by Kat | Oct 10, 2018 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
Today is all about catching up with my knitting, which will be especially welcome after doing grocery shopping, laundry, and cooking yesterday! That is after a long walk and some Pilates – vacations are great for lots of things, but diets? Not so much! Haha!
Very little knitting has happened since last week – although the sock has grown the tiniest bit. One would think in an 8 hour+ car ride I would have MUCH more done. However, the lack of knitting has something to do with a huge traffic jam on the turn pike and a comment about how I could be knitting while someone was so miserable (as if I was not equally miserable in said traffic jam) but there you have it – no knitting on the sock!
However, today I am back to turning this stack of squares into a blanket and with some focused attention, I hope to have both blankets done by this time next week! Although, I have a “training” next Monday because I am going to be an Election Worker in November in my precinct – so maybe a Friday finish is a better guess!
My reading has been so slow, but I should be done listening to Reservoir 13 today. And, the night-time reading has me almost done with The Thing About December as I have less than a third of the book to go.
Hopefully, reading kicks into high gear because I have a bunch of things that just came off hold!
Inspire me, Unravelers… what are you making this week?! And, if you have a post to share, please leave your link below.
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by Kat | Sep 26, 2018 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
And, with that – September is practically over – and at warp speed, too!
My knitting this week has been focused on blanket layout and assembly. Holy pick up a million stitches, Knitters! Yeah…and then there will be the ends to weave in. I decided not to fuss around with the “no-ends” version and just bite the bullet and weave in the ends at each seaming point. But, so far so good, once I got the pick-up points down, that is! Today will be my first LONG seam! Keep your fingers crossed for me! Ha! Blanket one is likely to be at least all put together before I leave, but I am not certain about the i-cord edge being done.
Tegna is patiently awaiting our departure when I will begin knitting her again (maybe sooner if I can get this hat done!) Mary asked me what travel knitting I will take – and Tegna might just be the one and only knit project. I always over take and under knit! There are just too many other things to do in Michigan that my knitting kind of takes a back seat!
The reading however, was curious this week:
I finished The Song of Achilles, which I listened to and that might not have been the best idea – I had to go back multiple times to remember characters connections. I did enjoy the story though, it was a good Greek history refresher from a much more interesting perspective than I had in school! Ha! For me this was a 3-star book and I recommend reading it versus listening.
I also finished The Steps of Pittsburgh, which I found utterly fascinating. If you ever lived in Pittsburgh, this is a must read! Fun facts I learned: Pittsburgh has a total of 44,645 steps in the city housed in various neighborhoods. If you add up the rise of all these steps you have a total rise of 24,108 ft (or 4.5 miles). Most of the steps have “street names” and many have intersection points with other steps. The steps are a public right of way and are maintained by the city – including ice and snow removal.
I am almost finished with my second Donal Ryan book – The Spinning Heart. I have 2 chapters to go and will easily get this done today. My love for Donal’s writing has only grown with this book. He crafts beautiful characters and just when you say to yourself, how does any of this fit – a little light goes on and suddenly it all is so brilliant! There is a plethora of characters, so it took me a bit to keep them all straight, but the writing is simply GENIUS! (This will be getting 5 stars, easily!)
What are you making and reading this week? And, if you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below!
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by Kat | Sep 19, 2018 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
The knitting this week is slow and easy but sadly, I am not at all closer to that 15″ mark on Tegna (which, in light of Lene unknitting and then finishing her sweater dress, I think I should be highly embarrassed by this fact!) However, I pinned out the 15″ length on the dress dummy and it appears I have 4-ish inches to go and since I don’t have too much yarn wiggle room but knowing that the lacework will block out a bit – I think this will be okay. However, as I said… it has been slow going. I had hoped to have this done to wear during our trip to Michigan, but it looks like that is unlikely to happen. But, round and round and round knitting is great for a long car ride… right?
The reading has likewise been slow, easy, and so wonderful!
I finished Louise Erdrich’s The Master Butcher’s Singing Club. I started out reading this on my iPad, which means end of the day reading so I did not get very far, and I could not renew it from the library. But to my surprise the audio version was available, so I switched over to listening to the author read me this lovely story. Erdrich’s writing is so beautiful and the story revolves around German immigrants post WWI and life on the Nebraska plains. The ending lines of the book will stay with me a very long time: Step-and-a-Half hummed in her sleep and sank deeper into her own tune, a Junker’s pile of tattered courting verse and hunter’s wisdom and the utterances of itinerants or words that sprang from a bit of grass or a scrap of cloud or a prophetic pig’s knuckle in a world where butchers sing like angels. 5-stars and I highly recommend this beautiful tale!
I also finished listening to Forty Autumns which I also loved. It is the tale of post WWII Germany and the division of East and West Germany and the struggles of one family to survive on both sides of the wall. The story is told extremely well and this look into East German life is compelling. I gave this book 4-stars.
But, what are you knitting and reading this week? If you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below!
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by Kat | Sep 12, 2018 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
This week, the knitting is creative. All those pretty colors will become a stripey sweater! Yes, I did some knitty maths and then just started knitting. We shall see how this will work out! Sadly, I think I have a bit of unraveling to do… the beige yarn is not sparking joy…what do you all think? Take it out? Honestly, I am a little scared that what is in my mind, will not be what comes off my needles. But, there is also some incredible excitement at creating something that is uniquely mine!
Finishes:
I managed to finish The Miniaturist just in time to watch it on PBS. Wow. What a fascinating story and this view of Amsterdam was so far removed from how I remember the city from the times that I have visited. I also had this very eerie feeling that those “religious” people all moved to West Michigan. (Ha! Okay, you think I am kidding, but I am not) All that aside, it is a fascinating story and I gave it 4-stars.
I don’t remember who put Our Souls at Night on my radar, but I loved it! Deeply! Profoundly! 5-Stars and I can’t wait to see the movie! (I am saving it for the Great Seaming Project!!)
What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky was the August selection for the PBS Book Club. Excellent writing. Thought provoking. Moving. 5-stars!
What are you making and reading today? If you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below!
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by Kat | Sep 5, 2018 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings, Unravelers and Happy September!
I have a finished Strokkur to share with you today however, I think it will be some time before I am wearing this sweater! I loved the construction of this sweater – it had two segments of short rows before and after the colorwork. They raise the back neckline the perfect amount! There is some very subtle shaping in the body of the sweater as well. Ysolda writes a lovely, easy to follow, easy to understand pattern and I look forward to wearing this sweater for a very long time!
August reading ended on a high note and September seems to be following suit!
I finished Glass Houses and A Higher Loyalty. Both were excellent books – each getting 5-stars!
I finished Three Things About Elsie. Oh boy…where to begin with this book? It was at times so very sad. It beautifully addresses aging and memory loss, but it also is about the love and beauty of friendship – friendship that has grown over a lifetime. I recommend this book and I gave it 4 stars.
And, I also finished Donal Ryan’s From a Low and Quiet Sea. This was my first Donal Ryan book, but it won’t be my last! What spectacular writing!! This book starts our feeling like a collection of 3 separate stories and then, almost miraculously, those stories are knit together into one amazing story. This is on the Man Booker Long List and I highly recommend reading it… NOW! 5-stars!
Currently I am listening to The Miniaturist in preparation for the PBS series which will be airing soon! And, I am reading The Master Butchers Singing Club.
What are you making and reading today? If you wrote a post, please leave your link below!
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