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!
by Kat | Feb 6, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
No unraveling yet this month, and I am making some good progress on my shawl of many colors! In my reorganization of the yarn stash, I found 2 more colors of KSH that I did not know I had and added them to the mix. I used one this week and I am now crossing off the colors I have used twice. I think that I can see the beginning of a glimmer of light down this tunnel! And, that glimmer of light is certainly a motivating factor because I have picked this up to knit almost every day!
Fortunately, I have had the most wonderful knitting companions with my reading this week! Yes, I finished Lethal White and this might be my favorite book thus far in the series. No spoilers from me, and while it is long – the characters unfold more in this story in a good way! I highly recommend this series and gave it 5-stars.
What about you? How is your making going this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share today, please leave your link below and thank you for joining us!
P.S. Wasn’t all the Suffragette White impressive last night at the SOTU???
by Kat | Jan 30, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Welcome to the last Unraveled Wednesday of January and I am so happy that this long-ass month is over! For all the days this month I surely should have accomplished more than I did! I had foolish hopes that my ADVENTurer wrap would be closer to being done and truly, there is no way this will be done for Valentine’s day either.
I am reminding myself here how much I love the fabric and how beautiful it is and, I am ignoring how challenging KSH is to work with. So. Slowly but surely it will be finished. Slowly… and that is okay!
Reading has been varied and most interesting!
I finished Fear: Trump in the Whitehouse by Bob Woodward. Wow, the things people tell this man are astounding! This was my first Woodward book and I had higher hopes regarding his writing. However, writing aside, it was a compelling listen and I gave it 3 stars.
I finished Marilla of Green Gables. I enjoyed this book, but it is very bittersweet – one that did not have the happiest of endings – or at least not the ending I was hoping for! However, the book provides the loveliest slice of life in the mid 1800’s on Prince Edward Island before Anne… I recommend this book and gave it 4-stars.
I also finished Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities. Wow. So, imagine this… a conversation between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan – one where Marco is describing in great detail the many cities he has visited in his travels. One of my favorite lines: “I speak and speak,” Marco says, “but the listener retains only the words he is expecting.” Truer words were never spoken. This book got 4-stars as well.
Current reads: The Widows of Malabar Hill and Lethal White…
But, what about you? What are you reading this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share, please leave your link! And, thank you for joining us today!
by Kat | Jan 23, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
It’s Wednesday and that can mean just one thing – making and reading!!
On the making front – there was a bit of unraveling this week. My yarn selection for Ysolda’s shawl was not good. I worked “clue one” with no problems, but “clue two” is where the problems arose. There are some slipped stitches with the yarn on carried on the right side of the fabric – but my yarn choice did not show this at all in a pleasing way. So, it has been frogged and while I swatch with a few other yarns, I am working on my “in process” Ravelry queue – which is a very good thing! This means I am finally almost to the halfway point on this project!
I also cut out a bird – in a bit of a “muslin” flannel to see how this works. Stay tuned for this stitching to unfold.
As you can see, even with failure – the making still progresses!
This week’s reading had some very interesting results!
In the, “wow this took me a long time to read” category: Tenth of December by George Saunders. This is a collection of short stories that were not quick reads at all. This was not a quick read for me because I needed to think about each story after finishing it. It was at times hard to understand without a bit of thought – and at times upsetting, at times humorous, and at all times compelling. The first and last stories were by far my favorite – but maybe because I understood them best? I gave this book 4-stars – Saunders is an amazing wordsmith!
Last year, I read and LOVED The Story and I have been fascinated by it ever since so when I found Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How they Communicate – Discoveries from A Secret World I thought I would find answers to many questions I had, and while I enjoyed it – it was too much a blend of supposition and fact. And, sometimes it was hard to figure out fact from fiction. However, it was a book that held my attention, so I gave it 3-stars.
A book I do not recommend is The Ruined House. The story revolves around egocentric Andy Cohen and the slow destruction of life as he knows it. The entire book is full of almost over-kill on details until the end. And, then with no logical explanation – life is somehow miraculously and perfectly restored for Cohen. Originally, I gave this book 2 stars, but have downgraded my review to 1-star (and really, I’d love to give it a half a star, but Goodreads does not have that option!)
Finally, the winner of the week is Louise Erdrich’s The Round House. This is a beautifully told story surrounding an absolutely horrific act and what happens because of that act. The story is told from the perspective of Joe, the son of a judge in a tribal court. The book is powerful, moving, and gives a look into life on an Ojibwe Reservation in North Dakota. 5-stars and I highly recommend!
That is what I have for the week – what about you? What’s on your radar this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share today, please leave your link below!
