Unraveled, Week 45/2023

Good morning, friends! I am feeling much better about the state of the world (or at least the United States) after waking up to good election news and seeing some pretty incredible numbers about turnout among young voters in particular. There's still a lot of work to do, of course, but here in my home county we just elected our first woman county executive, and in the other city where I spent five years of my life, Philadelphia just elected its first woman to serve as mayor.

It's Wednesday, so that means it's time to check in with Kat and the Unravelers. I've got two knitting WIPs at the moment, the shawl that you've already seen (and which is ready for the next mini skein to be introduced) and a new cast-on, a hat for my sister-in-law:

 

I'm just about done with the increases on the crown of the hat, and my goal is to get those done during my team meeting this morning so I will be ready to work the long, mindless stockinette in the round section when I need it this week.

I also started another spinning project on Sunday and managed to finish the singles yesterday, which I wound into a center-pull ball so I can ply from both ends. Even though the lighting was terrible at the time, I had to snap a photo of the cake on the ball winder because it was so pretty:

This is a Merino/Corriedale cross from Southern Cross Fibre in the colorway Bali (April's club). I split the fiber into four long strips and spun them one after another. The fiber was pretty much two shades of blue and a silvery gray, so I think it's going to make a lovely two-ply. I hope to get started on plying today.

Reading has been good this past week, with two finished books.

After starting it way back at the end of August, I was finally able to finish An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us. It took me so long to finish not because it wasn't a good read but because I kept getting interrupted by library holds and book club reads. This is a really fascinating and thoroughly researched work of nonfiction that gives some amazing perspectives on the world that most humans would never even think to consider. I learned about animals I'd never heard of and also about those I thought I knew well. Ed Yong is part of my local speaker series this year, and I'm really looking forward to his talk now that I've read the book. I was also tickled to learn that he has a Corgi named Typo -- such a great name for a dog belonging to a writer! I gave it 4 stars.

I also finished a big book (literally) in In Ascension. This was my penultimate read from the Booker Prize longlist, and it was one I was saving for the end because readers whose opinion I often agree with really enjoyed it. This is technically a work of science fiction, set in the near future when technological advances make space travel to the edge of the Solar System possible and when it appears that Earth has received a message from the outer reaches of space. But it also deals a lot with family relationships and childhood trauma. There's a lot of science, and I have no idea if it's accurate or not because I didn't understand most of it, but that didn't really seem to matter. This isn't going to be a book for everyone (most of the reviewers seem to love it or hate it), but I think it's a book that would be great for a class or a book group because there's a lot in it to discuss and a lot that isn't explained in a really clear-cut way. I gave it 4 stars.

I am currently reading two books: The House of Doors, my very last Booker title, and The Night Circus, which I am rereading because Mo is currently reading it for English class. Though I'm only about two or three chapters into the former, I'm more than halfway done with the latter and expect to finish it up by the end of the week, unless work explodes.

Today is going to be a long day. I have a professional development workshop this afternoon (hence the need to get to the straight knitting part of the hat), which will be held in my office building, and then after I pick Mo up from play practice at 6, I'll have to get her dinner and go back to her school at 7 for a parent preview of high school(!). I am thankful I got a good night's sleep last night and the sun is out today!

What are you making and reading this week?