Unraveled, Week 17/2021

It's Wednesday again, and as per usual I am linking up with Kat and the Unravelers to talk knitting and reading.

I am happy to report that there has been no actual unraveling this week and instead I have a finished object to share today! Though it's technically not finished finished finished because, as you will see, it still very badly needs to be blocked, and thus I have no modeled shots to share. But the knitting portion is complete.

Please forgive the strange light this morning!

Pattern: Aldous (Ravelry link) by Isabell Kraemer, size 2 (37.5 in./93.5 cm)
Yarn: HipStrings Buoy DK (37.5% BFL, 37.5% Shetland, 25% Manx Loaghtan) in Dionysus, 3.1 skeins (about 890 yards/814 meters)
Needles: US 3 (3.25 mm) and US 5 (3.75 mm)
Started/Completed: March 23/April 27

A sweater in just a little more than a month is not bad at all, particularly given that it wasn't my sole focus! Predictably, as I finished it yesterday, our temperatures jumped into the low 80s, but it's supposed to cool off this weekend, so perhaps I'll get a chance to wear it once before it gets put away until fall. I followed the pattern exactly as written with no modifications, and as it's a very well written pattern, that was easy to do. The shoulder construction was a bit new to me, though not difficult. I'm not entirely convinced that it fits me all that well, but I'm reserving judgment until the sweater is blocked and the fabric settles into place. The horizontal "braid" was new to me; I've worked a Vikkel braid in the past, but it was much more fiddly. This method is easier to execute though does tangle your yarn a lot -- but it's a two-round process that theoretically untangles the yarn on the second round, if you can stand to leave it alone. I couldn't deal with it on the body and stopped frequently to untwist my skeins, but I let the yarn be on the braids on the sleeves. I promise to share more details and more photos once it's blocked and I can model it!

Reading has been a mixed bag the past week. I did not have much reading time at all last week thanks to a busy work schedule, but I made up for that over the weekend. I've finished three books since this time last week:

I borrowed The God of Small Things from the library after Mary raved about it in one of our Zoom calls, and I have to admit that I was doubting her recommendation for about two-thirds of the book because I was thoroughly confused. This is a family drama set in India that focuses on a set of fraternal twins, and it's told in a sort of circular fashion, going back and forth in time and through the points of view of a number of characters. It's a bit hard to follow and to get a sense of the bigger picture -- but as I approached the end, I realized that that is done on purpose. You're meant to see the events unfold as the twins did as young children and to not really have a full understanding of what's happening. The story is sad, and I'd maybe give the plot alone 3 stars, but the writing is really wonderful and inventive -- I will forever remember "Gnap" and "Bar Nowl" -- and bumped my rating up to 4 stars.

After a hard read, I wanted something that didn't require me to think much, so I borrowed what supposed to be a thriller from the library. Goodnight Beautiful came out late last year and was recently recommended on WSIRN. It sounded like a good mystery to get lost in. It was a decent distraction but, sadly, not very thrilling. The big twist that's promised is revealed pretty early on, and I found the wrap-up at the end to be a bit too convenient. The best thing I can say is that I read it in less than 24 hours and it was definitely a mindless read -- good for a vacation/beach read, I'd say. I gave it 2 stars.

Finally, I finished my re-read of The Giver. Rainbow has a few more chapters left to read, which I expect will be her assignment for English class today. There were no surprises for me this time, obviously, but it's been good to read it again as she's been reading it for the first time. She got to the explanation of "release" on Monday afternoon while we was reading that day's assigned chapters and had a pretty emotional response to it, and that made me glad I had decided to pick the book up again so I am able to discuss it with her with the book fresh in my mind. I really do have to applaud her school for assigning this one and for handling it so well in their class discussions.


Yesterday I started (and read more than half of) Before We Were Yours. I know many of you have already read it (I'm late to the party as usual). I'm pretty sure I know where it's going, but it's passing the time while I wait for my next library holds. And now that my sweater is done, I need to decide what to cast on next!