by Kat | Apr 12, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
It is the week for finished objects in my house… the reason for that is rage-knitting. Although, I hear some of you are rage-weeding and I have done some weeding, but in spurts… perhaps not enough spurts because there are still weeds in my yard.
But my rage-knitting has been productive! I have finished my Handspun Sweater, finished Steve’s Pi-Socks, and finished a long forgotten in-process sock that I found in my “vacation knitting bag” which I pulled out in anticipation for our Erie trip later this month. It now has space for some “vacation knitting” and I hope to have this pair of socks completed before we leave for Erie!
Finish 1:
Pi-Socks, done and they fit!
Finish 2:
I have not been this happy about a finished sweater in a long time. The fit is good, I love the saddle to raglan shoulder treatment… it is so perfect. The bottom band is not snug… at all. It has nice drape, but it is not too baggy. And the turtleneck… oh my! It is perfect. Not too big, not too tight… it is just right! This will be a sweater I wear LOTS. And it is a sweater I plan on knitting again. Perhaps all the options it offers!
Finish 2.5:
Rox-man… you will have to put on the red socks!
And… I have picked my next “Big Project” as well… I have had this skein of Briar Rose Fibers (now discontinued) Angel Face for eons in my stash.. I bought it because I could not resist the colors… and the Angel Face halo. This pattern from Anne Hanson crossed my path over the weekend and I have not stopped thinking about it… and yesterday morning the pattern and the skein of Angel Face merged into a project.
I think these are the perfect Thistle colors!
So I have some “round and round” knitting for when I need it and as soon as I can wind off the skein of Angel Face, I will have some “engage your brain” lace chart knitting!
In case you think all that knitting means that there has been no reading this week… ha! Think again! I finished a couple of books this week… Love & Saffron (which I loved, but wished it was so much longer!!) and Fight Night, which I also loved… deeply. I paused reading The Covenant of Water to devour Fight Night but now I am back to it… I have read about 3/4’s of it and it is long… it feels even longer. I am hoping that something in the last quarter picks up and reinvigorates it for me because right now, I am not loving it. My daytime listen is Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. I am enjoying it… but not really loving it… yet. I am not quite halfway, and I hope it will move beyond where I feel like it is going. I know many of you really loved the book and I hope I will too!
Whew, that is all I have for today… what about you? Are you rage-knitting? Joy-knitting? Escape-reading? Do.Tell.All!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Apr 5, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
I have completed the first quarter of my Temperature Embroidery! This project is simply delightful and March had some days with very close high and low temperatures…which made for some interesting wheels! And I am looking forward to changing April temperatures to see what new colors will be introduced this month!
Gnormanda and Gnibbles busy prepping for Easter!
And with days to spare, I have a completed Easter Gnome! Gnormanda and her delightful assistant, Gnibbles! Gnibbles gathers the eggs and Gnormanda does the dying! I am happy with how she turned out… I tweaked the pattern a bit, giving her short sleeves with matching ruffles on each one. And I modified the nose instructions to create some gnome-sized eggs! Gnibbles was based on this (free) pattern and I used one strand of Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply and one strand of KSH. The “ear bend” was achieved with a plastic twist tie… it worked perfectly, especially since the ears are knit flat and seamed. It sounds fussier than it was, the bunny pattern is well written.
I am still knitting Pi-Sock Two… but have reached the toe decreases…so it will be completed soon! Good thing because I have another pattern ready to cut out!
The reading this week though, it is all so engaging! I continue to be submersed in An Immense World by Ed Yong. It is so fascinating and I am almost done with it (I will finish it today) and at night I am reading The Covenant of Water. I am about half way through and have very mixed feelings about it but I will forge on.
I am also reading an actual book… In Memory of Memory… which started off a bit slowly, but I have settled in with it nicely. It is beautiful writing and a very thought provoking story as a niece goes through her deceased aunt’s apartment, which is full of so many things… each stirs a memory. There are some memories that are wonderful, others that… well, are not so wonderful, but perhaps those memories are the most significant. I am almost done… and then I will begin a book that recently came on my radar thanks to NPR’s Book of The Day review of Beaverland!
And that is all I have for today, what about you? What are you happy you finished this week … either a project or a book?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you! See you all tomorrow with some Poetry!
by Kat | Mar 29, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers!
March is almost over, April is right around the corner! (And I hope that April will be bringing the nice weather! I am so over cold, grey, rainy, windy, snowy weather!)
I have been working a bit on the Easter Gnome – meet Gnormanda! She still needs a nose, an arm, some braids, and a few wee little eggs… but soon, Gnormanda… soon!
Although the Spring-Clean-athon is well under way at my house I also have one Pi-Sock done! I have a good start on the second…small portable knitting is just the thing though, right? This week it is a good thing because tomorrow I have the appointment with the sports medicine doctor. I have high hopes about the appointment based on the pre-appointment questions I filled out earlier this week!
I have settled into a new book… The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (of Cutting for Stone fame.) I had foolish thoughts of finishing it in a weekend… ha! And then I realized it is almost 800 pages long! I am almost a quarter of the way in and loving every single word. Dr. Verghese is an incredible writer… one I do not at all mind spending a good bit of time with so I am reading and enjoying!
In my ears, I just began Ed Yong’s An Immense World. I don’t remember who put this book on my radar, but it is fascinating… a very good “day time chores” companion!
And there you have my week of making… what about you? What’s on your needles this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Mar 22, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers!
A small delight filled my brain as I typed the palindrome date… such a simple thing but delightful none the less. Which is perfect because it has been a week of delights!
As you can see, the ribbing will relax beautifully with a soak and some simple blocking.
Delight Number One: A finished collar on my handspun sweater. It is perfect… really. It does need a good soak because soaking will relax those ribs a bit…. but gosh, I love it! I took Kym’s advice about giving it a good soak and blocking… pausing my trip to Sleeve Island to knit the collar and I am so happy with the results of that little detour! I have not one thing in my wardrobe like it. Now I am back to the Joy of Sleeve Island. This sweater is moving closer and closer to the finish line and I.can’t.wait!
Delight Number Two: I have reached cruising altitude on Steve’s Pi Sock… I am much further than the above photo shows thanks to last night’s Read With Us discussion of The Shipping News. Really, this sock and that book are the perfect pairing! Each began with so many problems… but eventually, each settled into a working rhythm… a very good thing!
Delight Number Three: This week’s reading! Oh my gosh! First, I need to plug a book that will be coming out in May… No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister which I am telling you all is a must read book! I loved it so much and if I did not have another book that I need to read, I’d have read it over again… really. It is so good! But, I do have a book that I have been waiting awhile for, Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott… and it is due back to the library soon, so I am not rereading No Two Persons.. yet. But soon! Haha! I am also listening to Michelle Obama read me The Light We Carry… and I am loving that as well. But the most curious book I am reading is one I picked up recently from the library, In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova. I am just a few chapters in and it is … delightful… absolutely delightful!
When Manicure and Watercolor Meet
Finally… some of you asked me to share my painting this week… so I present Overwhelmingly Green Painting Meets My Springtime Manicure! Yes that’s right… this week’s homework is done and yes, Because matching your nails to books and knitting has been done, however, is there a nails matching your painting hashtag? I don’t know… maybe it just needed more green! Hahaha! Not the favorite painting I have ever done but, as always, I have learned so much!
Whew! That is enough for a post… but what about you? What’s exciting you and inspiring your creativity this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Mar 15, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
By March, the worst of the winter would be over. The snow would thaw, the rivers begin to run and the world would wake into itself again.
Not that year.
Winter hung in there, like an invalid refusing to die. Day after grey day the ice stayed hard; the world remained unfriendly and cold. ― Neil Gaiman, Odd and the Frost Giants
It has been an unsettled week… the weather, the attempts at sleeping, and, yes, even the making. A week of one failure after another.
I was so excited to knit Steve some Pi Socks… and I had a rousing good start using a pattern I have knit many times before. Now, don’t get me wrong… I love the Pi Yarn, but it is a bit finer than other sock yarns. My start was less than stellar… way too loose. So I ripped back and went down a needle size and cast on again. Much better… a nice sturdy sock fabric. Except, I did not heed the voice telling me these were gonna be way to freaking small… nope, I just knit on to the heel flap and the gussets. By now the voice was loud telling me to stop and at least have Big Foot try them on.
As you can see, I ripped again… sigh. Same smaller needles but this time with more stitches on them… and I am very much paying attention to my inner knitter voice, although it has been quiet now…of course! Ha!
As you can see above, I did finish my Base12 Hitchhiker… 40 teeth and it is perfect! Soft, warm, utterly wearable! I wore it to Trader Joe’s on Sunday and the delightful check out clerk asked a million questions about it! He is a new knitter and it was so fun to talk knitting!
Kym’s darling daughter is calling this “whimsy-noir” and I think that is absolutely perfect!
The painting this week though… I was so stressed over trying… scared… silly, I know! All kinds of new techniques… and an encouragement to “mix our own colors” (which I think is the part that stymies me) instead, I used the color palette the teacher used, and once I got my “initial wash” on, I turned off the lesson and just painted. I had so much fun…I mean SO MUCH FUN! It was exactly what I needed in a week of miserable weather, miserable sleeping, and miserable knitting!
The reading this week though… oh my. It was a week that I have been profoundly grateful for the escape that books can give.
I have started another Netgalley book (Bonny read it a couple of weeks ago) and I am LOVING it! It is an interesting story format…but one I am really enjoying. I have finished the “first two stories” and am well into the third. This is the excerpt from the publisher:
One book. Nine readers. Ten changed lives. New York Times bestselling author Erica Bauermeister’s No Two Persons is “a gloriously original celebration of fiction, and the ways it deepens our lives.”
I am loving every bit of it and good thing because sleep this week has been… elusive… sigh.
In my ears during the day I have just begun Ross Gay’s Inciting Joy… the start is good and I can’t wait to see where it goes!
What about you all? How is your making this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
