Unraveled, Week 5/2026

It's Wednesday -- or rather only Wednesday, as it feels like it's already been a very long week -- and that means it's time to link up with Kat and the Unravelers.

We have six more weeks of winter, regardless of what Phil or any other groundhog says, but we did have a little bit of a warm-up yesterday and some of the snow has melted. But it's going to get cold again, and there's more snow in the forecast for later this week, so I haven't stopped knitting socks. I'm through the gusset of the first one and am now cruising down the foot.

It might be a little overambitious to try to get the pair done by the end of the weekend, but stranger things have happened!

It's been a slower week of reading for me -- only two books finished. But they were both good reads.

Jews in the Garden: A Holocaust Survivor, the Fate of His Family, and the Secret History of Poland in World War II by Judy Rakowsky

I can't remember exactly where I heard about this book, but it sounded interesting to me given my Polish Jewish ancestry. Though it was published in 2023, my library only recently got it; I was the second one to read the digital copy. The author, a longtime journalist who covered organized crime and other investigative topics, was intrigued by the story told by her father's cousin of family members who had been hiding in Poland only to be discovered and killed by fellow Poles as the Red Army was advancing. The story claimed that while those who were killed were buried in the garden of the house where they were hiding, one of the daughters escaped and was still alive. The author joined her cousin on a number of trips back to his hometown in Poland in search of news of this missing cousin, but no one seemed willing to talk about it, and over the course of several decades, the political climate in Poland contributed to the difficulty of the search by making it against the law to say that Poles contributed to the Holocaust in any way. This was a fascinating (albeit also rather devastating) read and gave me a sense of what might have happened to my grandmother's family had they not left Poland for Canada earlier. It also made me reconsider what I have heard in more recent years about Poles saving Jews; it seems that the right-wing government that took power in 2015 pushed a narrative of Polish victimhood and quashed any mention of collaboration. This wasn't an easy read, but it was well written and extremely informative. I gave it 4 stars.

I've now officially finished reading all eight published volumes of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion and now need to wait for the next one to come out! I can't say enough good things about this series. They're funny, they're touching, and they're highly entertaining and well written. The audiobooks have been a delight, but I decided to treat myself to hard copies so that I can read with my eyes when it comes time for my first reread. I have been recommending these books to everyone, and if you haven't read them yet but need some joy and laughter, please check them out. I've given the whole series 5 stars!

Speaking of series, I'm still finishing up On the Calculation of Volume III (I'll only have to wait until April for number IV), and I'm slowly making my way through Anna Karenina.

What are you making and reading this week?

Winter Weekending

How is it already Monday again! Ruthie still doesn't understand the concept of sleeping in, so to a certain extent, weekends don't feel like much of a break for me. At least there was not a lot to do this weekend -- and the sun actually came out! It really tells you how cold it's been that when we went out for a walk after lunch yesterday and it was 17ºF but sunny, it felt downright balmy! It's the longest walk Ruthie has taken since the storm, too. Perhaps she wanted everyone to see her new coat:

I spent Friday evening grafting the ends of my cowl together, blocked it on Saturday, and wore it yesterday:

I didn't use a pattern for this, but I've knit enough that I didn't need one. I started with a provisional cast-on of 110 stitches, joined my working yarn, and knit until I had just a little left (I could have managed another round or two, but I got to a stripe that was close in color to where I started and decided to end there). I put the provisional stitches back on a needle and rotated one end of the tube 180º so I'd have that little bend in the tube to make it sit nicely around my neck. I grafted the ends together and that was that. I ended up using exactly 100 g, leaving just a small amount of yarn leftover. Easy peasy and very cozy.

The rest of my knitting time over the weekend was spent on a new pair of socks that I'm attempting to finish by the end of the Pigskin Party (which wraps up with the Super Bowl, so next weekend). I'm using the second skein of Woolens and Nosh self-striping that came home with me from SSK last summer. The colorway is called Loud Plaid Shorts, which I think is just perfect for these awesome bright colors.

These colors are the perfect antidote to the gray and white (and brown) that is all of the outside right now. We actually got a little more snow yesterday morning, not that we needed any, and with no high temperatures above freezing in the extended forecast, it looks like what we have is going to be sticking around a while. At least we got mail delivery on Saturday, for the first time in a week!

There's not to much exciting ahead this week, just the usual Monday-Friday work and school stuff. At least it will no longer be dangerous to be outside and the roads have cleared enough that we can actually drive places. I think it'll be a while yet before I can run outside (some people never cleared their sidewalks, so they've now turned to ice), but at least Ruthie and I can probably take some regular walks. I'm sure she's looking forward to smelling some new things as much as I'm looking forward to stretching my legs!