by Kat | Apr 24, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers and Happy Wednesday to you all!
First, a bit of housekeeping for next week. There will not be any Unraveled Wednesday post next week, May 1st. I will be back from Erie the following week and there will be an Unraveled post on May 8th!
Now that that bit of housekeeping is out of the way, why don’t we ease into some making and reading!
On the making front, with time to spare… I have a new Honey Cowl and I love it. I might have been able to do another round before the final rounds, but I did not feel like playing yarn chicken and losing! It is bright, fun, and will be the perfect addition for the cooler and windier weather on Lake Erie!
I have finished the bottom ribbing on my “pre-knit” sweater and I am much happier with the rip back and size adjustment I made.
That yarn that tried (and failed) to be some Feather and Fan socks has been cast on for another pair of Hermoine’s Everyday Socks. They are easy travel knitting (I don’t need the pattern and I can stop and start as needed) and will likewise be perfect for “nighttime TV watching.” I am also taking the sweater, but I am not really sure how much knitting will get done…
Wee Snowmen who will find a new life!
I started the Last Page yesterday and will be taking it with me to finish the final page. I am excited to put all these pages together! This last page will incorporate some cross-stitch snowmen that I started when Heidi was a very small little girl. I have cut up the fabric and will stitch them onto some “snowy hills.” This has truly been a project that has jumpstarted my creativity… and once the pages are all together, I plan on continuing a similar stitching project!
The reading this week… I had heard about The Salt Path recently and was fortunate that my library had an audio copy. It is my only finish this week. The story is true. It is a compelling, moving story… Moth and Raynor Winn lose their home in Wales, Moth is diagnosed with a terminal illness… and they decide (in their 50’s) to walk The Salt Path and camp along the way. They begin as two beaten down people, and as they continue along something of a wonder begins to happen… they get stronger, their minds get clearer, Moth improves significantly. And so Raynor brings us along on their journey as they walk the longest path in Britain. It is an inspiring story.
At night, I am meandering my way through the book of short stories, Table for Two, by Amor Towles… and they are delicious. I really don’t want the book to end… the stories are just so good! I am about halfway through and savoring every word!
And there you have my week! What about you? What are you thinking about this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Apr 17, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Dear Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
I have finishes this week! A completed pair of socks and one finished Gnome!
First, the socks! Pattern is Hermoine’s Everyday Socks with an afterthought heel and toes done in a contrasting yarn. They fit well and I think these will go into the sock drawer for me!
Now, a bit of mood music for the next finish…
Valkyrie Gnova, ready to ride!
Up next, that Gnome Valkyrie! Meet Gnova who is eagerly entering Valhalla to ride with the other Valkyries as she guides Gnomes (and perhaps, Knitters of Gnomes!!) to Odin’s Hall! I love her “leather” Hauberk! It took a bit of figuring on how best to accomplish the vision in my mind’s eye… a few tries later and voilá… one well fitting Hauberk! I was a bit less creative than this for her sword and shield, but I am happy with my rudimentary weapons! The best part… if you are very quiet, you might hear her singing out from Valhalla!
I saw this on IG and thought… hmm, Feather and Fan socks might be a fun knit! And, as luck would have it (or better yet, just a very good library!) my library had a copy of the Socks, Socks, Socks book. I cast on and knit a few inches, but my gauge is so tight! I need to rip it out and go up a needle size. Stay tuned!
Yay for well-stocked libraries!!
I also cast on a Honey Cowl that I am hoping to finish before we leave for Erie later this month! This is that crazy skein of yarn I spun from Wound Up Fiber Arts Scrappy Sock Bundle.
From this…
To this!!!
On the super secret knitting front… I have been miraculously selected to “pre-knit” Ailbíona McLochlainn’s soon-to-be-released cardigan sweater. I just got the pattern yesterday, so swatching is on my list today.
I have stitching as well, but that will have to wait until next week!
The reading this week… ahhh! So, so delightful! I finished The Seed Keeper… and LOVED it! I also finished a book of Michael Ondaatje’s poetry: A Year of Last Things. I have been reading, re-reading, and re-reading some more since January. It is good… so good! It is out now and might be just the thing you need for your Poetry Bookshelf for National Poetry Month… just saying!
The current listen in my ears is Raynor Winn’s The Salt Path (narrated by the divine Anne Reid!!) I am about a quarter of the way in and enjoying the journey with Raynor and her husband Moth, as they walk the South West Coast Path.
At night I am meandering though Forgotten on Sunday… Valérie Perrin’s soon-to-be-published book! I am enjoying it very much.
Now for the brief, but so very spectacular, appointment with my audiologist… Can I just say that technology rocks? The hearing aids of today are NOT your grandmother’s hearing aid! It has been a process to get here, but imagine my wonder and surprise when the audiologist took the results from my hearing test and input them into the “test” hearing aids and put them in my ears! I could not contain the tears… it was as if my ears had been packed with cotton wool and someone removed it… as in instant hearing of things I had long forgotten. Anyways, hearing aids have been ordered… now I am really eagerly awaiting their arrival! I go May 14 to get them! Really… after the brief soundstravaganza I had this afternoon, I can barely wait! I will share more about them, the costs, the process, and the fittings for a later post. But, this is a life changing thing… for the freaking better!
There is my week… what about you? What are you working on this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Mar 20, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Gentle Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
I have finished my *third* pair of socks this year! What??? I don’t know who these socks will be for, but they are going in the Gift Bag for someone! I am going to cast on another pair pronto… I have some Vintage Lorna’s Laces in the most delightful colors. I am a bit concerned about pooling, but I am going to give the yarn a go! Same pattern, I think… Hermoine’s Everyday Sock is such a fun knit!
I also have the start of my Valkyrie!! Barely… but yes, started!
But really, stitching is on my mind… lots and lots of stitching! I have another page completed! (all the work time on this one was in the appliqué of the flowers!) I recently had the opportunity to take a Dream Bird class from Jo Avery and I learned some incredible tips for the appliqué process. I wanted to cement them in my mind, so I took the opportunity with a page.
I really want to learn EPP (English Paper Piecing)… and have been watching videos and IG for some inspiration. Once the 100-day project is finished, I am going to give it a try with a small project (no quilts… yet, lol!) One small project to dip my toes in is a good place to start!
The reading dam broke this week, and I have three finishes! And this week, I find myself back in St. Denis with the intrepid Police Chief Bruno Courrèges… it feels good and of course, there is a murder! Haha! I am also reading another Netgalley book, Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor (another murder mystery… with some mysterious characters as well!) The cure for any reading slump for me is to settle in with a good mystery… and double mysteries are even better!
There you have my week! What about you? What are you thinking about this week!
As always, If you wrote a post to share please leave you link below and thank you!
by Kat | Mar 6, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
The making had a slight interruption this week with a blast of balmy weather it made sense to get out into the garden while the sun was shining! And despite it feeling unbelievably wrong to be out in shirtsleeves in March… I did get almost all the “pruning” done and I got a great start on the weeding! (Although, I left all the dandelions for the bees!)
But!! Despite spending quite a bit of time outdoors – I do have a finished Gnome!
Cher-gnome-ble… ready to wander!
Seeds, at the ready!
Dear Cher-gnome-ble… the bringer of spring! I really like him… his cape is so fun! I also gave him a bag filled with seed packets at the ready to sprinkle where he roams! The pattern called for only one arm, but as you can see, Cher-gnome-ble has two… it makes sprinkling those seeds easier! This pattern is from the latest set that Sarah Schira released. As you can see there are a number of Gnome Options and I have printed out the “viking” pattern and have been contemplating ideas for him her. What I immediately thought of when I saw the pattern was Brunnhilde from Wagner’s Ring Opera. So I think there will be another gnome… with a musical theme!
I really love these colors and the pattern helps to break up any pooling that might happen!
I cast on a new sock on March 1st! I am knitting socks and reading with @earthtonesgirl #ilovebooksandsockknittingkal24
Socks and reading… seemed like a natural thing to participate in! I am starting with a skein of Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply in the Deep Sea Jelly Fish color way, and my sock pattern… I thought Hermoine’s Everyday Sock was a very bookishly perfect sock! And I am listening to The Bookbinder as well… I like this pattern (I am almost at the heel where I need to pay a bit of attention) and I am really enjoying this WWI story as well! Once this pair is done, I plan in casting on another pair as I have an over abundance of sock yarn and socks are perfect companions for an audiobook!
I have two finishes this week… Ariel Lawhon’s The Frozen River and Rachel Khong’s Real Americans (which will be published April 30, 2024) I liked both books… Real Americans maybe a bit more… the writing was just so beautiful and the story is different… very different. Real Americans has lingered with me… this would be an excellent book club discussion book! And The Frozen River piqued my interest in finding out more about Martha Ballard!
And there you have my week! What about you? What are you working on this week?
by Kat | Feb 21, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Dear Unravelers and Welcome!
There was some unraveling this week… remember that hat I shared last week? Well, it was just too big, which for a hat is not a good thing. I got gauge, but it was just huge. This yarn has “tried” to be a number of things so perhaps it is the yarn and not the knitter! Socks did not work (and I tried several patterns), and a hat was not it either! And so this skein is being consigned to the Gnome Bag! My goal today is to find a suitable skein to try Sarah’s hat pattern again…wish me luck! (with eleventy-zillion skeins of sock yarn in my stash this should be an easy thing to do!)
However, I did have success this week with a finished pair of socks! Pair #2 for 2024…The yarn is a “test color way” from Fibernymph Dyeworks — Grays/Pinks Test Colorway. I knit my favorite sock pattern, Carole’s Picot Socks and they just flew off the needles. A sock is the perfect nighttime knit… I can sit with Steve but not really pay too much attention to what is on television.
I also succeeded in the Italian Tubular Cast On… and I have the ribbing finished and have started the body of Steve’s vest. The color is kind of off-putting because really I want to keep knitting with pinks! But it will be the most excellent business attire color… so I knit on!
The thing that is saving my sanity these days is my daily stitching ritual… you can see page six above on my 100 Day Journey. Such fun from literal scraps of fabric… things I probably should have thrown away, but my goodness, am I glad I did not do that!
My reading has definitely slowed dramatically down. I saw my doctor earlier this month and talked to him about my insomnia… he had some suggestions, which I have implemented over the month. The main thing was “no screen time” and I read books on my iPad at night. Or at least I had been… now, when the lights go off, I do not lay there and read in the dark… and stunningly, my sleep has improved. I have only had a couple of nights this month that sleep has been elusive. Thus it took me forever to finish a kindle book but I did! I got an advance copy of Mr. Comey’s latest mystery, Westport, from Netgalley. I am happy to report that the second book in this series was much better than the first! I made a guess early on in the reading of who I thought “did it” and I was right! (Although, I prefer being wrong… lol) Anyways, if you tried Central Park West and were disappointed, you might want to try again with Westport which will be out May 21, 2024.
I also have finished listening to The Poisonwood Bible. Oh my. Kym said there’d be so much to discuss with this one… and she is so right! Anyways, I loved it (and hated so many things in it…) but really, really loving how the story is told! I have laughed, cried, laughed some more, and even had some rather animated discussions with Steve about some aspects of it. (He is not even the least bit intrigued to read it… lol)
I have begun listening to The Eyes and The Impossible by Dave Eggers. So far… so very good. And my next Kindle read is one many of you have read… an advanced copy of Real Americans. I barely cracked it open… but those few “pages” have lured me in!
And there you have my week. What about you? What are you loving right now?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
