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Wednesday, November 04, 2020

Holding It Together -- So Far

Well, we made it through yesterday. I think I did a pretty good job of staying calm for the majority of the day (though I did have one slightly scary moment that I'll refer you to my Twitter feed to read about, because I really don't want to rehash it here), but this morning I'm definitely feeling the nerves. Rainbow's school has a delayed start this morning, so at least I get a little bit of extra time with my girlie. After I drop her off, I'm planning on going for a long walk to (I hope) clear my head and maybe work out some of the jitters.

I'm joining up with Kat and the Unravelers today to talk about crafting and reading -- because really those are the things keeping me sane right now!

The two knitting projects I'm mainly focused on right now are my Radiate and the socks for my mother. Radiate mainly gets worked on in the evening while reading or watching TV, and at the moment I am cruising toward finishing the first sleeve:

Hi, here I am in my workout clothes and with bed head -- I am being very real for you today! It's a bit hard to see where the sleeve ends because I'm wearing a black shirt and the end of the sleeve is dark blue, but if you look closely at my right arm (the arm holding the yarn) you can probably see the little flare of the knitting and the cable of my needle. I've been following the same fade progression with the sleeve that I did for the body, but the sections of each color are a little different because I only estimated how much yarn I'd need for the sleeves and in some cases didn't have quite enough to work the same number of rounds in each color on the sleeve as I did for the body. I'm not too concerned about that; I split the remaining yarn for each other in half, so at least I can make the sleeves match each other. It's still possible that might need to dig into the darkest blue skein, which I didn't touch for the body, to finish the sleeves, but I think I'm also likely to make the sleeves quite a bit shorter than called for in the pattern. The instructions say to start the 2.25 inches of cuff ribbing when the sleeve measures 17 inches from the underarm, but my best-fitting sweater (my Humulus) has sleeves that measure a total of 17 inches, including the cuff. As much as I enjoy a cozy sweater, I also don't want my sleeves trailing through my dinner plate when I wear it.

My mother's socks are now more than 50% done, as I finished the first one and started the second on Sunday.

There's a bit of pooling around the gusset, which I expected but otherwise I got that great micro-striping effect for the whole sock, and I'm quite happy with that. I know that if I sit down and focus on the second sock, it won't take me too long to finish (and I have two work meetings tomorrow that will provide some time for just that). Once these are done, I have some father and father-in-law socks to knit; I placed an order with Knit Picks that arrived in the past week with some fairly sedate sock yarn for those.

Reading has been continuing at a steady pace the past week, and I've now finished 90 books this year, so I think it's definitely realistic to think I can finish 100 by year's end. I'm in a bit of a lull in my library holds (the three books I'm still waiting on are expected to be available in the four-to-seven-week time frame), so I've looked at books I've tagged as "to read" in the Libby app and have borrowed some that didn't have any wait. I've read two of those books in the past week:

 

Someone mentioned Late Migrations during one of the Sunday Zoom sessions a while back, and I'd added it to my list. It ended up being the perfect thing to read during an anxious week. It's nonfiction, part memoir and part nature study, that takes the form of what are essentially short essays. The chapters are short and easy to read, and though the memoir-type sections do have some sadness in them, I found the book as a whole to be refreshing and uplifting. It was really a delight. I gave it 4 stars.


I know many of you have been on the Ali Smith four seasons train for a while, but I hadn't yet read any of the books and jumped on Autumn when I saw there was no wait. Technically I started it Monday night before bed, but I only got through one chapter and essentially read the whole thing yesterday. I didn't have any idea what it was about before I started it, and to be honest after finishing I'm still not sure I could adequate describe it, but I did enjoy it. It's quite different from anything else I've read in style and format, and it took a bit of getting used to, but I think it says a lot about the quality of the book that it successfully distracted me from the news yesterday. I gave it 4 stars as well.


I hope you're all doing okay today. Remember to breathe and take care of yourself. It's out of our hands now, so let's try to keep our spirits up with the things that bring us joy!



13 comments:

  1. I love the socks! Including the gusset - I think it looks great & like you said, some pooling is expected.

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    1. All in all, I have to compliment this yarn on being very well behaved!

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  2. That sweater is going to be lovely. I have tried to read Ali Smith but I get lost.

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  3. I'm trying to remember that...you set a good example! I just told Troy that I feel like I need to be participating in some kind of a 'marathon' or an 'along' today, to keep my shoulders down and mind distracted. A yogathon or meditate-a-thon or some such thing. At my most challenged, a simple BREATHE-along!!

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  4. I'm trying to remember that...you set a good example! I just told Troy that I feel like I need to be participating in some kind of a 'marathon' or an 'along' today, to keep my shoulders down and mind distracted. A yogathon or meditate-a-thon or some such thing. At my most challenged, a simple BREATHE-along!!

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    1. Anxious as I am, there's really nothing I can do at this moment, so really it's just a matter of distracting myself. One way or another, this election will be over and life will go on!

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  5. Oh, my! I'm glad you escaped safely from Mr. Big House and hope you can allay any further anxiety with a long walk, reading, and knitting. Radiate is lovely and interesting, and your mother's socks are really beautiful. Keep breathing and keep hope!

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  6. I loved Late Migrations, but I cannot get into Ali Smith at all! Your Mom socks are gorgeous. Love that yarn. Very pretty and Radiate is gorgeous as well. It is gorgeous here today and I'd love to get out for a walk, but the work emails keep flowing in....

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  7. I'm sending you a big hug - the fingers are crossed tightly here. I promise. (The dude from your twitter story should clean his own loo. Really helps one to stay grounded).

    The sweater is super beautiful! The colours and the fit suit you so well, they really compliment your complexion!
    And I love you mom's sock. The blue-grey is so pretty and sometimes, stockinette socks are the best (I finally finished the cuff on my pair, so it's gonna be smooth cruisin' until the heel flap. Finally.)

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    1. When I went by his house yesterday, all the signs were gone -- I think he knows which way the wind is blowing!

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  8. I think there are a plethora of us knitters who have read Late Migrations... and we all have loved it! :)

    Your sweater is looking amazing! I love the gradual color changes!

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  9. I really enjoyed Late Migrations - beautiful writing and illustrations too. Your sweater looks great. I love the colors and the fit is perfect. And the real you looks great too. Yes, I think we just keep ourselves calm as we wait.

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  10. Your sweater! I love it!!

    I really liked Autumn. It was just the right kind of weird for me, so then I jumped into Winter. That one was just way too strange for me in the moment, so I abandoned it. But I'd like to try it again someday! I'll be interested to see if you continue with the quartet.

    Boo on Mr. Big House. How crazy!

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