shakerag Skirt #2… The Holst Garn shipping department is magnificent… It should have been here yesterday – 6 days from order to my doorstep, but thanks to the epically lame USPS it won’t be there until today. Once it arrives I will be back to knitting round and round… on my way through the decreases on towards the waistband and completion! A good thing because Shakerag Skirt #1 is getting heavy rotation… it is the perfect summer skirt!
Thankfully in the interim I have been in the Land of Knitting Delight… truly… Delight! Martina is the most ingenius knitting designer! The “teeth” arrive magically and the knitting is utterly wonderful. All knitting… so it is an almost mindless knit. My rows are getting longer so my completed “teeth” are slowing slightly but all this joy-filled knitting means that I am oh so close to the “weight” needed to move onto the next phase of the pattern!! Oh… and the delight is not just for the pattern… these yarns together are perfect… the colors work well together with enough contrast to make those “teeth” shine! It will be a welcome addition to my fall/winter wardrobe!
Now… lest you think that it is just Knitting Nirvana here… well! The reading has been stellar! I have read a book that I think will be one of the best I will read all year (if not THE best!) The Future by Naomi Alderman is that book… oh.my.gosh. I have not stopped thinking about it since I finished it last weekend. And couple that with my other finishes this week and well… my summer reading is off the charts good! I believe that Sarah Winman has become my favorite author of all time… A Year of Marvellous Ways was spectacular… magical… brilliant! And add to that the audio version of Mick Herron’s soon to be released The Secret Hours and you have the perfect week of reading!
And I have not yet left the Peak of Awesomeness in my reading… no, it continues. I began listening to Jenny Odell’s Saving Time (it is off to a rousing start!) and at night I am reading another ARC: Alice McDermott’s Absolution.
And!! With my eyes… the magnificent Project 562! I am so grateful that my library has a copy of this incredible work… I am in awe of the images and the stories contained within.
Mid-July life at its best… amazing project and spectacular reading. I’d like to freeze these days and stay here for a long time! (preferably sans humidity and smoky air!!)
That is all I have to share today… what about you? Please tell me what is bringing you delight!
As always, if you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Jul 11, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
My road of making this week has been a bit rocky.
I am in a bit of a “holding pattern” on my second summer skirt (darn and blast it… I am not going to have enough yarn so I ordered more yesterday) Sigh.
So I had no choice but to finish off that bit of spinning… which I did! Hello dear Hitch on the Move! I cast on yesterday… it’s early days but so far, so very good!
And… Thea Coleman dropped an enticing pattern this week. I have added “knit a swatch” to this week’s list!
The reading is much less rocky (although I did bail on a book that was just not for me) but aside from that book the reading has been wonderful.
I am reading A Year of Marvelous Ways in the morning with my coffee and I am about halfway through. It is delightful… but I am not enjoying it thus far as I have previous Winman books!
In my ears is an advance “listener” copy of Mick Herron’s latest – The Secret Hours. I am about halfway in and loving it. The narration (Gerard Doyle) is excellent! (and the story is not bad either!)
And I just began another advance reader copy of Naomi Alderman’s latest – The Future. I enjoyed The Power and, thus far, this is better… more twisted… and after getting started (it is a bit of a slow start) I am having a hard time putting it down to go to sleep!
So… my rough week of making is being moderated by my good reading! Ha!
What about you all, is it smooth making for you this week (I hope!!)
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Jul 5, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
**Sorry about this, but I have no clue what happened to my published post, but it is MIA… if you are getting a second notification, that is why.**
July brings the beginning of the third quarter… and, more importantly, it means that I have done half a year of Temperature Stitching! To say I love it is an understatement… it brings me the greatest delight and I thing this will be stunning once completed and hanging on my wall! I love how I have moved into The Season of Yellows and Reds… and while I don’t love the 90’s (which are burgundy/purples) hopefully there won’t be any icy blues and chilly greens back until November! Ha!
Something else has been rattling around my head ever since Bonny shared it on her blog! Yes… Hitch on the Move has been consuming my thoughts and so I began to look to see what I might have in my stash to get it started! Imagine when I found a delightful skein that pairs beautifully with some Polwarth from Wee Chickadee that I was lucky to get from one of Cara’s destashes. I have been joyously spinning it up and have about a bobbin and a half full!
And speaking of spinning… I was divinely inspired with some Targhee in the Freshwater Pearls colorway (divinely… see what I did there, those sisters have some inspired fibers!) and I love how it turned out. It is a 3-ply fingering weight with excellent yardage (sorry, I have not weighed it yet to know.) I have no plans for it yet… I am just happy to squeeze it every so often… it is so squishy and soft!
I also am plodding along on my second Shakerag Skirt, sigh. This won’t be a 15 Day Knit but I am through the lace portion and am so close to being done with the optional necessary backside short rows! Then I will shortly begin the decreases and the mindless round and round. My hope is to have a second skirt to sashay around in this month though! So on I knit!
The reading has been good. I am back in Bath with Sully… and although I miss some characters (Miss Beryl for one!) the shenanigan’s are plenty! I am laughing and loving every bit of it. I am trying hard to slow down but it is a challenge! Ha!
I am also listening to The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida which is for the Read With Us gang. I am about half way though and the writing is so good (the narration is also so perfect!)
I had two finishes… I enjoyed them but I did not love either of them (Happiness Falls and Under the Whispering Door) but 3-star books are not bad reads (I had originally given Happiness Falls 4-stars but after thinking about it for a few days, for me it was not more than a 3-star read.) The problem is I have read much better books last month that might be coloring my opinion. Book Hangover is a thing and Sully is just the thing to clear my head! Ha!
Whew… this was a wordy post… sorry about that! What about you all… what is “consuming you” this week?!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Jun 21, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers!
I have a finished Gnome… and I have very mixed feelings about him. Gnifty is not feeling very nifty to me and those feelings grew as I assembled him last week. But… he has since been speaking to me… he let me know he is a bit of an introvert… and he is quite self-conscious about his proboscis! He prefers to spend his days in the woods… and I have promised him I will knit him a wee birdie or three to keep him company. I think he also needs a walking stick that also has a bit of a perch. I am still looking for the perfect stick! Also… I think a little cosmetic knitting will be happening to fix his nose and give him a beard. So while he is “done”… Gnifty is not yet finished… so stay tuned!
I also had a bit of a re-do (i.e. it was way too small) on my second bucket hat. The yarn is a bit lighter weight so I needed to rethink how to make this all work. (not so easy with crochet, let me tell you!) But I think I am on the correct path now!
My other finish was a scarf that I started eons ago… but I cleaned out a drawer and found it… and by doing a few “flowers” a night before I knew it, it was done! After weaving in eleventy-billion ends and I have a new scarf for the fall!
The reading this week has been marvelous! I am racing on to the finish of Birnam Wood… oh my, it is so good! Twists, turns… and intrigue! Finishing it is my reward for getting my chores done this morning.
The in my ears book is T.J. Klune’s latest, Under the Whispering Door. I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea so I have high hopes for this book! No thoughts yet, I have barely begun it!
That is all I have to share… what about you? What are you working on?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
