Ah, Friday! It's been a long week, and I'm very happy to see the end of it. While most of the week has been occupied with work, it has also seen the return of my spinning mojo, no doubt largely due to the arrival of my last "pillow" package from Southern Cross Fibre:
Knit/Wit
Musings on what is on my knitting needles, on my wheel, and on my mind
Friday, May 03, 2024
Welcome Back, Mojo
Wednesday, May 01, 2024
Unraveled, Week 18/2024
Good morning! It's not an official Unraveled Wednesday this week as Kat is away, but it's such a part of my weekly routine that I couldn't skip it. It's a big day here -- today, my youngest nephew turns 1! And Mo and her entire class are also leaving this morning for their class trip to Washington, D.C., so the house is going to be a bit empty for a few days.
It's been a busy work week (my boss dumped 40 pages of content on me on Friday when she took the day off), so I haven't gotten a ton of crafting done over the past several days but have been adding a round or two here and there on my socks and am almost to the heel placement on sock number two:
I am supposed to have a two-hour Zoom professional development workshop this afternoon, and I expect that will be the perfect time to get some more done on these.
But I've also been feeling the call of spinning lately. Somehow I managed to go an entire month without spinning at all -- I think when David of Southern Cross Fibre announced he was retiring, I kind of lost my mojo for a while. I have since received my final club shipment, but I am expecting one more package from him (today, in fact) because I ordered some coordinates. I have been very good about not buying yarn or fiber this year, but I figured this was okay because it's the last purchase I'll ever be able to make from him. I already have a sweater pattern picked out and know exactly how I am going to spin what's coming. In the meantime, I think I'll work a bit on this scrappy project from last summer:
I've finally managed to finish some books in the last week!
First up, an ARC: Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. This book follows the lives of the members of a Jewish American family after the dramatic kidnapping of the father and examines the impact of that trauma on his wife and his three children. They all grow up with some major life issues, but is the trauma to blame? They also grow up with the comfort of the family's money, but is it a help or a hindrance? The writing is smart and often entertaining, but I feel a bit conflicted about the book because the characters all seem to be awful. I both wanted to find out what would happen to them and also didn't want to read more because they just seemed to be getting worse. Did no one think of getting therapy? As much as the characters make messes of their lives, I think this book poses some really interesting questions about how we deal with trauma, both personal and cultural, and about whether trying to ease our children's path in life helps or harms them. I gave it 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review. This book will be published July 9, 2024.
Monday, April 29, 2024
Better in 2024: April
It's been a very strange month, with much going on at work and at home and with three seasons' worth of weather. But, for a change, April has felt like it was truly a month long, and I was not terribly surprised to find it the last Monday of the month today. As per usual, it's time for my monthly One Little Word check-in, with thanks to Carolyn for hosting our monthly link-ups.
Friday, April 26, 2024
Did They Sneak In an Extra Day?
I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel like it should have already been Friday a day or two ago -- it's been a long week! In addition to the evening events at the beginning of the week, this week has also seen the final preparations for commencement (which is this weekend) at work, so I am more than ready for the weekend. We have nothing on the schedule this weekend, either, so we'll be able to sleep in and recharge.
I've mainly been focusing on one project the last couple of days, and that's my socks. Last night I finished up the first one except for the heel; I plan to do both heels at the end.
I have already cast on the second sock, too. It won't match, but I'm hoping I can at least get the stripe location to match even if the colors won't.
That's about all I've got in my for today -- if you want an indication of how long this week has been for me, I'll tell you that nearly forgot to make coffee this morning because I hadn't yet had my coffee! If you aren't already aware of it, I did want to mention that tomorrow is Independent Bookstore Day, so if you have an indie store near you, you might want to drop in tomorrow and show them some love. I will be back on Monday with my One Little Word update for April. Have a wonderful weekend!
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Poetry in April: Poem in My Pocket
We have arrived at the final Thursday in April, so this is my last installment of poetry for this year's observance of National Poetry Month. The theme this week is "Poem in My Pocket" -- in other words, a poem is that is short enough to fit on a small piece of paper in your pocket, just in case you wanted to have it on you to share with someone you meet. When I think of short poems, often the first things that come to mind are haikus and limericks, but I think a free-verse poem that is short is often quite effective, saying something powerful with few words. So that's what I went for with my selection.
A Name
When Eve walked among
the animals and named them --
nightingale, red-shouldered hawk,
fiddler crab, fallow deer --
I wonder if she ever wanted
them to speak back, looked into
their wide wonderful eyes and
whispered, Name me, name me.
"A Name" from The Carrying: Poems, (c) 2018, Milkweed Editions
Thank you for sharing this annual celebration of poetry with us this month! Be sure to visit, Kym, Kat, and Bonny one last time today for their selections!
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Unraveled, Week 17/2024
What a week it has been -- and we've only reached the midpoint! I'm happy to report that our Seder went well, even if it was an exhausting night. The little ones all reached their breaking point before we reached the meal portion of the evening, so we were down to a dozen people around the table fairly quickly. Because we had started so early, we had finished dessert and said goodnight by around 8, and by 9 we had finished doing all the dishes and put away the extra tables and chairs. I'm pretty sure we all fell asleep very quickly Monday night. And then last night Mo and my mother went to Seder at my brother and sister-in-law's house (they also hosted their next-door neighbors) while the Mister and I attended an event with Baratunde Thurston hosted by our local PBS station. I'd say we're all looking forward to having a normal evening tonight!
Monday, April 22, 2024
Totally Different
Remember last week, when I told you I'd finished my sweater but that the weather had gotten so warm that I didn't think I'd have a chance to wear it until the fall? I think the universe must have heard me, because we had a frost advisory this weekend, and yesterday it was chilly enough that I could actually wear my sweater without overheating. I took the opportunity to have my Official Photographer take some glamour shots.
Pattern: Bereket (Ravelry link) by Ainur Berkimbayeva, size 1 (to fit 35 in. bust)
Yarn: my handspun Rambouillet, spun back in the summer of 2020! -- I used approximately 958 yards
Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm)