Unraveled Wednesday | 9.13.23

Unraveled Wednesday | 9.13.23

Greetings Unravelers!

**Sorry for this late posting, I thought I scheduled it to post, but apparently that did not work out… sigh. Entirely operator error… not at all a WordPress issue.**

It pains me to say this but September is just racing along, isn’t it? This week the temperature switch was flipped… sigh. I was hoping the humidity would depart first. I have little to show for my making this week but I do have a healthy start on a soprano and bass gnome.

Gnola just needs her music and she will be complete. Her twin brother, Gnolan, needs a bit more knitting time. That will leave me with just an alto gnome to knit and I will have my singing quartet! I also have a vision of a tall tree that they can sing around…which should get me to the next mystery gnome! I am not on the bandwagon for all the goodies but I do love the slower pace that the December mystery knit brings!

I “reactivated” my afternoon spinning reminder as well – and those few minutes have been productive! I have one bobbin done of the contrast for the heels and toes and one bobbin of singles for the yarn done… two bobbins to go! I want to get this done to have a handspun sock to knit on vacation next month! This is a “bird” color way from a club that Fibernymph Dye Works did a couple of years ago… some Blue Jay socks will be so fun!

The reading has had a good book and a not so good book. I had two finishes, one I enjoyed: Martin Walker’s The Patriarch with Chief Bruno Courreges. A great mystery, and as always, Bruno’s delectable cooking! The one that was no so good (at least for me) was The Librarianist… a disappointing read. This is a very character driven novel… which is great unless the characters are not so likable.

I am much more enjoying the characters in My Friends… and the writing is so much better than The Librarianist… so much better. I am just over halfway through and loving every bit of it. I also dove into The Bee Sting and am roughly a third of the way in. It is long but I am loving it thus far!

What about you… what is occupying your time this week?

As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!


Unraveled Wednesday | 8.30.23

Unraveled Wednesday | 8.30.23

Greetings Unravelers!

We have arrived at the last Wednesday in August! No lies here… I am more than a little excited for September and my week of knitting reflects that.

I finished my Pressed Flower Socks and I love them! Kym asked last week about sock thickness… and yes, these are a bit thicker than normal hand knit socks. But they will work perfectly for me… I like to wear clogs in the winter and they work well in my Haflinger clogs!

I have not cast on another pair, but I will be – it was a great pattern to knit! Clear instructions and the best part is that you get the “look of color work” without the tension problems one might have with color work… they are mosaic knitting so you only are ever knitting with one color.

Instead of casting on another sock, I pulled out my Pressed Flowers wrap and have made some good progress (until I started adding in random flowers to transition into the “border pattern” that is…That has caused a bit of unraveling…sigh.) But I think I have it on track now and once I have the rhythm, it goes quickly!

I have also been fascinated by Emily Greene’s latest design – Archetype. I love how it looks and I am intrigued with the construction…it is knit flat, in pieces! I have not knit one of Emily’s patterns since Calmus and I think that this fall might be the time to try again. I might even have some yarn in a cart while I think about it. Stay tuned!

The reading this week was so good! I finished Jesmyn Ward’s Let Us Descend… and wow. It was so incredibly good! (not easy, but so good!) I loved it and believe that when too many people are trying to ban books… this book is a necessary read! Let Us Descend comes out October 3rd if you want to get on the list for it! I leaned into the challenging reads this week with Matthew Desmond’s Poverty, by America. A life changing book… and a very eye-opening read.

I also enjoyed my romp in Saint-Denis with Bruno… and I highly recommend the series!

My current reads include the start of the next Bruno book (thank you so much Hoopla!) and a soon-to-be published novel by Michael Cunningham, Day: A Novel. Both very good!

So tell me… what are you trying to wrap up in these last days of August?

As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!


Unraveled Wednesday | 8.15.23

Unraveled Wednesday | 8.15.23

Hello dear Unravelers!

It is Wednesday and that means a bit of a check in with my making and reading…and while last week had little progress this week the making and reading are strong!

I have been doing some more stitching… and I have broken the 60 minute mark on a square! Ha! I have 4 done and am thoroughly enjoying the learning process! I am enjoying my afternoon stitching (although the humidity has kept me from sitting on the porch to do it… sigh.)

I have also found the rhythm of my Pressed Flower Sock! I am nearing the toes. I have one repeat to go before Toe #1… I am a bit nervous about length but I am going to go with the suggestions that Amy Christoffer’s gives. I have yarn picked out for a second pair as I think these will make wonderful “clog” socks for the fall/winter.

And yes, I do have a finish this week! Hitch on the Move is done… almost. She still needs a good soak and some better glamor shots (it was pretty grey and cloudy here yesterday.) Some notes on the pattern… when you get to the point where you are no longer increasing on “both sides” make sure you have a stitch count on side “a” that is divisible by 10… I did not and had to do some creative adjusting in the last few “teeth” because there was no way I was unraveling any of those long ass rows! Anyways, it is the perfect size and really love it! It will be a great addition to brisk walks (when brisk weather ever returns here… lol.) I also weighed my “a” yarn and transitioned when I reached Martina’s suggested weight and I worried I would run out of yarn but I did not! (and my leftovers have gone into the mitered square bag!)

Speaking of which… I only added one square this week but that is okay. I did go through the Deep Stash of leftover bits and pulled out a few more to add in.

Now how about a reading update! It has been another incredible week! I had 3 finishes that were so, so good! And my current reads are just as good! I am back with Gabriel Allon in The Collector. I am thrilled that the “old gang” is back together. I missed them all very much in The Portrait of an Unknown Woman so having them back is excellent! And in my ears during the day is Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake. I am loving that as well!

And there you have my making and reading this week… what about you? What are you excited about this week?

As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!

I will see you all back here tomorrow with some poetry!


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Unraveled Wednesday | 8.2.23

Unraveled Wednesday | 8.2.23

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!


Unraveled Wednesday | 7.26.23

Unraveled Wednesday | 7.26.23

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!


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