Listening and Knitting and BINGO

Listening and Knitting and BINGO

I am closing in on a cover all for Summer Book Bingo, which absolutely astounds me! Twenty-five books in ninety-nine days is LOTS of reading (and listening!)

I finished listening to David Sedaris read Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls and it was wonderful! I started listening to my choice for my square “From the Harvard Classics 5-foot shelf” – She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith (Thanks, Kym!) I am enjoying it tremendously! It is witty and humorous and read “play like” with a cast of voices. This gave me another bingo!

Book Bingo Card

Second Bingo Down:

  • My Kitchen Year
  • Written in my Heart’s Own Blood
  • The Book Thief
  • Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls
  • The Redbreast

I began knitting my Cladonia and while I am not very far – I am so happy with my yarn choices! Right now it is easy and almost mindless knitting, however I want to make the shawl a bit bigger than the pattern calls for, so I will need to do some knitting math – the kind in which you use an actual pencil and paper! I have tried to puzzle it out in my head, but I fear that this is beyond my mental skills. Better to use some actual calculations and make sure I am correct!

I have to admit; this is one most enjoyable summers I have had in a long time – I am so thankful to Carole for sharing BOTNS Bingo! This has amped up my reading significantly! I have read books I did not think I would like and found them incredibly enjoyable! Add to that getting a slew of unfinished knitting done has made me feel so accomplished! I finished two items this week and will share them with you all tomorrow!

As usual, I am linking up with Ginny’s Yarn Along, where you will find amazing inspiration for both books and knits!

How about you, Gentle Reader? Are you feeling accomplished this summer?

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Reading, reading, and more reading

Reading, reading, and more reading

Reading has sort of overtaken my time recently, well because GOOD BOOKS! I finished listening to The Book Thief yesterday, but truly – I did not want it to end. What an incredibly poignant and moving story. I sobbed considerably in the last chapters, but still – I did not want it to end.

In an attempt to lift myself from the funk that finishing a book that I did not want to end, I started reading Ruth Reichl’s My Kitchen Year – and it was so delicious that I devoured it in one sitting. I borrowed it from the library, but I promise you, I will be buying it shortly. The recipes look simply incredible, and I think it will be a great thing to cook through the year with her. If you have not read it, you should!

Book Bingo Card

That makes my Summer Bingo Card looking pretty good! I am listening to David Sedaris’ Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, which will get me my first bingo! I started reading To Kill a Mockingbird on my Kindle last night, but I did not get very far. I have my squares all set, but one – and I am saving that for the very end. I will go down to my bookshelves and pick something fun for my final read. Now, will I get this done by the time that Labor Day rolls around, we shall see! I am also working through My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry. It seems like it is not going to be 900 gazillion degrees out today nor is it raining, so I may be able to steal some time sitting under the pergola reading.

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On the knitting front, I am almost done with the first skein of yarn for Tales from the Isle of Purbeck and just over half way through the fourth chart. I have one chart to go, and I hope to have enough yarn to knit more than one repeat of it. I would like this to be a big, warm shawl (which it will be, but I’d like it bigger!) This is a fun pattern, and what can I say about Elsawool – this stuff is insanely soft. I have the woolen spun fingering weight dark brown Cormo. Light, fluffy, soft – and it is knitting into a fabric that is lovely. You cannot tell from the brown blob that it is right now, but this is going to be the thing to wrap myself in this fall and winter!

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Aside from that, I have been loving my Instant Pot – I made yogurt yesterday and oh.my.gosh. (Topped with homemade peach vanilla preserves it is divine!) And, last night I made beef with broccoli in no time at all (seriously, entire cooking time including resting time – less than 20 minutes). I love to cook, but sometimes standing in the kitchen at the end of the day does not send thrills of joy through my being.

Joining up with Ginny and her Yarn Along today, where you will find inspiration for knitting and reading!

What was the last book you read that you did not want to end?

A Mystery Solved

A Mystery Solved

Over the weekend I finished Through the Loops Mystery Shawl, from cast on to epic bind off it took me 52 days. Over the course of 5 weeks, a portion of the pattern was released in a clue a week.

shawl 1

This is my fourth summer for participating in Kirsten’s summer mystery shawl and each year I am absolutely amazed at the pattern that unfolds. This year’s shawl was no different – I truly loved the pattern this year. Thistle Brambles is indeed a fitting name – the Thistle patterning is striking. It was my first time knitting with Jill Draper’s yarns and I really loved Esopus. Her color sense is excellent and the dyeing is done expertly. There was not even a hint of color in the water after I soaked the shawl in preparation for blocking.

shawl 2

I am listening to The Book Thief and I am about half way though. I am really enjoying it. When it is completed, I will have my first Bingo of the summer! After that, I am hoping they will be falling into place fairly quickly. We shall see…

And, new knitting? Well, I got out my basket and I pulled out Tales from the Isle of Purbeck to try to figure out where I was, and what I found was a bunch of mistakes! So, I ripped back…all.the.way. Thankfully, the second time was the charm, because it has been smooth sailing. For right now, I am avoiding the Jen Lucas shawl because I wanted to knit something with a slightly larger gauge, in hopes that would help me finish sooner! Or at it might feel like it is going faster! I am just starting on the second of four charts, so hopefully I will be half way done soon. I am pondering doing an extra repeat of a chart, but see how much yarn I have left when I have completed chart 4. I am using Elsawool and I am so happy with it! Soft, lofty, and the color is so rich!

Joining Ginny in her Yarn Along today.

What’s on your needles today?

Slow Knitting, Fast Reading

Slow Knitting, Fast Reading

Knitting has been on the back burner here at Casa del KatKnits in the fervor of Tour de Fleece. My sock grows slowly, but it is simple “pick up and just knit” knitting that is so simply satisfying.

Over the weekend, I began the epic bind off of TTL Mystery Shawl, but I still have not finished. I am about half way done. It is absolutely glorious outside this morning so before I get my work done, I might sit out under the pergola and work on that a bit. Head’s up fellow MKAL knitters – the bind off is slow going, but I love how the picots look!

I am honing in on my first Bingo – I finished Doc and, while this is not a typical genre for me, I really enjoyed it. I loved the narrator’s voice which seemed so perfect to be relating the story of Doc Holliday. There were times I chuckled at the antics and hearing the fabled story of the west. There were also poignant parts that endeared Doc to me. If you are looking for a “western”, I recommend this highly.

Book Bingo Card

I also started and finished listening to Charlotte’s Web – read by E.B. White (Thanks Bonny for this stellar recommendation!!) I loved this book as much as I did the first time I read it a million years ago. I was able to “become my children” – listening attentively as they did when I read it to them when they were little. I now understand their begging for “just one more chapter,” as I listened to the book in one sitting.

I started listening to The Book Thief (Told by a child narrator) and reading My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry (With a family member in the title). This will give me my first bingo! I am also reading The Inner Circle (Hated by someone you know) on my kindle at night.

Books in the wings:

  • My Kitchen Year (With food as the theme)
  • To Kill a Mockingbird (Published in the year I was born)
  • Knitlandia (With a one-word title)
  • On the Pulse of the Morning (Poetry Collection)

I am still working out what to read for those final “practically impossible” squares. I have 3 squares that I am struggling with – ‘Manga’, ‘By or about a member of the LGBTQ community’, and ‘From the Harvard Classics 5 foot shelf’. I will head down to find something from the “top shelf’ of my bookcase, hopefully there is something besides a knitting book there!

As usual, I am joining in Ginny’s Yarn Along, where you will find beautiful knitting and diverse reading going on.

Have a fantastic Wednesday in a week that is filled with those perfect lazy days of summer. How is your knitting and reading coming?

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Spinning and Listening

Spinning and Listening

It’s Wednesday and that means it is Ginny’s Yarn Along today!

I am completely immersed in Tour de Fleece this year and enjoying it far more than I have in previous years. This year I am not keyed into logging miles of frenzied spinning, rather I am more focused on fiber and creating a yarn to highlight that. I finished spinning up the vintage batts from Deep, Deep Stash. My goal was a lofty, tweedy yarn and I think I achieved that! There is some sheen from the silk in the batts and the bits of silk noil have created the loveliest tweedy effect. The yarn is as squishy as the batts were and I wish you could feel it!

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I have started in on the Montadale, which I am spinning for socks, so this will become a 3-ply fingering weight yarn. Slow going, but enjoyable none the less!

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I am looking ahead to determine what to spin to finish the tour out – I will have this done this week and I only have the Coopworth remaining from my original selections.

I have 2 gradient bumps from Amy at Spunky Eclectic that I think I will finish out with. I am not sure I will get them both finished, but I will certainly try. My goal will be to spin this in a lace weight 2-ply.

I am almost finished listening to The Summer Before the War, which I am enjoying tremendously! Once I am done with this, I have Doc queued up, thanks Carole for that suggestion. I finished reading A Man Called Ove. What can I say about this book, if you have not read it – do so right now! Ove wormed his way into my heart and by the end of the book, I found myself longing to live next door to him. I did not want the book to end, despite the tears that would not stop through the last chapters. Fantastic writing! The reading this summer has been absolutely spectacular. I am still working through Big Magic, though it is losing that rosy glow it had when I started. It will be some work to finish it, but I will try. I should get a good bit of reading done again this week as Steve will be away for work from Thursday through Sunday.

I am knitting a row or two at night on the Mystery Shawl. I am almost done with the set up rows for the final clue – so the end is in sight! My goal remains, finish this by month end!

I would especially like to thank Kate Larson for the shout out today on the Spinning Daily Blog. It is truly an honor and deeply appreciated!

How is your summer reading and knitting (or crafting) going?

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