I have finished my Nightshift and I am so smitten!! My ending was a bit sketchy but, I like how it turned out and I used up so much of my handspun yarn! You can read my pattern notes here where I explain my “recipe” for knitting. My goal was to have this completed before I start any of the “mystery” knits coming up (Yes, I am going to knit both Romi’s Mystery Shawl and the Lunar Phases Mystery! It’s Corona-Mystery-Knitting time because I **also** started a mystery sock on Sunday as well!)
The reading has been a challenge in this topsy turvy world. Focusing has been rather tricky, but at least I had 2 finishes this week!
I do not typically read YA novels but this was the next selection in the Read With Us book club. I grew up in a city that had a very large Hispanic population and growing up I had neighbors/friends that I spent time with. I found Julia’s home to be very typical but her friends…not so much. I found that to be curious and it did not quite ring true (at least to me).
I also did not find it believable that Julia’s parents kept so many secrets about their lives “before they crossed the border.” But, it made me think about how tragic it is to be an undocumented worker, never feeling safe and never being able to travel to see family.
There are some significant gaps in the story line with little explanation of what happened. All in all, I do not recommend this book.
I started this book thinking there must be a book missing between the first book and this one but I could not find one! So suddenly Johanne and Adam are married and have a new baby. How they got there from book one is an unanswered mystery!
Gruesome murders are taking place and you are nicely drawn into the work to solve the crimes. Overall it is fairly fast-paced, although some parts parts drag a bit. BUT!! the ending is brilliant! No spoilers here, but it was genius and I did not see it coming!
That’s all I have this week! If you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below and thank you!
Grey skies whose raindrops
Gently caress the new leaves
Teasing them to wake
My daily goal is to seek out something beautiful in the tiny world around me and some days I actually succeed. Today was one of those days! The return of tiny green leaves on the bushes in my yard reminds me that despite the uncertainty of life right now, some things are constant and don’t require any human assistance. I am thankful for these small leaves!
I am also thankful for these smiling faces from yesterday! Thank you to Mary for hosting us again!
However, I did learn that slippery needles make for easy dropped stitches! The sock I was working on is up next for a “do over”! (FYI, Vera!! CoopKnits is hosting a FREE Mystery-Sock-Along! Clue ONE is up here!)
Happy Monday (yes, it is Monday even if it doesn’t feel like it!) Have a great day and stay home, wash your hands, flatten the curve!
Time is the longest distance between two places. — Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie
This quote perfectly describes how the passage of time feels right now. Monday seems like it was eons ago and today does not feel like Friday at all. And topping off the already chaotic week…life changed dramatically last night here in PA. All businesses that are not “life-critical” are now closed…for.the.indefinite.future. Which means Steve is suddenly not working anymore… PLUS My son is calling me multiple times a day to have me talk him down from the ledge, and my heart is breaking that there are so many miles between us because all I want to do is gather him up in my arms like I did when he was little and hold him close. Hard times, so.hard.
Tension-reliever –
This lovely gift arrived in my email this morning and I signed up before you could say Settling the Mind! Thank you, Michelle for this! Please join me… we can settle our minds together and be part of the best commUNITY, even though we are miles apart!
Great finds –
This week there were many!
First, NPR now has a very short new podcast: Coronavirus Daily. I love that I can get an update that is straightforward, no hype, no bs… just a simple update.
I have a friend who recently started her “Magnum Opus” project – a Russian lace shawl with something like 60 pages of charts… Yeah, my thoughts exactly! However, I did come across this beauty, which I think could be classified in that Magnum Opus category!
April 7th a new #100DayProject begins and I have re-assembled my “stitching basket” and will be stitching a bit each day. This time it is a more ‘planned out’ project. I know what I want it to look like…so my inspiration is to take that thought and make it a reality on my fabric!
All.the.FUN –
Last night Mary hosted our first “Long Distance Knitting Group” on Zoom. I was concerned that I would have trouble staying awake…HA! The truth is, I had trouble going to sleep afterwards! Want in on this riotous group? We are planning to meet again this coming Sunday afternoon… watch Mary’s blog for details. We talked, we laughed, we knit… and the joy overflowed! I can tell you that this was the BEST thing I did for my sanity all week… thank you all!
That is all I have for this week… my “forced” forsythias have been a ray of sunshine in this week! (Their outside compatriots are just starting to bloom – so soon, sunshine inside and out!) Have a great weekend, stay well, wash your hands, and keep flattening that curve!
A couple of things are filling my mind today: how can it be Wednesday already in a week that feels like it should be Friday and How are you?
No, really… How are you?
I have a project that is darned near impossible to put down that is filling my day…as well as my lap now! I am entirely smitten with Night Shift – I am following the “recipe” and am changing the background yarn and the “dot yarn” in different sequences – and I am happy with how that is working out! The pattern says I have 4 more repeats to do, but I think I might need to do a couple extra repeats to get a “wear-able size.”
Despite the turmoil of life right now, I am falling asleep soundly moments after getting in bed, and I have finished no books this week!
However, I want to take a minute to talk about a bit of “stash enhancement” of a different sort this week! Necessary Stash Enhancement!! All over the Knitiverse events are being cancelled – events that equate to income for many in our fiber community. Pattern designers, teachers, Yarn dyers, etc. are all feeling the pinch of this downturn in our economy (and by our economy – I mean the economy of our Knitting Community) It’s time for all of us to buy something – a couple of patterns, a skein of yarn, perhaps even an online class!
I read this blog post by Jennifer of Burke House Crafts earlier this week and she has put her patterns on sale for free until the 29th. (you could elect to pay for the pattern rather than taking it for free!)
Then I saw these Tweets from Shannon Okey:
Many designers are offering pattern sales or free patterns right now, and while I would love to, my main source of income (event organizing) has been shut down for an indefinite amount of time. When will we be allowed to work? We don’t know. THAT’S what’s freaking me out, tbh.
It was a quiet St. Paddy’s Day weekend at my house but sadly, the same could not be said about my town!
ST. PATRICK’S DAY POLICE: Pittsburgh Police said they arrested 6 people during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the city and that one Public Works employee was hit by a car. https://t.co/XQUhELPF8l
This article from USAToday was timely….#StayHome should be trending everywhere!
As Coronavirus puts us into uncharted waters, tonight I have joined w 15 health leaders to publish an open letter in @USATODAY with an urgent, lifesaving message:
And, late yesterday the CDC finally got their head out of you know where…
The CDC is now recommending all gatherings of 50+ people be postponed for the next *8 weeks.* These recommendations are not made lightly and apply to your daily routines.
This EXCELLENT WaPo article shows us clearly why strict social distancing is important! FYI, our trajectory has now surpassed the course Italy was on…just saying!
Stay well, stay socially distant, and for heaven’s sake, please stay home!
P.S. One thing you should absolutely do today is search “Italian’s singing on balconies” on YouTube. You will find gems like this.It’s a lovely rabbit hole to spend some time in! (Hint…Be like Italy…STAY HOME!)
The fact that today is Friday the thirteenth is not lost on me as COVID-19 spreads its way around our neighborhoods. This is the first time I can remember that there will be no March Madness…sigh. But, I get it and I am happy that the students were more important that the revenue. The list of other spectator things that have been put on hiatus as well…NBA, NHL, MLB, Broadway shows…heck, even The View is audiance-less!
So if you, like me, are home bound for the next number of days, what’s a body to do?
Ponder no more! Do I have the things for you!
Start off with some MDK March Mayhem! Why, there is even a print out! So if you, like me, will be missing those NCAA brackets… miss.no.more! 64 patterns should be good for a merry afternoon of pondering! Get going (and this year there are SOCKS!!) Why you might even find an item or two that seems like the perfect Quarantine Knit…so.just.cast.on!
Do you have a Netflix/Amazon Prime show that you have been aching for some time to just sit down and binge? Need some suggestions? I have them!
From Netflix: The Bodyguard has just one season, but it is riveting! The Chef’s Table has more than one season and it is just brilliant! Then there’s Criminal… UK, France, and Spain. Start with UK, because David Tennant…
Amazon Prime has oodles of binge-worthy things!
I would start with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel because the costuming is DIVINE, and who doesn’t needs some laughs right now! If you missed Modern Love now is the perfect time to catch up… it is brilliantly done, and the ending is genius! And, for a second helping of David Tennant Good Omens is so much fun! And, don’t forget Harry Bosch and there are numerous seasons to keep you occupied!
Perhaps you can look at this time as A Little Respite and Michelle has some excellent suggestions to settle yourself.
Beatrice Perron Dahlen’s Heron Island has just been released to the public and it is on sale until Sunday! (no code necessary, discount taken when you purchase it!)
If you are in need of something Lopi…Álafoss has yarn on deep sale with cheap shipping rates right now!
Sockitis has struck with a vengeance in my house! I raced through Miss Lime and will have happy, dancing, green feet on St. Paddy’s Day! I especially love the angled lace on each foot! These socks will be perfect with my Birks!
I have also made some headway on my son’s socks… I have a new deadline now, so the knitting will ramp up a bit. We **hope** to leave for Michigan soon, that is as long as the country is not on lock down… I am not a worrier, but boy… this all has me very worried.
But at least the reading this week was so good!
The Long Call by Ann Cleeves
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A new series is always a tentative read for me, but Ann.Cleeves. people! In this book we meet Matthew Venn – and we get a glimpse into his life and work in North Devon. Matthew is not your average detective…by a long shot! I can’t wait for this series to expand and grow!
I am not sure how I managed to select this poetry book, but it flowed so perfectly following my reading of Apeirogon! This work of poems was written by a journalist and it is a fascinating (but at times harsh) look at life in war zones… in refugee camps…in places of danger.
Some of the poems that spoke to me: Epithalamion, Pure, Leisurama, Occupation, and Beyond the solace of a Devastated Landscape.
By itself, I am not sure how I would feel about these poems… but coupled with the reading of Apeirogon, they are timely and so perfect.
If you divide death by life, you will find a circle.
The story of Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan, and the deaths of their daughters: Abir Aramin and Smadar Elhanan. This book was a challenge to read, the writing style was like nothing I have ever read before and I struggled through much of it. It was hard to keep track of story lines – and there are many within this story. Yet, despite my struggles, this is a book that I won’t soon forget. It has had a powerful impact on me.
Apeirogon: a shape with a countably infinite number of sides.
Exactly what this book is!
Smadar was born in Hadassah hospital. Where Abir died. One story becoming another.
The story of Bassam and Rami moved me deeply. Their friendship is incredible, and inspiring, and hopeful, and their example should be the goal of every human on earth. I highly recommend this book, but be ready for a challenging read!
That is all I have for this week! What about you? What moved you this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below and thank you!
Yes, this weekend will be one hour shorter when we turn our clocks ahead in the wee hours of Sunday morning. (or are you an entirely digital household and need to change no clocks manually?) My house is a mixture of digital and manual, so I will have a few things to change Saturday night before bed. However, there is no quick fix for changing the clock in Sherman… he operates on one time and one time only: the ‘is it time to eat yet’ time!
This week was really lovely – bouts of sunshine, punctuated with temps in the 50’s… and boy, do I suddenly have spring fever…bad!
I struggle with exercise and I beat myself up all the time because of those struggles, but then I listened to this Life Kit episode and I am not going to beat myself up any longer… it was wonderful (and so freeing!!) to hear that ALL MOVEMENT COUNTS!
I spent some time yesterday sorting through my stash of hand spun yarn to put some choices together to knit along with Vicki and friends as we all make Nightshift shawls! I think I have a pretty good start on where I want to go! But!! I curbed my enthusiasm to cast on because of those so.close.to.the.finishMiss Lime socks and this morning I only have the toe to go! (Rachel Maddow and Elizabeth Warren are fantastic knitting companions, just saying!) The absolute insanity of this all is that I knit these socks in eight days! Vera…I think you have created a monster!
And these “think spring” things caught my eye this week:
First, Jana Huck’s latest pattern, Three – simple texture, LOVE IT!
Finally, the winner of Ravelry this week (for me at least) is the Stockholm Slipover Mini (English translation is on its way…) but really, this picture was the thing that said knit me now: