**Sorry about this, but I have no clue what happened to my published post, but it is MIA… if you are getting a second notification, that is why.**
July brings the beginning of the third quarter… and, more importantly, it means that I have done half a year of Temperature Stitching! To say I love it is an understatement… it brings me the greatest delight and I thing this will be stunning once completed and hanging on my wall! I love how I have moved into The Season of Yellows and Reds… and while I don’t love the 90’s (which are burgundy/purples) hopefully there won’t be any icy blues and chilly greens back until November! Ha!
Something else has been rattling around my head ever since Bonny shared it on her blog! Yes… Hitch on the Move has been consuming my thoughts and so I began to look to see what I might have in my stash to get it started! Imagine when I found a delightful skein that pairs beautifully with some Polwarth from Wee Chickadee that I was lucky to get from one of Cara’s destashes. I have been joyously spinning it up and have about a bobbin and a half full!
And speaking of spinning… I was divinely inspired with some Targhee in the Freshwater Pearls colorway (divinely… see what I did there, those sisters have some inspired fibers!) and I love how it turned out. It is a 3-ply fingering weight with excellent yardage (sorry, I have not weighed it yet to know.) I have no plans for it yet… I am just happy to squeeze it every so often… it is so squishy and soft!
I also am plodding along on my second Shakerag Skirt, sigh. This won’t be a 15 Day Knit but I am through the lace portion and am so close to being done with the optional necessary backside short rows! Then I will shortly begin the decreases and the mindless round and round. My hope is to have a second skirt to sashay around in this month though! So on I knit!
The reading has been good. I am back in Bath with Sully… and although I miss some characters (Miss Beryl for one!) the shenanigan’s are plenty! I am laughing and loving every bit of it. I am trying hard to slow down but it is a challenge! Ha!
I am also listening to The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida which is for the Read With Us gang. I am about half way though and the writing is so good (the narration is also so perfect!)
I had two finishes… I enjoyed them but I did not love either of them (Happiness Falls and Under the Whispering Door) but 3-star books are not bad reads (I had originally given Happiness Falls 4-stars but after thinking about it for a few days, for me it was not more than a 3-star read.) The problem is I have read much better books last month that might be coloring my opinion. Book Hangover is a thing and Sully is just the thing to clear my head! Ha!
Whew… this was a wordy post… sorry about that! What about you all… what is “consuming you” this week?!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
I have a finished Gnome… and I have very mixed feelings about him. Gnifty is not feeling very nifty to me and those feelings grew as I assembled him last week. But… he has since been speaking to me… he let me know he is a bit of an introvert… and he is quite self-conscious about his proboscis! He prefers to spend his days in the woods… and I have promised him I will knit him a wee birdie or three to keep him company. I think he also needs a walking stick that also has a bit of a perch. I am still looking for the perfect stick! Also… I think a little cosmetic knitting will be happening to fix his nose and give him a beard. So while he is “done”… Gnifty is not yet finished… so stay tuned!
I also had a bit of a re-do (i.e. it was way too small) on my second bucket hat. The yarn is a bit lighter weight so I needed to rethink how to make this all work. (not so easy with crochet, let me tell you!) But I think I am on the correct path now!
My other finish was a scarf that I started eons ago… but I cleaned out a drawer and found it… and by doing a few “flowers” a night before I knew it, it was done! After weaving in eleventy-billion ends and I have a new scarf for the fall!
The reading this week has been marvelous! I am racing on to the finish of Birnam Wood… oh my, it is so good! Twists, turns… and intrigue! Finishing it is my reward for getting my chores done this morning.
The in my ears book is T.J. Klune’s latest, Under the Whispering Door. I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea so I have high hopes for this book! No thoughts yet, I have barely begun it!
That is all I have to share… what about you? What are you working on?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
It’s that time in the week when we all gather together and share what we are making and (perhaps more importantly!) what we are reading!
I have an almost finished Mystery Gnome… that I won’t share this week because there are several “bits” that are not yet finished and my Gnome… well, he remains a mystery to me! I did stuff him yesterday so I am hoping that he speaks to me soon about the direction he wants to go! Stay tuned!
I made some headway on my Summer Knitting List… I have a finished pair of Hermoine’s Everyday Socks! I liked this pattern (especially the heel with the garter edges!) very much and I will be knitting it again! These socks are now tucked away for October or November when socks are once again needed!
My Summer Knitting List has decreased by two projects this week! I have frogged the Ooh La La sweater… I was not in love and began to ask myself were would I wear it. It was quick work to rip it out… and I have already repurposed the yarn! Yep, I have another Shakerag Skirt underway!
After seeing this… I got a crochet hook out and gave Ye Olde Crochet Bucket Hat a try… I used a skein of Euroflax I had in my stash to see how it went… and by George, I think I got it! Ha!
It is a bit “stiff” I think the linen yarn was on the heavier end of worsted weight… but it works! I have begun a second with some leftover Hempathy in my stash. Yes, I know it is a dk yarn, but I like the fabric I am getting, so I will forge on. It is fun counting and single-crocheting… ha!
And if that was not enough ‘making’ for the week. I finished a do-over of the flower pot lesson from my last watercolor class. This one I did on a quarter sheet (so much bigger!) and I ordered a frame yesterday because this one is heading off as a “congrats on your elopement” to my son and new daughter-in-law in Wisconsin!
So how’s my reading been this week, you ask? Well… I have just one finish… The Colony by Audrey Magee. I loved it! (There is painting in it! Ha!)
I have been savoring Fresh Water for Flowers… I really don’t want to leave Violette and her little cemetery… however, even though I have been savoring it, I should finish it today (I have about 50 pages to go.)
In my ears, I have been enjoying Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem. It is a collection of short stories and I am very much enjoying them!
What about you all? What have you been up to this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
Fat bottomed girls You make the rocking world go ’round — Brian May, Queen
Greetings Unravelers!
First… this post needs a sound track… so here you go:
I have one, grand, glorious “sweatskirt” finished… and yes, this fat bottom girl will be living in it for the foreseeable future!
It checks all the boxes:
Comfortable
Well-fitting
The perfect length
Yes, I’d make it again!
Even with some long big-ass rows, I got it done in record time! I cast on on mid-May and finished the elastic/waistband on the 5th. If you are on the fence about this skirt working for you, don’t be. It is such smart designing. There are incredible pattern notes for fit. I did the short rows to lengthen the back after I completed the lace work and did not do the second set of short rows before I began the waistband. I tried it on twice during my knit…the first time when I was almost done with the pattern’s suggested decreases. I saw that I would need a few more (4 to be exact) sets of decreases to my waist… the second time when I thought I was close to where I’d need to start the waistband. The pattern suggested adding length at the bottom, which seemed iffy to me… I wanted my skirt to be well below my knees, so I guessed at an additional 4 inches of knitting before I started my decreases, but I still needed to do about 4 more inches at the top once I was done with the decreases. I had 1.5″ waistband elastic, so I modified the waistband knitting to accommodate the wider elastic.
And I don’t want to take it off… it is my new favorite thing… ever! Oh… and there is no worries about my underwear showing… it is a nice dense fabric!
And yes…casting on another ASAP! (and I am working out a different “lace” pattern for the bottom for the next one!)
The reading this week. Oh my! I have been immersed in Ann Cleeve’s latest Matthew Venn mystery – The Raging Storm. It was deliciously good! A compelling mystery that I had no clue who “did it” until the last pages. We got to know Matthew, Jen, and Ross better as well… they are an interesting team! It will be published in early September… and I highly recommend!
The book in my ears was How High We Go In The Dark. It is a collection of short stories all around the same topic… plagues and death… but don’t let that put you off! The stories are fascinating, well written, and they kept my attention! I listened and found it difficult to stop before a story was done! If you liked Station Eleven… I think you’ll like this!
My current reads include The Colony (in my ears) and Fresh Water for Flowers (which sucked me in from the first brilliant chapter) on my Kindle!
What about you? What is making your rocking world go ’round this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below.
Greetings Unravelers and Farewell May… sigh. I don’t want May to end, it is the loveliest month and I have tried to savor every moment.
However, June waits for no one and June does bring a bit of a treat. I have my yarn ready and I am setting aside some time tomorrow afternoon to begin a new gnome journey!
Meanwhile, the Skirt Marches On! I have about 3-ish inches to go before I begin the waistband. The big try on happened and IT FITS! Woo! I had hoped to have this finished over the weekend but instead I sat on the porch and read. It was delightful but I am back to trying to get 10 rows in a day so I should have this done soon!
Every year brings a plethora of inspiration with #MeMadeMay I did see some things that I have put on a “wish list” for making. However, I have gotten to the point in my wardrobe that every day is a Me Made Day for me. It is a huge thing for me to put on clothing that I have made… a big thing of self-love for sure! I have one huge hole though… jeans. I really need to face the enormous challenge of sewing myself a pair of jeans. I have the fabric, I just need to get something and make a bit of a muslin so I can get the rise, waistband, fly all worked out. I am a confident sewist, but I have all.the.fears. about sewing jeans. However, I need to get past this fear so a trek to JoAnns to get something I can use for a muslin is in order! Stay tuned!
This week was all about the reading though… oh my goodness. I read some simply delightful books: Hello Comfort of Crows, Sara de Vos, and Queen of Dirt Island! And one sort of “meh” book… sigh. Yes, Trespasses just was not a hit for me. (but, I think that makes it a much more interesting to discuss book and I very much look forward to that!)
I bailed entirely on Cursed Bread it just was not for me and I had a wealth of better books to read!
Currently, I am listening to the long awaited How High We Go in the Dark. (and I have Milkman queued again to listen to again before the Read With Us Discussion!) And at night, I am immersed in mystery solving with Matthew Venn in Ann Cleeves latest, The Raging Storm.
Whew… that is one heck of an ending to May – I read 12 books! A banner month of reading for sure!
What about you? How did your May end?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
