The month of November makes me feel that life is passing more quickly. In an effort to slow it down, I try to fill the hours more meaningfully. – Henry Rollins
November brings bare trees, windy days, and yes – grey skies (which is exactly what greeted me this morning!)
It means woolly sweaters, extra layers, and socks on your feet!
Walks outside that include hats and mittens – but yes – outside walks!
November brings reflection that is hopefully full of gratitude.
November is my reminder that this year is almost over and brings a quiet sense of urgency to finish the year as I began.
That’s my November…what does your November look like?
Have a good weekend and I will see you all back here on Monday!
October is easing out incredibly here in Western Pennsylvania. The days have warmed beautifully with the glorious sunshine we have had. October will end for us with temps rising into the 70’s, which is such a blessing. Of course, tomorrow we have rain in the forecast which is less than perfect for the neighborhood children to make their Trick or Treat Trek – but at least it will be a warm night!
I promised you a photo of Genevieve in all her Halloween Glory… and she is so glorious! You can barely make out her “deer leggings” under her must-have tutu but her headband is very easy to see. AND!!! If you look very closely you will see two pierced ears! I think she is the most adorable dancing deer in all North America!
As you can see above, Evening Dew Cardigan is moving along, albeit slowly. There is no way I know to cable quickly, but can I just say that this yarn combo is heavenly to knit with! I do need to pay attention as I knit, it is very easy to miss a strand of one of the yarns – this is not a mindless knit.
But…Tegna. Oh, my! She is so lovely. It is like wearing a cloud! All my details are here, if you are interested!
My reading this week was so incredible and suddenly all other books are sadly disappointing and very anti-climactic. I started Téa Obreht’s Inland and I am struggling to feel comfortable with it.
First up I finished listening to The Dutch House. This was the best book I have read all year. The story and the narrator were the most impeccable combination. I desperately wanted this story to never end, yet I could not stop listening. I fell in love with Maeve and Danny and would like nothing better to somehow be a member of their family. I laughed, gasped, and cried as this story kept building to an incredible ending. If you read nothing else this year – get this book. Listen to this book – Tom Hanks narrates it – and do it right now! 5-stars
I also finally finished Just Mercy. I loved this book but for none of the same reasons. This book showed me how incredibly ignorant I am, how comfortably ensconced in my white privilege with blinders on to the horrors that are our criminal justice system (which is not just at all) I am excited to begin the discussions on this powerful book. 5-stars – this is also a must read.
Finally – I finished a quick Viveca Sten Sandhamn Mystery. I won a copy from a Goodreads give away (book #7 in the series) so I picked up Book 5 – In the Heat of the Moment. This is an enjoyable series that happen on an island in the Swedish archipelago – Sandhamn. It is always curious to me that so much murder can happen in such a small place! This one got 3-stars and I am on to Book 6 – In Harm’s Way. These are the perfect bedtime reads – they move along quickly, they do not require an abundance of thought to keep the story line straight, and if you fall asleep – it is easy to get right back in the next night!
A wee bit of housekeeping – next week Tuesday is Election Day and I will be working at my polling place, so next week’s Unraveled Wednesday might be up a litter later in the morning than it usually is!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you so much for your participation!
Happily joining Juliann to share how I did with focus in October!
Maintaining my focus has become part of me – it is something that I think about each day and life is absolutely improved because of it. I have never had such amazing success with a word, and it is causing me to begin the process of thinking about where I should go from here.
Yes, I have begun focusing on my word for next year. Why? Because I have learned that all things are a process and sometimes that process is not quick. I want to continue with the impact that focus has had for me this year! However, that process did not diminished my focus in October.
I have savored the days – appreciating the longer shadows, the changing colors, and the shifting temperatures.
I have found a good rhythm of moving my body even when its raining or I don’t really feel like it. I might even say that moving has become a habit and that feels so good!
This month I also did something profoundly different in my reading – I took almost the entire month to read, ponder, and make notes about Just Mercy. Honestly, I am not sure I could have read this book any other way – it needed pauses and lots of thought. But, that process has me thinking about making a change in how I read…I am not sure I would want to do that with every book I read, but maybe? It is absolutely something I am sitting with and tumbling about in my brain.
Late yesterday afternoon, I began the rhythmic process of carefully winding a skein of yarn and last night I began swatching for my Evening Dew Cardigan. I think I earned some good knitting Karma as well, because I appear to be getting gauge the.first.time!
Yes, that means that Tegna is finished! One super rainy, stay-at-home weekend meant lots of knitting time and a second finished sleeve! She needs a bit of a soak and some careful blocking to open the lacework at the bottom of the sweater and the ends woven in but stay tuned for glamour shots later this week! My first thoughts on her though…I am wildly in love!
I don’t have much on tap this week outside of my “normal weekly things” and that means I might be able to fit in some knitting time to work on my new project!
What about you? Any new beginnings for you this week?
P.S. See you all back here tomorrow as I join Juliann and share my October Focus update!
By this time next week, it will be November and I am quite shocked by that. We have had such incredibly wonderful temperatures – warming beautifully during the day with only a couple nights with very light frosts. If I could order up the weather – it might just be exactly this! However, there is a part of me that knows that these days are not here for the duration and soon it will be cold with not much sunshine and yes, even snow!
Triumphant Knitting –
People… I have ONE SLEEVE DONE!!! I am so happy with sleeve one and I have begun sleeve two which will likely take all next week and maybe part of the following. But this sweater is much closer to completion today!
Gratitude Week Anticipation –
That’s right – Michelle has moved up her annual Gratitude Week offering, and I am really looking forward to it. Oh, and there is still time to sign up if you are so inclined! Michelle always brings so many “ah-ha moments” and new ways to think about life!
(IM)Patiently Waiting –
I will finish Just Mercy today and November will bring the discussion portion of Read With Us. (I think it will start on Kym’s blog on the first Tuesday.) I have so many thoughts about this book – so much I was colossally ignorant of – so much I blindly supported (Three Strikes, for instance) without having a clue. Reading, learning, and contemplating have made my white privilege obnoxiously evident. I am very eager to see what I can learn from Carole, Bonny, and Kym – and from all my fellow readers!
Full-on-Autumn –
Every year I love watching as Janelle’s maple tree transforms from summer to gloriously autumn. Yesterday she posted the Pennsylvania Fall Foliage update – and yes, I agree – the colors are full-on right now! My neighborhood practically glows with reds and yellows. Yet while the trees are glowing loudly, the cacophony of birdsong is mostly silent – save our fierce Catbirds. This week has been Cat Bird Song Wars which consists of two birds each trying to out-do the other with their song repertoire! Sometimes the songs would erupt into bouts of air battles that look less like a battle and more like an intricate dance. I truly love watching these incredible little creatures! I also love seeing all the Halloween decorations that dot my neighborhood. And, I am soaking in each magnificent detail of these glorious autumn days. Saturday will be the final Farmer’s Market for the season – a bittersweet event. And for this final weekend in October, I plan on immersing myself in these glorious autumn days.
Have a great weekend and I will see you all back here on Monday!
There has been little knitting here this week, which shocks me! Silly me imagined that seaming my friend’s sweater would be something I would complete quickly! Reality was that it took much longer than I anticipated and there was no time left to bake anything on Monday!
However, Tuesday morning dawned grey and very rainy – just the thing to inspire a bit of time in the kitchen baking! My usual morning walk was put on pause until the rains stopped later in the day, but I managed nicely to fit both baking and walking into the daily agenda.
I have no knitting progress to show you although I did take Aisé to Tuesday night knitting – which was practically the only knitting I have done this week! I would have photos to show you my progress but the light was long gone by the time I got home so no photo of any knitting to share today!
However, I do have some spectacular books to update you all with!
I finished The Huntress. This book revolved around 3 main characters – I had a hard time getting into the story, but once I did, I really enjoyed it. There were twists and turns that I did not expect. After a slow start, it finished brilliantly – 4-stars and I very much recommend this book!
I listened to Dani Shapiro narrate Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love. I enjoyed it tremendously – with a word of warning – do not listen to this book while walking, because there were so many unexpected moments that made me cry. Which is not exactly the thing you want to do while walking! 4-stars and I highly recommend it!
After the Flood is the book that was the October “Libraries Transform Book Pick” I think it is curious that they selected this very curious story that takes place post global warming. Yes, another flood (or two) have covered most of the earth and this is post-flood and the earth is still mostly covered with water. I had originally given the book 3-stars, but I have since downgraded that review to 2-stars. So much of the story is barely believable and there are so many lose ends that never get settled. Sadly, I do not recommend.
Finally, I finished The Banker’s Wife – again, I am not sure where I saw this book and it started out so wonderfully! I could barely put it down and then it all sort of fell apart in the last 20% of the novel. The ending could have been so much better, but it was still a riveting novel. I really debated about how to rate this one and I started with 4-stars, but I have downgraded that to 3-stars.
I am *almost* done with Just Mercy and I am really looking forward to discussing this with Read With Us!
If you wrote a post to share today, please leave your link below and thank you for joining us!
I am so glad that I live in a world where there are Octobers. – L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
It was a perfect October weekend. One that included a trip to our farmer’s market, glorious blue skies, and yes – even a pumpkin donut! I also made a big pot of chili on Sunday.
And, while there were no new yarn acquisitions – I am going to take Mary’s advice on bracelet-length sleeves and so Tegna sleeve knitting has begun in earnest. Why, I even managed to rip out (literally) the too loose neck edge and reknit it with the correct sized needles!
I also made some progress on my Aisé and I am very happy with how it looks. The sparkle in the kidsilk yarn is not at all overwhelming but I am not sure how well it shows up in a photograph.
However, today I can no longer ignore the sweater that I need to seam up for a friend and there will be no knitting until that is completed! And, once that is done this cake is next on my agenda!
And, just like that it is suddenly Friday yet again. I don’t know about you, but the later it gets in the year – the faster the weeks seem to go! This was absolutely one of those whirlwind weeks and I am very ready for the weekend to commence… it is absolutely a day to celebrate TGIF.
Tipping Point –
This week, in my house at least, we reached the tipping point for turning on the furnace. That point was reached on Wednesday with its cold and very rainy weather. This likely does not mean that the heat is permanently on for the season, but it was most welcome for part of this week. I am way too old to play the “how long can I be miserably cold game!”
Gearing DOWN –
Autumn is my absolute favorite season and I am purposely slowing down to appreciate each day. I am savoring each newly changed leaf. I am appreciating the glorious early fall light. I am welcoming cooler nights that have extended into cooler days and, I am relishing putting on a sweater and adding an extra blanket to the bed!
Inspired by –
This weekend is the weekend that I am generally filled with envy of all those who are fortunate to be at Rhinebeck. However, yesterday Bridget provided some incredible inspiration. So rather than wishing the weekend away, I am taking a page from her weekend planning! I will be heading out tomorrow morning to find some cider donuts (and perhaps some cider as well!) I will take a walk outside and appreciate the crisp weather, the colors, and while I won’t be walking to a yarn shop – I will spend some time wandering around my local Farmer’s Market. And, I will be sure to spend the weekend wearing a sweater and I promise to do some knitting (as you can see below, I am not lacking in things to knit!)
Falling Fast –
I finished the neckline of my Tegna – but I messed up…yes, I knit the rounds with the same sized needle I knit the body with instead of using a smaller needle. I think I will need to rip back and reknit the neck with a smaller needle. It won’t be easy, sigh. In the meantime, I have been thinking about sleeves…specifically, sleeve length! The pattern calls for short sleeves but the idea behind this piece (at least for me) is to use it to extend the use of my sleeveless tunics into the fall and perhaps even the winter. So, I have been looking at the plethora of finished Tegna’s on Ravelry trying to decide. I have more than enough yarn, so I think I am going to knit longer sleeves, trying it on as I go to get just the perfect length. I like the idea of long sleeves, but I am not sure how well a mohair/silk yarn wears and I am concerned about the elbows being in a perpetual state of “baggy-ness.” Anyways, I welcome all input!
In the interim (and really to avoid the entire ripping back debacle) I cast on my first Aisé on Wednesday night and shockingly, this seems like this will be a very quick knit!
And!!! Sometime today, I hope to wind up my Floof and begin the swatching process for my Evening Dew Cardigan. Why? Because I just love that moment when you give in to the urge and *cast*on*all*the*things*
Happy Friday everyone – have a great weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!
By the time you read this, I will be in the process of picking up the stitches around the neck of my Tegna. It still looks like a bright pink fluffy blob, so no photos until it has been finished and blocked!
However, the turn in the weather brings a great desire to *cast*on*all*the*things* so I thought I’d share my next projects…
Project One:
Aisé and my plan is to knit it up with a strand of Silky Alpaca Lace and a strand of Sparkly Kid Silk Haze. (The yarn combo on the right in the photo above)
No, I just can’t stop with the mohair/silk yarns! The two of these should take me through the end of the year (plus a portable project or two and an add-in gift knit for my son’s girlfriend)
That brings me to the reading this week:
I am slowly working through Just Mercy. I have deliberatively slowed my reading pace and I am even taking some notes! I am very much looking forward to discussing this book with fellow Read With Us participants next month!
I finished Julia Child’s My Life in France and I loved every word. How I did not know this book existed is beyond me but thank you Sarah for suggesting I read it! 5-stars and if you are a Julia Child fan, it is absolutely a must read!
That is all I have for this week! What about you? How is your making going this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
