Unraveled, Week 45/2021

I know I've been very unimaginative with the titles of my Wednesday posts, but they do serve as a good reminder of how far we've gotten in the year. Is anyone else utterly shocked that there are only seven more Wednesdays left in this year? In any case, it is Wednesday again, and that means it's time to join up with Kat and the Unravelers for an update on what I'm making and what I'm wearing.

Although my Shifty was pulled out briefly over the weekend, it's now gone back into its project bag so that I can focus on the projects that need to be done in the next couple of weeks. That means Rainbow's Pittsburgh hat and the socks for my brother. And I have made some progress on both:

The hat would probably have been done by now if I could work on it out in the open, but now that Rainbow is doing her own crafty stuff, she's interested in what I'm making if I work on it in front of her, so I can't get away with it. My knitting time on the hat has been restricted to a couple of hours during the day, if I'm lucky, and maybe an hour in the evening. I'm not terribly worried about finishing the hat in time, but it would be nice to have longer stretches of time in which I could plow through it. The sock, meanwhile, is almost ready for the toe -- less than an inch of foot to go!

I also cast on a new project last night, though I didn't make it very far:

One of the other participants in the Down Cellar Studio Pigskin Party asked for some donations of knit headbands for teen girls for a charity she's involved with, and I told her I would be happy to make a couple. I'm using a skein of yarn from Unplanned Peacock that we (well, technically Rainbow) won in the raffle at Indie Knit & Spin a couple of years ago. It's very hard to capture, but it has some sparkle in it, which I think teen girls would like. I'm not following a pattern; I cast on 108 stitches, worked five rounds of 1x1 rib, and I'm going to work some brioche followed by more ribbing to finish. Considering that I'm basically knitting a hat brim and then binding off, it shouldn't take me too long. I'm hoping to make at least two of these to send to her, but I'll see how much yarn I use in the first one and perhaps make more if I can get more out of the one skein of yarn.

Reading has been good this past week. I finished three books!

After listening to about 2/3 of Daisy Jones & the Six with Amy on the ride home from Rhinebeck, I had to wait a couple of weeks to get the audiobook from the library to finish it. Enough time had passed since then that I had to relisten to a bit, but it only took me a day to do that and listen to the rest. I know many of you have read this already, but if not, I will recommend it if you're looking for an entertaining, not-to-serious read. The audio cast was really good (even though Jennifer Beals is a sloooooow reader). And if you have read this one and want something similar but with a bit more substance, check out The Final Revival of Opal & Nev. I gave this one 4 stars.

Up next is the next Read With Us selection, Matrix. I know we'll have a lot to talk about when we're ready to discuss it as a group, but I will say that I really enjoyed this book -- and at the same time I can see that it's a divisive book. The novel imagines a possible life of a real woman about whom very little is known. But in Lauren Groff's imagination, Marie de France inhabits a world in which she can build a bastion of female authority and self-sufficiency that would be surprising today but was truly revolutionary for her time. Don't go into this expecting a real plot; rather it's a sort of fictional biography of an extraordinary woman. It's not going to be for everyone, but I quite enjoyed it. I gave it 4 stars.

Finally, I was surprised (because the wait had been so long the last time I checked) to get The Promise from the library, just days after it was announced as the winner of the 2021 Booker Prize. I wasn't planning to try to read the short list, but I'd put this one on hold after Mary raved about it. I read this over the course of two days, but I've spent longer than that trying to figure out how I feel about it. It's set in South Africa over several decades starting the mid-'80s, and while it's not about apartheid and its end per se, the family drama unfolds against that backdrop. The writing and format are unusual (which seems to be a thing that literary prizes enjoy), but I found it confusing and hard to follow at times. And the story is a sad one, which doesn't normally disqualify a book for me, but this was one in which it felt like people were continually making awful choices. I gave it 3.5 stars.

Right now, I'm reading Great Circle -- just started it yesterday and am about 100 pages in. I haven't gotten further in The Madness of Crowds, mainly because I tend to ignore books I own when a library hold comes in, though I am keeping up with Rainbow on The Westing Game, which is very easy when it's a couple of chapters at a time.

Tomorrow I've got a follow-up mammogram (good thoughts appreciated!) and I'm hoping that if I have a lot wait while the radiologist looks at my scans, I can at least get some reading done. Friday Rainbow is off for an end-of-term in-service day for her teachers, so I've decided to take the day off as a mental health day and spent it with her. The idea initially was for her benefit, but I have two synagogue meetings (committee and full board) the next two evenings, so I may need it for my benefit as well!

What are you working on and reading these days? And if you've read The Promise, what do you think about its selection for the Booker Prize?