After quite a few days of unseasonably warm and sunny weather, it is a rainy Wednesday here; we were all awakened this morning at around 5 a.m. by a very loud clap of thunder. I suppose it's a very good day to stay in and craft!
I'm joining Kat and the Unravelers today to talk about what I'm working on and what I'm reading.
My top priority right now as far as my WIPs are concerned is finishing up my mother's socks. I have two more pairs of socks to knit when these are done (for my father and father-in-law, so they'll be big and boring), so I'm anxious to get this pair off the needles. The good news is that I am almost there. I've finished all the gusset decreases on the second sock and am cruising down the foot. This sock is perfect to work on while reading or sitting in meetings, and I happen to have a synagogue committee meeting tonight. I expect that I'll be able to finish the pair before the week is out.
My treat to myself after finishing my sweater was to cast on a new project with the two skeins I shared last week. On Sunday I wound them and got started, and I am having so much fun with this new design!
This is the start of a brioche cowl that's a step up from basic two-color brioche but still relatively easy, as brioche designs go. I'm really pleased with how it's working up and am hoping to have enough yarn leftover to do a coordinating hat.
My Hitchhiker is still on the needles but hasn't gotten any attention recently. I do plan to pull it out and devote some time to it soon, though!
Reading has been a mixed bag this week. I've still got about three weeks until my next library hold comes to me, so I've been going through the books I've tagged "to read" in Libby and seeing what's available to borrow right away. I've finished two books in the last week.
I know a lot of you read Station Eleven a while ago, and I've been wanting to read it for a long time but kept seeing a long wait, so I put it off. I realize that a book about a global pandemic is probably not the wisest thing to read during an actual global pandemic -- in fact, I seem to remember some people saying not to read it! I understand that concern, but it didn't really make me too anxious, and I really loved the book. I kept reminding myself that it was fiction, and instead on focusing on the illness, I really focused on the characters (which, in my opinion, were meant to be the focus anyway). I loved how the different story lines were woven together and how so many lives were interconnected through seemingly minor things. I gave this book 5 stars.
In the "they can't all be winners" category was Women Who Run with the Wolves, a book I'd never heard of until it was mentioned by Sara of the Yarns at Yin Hoo podcast, who has been designing a series of patterns inspired by it. It was available and the audio was only about two hours long, so I decided to give it a try. While I found some good aspects of it, I overwhelmingly found it to be a little out far out there for me. Had it been a longer book, I probably would have abandoned it, but it was so short that I figured I might as well listen to the whole thing, just in case it got better. I'm sorry to say it didn't, and I gave it 1 star.
I hope you can fill your Wednesday with good reads and good crafts. And if you are a veteran, thank you for your service!
Both of your knitting projects are so pretty. Love the socks for your Mom and I've never done brioche, but that cowl looks like fun! My reading has been easy stuff that doesn't require a lot of thought! LOL
ReplyDeleteYour Mom's socks are beautiful and cheery. She is going to love them! I've never knit brioche but your cowl looks lovely and squishy. I love brioche bread. Do you think that will help me with knitting brioche? :-)
ReplyDeleteI did the same thing when my kids were younger and really enjoyed reading some of the books I hadn't read as a child. We were past the read-aloud stage, but we had some great book discussions when they knew I was reading the same books that they were. Bridge to Terabithia is one that I think really needs to be discussed after readings.
Those socks are just gorgeous! And, I am intrigued by your Brioche Cowl start!
ReplyDeleteI am quite intrigued by the "step up from 2-color brioche" :-) I adored Station Eleven (finally read it earlier this year, pre-pandemic, just barely) and hope that one of my bookclubs reads it ... it's a book that needs to be discussed, I think!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, I haven't thought about Women Who Run with the Wolves in years! In fact, after I read your post I walked over to my bookshelf and flipped through it. It's probably my most annotated book still in my possession. I read it in my early 20s, after the break-up of my first significant adult relationship...and you can tell by my notes :) I wonder why the audio was so short? (The book is around 400 pages.) Anyway--probably best, in your case! I didn't remember it being too far out there when I read it--but, then again, *I* was probably more out there then than I am now...
ReplyDeleteHmm, I know I listened to it at a slightly faster-than-normal speed, but perhaps the audio book was abridged? In any case, I suspect reading it at this stage of my life (rather than at a more formative age) probably played a big part in my opinion of it. I can see how it could be an empowering read for a younger woman still trying to figure out who she is. Now, though, I just found myself rolling my eyes a lot.
DeleteI LOVE how your socks are turning out. And I didn't comment - but your Radiate sweater turned out gorgeous, as well! Congrats on your new sweater.
ReplyDeleteI adored Station Eleven and I wonder if it might be time to reread it? Emily St. John Mandel has quickly become one of my favorite authors of contemporary fiction, which I don't typically enjoy.
I have not read Women Who Run with the Wolves but have been intrigued by it. Now I know not to bother, so thank you!
I hope you read Bridge to Terabithia. When our girls were in school, I led a classic book group and that was one of our reads. I reread it a few years ago. Your new design looks so interesting!
ReplyDeleteBridge to Terabithia is such a classic. I read it as an adult and really enjoyed it. Once a long time ago, I was able to hear the author speak about her work. She was/is remarkable. I can't imagine Women Who Run with the Wolves being condensed into 2 hours. I read it because I am intrigued by the idea of archetypes and what they symbolize.
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