by Kat | Aug 7, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Dear Unravelers!
I have one burning question today… how on earth are we already a week into August?!
I have been working on a new rhythm to my days and I am struggling quite a bit because Sherman was deeply woven into the fabric of my days. But right now, the most difficult part of my day are mornings. My routine very much centered on Sherman so I am trying new things and being tender with myself as I flounder through the changes. I know that a figuring out a new rhythm takes time.
I have been knitting… thank heavens for the Olympics! I have the first August Sock done! I will start its mate this afternoon!
July done… simple stitching but I love everything about this one!
My July stitching really helped me cement a “new” way of stitching for me. I am spending less time thinking about what to stitch… but instead, I am stitching the same stitches each day… I simply change the color I am stitching with. I love how this looks and am eager to continue on this path… so, as you can see above, my August stitching will focus on “stitch soldiers” … a simple straight line within a couched border. I am really glad I did NOT get May started before I figured this out… pluses and triangles, FTW!
My Obi-wan sock… and a sweater that is one big sigh right now.
Now on to the sweater… sigh. I did finish the left front but I have yet to give it a good soak and blocking… why? Well, we have like 9000% humidity and I am not certain when it would dry! Instead, I carefully (read loosely…lol) did a 3-needle bind off of the left shoulder and then I began the process of picking up stitches for the sleeve… and my stitch count did not work out for the patterning. So I ripped out the 6 rows I did and have yet to sit back down and try again. I really should wind the last hank of yarn I have, so I can blend that skein in over both sleeves. Fortunately, winding yarn is an excellent task for watching the Olympics!
The reading has, thankfully, picked up a bit… which is a good thing! I had three finishes… the best of the three is Liz Moore’s latest, The God of the Woods. It was brilliant and full of layers. If you are looking for something to read… look no further! I highly recommend it! My current listen is not at all in that category… I am listening to Cat Bohannon’s Eve… with very mixed thoughts. It started out quite fascinating… but then quickly jumped off the fascinating to the absurd? Unbelievable? Speculation? I don’t know… but I am about a hours in and not sure I will finish it… but I will try giving it another hour or so of listening to see if it gets back to the fascinating part.
There you have my week! What about you? What are you excited about right now?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Jul 31, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unravelers and Happy Last Day of July!
Yes, July… I am very glad to see the end of you… so very glad. For those of you counting… just 8 weeks until autumn arrives. But if you, like me, start thinking fall thoughts right after Labor Day, well… it will be here soon! (Five weeks and counting!)
I would like to thank all of you for your kind thoughts, your shared sympathy, and your treasured friendship as I work through the grief of losing my beloved Sherman. Your thoughts have meant so much to me. They have buoyed me up when I was at the bottom and you have made all the difference in my days. Thank you!
I have done small bits of knitting… small bits. My brain is struggling to focus and I remind myself that that is okay. I did manage to finish the shortie socks (which makes the 7th pair of socks I have knit this year!!) I used this pattern and I followed the pattern exactly as written up to the toes. It made no sense to me at all to knit the toe and then graft the toe to the sole of the sock! I mean I don’t mind grafting but grafting over 20 stitches is WAY different than grafting over 64 stitches… so I fell back to my favorite toe from Hermoine’s Everyday Socks. The fit on these socks is really wonderful! Several of you wondered how they would “stay on” with the heel, but my gosh… they do! The designer uses some stitches from the instep in the heel and it is ingenious! Yes I would knit these again! (And for Blogless Karen who asked several weeks ago if I would share what yarn I am using… I have no clue at all about this sock yarn. The band was long gone but I think it might be yarn I purchased from the Loopy Ewe? Maybe from their Dream in Color club??)
Shortie socks… perfect for my way too much AC house!
The sweater is looking down right sweaterish! The right front is completed and I am nearing the halfway point for the left front. Once the left front is done, I am going to give it a good soak and then block it before joining the shoulders. Then I will be ready to pick up and knit the sleeves! The yarn I am using, for those wondering, is Briar Rose Fibers Joyful (which is sadly, discontinued.)
And because we have been watching LOTS of Olympics (I personally LOVED the opening ceremonies!!) I started another sock with some Must Stash Yarn in the Old Ben color way. No pattern, just knitting a sock (as knitters do!)
I have no reading finishes this week… (see above about my brain struggling to keep focus) but I am listening to the latest Anthony Horowitz mystery. (The Moonflower Murder) And with my eyes, I am reading The God of the Woods.
There you have my week of making and reading. What about you? Are you casting on anything new this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Jul 17, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unraveler’s and Happy Wednesday!
I rediscovered knitting and have something to show for it! Yes, I have a finished back and a healthy start on the right front… The end is in sight! I have such little bits to go on this sweater! I will absolutely have a new sweater for fall! Yay!
I also have given that shortie sock some love… I am currently at the “mindless knitting” phase of the foot! I did her heel as per the directions and I very much like how it turned out! (and the fit is good with no alterations, I am going to remember her trick of borrowing a few stitches from the arch to give the heel a bit more space!)
The weather is just reached the “most miserable” stage of the summer, which usually is August… now. Our AC runs a lot! (Steve told me what the electric bill was last and I almost died! I shudder to think what it will be next month!)
But the star this week has been the reading! I will likely finish A Gentleman in Moscow today… this book lost nothing in a second reading. I love it as much, if not more than I did the first time through! I also finished (twice… yes twice!) Clear. I loved it. The writing is sparse, but so beautiful. I really did not want the book to end, so I read it again! This is a book that will stay with me for a very long time post-reading. I also finished book seven in the Max Tudor series… I have enjoyed this charming little series and this installment was very good and I did not figure it out until near the end… which is always a very good thing! And I also finished the Ministry of Time yesterday… and I am hoping I took good notes because I have no plans to read this again before the RWU discussion in September. (If you are guessing I did not like it, you’d be right. And even worse… so many of my questions were not answered in the book! Sigh.)
Finally… there has been so many posts about the NYTime’s “The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century” all over social media. (I find their list of 100 missing some very important things… but as in all things my 100 best books would not be your 100 best books, but we are reading and that is a very good thing!) Here is my list of the 29 books I read (from their list) and the 6 I have added to my TBR list!
How about you? Are you surviving summer?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Jul 10, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
The making has been very varied recently… I think the heat is influencing my making this week as there has been little knitting but I have been focused on doing other crafty things.
First up, a wee little poppy painting…
I have spent lots of time thinking about what to do next, doing that thing, and then thinking more about what it might need next. You might think all this effort is kind of silly, for a 4″ x 4″ page in a journal but I am loving every bit of the process! I think this one is done! I think a painting “journal” is the perfect thing (as are these water pens!)
As you can see above, the stitching is really fun this month. And while I am NOT a big fan of *red, white, and blue* at all, it just seemed the thing to do – especially since my brain bandwidth is… slow… these days. Simple for the win! I am loving that the process is overtaking my thinking… it has been the loveliest way to start my day.
And!! There is another full bobbin as well as some new little skeins of yarn!
Bonus points for me as I have begun and finished the Great Summer Closet Clean Out! My reward… today I will begin the next RWU book, The Ministry of Time!! I have one bag almost ready to go to the local free store… I have a few sweaters that I want to wash and put in the bag. I was not even thinking about sweater donations… until I read this in Anne Vally’s latest Substack post:
…Why do you think that someone you know will love and care for something you made better than a stranger in need?… Honestly, the quality in thrift has plummeted in the last decade, thanks to fast fashion, and we low-income folks want to also find treasures that will last decades.
That comment stopped me in my tracks when I read it and I have been thinking about it LOTS since. I have a plethora of “shawls/scarves/etc.” that I will be going through and sending those off to the free store as well.
And speaking of reading, have I been reading! Escape Reading is saving my life right now! I have a plethora of finishes, including a book that will likely be in the best reads of the year – Hard by a Great Forest. I am staying in the Escape Reading lane this week with book 7 in the Max Tudor series (in my ears) and with my eyes, Clear by Carys Davies (which just might qualify as a “road boat trip” for Kym’s Scavenger Hunt) and Robert Bryndza’s latest in the Kate Marshall series! (and I just checked out A Gentleman in Moscow (audio version) from my library!)
There you have my scattered week… what about you all? What is keeping you sane this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Jun 26, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
This is the last Wednesday of June… so let’s have a moment of silence… sigh.
Last week also ushered in the Great AC Temperature Wars at my house. I now am wearing a wool sweater and socks IN THE FREAKING HOUSE. And yet, Steve thinks it is TOO WARM. I am not sure we will survive this summer if the temps continue on in the 90°+F range. Monday, he headed off to work and I turned off the AC and opened all the windows. It was pure bliss. Bare, sock-less feet and a t-shirt for me! (until he got home from work and flipped out at how warm it was in the house… 72° for those wanting to know…)
I am knitting though… and Unravelers… we have DIVISION! Yes, that is right, the fronts, sides, and backs have been separated! I had to knit 5 and 1/2 repeats of the charted pattern to get to the length, which is 1.5 more repeats than Albíona needed at her gauge. Luckily, she gives measurements for every possible angle of the pattern, so I think I will be okay. My only concern is the shoulder angle/decreases… but I am a long way from that, so I have some time to work it out in my brain!
I set myself a goal of getting to the “split” and I have moved back to Steve’s sock. My goal is to get this done this month… and I think I can do it if I put my mind to it! (and the cuff and short leg were completed last night so finishing this week just might be possible!)
The reading this week has been lovely! I got a hold from the library for a book with the most intriguing title, Hard by a Great Forest by Leo Vardiashvili. I put my current read (a Netgalley book) on pause while I got started on this book. I am loving it… and maybe even more so after hearing an interview with the author on NPR’s Book of the Day podcast! I am just over half way done and expect to finish this one soon! In the most timely read… I finished Summer Solstice: An Essay last Thursday! I wish there were more essays, they were delightful! I have put this book on my “wish list” with the hopes of having it in my library to reread as necessary (the writing is really so beautiful!). I have also set a reminder for myself to read Winter Solstice: An Essay in December… and if the 90°+ days aren’t enough to make me think about winter, this book does! Ha! (also… I am still listening to and loving 4 3 2 1… perhaps loving it even more than the first time I read it!)
And with that, I have a sock to knit! If you wrote a post to share on this last Wednesday of June please leave your link below!
