by Kat | Feb 5, 2020 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers!
How are we five days into February already?! Is it me or did time suddenly just speed up drastically? Sadly, my knitting has not taken the same turn and in fact it all feels quite January-like as I slough through these rows! Sorry for the miserable photo but we are back to grey days again! (and the great brown blob just really isn’t at all photogenic!)
My January making was really not bad at all! I completed two hats (one for me and one for my daughter), one Felix Cardigan, and two Esme Tunics! .
January reading in numbers was quite impressive! I finished 13 books, reading 1,913 pages and listening to just over 81 hours of audiobooks! Most of them were solid reads that I enjoyed tremendously. This year I am spending more time thinking about the rating I give a book (last year I gave LOTS of 5-stars, but some of those were so much better than others) but I did read two 5-star books this month (Conversations with RBG and Night Sky with Exit Wounds) I feel very good about giving them 5-stars because both books have stayed with me! This week’s finishes were as follows:
Transcription by Kate Atkinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. This is not Life after Life, but that is okay. I like Juliette – she is smart and I did not always quite know what she was up to. But, the book moves you along in a most pleasing way to the most delightful ending (Wow, I did not see that coming!) In the audio version I listened to, I really enjoyed Atkinson’s explanation of how she wrote this (un)historical fiction. I highly recommend!
Dangerous Melodies: Classical Music in America from the Great War through the Cold War by Jonathan Rosenberg
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This book made me wish I knew more about classical music, but sadly, I don’t. I did make a list of the songs I did not know with plans to listen to them. I never thought about politics and music being linked. If you are a fan of classical music, you would enjoy this book tremendously.
Fever by Mary Beth Keane
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Oh boy, this book would not be one I would have finished if it was not for a book club. I struggled to like the characters and the book itself could have used some editing. Many things made me angry in this book – the treatment of Mary (vs. the treatment of males who were carriers of typhoid) for one.
There was so much that I did not know about this time period that I spent some time looking up to understand. I think the book could have done a better job with including some of those left out facts. All in all, I do not recommend this story.
I also set one book aside, Olive Kitteridge, I could not finish this book at this point in time. Perhaps I will try again some day, but at this space in life it was just not something I could ease into reading.
That is all I have for this week, what about you? What was good this week?
If you wrote a post to share, please leave you link below and thank you!
by Kat | Jan 29, 2020 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers!
It has been a long, sad week. My Tuesday night knitting group lost a member last week and knitting last night was bittersweet – we were there, but a bit diminished. However, we made plans to pick up a special shawl that was in progress for a beloved niece. We will each take turns knitting until it is finished. Our stitches will be full of love and memories of Mary and having a path forward with some meaning felt so right.
I have not picked up my Evening Dew Cardigan in over a week, as my knitting attention has been distracted entirely by my Pheasant Pullover! I finished the colorwork portion over the weekend and have been working on the mindless knitting portion of the body but I am still not to the sleeve divide. I still have a little over an inch to go before I am to that point. However, I am so happy to be mindlessly knitting and reading!
The reading this week was outstanding, though!
Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents by Pete Souza
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Early on, I had been directed to Pete Souza’s Instagram feed and I enjoyed that tremendously. However, seeing the feed here with the correlation to what he was responding to is simply brilliant. I laughed at many of these, and it also made me yearn for the days when we had a president we could be proud of.
Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Maybe we pray on our knees because god only listens when we’re this close…
This book is only 70 pages, but those 70 pages are packed full of such incredible words. Words I sometimes had to read over again because they were just so beautiful. This is not a book of poetry to miss.
Stars. Or rather, the drains of heaven—waiting. Little holes. Little centuries opening just long enough for us to slip through.
Slip through the words and settle yourself into the world of Ocean Vuong, it is a place you will want to linger in and enjoy. I highly recommend!
The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What can I add that has not already been said about Tuchman’s tome on WWI? Woefully little, but I will try. I listened to this book and it very much felt like I was sitting in the history class with the professor everyone said was wonderful – only to discover, they were wrong – she was more than wonderful, she was brilliant and made things clear and so understandable!
If you at all have any idea that you like history – this is a must read book. I highly recommend the audio version with Wanda McCaddon narrating, she is wonderful and very easy to listen to!
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The answer it seems to me now, lies in the miracles.
Do you believe in miracles? You might after you read this book. I fell in love with Davy, Swede, and Reuben. This book makes you think about faith, poverty, justice (or rather injustice) all told from the wise perspective of Reuben. Read this book and be witness to the wonder of this family. I highly recommend!
That is all I have to share this week, but I want to know what is consuming your making time?
If you wrote a post to share today, please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Jan 22, 2020 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings, Unravelers!
The making this week has had some highs and some not so highs.
First, remember this sock? Once I got the heel flap done and started down the foot and that little voice in my head kept saying, “holy cow this sock is BIG” after I got through the decreases I finally listened to that voice. End result – I frogged the sock and began again with the smallest size and hopes that this will actually fit. Oh boy.
I completed Chart One of my Pheasant Pullover and I think I need a longer length circular needle before I begin Chart Two. So, it’s in a bit of a holding pattern until I can get that longer length.
It looks spot on from this angle, but trust me when I tell you that the match up is just a bit off from front to back.
But that’s okay because I have spent my time wisely with an Esme Tunic. Matching plaids is not for the faint of heart and while this attempt was better than my first try, there is still room for improvement. The darts are hanging me up and I am not certain how to correct it. I have done something different with the pockets in this tunic with this inseam template from 100 Acts of Sewing! I hoped to have this done, but that was not happening, but at least I have a start on a new tunic! Today my challenge will be setting in the sleeves and hoping my plaids are spot on! Wish me luck! Haha
The reading also had some highs and less than high books this week as well:
I finished Fates and Furries, but it was an effort.
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Could there be a book with two more horrid characters? I did not like Lotto or Mathilde. There was nothing redeeming about either of them. I do not recommend this book at all.
I finished Malice in Malmö, Inspector Anita Sundstrom #6 and I liked it – a lot!
Malice in Malmö by Torquil MacLeod
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A mystery within a mystery. While I wondered from the beginning if they were connected – MacLeod keeps dangling hints before me. Anita’s growth in this novel is wonderful! I highly recommend this series.
I also finished Salt to the Sea and I really loved it!
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Four people, four very different stories, all running concurrently. This book will stay with me for a very long time. There are horrific moments that almost crush you. There are tender moments that make you believe there is goodness. And those tender moments are so moving. I cried and the ending was so unexpected. I highly recommend this book!
Finally, if you enjoyed Just Mercy, the first book that Read With Me Book Club selected, you might be interested in the interview Terry Gross did with Bryan Stevenson earlier this week!
That is all I have today and I hope your making and reading had more highs than lows! If you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Jan 15, 2020 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
One of the things that I want to do more this year is spinning – but I was keeping my wheel in a place where I was unlikely to ever do any spinning. The proof of that is how little spinning I did most of last year but, all that has changed! On Monday I spent a good portion of the day rearranging things so that I have a more convenient spot to spin, AND when I want to spin it does not make normal living inconvenient! I think I have achieved success because I did some spinning on Monday, and again on Tuesday, and my plan is to do a bit more spinning today!
So far, so very good and it seems my idea is working well! My wheel has had a bit of a tune up and I am discovering that spinning is much like bike riding – you don’t forget how, even if you haven’t done it in some time!
AND! I am hovering around the 7″ mark on the body of my Evening Dew Cardigan! It feels like I have been knitting on it forever – and suddenly I have something to show for it! I still have a long way to go on this project, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
The reading this week included just one finish and a bittersweet finish at that! I finished Wild Fire, the final book in Ann Cleeve’s Shetland series. I loved this series more with each book. Jimmy Perez has grown on me and I am sad that he has solved his last murder. The writing in this series is brilliant and I highly recommend it!
Did you all hear this article on NPR? That is a very impressive top ten list – and I love how many children’s books are there!
That is all I have for today – what’s on your reading list this week?
If you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Jan 8, 2020 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
My January is off to a roaring start! I have finished my Felix Cardigan – well, it is finished with the exception of weaving the ends in and sewing on buttons! I hope to get to JoAnn’s this weekend to see what they might have that could work with it! I really love how a sewn tubular bind off looks and I will be using that technique again!
I knit to the body an inch longer than the designer suggested.
The bind off is just so incredible!
I also cast on and finished Leni, which I knit for my daughter for her birthday! It needs a bit of a soak and then can be wrapped to send off to her! I love the fit and will be making another of these!
I love how this turned out with speckled yarn and a strand of mohair!
Now I am back patiently working on my Evening Dew Cardigan – slowly but surely!
I also started my “month of sewing” and I am 2 sleeves, pockets, and a hem short of a finish on my flannel Esme Tunic. Sadly, I failed greatly on trying to figure out how to match the plaids… sigh. I have a bit more sewing to get to this month, and a bit more practice matching plaids, so stay tuned!
My reading also started of gang busters with some winners and one that did not quite win for me.
I really wanted to love The Starless Sea – sadly, loving it was just not in the cards for me. I felt much as Mary did about the second half of the book. 2-stars and read at your own risk!
What is not to love about RBG? Conversations with RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law will show you there is lots to love about her! The conversations are intelligent, reaffirming, and at times poignant! PLUS!! I discovered Jeffrey Rosen’s We The People podcast! 5-stars and I highly recommend! (Also, if you listen to the audio version – there are out-takes at the end with RBG!)
The Whisper Man is a thriller and it does keep you engaged. I devoured it in a few short hours, and not much else was accomplished because I could not put it down! 4-stars and I recommend.
That’s all I have for today but what are you excited about making or reading in the New Year?
If you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below and thank you!
