by Kat | Jan 20, 2021 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
What we love to do we find time to do. — John L. Spalding
Welcome to Inauguration Day Unravelers!
This past week has been all about vacillating between wanting to watch the news and trying to avoid the news. I think I found a good balance and in the process did some yarn sorting and organizing. I also did some project sorting and organizing as well. I have some projects that the yarn was reclaimed and some projects that are sitting so I can think a bit more about reclaiming the yarn or finishing the project. And there are some projects that I asked myself why it was not done… one of those projects spent a bit of time with me when I watched the news and have made some significant progress to finishing!
This is the project (Rav Link) that has been in my hands the most this week. Before I picked it up, I was just about half way done with this scarf and today I have less than two sections to go!
I also finished the second braid of fiber and completed plying last week’s yarn. It turned out better than I hoped and although there are a couple of under-plied spots, I think it will be alright once it has had a nice soak! In fact, it will be hanging to dry soon and then, dare I hope, I will be casting on a Hitchhiker!!
The reading was good this week! I follow John Boyne on Twitter and some weeks ago he suggested The Thursday Murder Club and I am so glad he did!
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I picked this book up based on a recommendation by John Boyne and I am so glad I did! How fun would it be to have a Murder Club? Riotously fun, if you go by Osman’s version! I laughed, I loved the turns this story took, but I especially adored Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron… they were simply divine!
I highly recommend this witty book and I am eagerly awaiting the next installment!
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by Kat | Jan 13, 2021 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
“ I will continue to freak out my children by knitting in public. It’s good for them.”
―Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit’s End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much
Thinking back, I do not think my kids ever freaked out over my knitting in public, but Steve on the other hand absolutely does! Ha! Fortunately, I have done no knitting in public this week (and Zoom knitting does not count!)
Speaking of this week…oy! Let’s talk about how freaky it is to “knit while watching an insurrection” at The Capital takes place. End results: one finished pair of socks, and started one cowl! (Justyna Lorkowski’s Heart Warmer) I also found treadling helped with the stress and I finished one braid of fiber!
Spinning might be the perfect thing to do while “stress watching” television! This is some of the oldest fiber I have. It is BFL from Spunky Eclectic and was a bit compacted from storage, but opening it up a bit made spinning it a dream. I can spin BFL so thin and I have some Hitchhiker plans for this beautiful gradient yarn… One braid to go and then some plying and I can’t wait to be knitting it!
The reading was so varied this week! And despite the chaos, I was able to finish two books. And they were two very different books!
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What a curious tale of a girl who makes a “deal with the devil” and so begins her journey over the centuries, until one day she meets someone different. The story jumps around a bit and it leaves some logical questions unanswered. The strangest conversations take place between her and the darkness. The moral of the story? Be careful what you wish for! (I think this would be a GREAT book for a book club to read and discuss!)
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A short introduction to The Murderbot Diaries. (Very short, it was only about 3 hours of listening!) However, in 3 hours my interest has been piqued! I look forward to the second installment! If you like futuristic novels, I think you will like this!
As always – if you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below! Thank you!
by Kat | Jan 6, 2021 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
“I recognize that knitting can improve my mood in trying circumstances” ― Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit’s End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much
Today, of all days, is a day to keep your knitting at hand to help your mood for what certainly will be some trying circumstances. But, as Kamala said on Monday night, “We are going to be inaugurated. Period!” So keep her voice echoing in your head as you knit today!
A New Year and some new knitting perhaps? Did any of you cast on a new project to start the New Year? I did not cast on anything new but…
I did some spinning! First, after letting my singles rest a good long time, I plied my last skein of Prose from Hipstrings. It needed two “run through’s” to get enough twist, but it has had a nice bath and it poofed up beautifully! I love how all of this turned out. It is a little heavier than fingering weight and I think I have about 1100 yards of yarn, though I have not calculated the final yardage since washing, but I should have enough to do a cropped-ish sweater with 3/4 length sleeves.
AND!! I I spun up this beauty as well! It is a very interesting blend of fiber! I erroneously thought this was the same blend as Buoy, but I was wrong… however, I really like this yarn and I might have ordered some more of it. It would make a wonderfully cozy hat and a pair of mitts!
I also have been knitting a few rounds on my socks, as you can see, and I might be done but after I completed the heel I just started knitting the leg… sans the pattern. Sigh. I was about 20 rows in when I realized it, but rather than rip it all out I tried something new. I just unraveled the 4 stitches on each side and reknit with the pattern this time! Yes, I shocked myself! Yes, it was a bit fiddly, but I did it!!
Remember that Twitter Sock KAL I did with Kate Atherley last year? Well, she has released the pattern (you no longer have to thread the tweets together to knit!) It is a great sock construction, a different toe (no grafting!) and they are so comfy!
Now, how about a little reading? I have managed to finish ONE book to start the new year (although I am close on a couple of others…) It was a lovely book to start the year with!
History of the Rain by Niall Williams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“We tell stories. We tell stories to pass the time, to leave the world for a while, or go more deeply into it. We tell stories to heal the pain of living.”
This book. Oh my goodness. The writing. The words. They gathered my hands and drew me gently in to the most wonderous story! I laughed, I cried… a lot, and just did not want it to end. I want to be Ruth Swain! I want to have Niall Williams gift of writing! I want to live in a place where…It started raining here in the sixteenth century and hasn’t stopped.
But more than anything, this:
I am plain Ruth Swain. See me, nineteen, narrow face, MacCarroll eyes, thin lips, dull hazelnut hair, gleamy Swain skin, pale untannable oddment, bony, book-lover, reader of so many nineteen-century novels before the age of fifteen that I became too clever by half, sufferer of Smart Girl Syndrome, possessor of opinions and good marks, student of pure English, Fresher, Trinity College Dublin, the poet’s daughter.
If this brilliant book is not on your must read list, put it there immediately. But better than that, get it, open it and start reading!
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