by Kat | Jul 17, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
It’s Wednesday and that means me giving you an update on what I am making and reading!
The color work on my Early Bloomer is complete and now I am just knitting around and around and around. I generally like mindless knitting, but I am happy that I am almost 1/3 of the way done! This has been my pickup project at the end of the day so it has not seen much knitting time – but hopefully I will find some “daytime” knitting so I can finish the body!
Sewing continues to satisfy and I began a Tunic Dress on Monday. I have tweaked a few things – a bust adjustment and lengthening of the bodice worked out very well. I have the neck facing and sleeves to finish and then hemming and it will be done!
I do have 3 bingos this week and three books read!
I finished American Indian Stories, Legends and Other Writings – this was perhaps my most interesting read all summer. This book was originally published in 1921 and there was an extensive introduction by Cathy N. Davidson and Ada Norris that gives some very interesting details about Zitkala-Ša’s life and background. But, the most fascinating part is her writing. The book begins with “Old Indian Legends” that all surround a “spider-trickster” named Iktomi. They are fascinating and are full of things to think about. The second portion of the book revolves around Zitkala-Ša’s life. If you are interested in reading more about the Sioux Indian life – I highly recommend this book, 4-stars.
My second book for my bingo card was a short read from Ta-Nehisi Coates, The World Between You and Me – which is a letter he writes to his son. I listened to Coates read it and it was simply wonderful. This book was one that President Obama highly recommended and I agree with his recommendation! 5-stars.
My third finish this week was another short but powerful book: When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir. Powerful, painful, and yes, hopeful. If you have not read it, you should – and soon! 5-stars.
But, what about you? What’s got your attention this week?
As always – if you wrote a post to share today, please leave your link below!
Thank you!
by Kat | Jul 10, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
The fingers of the knitting women were vicious… Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
The finishing streak moves forward with my second Screen Door and I love it! I went up a needle size and only knit 22 pattern repeats, but it is the perfect size I think! Details are here, if you are interested.
I cast on one more wrap – this one with a skein of The Fibre Co Meadow. I have the pattern memorized and now am working to getting 105 stitches on the needles and I am just over halfway there. I think this will be a perfect transition piece in weight and color!
As for that sweater I started…. Oy. Well, suffice it to say there was some unraveling done this week. My row gauge was off a bit and I had hoped that my “fix” for that would work, but it did not. So, I am pondering just what I want to do and honestly – I am leaning towards NOT continuing. Curiously, I am not the only person who is having this problem as a number of fellow “Foxtrotter’s” are having the same issue. All of us with the problem are knitting size 38 and up… so I think it has to do with the increase rate, it does not seem to work at all for the depth of the armscye needed…so, there you have it. I think I just talked myself out of knitting the sweater! I could go back and do some more math to figure out ghost rows to make the arm shaping work…but I am not sure it is worth the effort. However, I am not missing the sweater knitting too much because yesterday I prepped the Uniform Tunic pattern to do a long sleeve dress. I finally sat down and figured out the bust adjustment I needed for it! One black long sleeved linen dress coming up! I hope to get the pieces cut out this morning and sewing will soon follow!
Last week, there were no reading finishes as I was immersed deeply in Middlemarch! Not so this week though – the reading has been marvelous! I finished Middlemarch, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and A Tale of Two Cities and they all made for some AMAZING reading!
Can I just say that I want to live in Middlemarch, please!? I absolutely loved Dorothea and it would be amazing to be her neighbor. Eliot’s writing is brilliant and I can understand why people re-read this book! It is simply the most amazing place! I have updated my review to reflect the audio version I listened to – the narrator, Wanda McCaddon, was wonderful! 5-stars and I highly recommend!
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was a quick listen, but so brilliant! This is the story of a young man with autism – and he is so lovable! The entire book is the immersion into life as he sees it – from the Prime Numbered chapters to how Christopher views the world. The only problem I had with the book was with his solo trek into London – it did not seem believable to me. However, it is still an utterly enjoyable book and I gave it 4-stars!
Finally, A Tale of Two Cities – wow! Of course, this book is well written, but the crafting of the writing is so incredible. And, those vicious knitters…5-stars.
And with those finishes I have reached the time of my summer reading when I can see the completion of my bingo card. I have only 6 books to go and I will have my cover all. I started Between the World and Me yesterday and should finish it today. I have Song of Solomon and Hunger waiting in my queue. Purple Hibiscus is waiting for me to start and I will as soon as I have finished Zitkala-Sa’s American Indian Stories…That means, I can soon settle in with War and Peace sans feeling the need to rush through it and that is a very good thing!
Mary asked me some weeks ago if I would be working on another card – I don’t think so this summer. I have a great many books that I want to read and I don’t want to think about how to fit them into a new card.
That is all I have for this week’s unraveling… what about you? Are you unraveling this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below!
And, Thank you!!
by Kat | Jul 3, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Some weeks, I wonder what on earth will I write about and suddenly, all sorts of things fall into place!
Ravelry brilliantly continues to amaze with this week’s update to their previous update.
I had so hoped to finish my second Screen Door but instead I only reached the apex on Sunday – the last rows were slow going, not because the knitting is difficult, but rather my time was occupied by other pressing things. (Namely: weeding, ‘last of the strawberries’ jam making, and ‘the first Cherries are in’ Clafouti making!) But, I am back on track and I only have about 10 repeats of the pattern until bind of, so it will be done very soon!
On Monday I sewed up another Esme Tunic and I love the little details of it! I lengthened it a bit so I can wear it either as a dress or with leggings and I love the sleeve details! I used the selvedge as the hem! Also, rather than put the pockets on the front, I put the pocked on the side seam line and I like this placement much better. This color will work well into fall here in Pittsburgh, so I see this getting a good bit of use between now and October!
I am just a bit in love with these sleeve edges!
I love how the Handmaiden Sea Silk looks with the linen!
The pockets are also handy yarn cake holders as well!
I had truly hoped to get through Middlemarch by today. I am close, but not quite finished. I have about 2 hours of listening time before I reach the end. However, I was happy to see I had read 13 books in June which makes me very happy!
I also selected the book for my Classic you “should’ve read” square! A couple of weeks ago, Kym posted a link with some very interesting classics you should read, and I picked one from that list. I was thrilled that my library had a copy of Zitkala-Sa’s American Indian stories, legends, and other writings. I am about halfway through it and I am entirely enthralled. However, it is slow reading because there is so much to take in and to think about!
I also have had two more bingo books come in from the library – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and A Tale of Two Cities are happily waiting for me when I finish Middlemarch. My card is moving along nicely, and I expect that next week I will have several finishes to share!
As always, if you wrote a post to share – please leave your link below! This is it for me this week, I will be back next Monday! Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
by Kat | Jun 26, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Where the heck has June gone??? And, more importantly…HOW ON EARTH IS NEXT WEEK THE FOURTH OF JULY ALREADY?!?!?!?!
So, this post is going to attempt to slow down these run away summer days…
First up, I want to thank you all for your supporting comments for the continuation of Unraveled Wednesday! I appreciate your feedback and am happy to have it progress into the future – for many, many weeks to come!
Next…If ever anything screamed summer it is my Screen Door on the Coast! And, talk about a QUICK knit! I cast on the sixth and cast off on the nineteenth – just two short weeks (and I did extra repeats of the pattern, so if you don’t – you could have this baby done in even less time!) I have been using it regularly as well – it is the perfect little thing for those of us who are less than appreciative of the AC Deep Freeze! I did make one sort of glaring mistake – I did a k2tog row when I should have done a ssk row. You can see it when you are holding the scarf up for a glamor shot, but it is not at all visible when you are wearing it, so I am not losing a minute of sleep over it. AND…I am contemplating casting on another one, I like it that much!
I also started a new project this week – I am almost to the sleeve divide of my Foxtrot Cardigan and even though the last thing I want to think about right now is fall… this sweater will be a great addition to my cooler weather wardrobe.
Now on to Book Bingo!
I have my first bingo this week! Woo!
I originally gave I was Anastasia 4-stars, but I have since downgraded it to 3-stars. Honestly, it is a curiously written non-linear story. It jumps around a bit and I had a hard time keeping up with some of the time jumps – I had to go back and refresh my memory as to what was going on. The writing throughout is wonderful – despite the sometimes-confusing time hops, but the ending was horrid. It was abrupt – like shoving you off a cliff abrupt.
Fall Back Down When I Die is Joe Wilkins first novel and it is lovely. The story is told from perspective of the characters in the book – Verl, Wendell, and Gillian. The writing is evocative, and the stories are compelling. The ending was unexpected and moving. 4-stars
Payment in Blood, which is the second book in the Inspector Lynley series. It is so good! There is more character development and it kept me guessing as to “who did it” 5-stars and I am eager to read more of Elizabeth George’s work!
Finally, It’s Up to the Women! “…we are going through a great crisis in this country and that the women have a big part to play if we are coming through it successfully.” Ummm, yes… we are, and yes, we do! This book, written in 1933, has so much relevance today. I loved Eleanor’s wisdom! 4-stars and I highly recommend this timeless little book!
What about you? What’s on your needles this week?
If you wrote a post to share, please leave your link and, as always, thank you so much for your participation!
by Kat | Jun 19, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
We have been gently easing into summer and until this week it has been a semi-dry month! This week, however, the sun has been hidden behind a plethora of rain clouds. I enjoy summer rains and it is nice to have Mother Nature water the gardens – the downside to all this rain means that the grass is growing at an exponential rate and it’s too wet to mow. If this keeps up, Sherman will think he is in the jungle when he goes out to do his business!
The other downside of the rain is having to have the windows all closed and the AC on. I am not winning in the AC temperature wars, so I finished my Trap A Zoid socks this week. I think they are adorable, and I see more of these in my future! I love the little colorwork section – it makes it so easy to knit two identical socks!
The other knitting project I have an urgency to finish is my Screen Door, I am on the decrease side and so the rows seem to be going much faster and I have roughly 15 pattern repeats to another finished object!
The reading had highs and lows this week and I am hovering around my first bingo!
The highs included The Tiger’s Wife (which was not a bingo read) and The Boy in Striped Pajamas (which was a bingo read.) I loved both of these stories deeply and highly recommend each of them!
The low was really bad. I finished Black Leopard, Red Wolf – barely. 1 star and I do not recommend.
I also know which Modern Mrs. Darcy Book I will read – I am Anastasia came through this week; I hope to start it soon as I only have about a third left of my second Inspector Lynley novel!
And, there you have my making and reading this week!
If you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below and thank you!
