Unraveled, Week 38/2025

Time continues its forward march and here we are again on a Wednesday. Time to link up with Kat and the Unravelers!

I spent most of my knitting time when we were away working on a charity hat, and I'm quickly approaching its end. As of yesterday afternoon's nap time, when I snapped this photo, it was about 4/5 of a Ruthie:

Funny story: She actually woke up when I first draped it on her, and I thought she was going to try to eat it and quickly snatched it back, but she almost immediately closed her eyes again. I guess the desire to sleep was stronger than her desire to chew! This yarn is Fibernymph Dye Works Bedazzled, which is 438 yards per 100 g, but as is usually the case with the skeins I get from Lisa, this one was a bit overweight at 106 g, so I've actually got about 464 yards to work with. I'll use most if not all of it, and that should make for a nice slouchy hat for someone.

I also worked a bit on the socks I started in the car on the way to the airport, but I was holding back a bit so that Molly and I could do heels at the same time. I was very pleasantly surprised to see how much she got done on hers considering that this is probably the first time she's ever worked on such small needles (her sock on the left is on a US 1/2.25 mm; mine on the right is on a US 0/2.0 mm).

While I'm working on these smaller projects, I'm also pondering what to cast on next. I think I may try to knit another summer top, specifically this one (Ravelry link), which was my original plan for the Miss Babs silk/linen I used on my Midsommarkrans. In fact, the Shibui linen yarn I found on the giveaway table at SSK should be pretty perfect for it. I may start swatching that soon.

I didn't read as much while we were away as I would have at home, but I've still managed to finish two (short) books in the past week:

Continuing my exploration of the work of Nobel literature laureate Han Kang, I read her latest, We Do Not Part. In terms of the subject matter, this felt like a logical continuation of Human Acts in that a large part of the book explores the trauma of massacres in Korea, this time on Jeju Island. (Note: If you've read The Island of Sea Women, then the history of this island will not be new to you.) The way this history is presented, however, is a bit strange. We start with Kyungha, who is struggling with nightmares in the wake of writing a book about another massacre (presumably the one depicted in Human Acts) when she gets a call from her friend Inseon, who is in a hospital in Seoul after a carpentry accident and begs Kyungha to come see her. When they meet, Inseon begs Kyungha to go to her house on Jeju to take care of her bird, and Kyungha makes the long journey in a treacherous snowstorm. When she awakes in her friend's house, with the power out, she is surprised to see Inseon there, all signs of her injury gone, and the two begin going through Inseon's extensive research on the massacres on Jeju and her intimate connection to them. The writing (or at least the translation of the writing) is beautiful, but the story itself is odd and at times hard to follow, and I felt a bit frustrated when I finished and found there was no explanation for how Inseon could be both in a hospital in Seoul and in a house on Jeju. The novel does serve as a vehicle for communicating the impact of the generational trauma of the events of 1948 and 1950-52, and presumably a Korean audience would have more knowledge of those events than I did; I felt at more than one point that I should stop and read about some of the history in order to have a more complete picture of the period. It's a hard book to read for a number of reasons, and it's one that perhaps I will revisit once I have a better handle on the context. I gave it 3.5 stars, rounded up.

Shortly after we got to Nashville, I got a notification that my library hold on Intimacies was ready. This relatively short novel follows a woman who works as an interpreter in the international court in the Hague and details her personal and professional relationships. There's her friend Jana, who lives in a seedy neighborhood and witnesses a violent mugging. There's Adriaan, the man she's seeing who she soon learns is a married (but separated) father. And there are the incarcerated individuals on trial at the court she translates for and whose accused heinous acts she has to listen to as part of her job. There's a bit of a plot to this book, but overall I wasn't sure what the point of it was -- not to mention that the author seems to use the word "intimacy" a little too much for the title to have any subtlety. Maybe I would feel different if I read with my eyes rather than my ears. In any case, I didn't care for it much. I gave it 2 stars.

On the way home, I started an ARC of Ian McEwan's forthcoming novel, which is being billed as speculative fiction. And I've also started Broken Country, one of those buzzy books you've seen everywhere lately and which I was lucky to get passed by my mother.

What are you making and reading this week?

Home Sweet Home

After a whirlwind trip, Molly and I arrived home yesterday shortly before noon (we actually got in about 15 minutes early, something that almost never happens with air travel these days!). We missed the final breakfast and didn't really have a chance to say goodbye to a lot of people, but getting an early flight out made the most sense. And we got treated to a beautiful 360º view of Downtown Pittsburgh on our descent into Pittsburgh International Airport:

Let me catch you up on the rest of the trip. On Friday afternoon, we had our class on pin loom weaving with Angela Tong. I had learned how to use one of these looms before, but it had been several years since I'd done it last and I had forgotten a lot. We both really enjoyed it and can see how these little looms could come in handy for using up all those little bits, especially as each woven square takes only about 8 yards of yarn.

Both of these squares were woven using DK weight yarn; these looms are designed to use yarn in the sport/DK/worsted range. But Angela also showed us how to use fingering (the trick is doing some of the warping with the yarn held double).

Saturday was market day. I only had a couple of things I wanted to buy, and though I did end up going back for an impulse purchase later on, I think I was pretty restrained. The market opened at 9, and we were not among those waiting in line for the doors to open until just a few minutes before. I asked the woman who was first what time she got there, and she said about 7:20 (for reference, breakfast was served starting at 7:30).

I know some of you are really here to see what I came home with, so I won't keep you in suspense any longer! I came home with more than I expected, although only some of it was actually purchased at the market.

One of the perks of attending this retreat is that there is always a long table along the side of the wall in the lobby of the main building that's the giveaway table -- anything on it is free to a good home, and anything that's left after the retreat ends is taken to a local creative reuse place. There's always the usual acrylic/fun fur/novelty yarn that typically stays the whole time, but some people also drop off some really nice yarn, and if you happen to check the table at the right time, you can get lucky. That happened to me -- I found four skeins of fingering almost right off the bat, one from Miss Babs, one from lolodidit, and two 50 g skeins from The Loopy Ewe. I also found three skeins of Shibui linen yarn that will be enough for a summer tank, a skein of what looked to be DK or worsted with some minis, and a cute cotton drawstring bag from Quince & Co.

Here is what I bought at the market: a bag from Fat Squirrel Fibers, two skeins of self-striping Targhee sock yarn from Woolens and Nosh, three lotion bars from Tuft Woolens (not pictured), a pair of tiny yarn skein earrings from Oink Pigments, and a braid of Shaniko wool from Cesium Yarn. I actually went back to get the fiber because not only was it a breed I've never spun, but the colorway is Neighborhood of Make Believe, and I couldn't resist a Mister Rogers reference.

But wait, there's more! Another big feature of SSK is the door prizes! Vendors and attendees generously donate a ton of prizes -- yarn, fiber, project bags, accessories, etc. -- that can be won via a random pull of door prize tickets (everyone gets some to start in their goodie bag, and you can earn more through the knitalongs of teachers' patterns prior to the even and at random during the event). There are also special prizes on offer if you donate to the Scarritt-Bennett Center; every dollar gets you a ticket. I was lucky enough to win one regular door prize (two skeins of Lorna's Laces sock yarn) and a special SBC raffle prize (a hand-woven towel).

Let's not forget the aforementioned goodie bag, either! Molly and I both opted to just get the goodies included in the retreat fee, which was delightful without all the add-ons. We got a large zippered tote bag, a skein of yarn dyed by one of the vendors, a pen, a tape measure, a gauge ruler, and a set of point protectors. There were also folks from two local yarn shops (Haus of Yarn and Bliss) handing out goodies as we were waiting in line to check in on Wednesday. Needless to say, we were very spoiled! I'm happy to report that everything fit in my luggage, though Molly ended up using her tote bag as a second carry-on on the way home, mainly because we'd purchased some snacks and had a lot left and those bags wouldn't fit in our backpacks, so it was just easier to carry another bag.

I'm also very happy to report that Ruthie was a Very Good Girl while we were away. We'll ignore the fact that she chewed through two harnesses (a replacement for the newest one is on its way!), but she didn't have a single accident and didn't bark at the Mister at all! I think he is exhausted and very happy to have us home, and she was certainly thrilled to see us, but it honestly went much better than I expected and I am so relieved!

I predict she'll be a velcro dog for the next several days until she's sure I'm not leaving her again, but we all got through a challenging week and made it out the other end okay. You all told me it would be fine, but I needed to live it for myself to believe it!

This week it's back to the usual schedule, with a couple of medical checkups thrown in for fun (going for my mammogram on Thursday, so here's my reminder to get your boobies squished!). I'll be back on Wednesday for my usual update, and I'll try to be a little less verbose then!

Our Trip Thus Far

Happy Friday, friends! I have to admit that taking a trip and leaving on a Tuesday has really messed with my sense of time and what day it is. I've been confused for the past two days, so it's a good thing I have Molly around to keep me in check.

We've had a good first part of our trip. The retreat didn't officially start until Wednesday evening, so we came in a day early so we could do a little tourist-ing. Wednesday morning we hailed an Uber to go to the Country Music Hall of Fame, partly because there's some Taylor Swift stuff there, but also because why not?

There's also a special Dolly Parton exhibit right now, featuring a number of her outfits, some shoes, one of her Grammys, and various other memorabilia. There were some fabulous beaded high-heeled boots that I neglected to take a photo of, but I did remember to capture this:

That's her ribbon and medallion from the Kennedy Center Honors -- Dolly clearly is a national treasure!

The retreat kicked off with the opening reception Wednesday evening, at which general information was shared and some door prizes were given away (neither of us won anything). I told Molly that it would probably be the most people knitting at once that she's ever been around, and I don't think I was wrong.

On Thursday morning, after breakfast, the two of us covered ourselves in sunblock and walked a little more than a mile to Centennial Park (partly through the campus of Vanderbilt University) to see the replica of the Parthenon. I had gone to see it my first year at SSK, back in 2017, but Molly wanted to see it, too. We opted not to spend the money to go inside; as cool as it would have been to see the giant sculpture of Athena Parthenos, I thought it better to save the money for yarn.

You may notice some dark spots on my shirt. I'll be honest with you: That's sweat. Even at about 9 in the morning, it was hot and very humid. We had water bottles with us and didn't walk very fast, but we had to shower when we got back.

We didn't have classes on Thursday, so we spent the afternoon in the main building sitting and talking with other attendees. I even did a little spinning, my first since we adopted Ruthie!

We went to dinner with some new acquaintances and then explored the Try-It-On Room a bit -- people bring in sweaters and other garments that you can try before you decide to make them for yourself. A lot of what was available to try was a bit big for me, but I think this Isabel Kraemer sweater might be a possibility:

This afternoon we have our class -- pin loom weaving with Angela Tong -- and this evening is the Tasting Room, where we'll have the opportunity to try out all sorts of tools and fiber equipment. Saturday is market day and then the closing reception in the evening, and then we leave Sunday morning!

I may have already acquired a bit of yarn from the giveaway table (some may still go back if I change my mind), and I'm sure I'll pick up a few pretty things at the market. I promise a full report on what comes home with us on Monday. In the meantime, have a great weekend!

Unraveled, Week 37/2025

Greetings from Nashville! Molly and I arrived safely, albeit a bit delayed. We found out later it was due to weather wherever it was the incoming flight was coming from, but at the time, we thought it was because of this:

In case you can't tell, that's Air Force One -- we saw it as we were taking off.

Though we arrived two hours later than anticipated, it all worked out well. We shared a cab with two other retreat attendees and only had to wait about 15 minutes before we could check into our Vrbo rental.

But enough about our travels -- it's Wednesday, which means it time to check in with Kat and the Unravelers and give an update on my making and my reading.

Before we left, I finished up the neon sock yarn hat I'd been knitting (though I'm sorry to say I didn't check it see if it measured a full Ruthie):

I used my Same as It Ever Was pattern (Ravelry link) and a slightly overweight skein of fingering (it weighed 104 g to begin and I had 3 g remaining). I haven't blocked it yet, obviously, but I plan to stretch it out a bit to make it slouchier and then it'll go in the charity pile.

Finishing up that hat meant I was officially without any projects on the needles, and I'm sure you all know how that makes me feel! So I had to figure out what to start and take for our trip. First, I cast on another hat:

This is using a skein of Fibernymph Dye Works Bedazzled that I bought years ago intending to make socks or something for Molly and never did, and as the colors aren't really me or anyone I knit for regularly, it seemed perfect for another charity hat. I got the increases done on Monday so that it would to the mindless point by the time we left.

I also wound two skeins of sock yarn. One I'd bought at a local fiber festival a number of years ago. Then last year I got another one as a gift from my friend Margene -- and they were the same colorway! Seemed like a perfect way to get Molly in sock knitting, something she's long said she wanted to do. So I wound both skeins and knit a cuff for her (to make it easier for her to work on magic loop):

And I cast on mine in the car on the way to the airport and worked on it while waiting at the gate and while on the plane:

It's entirely possible that I will finish a pair of socks and a hat while we're here, especially without having to work or walk a dog many times a day, so I also brought a spindle and some fiber because the Tour de Fleece is happening right now and I haven't done any spinning since Ruthie came home. And there's also a little market happening on Saturday and a "free to a good home" table throughout the retreat, so I'm sure I could get my hands on more yarn if needed.

I've had a phenomenal week of reading -- I finished four books!

After reading Geraldine Brooks's memoir last week, I decided I should read the last of her novels that I hadn't yet read. The Secret Chord tells the story of King David told by his advisor, the prophet Natan. While the king has achieved mythic status in biblical history, Brooks presents him very much as a fallible man who has weaknesses, jealousies, and insatiable appetites. Some of the story deals with the previous king, Shaul (Saul), and the prophet Shmuel (Samuel), who abandoned him. I can understand why this book would not appeal to some readers and might be confusing to some. Brooks notes that she intentionally uses the Hebrew names of the main players, which are likely to be less familiar. But Shaul and Shmuel were both familiar names to me; the Haftarah I read at my bat mitzvah was from the book of Samuel and dealt with his relationship with Saul. I can't say this was my favorite Brooks novel, but I found it to be compelling because it felt a bit like I was reading about my people's history. King David is perhaps most well known for uniting several kingdoms in what is today Israel and Palestine, and I'd bet most of you have heard of his son Solomon, known for his wise decision making. In any case, I wouldn't rush to reread this one, but I did enjoy it and gave it 4 stars.

Next, I read ahead of schedule a bit and finished The Map of Love, a book from 1999 that Mary, Juliann, and Margene are reading over the course of the summer as we did last year with A Suitable Boy. This book has two timelines nearly a century apart. In the early 1900s, a recently widowed Englishwoman travels to Egypt, keen to see its wonders for herself, and falls in love not only with the country but with a handsome Egyptian man. In the late 1990s, an American falls in love with an Egyptian conductor and travels to Egypt to seek the help of his sister in unraveling the love story of the earlier couple. The older story is told through letters, diary entries, and how the more modern women imagine things playing out. This book has a lot to say about colonialism (there's enough about Kitchener, even though it's only a pretty brief mention, to make you call the stitch to finish a sock toe "grafting" forever). I enjoyed most of the story, but there's a lot about politics, particularly the politics of Arab/Muslim countries in the Middle East, that wasn't to my liking. I liked it but didn't love it. I gave it 3 stars.

I listened to Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space over the course of a week. Though I was alive when the Challenger disaster happened, at the time I was too young to be aware of it, so I only learned about it as an event in history. What this incredibly well-researched book makes clear is that what I learned was very little of the full story and perhaps not even the truth. It goes back to long before the existence of the space shuttle to examine the earlier history of NASA's space efforts, takes side trips to visit the contractors who produced components for the shuttle, and of course gives a full picture of the lives of the astronauts on board. There are a lot of names and positions to keep track of; though the audio begins with a cast of characters, so to speak, I didn't worry too much about trying to keep straight who was who and let the audio just pass by me. In the end, it didn't really matter because the lessons to be learned from the disaster are so much bigger than any one person. I gave it 4 stars -- highly recommend.

Finally, my favorite from the past week was Isola, a work of historical fiction set in 15th-century France. Marguerite is of noble birth, but when she is orphaned, her life and large fortune fall under the control of a cousin, a man with dreams of fame and fortune -- and debts. When the king sends him on an expedition to "New France" (aka Canada), he takes her along, and when she and his secretary fall in love, he abandons them (along with Marguerite's nursemaid) on a remote island. The most stunning part of this book is that is based on a true story. It felt to me like what you might get if you crossed two of Lauren Groff's books, Matrix and The Vaster Wilds. It won't appeal to everyone, but if you like stories of resilient women who are ahead of their time, you might like it. I loved it -- and it reminded me of how I loved Island of the Blue Dolphins as a child. 5 stars.

I'm currently reading We Do Not Part as part of my effort to read the work of the most recent literature Nobel laureate.

What are you making and reading this week?

Done before Midsummer

As promised, I come to you today with an official FO post!

Pattern: Midsommarkrans sleeveless top by Lene Tøsti (Ravelry link), size S
Yarn: Miss Babs Damask (65% cultivated silk, 35% bleached linen) in the colorway Together, 1.3 skeins (546 yds./499 m)
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm) and US 3 (3.25 mm)
Started/Completed: June 8/July 10
Mods: worked different increases for lower body shaping.

You've all heard me complain about this project for weeks on end, but I hope you can tell by my smile how much it was worth all the ripping and reknitting. And I'd honestly do it again, now that I've figured out where I went wrong. I don't usually have any issues keeping my left and my right straight, but something about fronts and backs threw me off -- and it really shouldn't have because this top is completely reversible, so really I just had to do the same thing twice and not think quite so hard about it.

How I'm modeling it here is how I will likely wear it, over a tank or perhaps a dress. I think the v-neck is a bit low in the back to go with just a bra, not to mention that the top feels a bit risqué to me without something underneath, but even on a hot summer day it'll still feel light even with a layer under. This yarn is pretty special, and it was surprisingly comfortable to knit with given that it has no stretch whatsoever. It held up well to the repeated frogging and reknitting, too, so I didn't feel guilty about messing up with a yarn that was not especially cheap. I still have a fair amount leftover, too, which I think would be really nice for one of those little scarves that are all the rage right now. The silk content makes the knit fabric feel really cool, and linen adds some crispness. I expect that it'll soften with wear, too.

The only modification I made to the pattern (or at least the only one I made on purpose and didn't rip out) was working the lower body increases as lifted increases rather than the called-for yarnovers that were to be twisted on the following round. I don't think you can really tell a difference even if you look, and I didn't want to forget to twist a YO and end up having to rip back yet again when I was so close to being done. I opted for the more gentle shaping option; the pattern includes instructions for a straight body or  more pronounced shaping (which I think is what appears in the sample used in the pattern photos) as well. I may have had my issues with the pattern, but given how thorough it is and the fact that it was completely free, I would still recommend it -- provided, of course, that you are a confident knitter and don't need a ton of hand-holding.

This top will be coming with me to Nashville. We leave midday tomorrow and will be back midday Sunday. I am taking my computer with me and plan to continue my regular blogging schedule, so I'll be able to give you some peeks at what we're doing. In the meantime, please send all the good thoughts you can spare the way of the Mister and Ruthie, who I'm hoping will find a way to peacefully coexist at the very minimum (I'm secretly hoping they become good buddies while we're gone).

FO Friday

Friends, I can hardly believe I did it, but look what's done!

Obviously it still needs to be blocked and ends are woven in but not trimmed, but all the knitting is done. And it fits! I tried it on last night to be sure and was greatly relieved (I had been holding it up to me along the way but never actually tried it on). This isn't a proper FO post, of course. After it's blocked, we'll do a photo shoot and I'll share all the details, but for now you can see some proof of life, so to speak.

We've got a hot weekend ahead. Tonight the Mister and I are going out to dinner with some friends, and tomorrow morning is the last session of puppy class. Molly is working tomorrow and then has a friend sleeping over tomorrow evening, and we're all invited to dinner at some friends' on Sunday evening. In between all the usual stuff, Molly and I will need to pack for our trip this weekend. We'll see if we can pack light enough to carry on our luggage or not!

Have a good weekend, friends, and stay cool! Ruthie recommends napping as much as possible.

Unraveled, Week 36/2025

It's Wednesday! Kat isn't hosting an official link-up this week, but I try never to skip an Unraveled Wednesday if I can.

First, thank you for all of your reassurance about Ruthie and the Mister on Monday's post. I'm happy to report that the past two days, he's gone down in the morning, successfully gotten her harness on, and taken her out for a walk. He's fed her whenever he's around at her meal times, given her extra treats, and joined me for the last walk of the day. I expect it'll be rough for a day or so, until she realizes that he's all she's got while Molly and I are away, but I'm feeling better about things, particularly now that he's putting in the effort. (In all honesty, even if we weren't going away, it's important for him to be able to do all the stuff involved with Ruthie. Inevitably there will be a day when I'm sick or hurt and can't take her out, and he needs to be able to do so then. So we're just preparing for that inevitability.)

I don't have a huge update on my knitting because everything is pretty much as it was on Monday. I managed to take a very bad photo of my two WIPs yesterday afternoon, with horrible overhead lighting, and though I was able to improve it a bit on my phone, it's still nowhere near accurate:

I've now gotten through two increases on the body of my Midsommarkrans, and though I haven't touched the hat in several days since I decided to try to finish the tank, I did do a bit of knitting on it over the weekend and have 21 g of yarn left (I'll start the crown when I have 10 g remaining).

It's been a humid and occasionally stormy week here -- in fact, I got soaked walking home from the office yesterday morning -- so the afternoons have been great for curling up for nap (Ruthie) and reading (me). I finished two books in the last week:

I've long been a huge fan of Geraldine Brooks's fiction, and I was on a long wait list at the library for her memoir Memorial Days when it was a Kindle deal and I decided not to wait. Before she was a novelist, Brooks was a journalist, as was her husband, Tony Horwitz. On Memorial Day in 2019, Horwitz was in Washington, D.C., as part of a book tour when he suffered a fatal cardiac event on a sidewalk. This book, told in chapters that alternate between 2019 and three years later, recounts the first days after Horwitz's death and Brooks's journey to a remote cabin on an Australian cabin in an effort to fully process her grief. Her writing, as in her novels, is exquisite, even when she is writing about her very darkest days, and somehow she manages to turn a memoir into a study on mourning and how different cultures do it. It should be a sad read but instead is a moving portrait of how to face tragedy and find reasons to keep going. I gave it 5 stars.

I suppose it was a week for sad books because my other finish was a truly heartbreaking read. Tali Girls was translated into English in 2023, though it was written earlier. Set in Afghanistan beginning in 2002, it tells the stories of three girls living in what seems to be an idyllic rural village as the Taliban is rising to power. What follows is devastating, as their dreams of education, marriage for love, and a life other than one of endless servitude are crushed in a society where illiteracy is high, the patriarchy is fully in power, and corruption is rampant. There were moments in this book that were incredibly hard to read, but it was also very worthwhile, in my opinion, for a look into a society about which Westerners really know little. I gave it 4 stars.

I'm still reading The Map of Love, though I have less than 100 pages left to read, and this week I've started Challenger on audio and The Secret Chord -- the last Geraldine Brooks novel I have to read to have read all of them -- on Kindle.

What are you making and reading this week?

Holiday Weekending

It was a hot long weekend here. Friday ended up being much less relaxing than I'd hoped. I went for a run and cleaned bathrooms as planned, but then the Mister decided to get out our steam cleaner to clean the bathroom floor, some of the hardwood floor, the cooktop, and the sliding glass doors at the back of the house that open up to the back deck. All of this was happening in the kitchen and family room -- the two rooms where Ruthie lives -- which means she didn't get much rest. And then we had family over, so lots of people. Let's just say she was a very tired girl Friday night! The good news is that she seemed completely oblivious to the fireworks. I did buy a white noise machine for near her crate, and I'm sure that helped (or at least it didn't hurt).

We went to our penultimate puppy class on Saturday morning. I'm going to miss seeing the puppies playing together after next week, but I won't miss the stress of driving there and back and worrying if/when Ruthie is going to get carsick! Molly worked from 10 to 2, and after she got home, we went over to swim at some family friends' pool for a little. Then we had plans to go out to dinner with a friend of Molly's and her parents, which was very fun but made for a later night.

Yesterday was thankfully calmer (though Ruthie was up before 6, ugh!). At one point, there were three of us napping on the couch in the family room! My nap was pretty brief, though, and I spent the afternoon reading and working on my Midsommarkrans, which is now cruising down the body:

It may be ambitious to get this done in the next week-ish, but it's not entirely out of the question. The knitting at this point is simple enough that I can work on it downstairs while Ruthie naps. At this stage, the only thing that happens other than stockinette in the round is four decreases (at markers) every 12th round. After I work those decreases four times in total, I work even for a bit and then work four sets of increases at the markers. The bottom is finished off with a round of eyelets (yo, k2tog around) and several rounds of garter stitch -- easy peasy. I'm enjoying this yarn so much, too, that I'm thinking that perhaps I will pick up another couple of skeins at the SSK market to make the other top that I originally bought these for!

Speaking of SSK, this week is all about getting ready for it, and frankly I'm nervous. The Mister is going to have to do a lot with Ruthie, which is a challenge given that she's still skittish around him. He's been joining me on walks the past several days, and I have him giving her treats and feeding her whenever possible. But it's going to be a challenge: I am clearly her person and have been doing pretty much everything (I think Molly has taken her out on her own twice, and one of those times was when I was sick and physically couldn't), so getting Ruthie to trust him enough to let him take her out for walks is a big ask. He's not happy about it, either, as he's not a huge fan of hers because she barks at him and runs away from him (see the vicious circle here?). If it were just me going to SSK, I would cancel at this point, but Molly is so excited about going that I'd hate to do that. So send some positive thoughts our way, would you?

A Free Friday

It's Friday, and it's Independence Day here in the United States, though I'm not feeling much like celebrating this year. Still, I have the day off (not that I slept in, because some-puppy was up before 6) and we're having family over for a cookout this evening. Otherwise, it's going to be a normal day. I'm going to go for a run a little later and then have to clean all the bathrooms and do some laundry. Ruthie and I will likely curl up on the couch for a nap this afternoon. And tonight I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that the fireworks don't wake her up and scare her (she's been indifferent to thunder, so I'm hoping the booms don't bother her, either).

I don't have much of a knitting update, but here's a new photo of my Midsommarkrans, with the body well under way:

I worked all the top sections using one skein of yarn (I didn't want to add to the complexity by also alternating skeins), but now that I'm working stockinette in the round, I've added in the second skein and am alternating every round. The body is very simple, with the only thing to pay attention to is some simple shaping -- decreases and then increases at four points indicated by stitch markers. I think it might be overly ambitious to have this done to take to SSK in less than two weeks, but at worst I can take it with me and likely finish it while we're there. I'm going to have to start thinking about what to take with me in any case and soon.

We've got a hot summer weekend ahead. Molly is working tomorrow, after which we may go swimming, and tomorrow night we have plans to go out to dinner with one of her closest friends and her parents. Other than that, it will be the usual -- puppy class, walks, naps, etc.

If you're off today, I hope you enjoy your long weekend. If you're not, I hope the day passes quickly so you can get to your weekend. See you all back here on Monday!

Unraveling, Week 35/2025

Happy Wednesday, friends. The world is still a bit of a dumpster fire, but at least it's no longer hotter than Hades here. We've had quite a bit of rain, including an unexpected downpour yesterday when I was taking Ruthie to the vet to get her second round of vaccinations, so I'm still very much in the mode of not bothering to try to blow-dry my hair or look presentable. But I did manage to run on Monday -- not as much as usual, because it was super humid, but it was something!

But let's back up a bit. I have to share a photo from Ruthie's playdate last Friday, at which much fun was had by all:

Bagel and Ruthie ran around the whole time (while Star, Bagel's older sister, mostly ignored their shenanigans) and got on very well together. At one point they even disappeared upstairs somewhere, where I hope they didn't get into too much trouble! She also had a fun time at puppy class on Saturday morning (we were one for two on car sickness), and we had very enjoyable afternoons sitting together on the couch. We've basically given up on keeping her off of it and got a slipcover, on top of which I have "her" blanket on the chaise portion, and it's very comfortable to sit there with her napping next to me. As a result of those naps, I've gotten a fair amount of knitting done on my hat:

She was asleep, otherwise I'd never have risked this!

I haven't measured the length of the hat or weighed my yarn, but I can't tell you it's about 2/3 of a Ruthie!

And significant progress has been made on my Midsommarkrans -- just look at this!

I've completed the lace chart for the v-necks on both the front and the back. There's a small gusset chart under each arm, too, that brings the edging together nicely. I have a feeling that there's going to be a lot more of this tank to share the next time you see it!

I've done a fair amount of reading in the past week while Ruthie has been napping and finished two books.

While the news of Indigenous children dying at residential schools in North America in the 19th and 20th centuries has only relatively recently been widely reported, it is something that their communities have known the whole time. The Knowing: How the Oppression of Indigenous Peoples Continues to Echo Today takes on the subject of the residential schools in Canada and shows how it was part of a larger effort by colonizers to oppress and erase First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people. The author is a journalist with a long history of writing about Canada's Indigenous peoples and is herself Indigenous. Woven throughout her exploration of the residential school system is a memoir of sorts; part of her impetus for writing the book was trying to figure out what had happened to her great-grandmother, who was essentially imprisoned and died in a psychiatric hospital. This is a difficult book to read. It doesn't hold back in detailing the cruelty in ripping children from their families and communities to place them in residential schools where they faced substandard living conditions, frequent spread of illness and disease, and often starvation. And that is to say nothing of the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse often inflicted upon them. While the book focuses on Canada, it's clear that the residential school system in the United States was no different and, in some cases, even influenced its neighbor to the north. Nothing can undo the harm that was done, but I believe in learning about it, we can show our respect for those who have been lost. I gave it 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/Hanover Square Press for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in return for an honest review. This book will be published July 15, 2025.

My other finish this week was a backlist title ahead of one of my library holds. A Separation came out in 2017; I have Katie Kitamura's most recent book on hold, and Mary suggested I explore some of her backlist in the meantime. This one had no wait from the library, so I thought I try it. This is a quiet novel, mostly the thoughts of the unnamed narrator. There is a small amount of dialogue, but notably it's not in quotation marks, so sometimes it's hard to tell what's been spoken and what's only been thought. The plot, such as it is, is minimal: At the outset, the narrator has gotten a call from her mother-in-law, who believes all is not right with her son, who has traveled on his own to Greece, ostensibly to conduct research for a book he is writing. What the narrator knows and her mother-in-law does not, however, is that she and her husband have separated, but he asked her to keep it a secret for the time being. And now she is being sent after him to see what has happened to him and is finding herself split between the almost ex-wife she knows she is and the wife everyone else believes her to be and trying to navigate that split identity as she searches for her husband, who has gone missing. I could certainly see the author's writing ability, but some of my enjoyment of the book was diminished because I couldn't turn my editor brain off (the comma splices, oy vey!). It's at least relatively short, so not a long read, but still it's one I'd recommend to very few people (Vera, this one is not for you!). I gave it 3 stars.

What are you making and reading this week? Be sure to visit Kat and the other Unravelers to see what they're up to!

Less in 2025: June

Is anyone else in absolute shock that today is the last day of June? Despite the longer days, this month always seem to pass much faster than I'd like, but this year it seemed especially quick, I suppose because I lost some days due to illness (mine and Ruthie's).

So how has Less made itself apparent in my life this month? Several ways.

To start with, there's certainly Less in my wallet after trips to the vet, urgent care, the pharmacy, and the vet twice more (to pick up meds). I'm sure in the long run, my health care is a lot more expensive, but the bills were certainly bigger for Ruthie this month!

There is also these days Less of me. Those of you who have been reading for a long time might remember that several years ago, when my cholesterol was starting to get a little high, I made some major changes to lose weight and get it down, and I've been maintaining my weight ever since. But this month, in spite of more than a few days of not exercising at all (first because I was ill, then because of the extreme heat), I've lost more weight. I know part of it is due to anxiety about the aforementioned illnesses; when I'm really worried about something, I lose my appetite. But I think another part of it has been because it's rare these days to find me sitting down, especially at a mealtime. Keeping an eye on a puppy who is always getting into mischief can be a full-time job, and it can be even more challenging at breakfast and lunch when I'm the only one here with her. It is ironic that I'm losing weight without trying or wanting to for probably the first time ever in my life! I am keeping an eye on it, just in case it's not my increased level of physical activity and something that merits seeking medical attention, but for now I'm just trying to make sure I'm eating enough.

On a more positive side, this month there's also been Less to-do about puppy bedtime. Hearkening back to when Molly was little and demanded I stay with her until she fell asleep, I had been sitting with Ruthie in the evening after her final walk, letting her curl up and fall asleep in her bed, and then trying to transfer her to her crate and leave before she woke up. Kym told me that I was pretty much nuts to do that (well, she said it using much nicer words) because I was letter Ruthie have all the control. Instead, she advised, say goodnight, put her in her crate, and leave her. And naturally she was right. We have a bedtime routine now -- I sing a little to her (I changed the words of "Goodnight, Ladies" from The Music Man to "Goodnight, Ruthie), put her in her crate and pet her for a minute, then close the door and leave. For the first week and a half or so, she cried and barked for up to an hour. Lately, though, she has been great. I hold her when I start to sing and then put her down in front of her crate, and she goes right in and curls up. If we hear anything from her, it's either a noise she's making in her sleep or there's something outside she's barking out, and it's usually very brief. I'm hoping one day we'll get to the point where she puts herself to bed, but I have a feeling we've got a while until that happens. In the meantime, I'm enjoying our little snuggles and then having my evening back.

Thank you to Kat for hosting our monthly One Little Word link-ups! Be sure to visit her post for today to read her reflection and get links to others'.

TGIF

What a week it has been, friends! The heat has been something else. I know other places have had it worse and I am lucky to have AC to hide out in, but just taking Ruthie out for (brief) walks has been enough to leave me dripping. I made the executive decision to not worry about exercising this week -- too dangerous to do outside, frankly -- and have accepted that I'll be a little stinky all day until I shower before bed. I haven't blown my hair dry in a week, not that I've needed to, and much of my time has been spent in a dark room. We finally got a brief thunderstorm late yesterday afternoon. It didn't do anything for the humidity, but it at least dropped the heat index by about 20 degrees. Today we're only (ha) supposed to reach a high of 88ºF. Still a bit too warm for me, but it's better than mid- to upper 90s.

While I haven't made a ton of progress on my Midsommarkrans, I am happy to report that I have conquered the left/right confusion and have 3/4 panels done and the fourth under way:

After knitting and reknitting so many times, I am finding that I am getting faster at the lace because I'm not checking the stitch key as often. I've just started the neck shaping on this panel and it's moving right along. I hope that by next week, I'll have joined all four panels in the round and gotten started on the body.

By way of a pup-date, I'll let you know that Ruthie is doing much better (although she did wake me up at 4:30 a.m. yesterday -- good thing I had the day off and could nap with her in the afternoon!). She has a playdate with Bagel this morning and puppy class tomorrow morning, and she's had a couple of quick play sessions with the pups on the next street over this week when we've happened to run into them on a walk. She has been enjoying taking naps on these hot days, which isn't much of a departure from her usual routine except that I've been next to her. We've pretty much given up on keeping her off the couch in the family room, so we got a slipcover to protect the upholstery and it's working well. She still occasionally "digs" or chews on it, but, you know, puppy.

I am not going to express any hopes or expectations for the weekend ahead because that hasn't gone at all well the past two weeks. Instead, I'll say I hope it's a good one for you, and I'll leave you with the spectacular rainbow we spotted when we went out for our last walk yesterday evening, right after the showers moved through.

Unraveling, Week 34/2025

Who else out there is melting? It's so darn hot out there this week, and I know how lucky I am to be able to spend most of the day in the air conditioning, but puppies do not understand this and so I've been out in it regularly the past several days. I'm happy to report that Ruthie is doing much better and in fact is loving her new diet of chicken and rice with the occasional addition of pumpkin puree. She's also gotten a probiotic from the vet that's like a giant piece of candy to her, and to encourage her to drink more water in the heat, she's gotten some weak chicken broth (from making the boiled chicken). I may have in fact been a little overzealous in trying to get liquids into her because she's had several accidents in the house and that hadn't happened in a long time. Fortunately she's been nice enough to have them on a towel or blanket or on one of the rubber/synthetic mats by the door, so at least cleanup was easy. When we haven't been taking quick walks outside (though not as quick as I'd like), we're staying insight with the lights dimmed or off to help keep things cool, and she's been napping a lot.

Feels like 100+ outside and she still has to be touching me!

But enough puppy stuff -- this isn't a dog blog, it's a knitting blog! Time to join in with Kat and the Unravelers for another week!

I'm sorry to say this week there has been more unraveling of my Midsommarkrans tank. Yes, once again I mixed up left and right. I was looking at the left-hand side back panel as I was working on it, but of course it was actually the right back panel as worn. Good grief! I think by the time I finish this tank I will have knit it about four times. Also, it might be winter. But all that is to say that I don't have a progress photo because it looks pretty much the same as the last time I shared a photo because all I have done is knit, rip, and reknit the same section.

Fortunately the hat is going much better, as you would expect. I knit on it while Ruthie was napping as I was able, and it's grown. I really like how the neon sections are pooling so that I get thin neon stripes. I think this will make someone very happy.

I have finished only one book this week, but it was a great one.

When we first meet Cora in the late 1980s, she is on her way to the local registrar's office to register her newborn son's name. Her abusive and controlling husband expect her to register the name Gordon, the name all first-born sons in the family carry. But Cora rather likes the name Julian, and her daughter Maia, who is accompanying her on the errand, suggests Bear. From there, the story splits in three, imagining where life goes for this family if the baby had received each of these names. Every seven years, the reader gets another installment of Bear, Julian, and Gordon and gets to ponder that old question: What's in a name? Within each possible life trajectory, there are triumphs and tragedies, achievements and losses. This creative structure allows the author to examine the dual impacts of nature and nurture and how something that seems as simple as choosing a name for a child can have implications far beyond identity. The prose is beautiful and often emotional, especially when dealing with abuse that's hard to read, and you never stop rooting for Cora and her kids. This may very well end up being one of my favorites for the year! I gave it 5 stars.

Sitting inside with a good book and a cool beverage seems like the best way to get through this heat wave! I hope the rest of you who are in it are managing. Remember your sunblock and to stay hydrated!

It's Always Something, Part III

Remember when weekends used to be calm? We've started an extreme heat wave here, and of course that's when Ruthie would have, um, let's say "the runs." I suspect that it's likely due to her parasite treatment based on my internet research, but I will be calling the vet when they open this morning (assuming the night goes okay -- I'm writing this Sunday night to save time). My biggest concern has been dehydration, because it's already a concern with the heat, and lately she's been more interested in playing with her water dish than drinking from it. But I got some good recommendations from an Instagram post, including boiling chicken in water and giving her the broth, and that was a huge help! I'll let you all know how she's doing and what the vet says, but send healing thoughts her way if you're so inclined.

Update from Monday morning: She slept all night and had a solid poop to start the day! Things are at least heading in the right direction!

Before all the drama yesterday, I was able to finish my Kouyou. I still have to find time to weave in ends and block, but it is done! And I have started another project, using a skein of yarn that I hand-wound while Ruthie was napping on Saturday afternoon:

This is a skein that's been in my stash for many years. It came from the Steel City Fiber Collective, an effort that closed up many years ago. This is a sparkly sock yarn with a neon rainbow in it, and I thought it would be perfect for a charity hat cast on during Pride Month. I'm making my own pattern again and will knit until I'm out of yarn. It'll make for good mindless knitting while reading (which I need, because I got a library hold on Saturday).

The weekend wasn't all doom and gloom (and heat) -- Ruthie had a great time at puppy class on Saturday morning! Here's a video of her running around with some of the other pups:

She's getting less timid and clearly enjoys having the space to run!

Here's hoping your weekend was better than mine. Stay cool and hydrated, friends!

A Free Friday

TGIF, friends! I always love having a Friday off from work, and it's even better when you've also been off the day before! I still had to get up early (well, the normal time) yesterday to get to my follow-up appointment (everything is normal and good!), and my day didn't look all that different because of Ruthie, but it was so nice to not be tied to my laptop all day. Also, Ruthie had a playdate with two other puppies in the neighborhood that I couldn't have taken her to had it been a regular workday, and we both very much enjoyed that. Today will be more of the same, I expect.

I promised you an update on my Midsommarkrans top, and today feels like a very appropriate day to do it given that "Midsommar" is the Swedish festival for the summer solstice, which just happens to be today! Here is what it looks like at the moment:

In the midst of my illness, it took me a while to work the joining row for the front, but once I was feeling better, I made excellent progress. On Wednesday evening, I was getting ready to finish up the left back panel when I picked up the piece and took a good look at it -- only to realize I had done it completely wrong. Lest you think it was the illness causing it, I want to share with you the instructions for the back panels. See if you can figure out where I went wrong:

Can you see the problem? If not, does this help?

That old adage about getting what you paid for is completely true when it comes to this free pattern, not to mention that the designer's first language does not appear to be English because I've come across some other weird instructions and a few typos. What this should say, for the left side of the back, is to work it as for the right front. I had worked the left, as written here, and that resulted in the lace panel ending up closer to the armhole than the neck. Riiiiip! I've restarted and knit back most of what I ripped, but at least I know what I'm doing now. I think I have now ripped and reknit this one sweater more than any other project I've ever worked on, but I am now even more determined to get it right!

I expect that by next week I'll have finished my Kouyou, as I only have a handful of rows remaining (they're long rows, of course, and the bind-off has picots so will take some extra time). And I've pulled out some yarn to wind for my next mindless project, which I'll share next week. This weekend we have plans to get together with some friends who are moving out of town next month, and Ruthie and I will go to puppy class tomorrow morning. I hope this time she's a little more adventurous when it comes to playing with other dogs. She and I both wish you a good weekend -- enjoy the longest day of the year today if you're in the Northern Hemisphere!

Please admire my long legs!