Unraveled, Week 26/2022

Oh friends, it has been A Week. And it's only Wednesday! On Monday night, the Mister was coughing and getting stuffed up, and when he woke up yesterday, he was completely congested. So he took a home COVID test -- and I think you probably already know that it was positive. I took a home test and it came back negative, but knowing that these tests are less reliable, I also went to get a PCR test yesterday afternoon. I've of course been convinced that I have it, too, because I always assume the worst and always physically feel my anxiety, but this morning I got a negative result! So it seems all my "symptoms" have just been psychosomatic. On top of all this, last night was the annual meeting for our synagogue at which the election of new trustees and officers occurred. The meeting was held via Zoom in order to allow those who could not be at an in-person meeting (either because of COVID concerns, mobility issues, or because they're out of town or live elsewhere), and there were issues with technology from the start in addition to a lot of very angry congregants determined to disrupt the proceedings. The technology issues were resolved, and after three and a half hours, the full slate of nominees had been elected. So I am now secretary of the board!

So I'm starting the day with some good news, but I am tired and obviously still worried about the Mister and potentially catching the plague, but we're all isolating in our own rooms and wearing high-quality masks around each other. I am hopeful that if I didn't catch COVID from him from sleeping in the same bed with his breath in my face all night, I can avoid it now. He'll be isolated through the weekend, at least, so it'll be a quiet rest of the week for us -- and I'm just fine with that!

Because it's Wednesday, that means it's time to link up with Kat and the Unravelers and to talk about what I've been making and reading. 

In the last several days, I've been almost singularly focused on the sock pattern I'm test knitting. I know that my brother's sweater has a deadline, but so does this, and as I only have to finish one sock for the test, I figured I could focus on it for a few days to knock it out. Yesterday it got a lot of attention, including during that marathon Zoom meeting last night, so it's unsurprising that I have about an inch of foot left to knit before the toe. I expect that it'll be easy to finish this sock up today.

The stitch pattern is really beautiful, but it's also very involved -- there are multiple 1x1 cable crossings on every round -- and I've had a few issues with my needles splitting the yarn, so the patterned part of this sock has been slower for me. But I think it's worth it.

Once the sock is done, I will turn back to my brother's sweater and give it my undivided attention until it's done. I'm currently at a rather fun part of it -- the pocket linings!

The pattern advises that the linings be knit at this point, before any seaming, so that only one piece of the sweater has to be handled while knitting it -- very smart! I know it looks a bit like blue lips on the side of the piece of knitting, but when it's done, it'll be pushed inside the slit and will look normal.

I have only finished one book this week, but it was a long one and a good one (and, coincidentally, also the same book Kat finished)!

I received a digital ARC of Ian McEwan's forthcoming Lessons via NetGalley and Knopf in return for an honest review. This was my fourth McEwan novel, and while I have always found something in each of his books that makes me feel uncomfortable, the writing is always superb. The fact that this was an ARC made it hard to tell how long it was when I started (it would only tell me the "position" I was in rather than a page number), but I very quickly discovered that it was a long book. And that makes sense, given that it spans the early '60s to present day. We are along for much of the life of the main character, Roland Baines, and see how so much in his life is influenced by a sexual relationship with his much-older piano teacher when he was a teenager. I know that sounds disturbing, but it's only part of his story, and the book is really so beautifully written, with such vivid, complex characters. I frequently found myself getting lost in it. I gave it 4 stars.

I've done much more knitting and TV watching in the last couple of days than reading, but I'm hoping now that my anxiety is abating I can focus on Tears of Amber, which I am nearly halfway through and really enjoying.

What are you making and reading this week?