Unraveled, Week 34/2024

Happy hump day, friends! It's time for my weekly link-up with Kat and the Unravelers, always the highlight of my week!

I can now update you with the details of the handspun skein I shared on Monday (the cooler weather meant that it took almost two days to fully dry!).

The skein is 125 g, so a bit more than 4 ounces, and I have approximately 476 yards. I was a bit surprised to get that much yardage, but then again, with the high silk content in the fiber, it clearly cooperated with being spun quite fine.

I also took this photo of part of the skein, which I think illustrates how the transition works quite well:

I'm still working on my two -- no, make that three -- current WIPs. I've added a bit to my socks and the hat, though the Newborn Vertebrae doesn't look all that much different. In the past week, my brain has been so fried by the end of the day that I haven't wanted to do much knitting that would require me to pay attention, like remembering to do increases, for instance. But I know that once I get back to the sweater, it will work up quickly.

The good news this week is that I've actually managed to do some reading! Apparently library books, which have the inherent threat of being whisked back to the library, are a good motivator, as the three I've finished in the past week were all borrowed and all read fairly quickly.

The first is a book that I probably wouldn't recommend to everyone because it has all the content warnings. But I was intrigued by Little Rot after hearing an interview with the author on The Stacks podcast. I also think Akwaeke Emezi is a very talented writer, and I'm very interested in how they manage to take on so many different genres with their work. This newest novel examines the dark side of Lagos, Nigeria, and the titular rot that seems to pervade all aspects of life there. It takes place over the course of a day or so and follows a handful of characters who lives become intertwined in a dangerous and dark series of events. I think the book is well done and well written, but it's a hard read. If you're a sensitive reader, I'd avoid this one. I gave it 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Book number two was much more enjoyable, even if it does deal with some serious subjects. How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water was written by a local-to-me author (she's the director of the writing program at Pitt), and it's been on my radar since it was published two years ago. It tells the story of Cara Romero, a Dominican immigrant in New York City struggling to make ends meet after the factory where she worked shuttered and moved overseas. Her story is told in a series of sessions with a job counselor and interspersed with job applications, letters from her landlord, job coaching videos, and other ephemera. It was absolutely delightful on audio, not only because the narrator very convincingly sounds like Cara but because there are other sounds included -- the ding of an elevator, the sound of a noisy hallway, the scratch of a pencil. I gave it 4 stars.

Finally, after putting off my hold twice, I finally had time to read The God of the Woods. This is a very buzzy book right now, and for good reason. It opens in 1975 at a summer camp adjacent to a private estate, and the daughter of the landowners has gone missing -- reminding many of when her younger brother went missing more than a decade earlier. These two mysteries unfold over the course of the novel in shifting timelines and from several different points of view. It's propulsive and tightly written; I couldn't put it down. I also thought I knew where it was going several times and was completely wrong. The book is almost 500 pages but didn't seem long at all. I definitely recommend this one and gave it 5 stars.

I'm now back to reading True Biz, which I ignored for a while due to library holds and work generally being busy, and I'm hoping that this week I'll be able to finish A Suitable Boy -- I have less than 200 pages left!

Finally, some exciting news: My union ballot has been received, filled out, and mailed!