Unraveled, Week 1/2023

Let's start that first number over for a new year of Unraveled posts! It's only Wednesday, and it's already been a long week (a not-so-great reminder of why I so rarely take time off from work -- I get everything dumped on me upon my return!), so I'm keeping this pretty short and to the point today. Thanks as always to Kat for hosting this weekly link-up!

I am delighted to tell you that I started off the new year with a new sweater! On Monday evening, I knit off the last few round of garter and finished off with an applied I-cord edging to match the sleeves and neckline. Naturally yesterday it rained all day and was dark and gloomy, so forgive the poor photo that does not do the colors justice.

It went in for a soak yesterday morning and is drying while it patiently waits for its photo shoot. I'll detail everything I did to make the pattern work for me once I have some modeled photos.

Now my only active WIP is the pair of socks I started for Rainbow back in December. They aren't terribly exciting, nor have they changed much since you saw them last, so I'll wait to share them once they are at least closer to being finished. I have an urge to start another sweater, but I think first I'll knit some charity hats, so a stash toss is in my future.

I managed to finish two books in the first two days of the new year, though don't expect that pace to continue!

First there was my reread of The Sentence, which I listened to on my first read. Although it was wonderful to have the author herself read it to me, I did quite miss quite a lot that I was able to pick up on this time around by reading with my eyes. I still loved it just as much, though I had an interesting experience reading it: I bought my copy from Birchbark Books, Louise Erdrich's shop, and was using the bookmark that came with it, and the book is largely set in the bookstore, with Erdrich as one of the characters. Very meta! There's so much to talk about with regard to this book, and I'm looking forward to our discussion for the Erdrich-along this weekend. I gave it 5 stars again on my second read.

I picked up the 11th installment of the Maisie Dobbs series, A Dangerous Place, at the tail end of my vacation and finished it on my run on Monday. There is joy and heartbreak in this book -- and that's just in the first several pages! It's clear that World War II is getting closer, and Maisie is getting increasingly drawn into the world of espionage. I'm committed to listening to the entire series on audio (they're all available via Hoopla, so I'll never have to wait when I'm ready for the next book), but the narrator did get on my nerves in this one by pronouncing the name Chana with the "ch" sound you'd use in the word "nacho." Don't readers check that sort of thing before they record. Anyway, I gave it 4 stars.

I'm currently reading The Transit of Venus, which I took with me to Florida but didn't have a chance to start until we got back, and just got A World of Curiosities from the library yesterday. I won't have a ton of time to read this week, between work and evening meetings, but at least I have the weekend to look forward to!

What are you making and reading this week?