Fire and Rain

It certainly felt like a summer weekend here! The heat started building on Friday, leading up to an honest-to-goodness thunderstorm Saturday afternoon (incidentally, while Molly was out driving, giving her some "bad driving conditions" hours). We really needed the rain, after more than a week without any, and it was kind of fun to watch it come it from the comfort of the couch -- it conveniently came through between Ruthie's midday walk and her late-afternoon walk. It cleared up and even cooled off a bit in the evening, but we had some more rain overnight and there's plenty more in the forecast for the week ahead, along with humidity. I expect it will be a sweaty week!

Part of my weekend was spent finishing up and blocking my two most recent projects, presented for you here still wet:

That drawstring will need to be threaded through the waistband once dry, and I also might need to do a little duplicate stitching on the bum of the pants because I had some loosey-goosey stitches result from some of my short rows. The hat will be tried on once dry; I'm still not sure if it'll look fun or silly.

The week ahead is shaping up to be a little busier than last. Ruthie has her annual visit at the vet scheduled for Wednesday morning. She is due to get a vaccination, but they always make a fuss over her and give her cookies and peanut butter, so I don't think she'll mind much. On Thursday, I'm planning to attend a reception with the university's chancellor honoring employees for long service; officially I'm being recognized for 20 years of service, but because my employer moves so slowly on things like this, I'll actually be closer to 21 years than 20 by the time this happens. It'll be interesting to see what happens at this event. It's in the middle of the afternoon, so maybe we'll get some light refreshments. Frankly I'm more interested in the recognition gift I selected: After getting what was essentially an ashtray for five years (rather than the mug it used to be and that I was hoping for) and a set of bookends for 10, I picked out a pair of binoculars -- because I'm now a middle-aged lady and of course I've taken up casual birding. There's rain in the forecast almost every day starting Tuesday, and I'm hoping when it comes it works with my schedule to get my runs and walks in. Last week, for the first time ever, I managed three 10Ks in a single week, but I think that's a feat I'm unlikely to repeat now that summertime heat and humidity have descended on us. Still, I'm pretty proud of that accomplishment!

I'm working on some small projects now while I figure out what bigger thing to cast on next, but at the very least I should have some better photos of the above projects to share on Wednesday along with the usual reading update. I hope you're also seeing sun and needed rain in your neck of the woods -- don't forget to stay well hydrated and wear your sunblock! Have a good start to your week, all!

Summer Incoming

TGIF! It's been a long week, even though it's been pretty calm having Molly at home with me. Partly it's that we're getting more daylight as we approach the summer solstice, but Ruthie's also been stretching out our walks by plopping down on lawns and refusing to move, which contributes the feeling that the stuff I have to do every day is taking more time.

It has been nice to have Molly around, though she's mainly been holed up in her room (she's decided that she's just relaxing this first week of summer break; I think she's earned it). We did pick up some dinner and take it over to my mother's the other evening when both my father and the Mister were out, so that was fun, and she even helped me make dinner on Wednesday. I expect that she'll be working during the week soon, which I'm hoping will encourage her to get up at a more reasonable hour every day.

After having several days of my absolute favorite weather ever -- sunny, low to mid-70s, low humidity -- the heat and the mugginess are coming back. Yesterday the humidity was still low, but we reached the mid-80s. I am not looking forward to it! At least the house is very comfortable, and there's plenty of cool drinks and shade inside.

I'm wrapping up the week with two projects nearly done: The baby pants are complete save one end to be woven in and an I-cord drawstring to make, and I'm almost done with a simple charity hat (that might be ripped back if I don't like how the decreases and finishing look).

I wouldn't say that I'm feeling bored with my knitting, but I'm also not feeling very excited about anything that might come next right now, so perhaps I'll have to spend some time this weekend digging in the stash to see if anything excites me. Or maybe I'll do a little crochet to change things up. And at some point I'd like to get back to spinning; I haven't spun anything in months!

We're planning another quiet weekend, with no plans other than a family dinner at my parents' on Sunday. I suggested to Molly that we bake something to take for dessert. Maybe we'll take a walk to the local farmers' market? Maybe we'll go out for dinner? Who knows! I like having a weekend without a bunch of  plans so that I can see where the days take me. I know I'll be having snuggle time with Ruthie in the afternoons, and that means time for reading and knitting; if I get those in every day, I'm a happy girl.

I hope you have time for your favorite things this weekend, and I hope if you're getting the heat, too, you can find a cool place and a cold drink at the ready.

Unraveled, Week 22/2026

It's Wednesday, so that means it's time to join Kat and the Unravelers! I've got a little knitting update and a pretty good-sized reading update today.

First, the knitting. Houston, we have a leg!

By some stroke of luck, I finished the first leg in exactly the right spot in the stripe pattern so that I didn't have to wind off any yarn when I picked up stitches for the second. I made note of how many rounds I needed to knit after the last decrease and for the ribbing, so the second leg should go even faster.

It's been an interesting week of reading, with some enjoyable audiobooks, a book club book, a long-awaited hold, and some titles on the Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist.

First, Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont, an older book (older than I am, even!), which I read for a book club. Mrs. Palfrey is an older widow who moves into the Claremont, a hotel but also a place where other older people live full time. She encounters some interesting personalities in the other residents, all but one of them women, and tries to figure out what to do with her time. One day she falls when out on her own and makes the acquaintance of a young man, a struggling writer named Ludo, who soon becomes a friend. This is a quiet novel, at times funny and at others sad, whose main focus is primarily the reckoning we all do with our own mortality at one point or another. I enjoyed it, but it didn't leave a very strong impression on me. I gave it 3 stars.

Next were two audiobooks, both novels by J. Ryan Stradal. I know many of you have already read and enjoyed his books, and I've been meaning to read them for a while. I was lucky to find copies available without a wait and listened to them back to back. Kitchens of the Great Midwest reads a bit like a series of interconnected short stories. There are characters who tie them all together, and Eva is at the center of them, starting when she is a baby and following her as she grows up into adulthood. Food is also at the center, as this is a book about food and cooking and the flavors and meals that are at the heart of our memories and formative moments. The audio was read by two actors (Michael Stuhlbarg and Amy Ryan), something I love because they really know how to perform a book instead of just reading the words.

The Lager Queen of Minnesota has the same comfortable Midwestern feel to it but leans more heavily on brewing than cooking. Women are the main characters here, two sisters who are long estranged and the granddaughter of one of them. There's a lot about brewing beer, which isn't exactly of interest to me because I don't drink it, but it's clear there was a lot of research done to write about it based upon the level of detail. What I enjoyed most was the stories of women persevering in spite of the odds against them, and the reader (also an actor!) did a marvelous job of creating distinct voices for each character, down to the accents.

I really enjoyed my time with both books and gave them both 4 stars.

The Wilderness was one of those books I was seeing everywhere for a while; it was nominated for the National Book Award last year and had a long hold list at my library, so I was waiting for it for quite a while. Based upon the first chapter, I thought I was going to love it ... and then I didn't. This is a book about a group of female friends over a period of time, but the story isn't told linearly, and that's what gave me so much trouble. I thought the writing was outstanding, but because the story jumped forward and backward in time in addition to jumping between characters, I had a really hard time keeping them and their stories straight. (I also found a couple of copyediting mistakes that should have been caught before publication, but I accept that that's not something most readers would even notice.) If I'd edited this book, I would have suggested a chronological timeline; I'm sure the author didn't do it this way on purpose, but why wasn't clear to me, and ultimately that's what made the book not work very well for me. I gave it 3.5 stars, rounded up.

The last two titles I read this week were the two on the Women's Prize shortlist I had not yet read:

The Mercy Step is set in the UK, starting in the early 1960s. Mercy is born to an immigrant Jamaican family with two older sisters already and two children left behind; there will be another sister and a brother who will later follow her. Though the family has a home, they are clearly struggling to improve their lives between the number of children in the household and the father's abusive behavior. Mercy is unlike any of her siblings, as she seems unnaturally intelligent and mature from the get go, though it's clear there are many things about the world she doesn't understand. Most of all, she wants someone to care for her and take care of her; most of the time she feels it's her job to take care of her mother. There are some hard things in this book (domestic abuse, sexual abuse, racism, etc.), but Mercy provides an interesting perspective. The audio is read by the author, and I appreciated hearing the Jamaican accent when the parents spoke. I gave it 3 stars.

I started Kingfisher just before bed and didn't think I'd care for it based on the little I read before I put it down for the night, so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it as I read more. The narrator of the book (whose name we never learn) is in a long-term relationship with a man when he meets and becomes obsessed with an older poet who is teaching at the university where he works. Meanwhile, his mother, who is homophobic and has always treated him badly, is dying. His life becomes further and further enmeshed with the poet's when she has a recurrence of the cancer she beat years ago, and his emotions get more and more complicated as he reflects on the loss of both his parents. It's a hard book to describe, but what I liked about it was how it depicted the love of friends, of found family, and how they can be there for you at your very worst. This is a debut novel, and I don't think it should win the prize, but I was impressed by it. I gave it 3.5 stars, rounded up.

What are you making and reading this week?

Welcome, June

If there was a complete opposite to last weekend's rain and cooler-than-normal temperatures, this weekend was it: warm sun, blue skies, low humidity, and a light breeze. I enjoyed all of my walks and soaked up as much vitamin D as I could.

My day off on Friday was mostly enjoyable (the only thing I didn't like about it was a bit of acid reflux that interfered with my run in the morning). Our girls' shopping trip was fun and successful. Molly's friend insisted that we go into Ross, where I'd never shopped before, and I found a really cute Tommy Hilfiger sleeveless dress that fit me like a glove and cost me $19.99 -- and I wore it to dinner that night! 

The terrible mirror selfie I texted to Molly for her opinion

I picked up a few other little things (a couple of toys for Ruthie that she'll tear apart in half an hour, a few sewing supplies for a little project I had planned), and the girls tried on a bunch of clothes and bought a few items. And then the three of us had a nice dinner out. Saturday was nice and quiet. Molly worked, I walked and then read and knit while Ruthie napped, and then we had a simple dinner at home. After dinner, Molly drove us to a nearby ice cream place. That was my first time in the car with her driving and also the first time sitting in the back seat of my own car, I think! Yesterday was another low-key day for me, though I baked some cookies in the afternoon and then we had my in-laws over for dinner.

Today I think will finally feel like summer to Molly, and I'm looking forward to not having to rush to pick her up at 3 o'clock. I'm sure there'll be work waiting for me when I log in to my email, but somehow having one less thing to do every day makes me feel more relaxed. And I'm having fun working on baby pants, which may very well get finished this week:

I've finished the entire body/bum section, including grafting the crotch, and am cruising down the first leg. I'm already thinking of how to improve upon this first pair and need to find some more babies to knit for because I can see how knitting one pair of these quickly leads to knitting more.

Other than the usual work schedule, there's nothing planned for this week. The Mister has work dinners three evenings this week, so there will be a lot of girls' nights, and the weather forecast is beautiful all week, so I'll be spending lots of time outside and enjoying it. Did you know that June 1 is the first day of meteorological summer? Feels to me like a good way to start the week!

The End of Another Year

Yes, it's not even the last day of May, but today is the end of Molly's sophomore year of high school. She'll be in school for all of about two hours this morning for closing exercises, and then I'll be picking her and her friend up so they can hang out for the rest of the day. I'm taking the day off from work anyway, so after lunch and Ruthie's midday walk, we are headed to a local shopping center. The girls will be the ones doing the shopping, for the most part, and I'll just be the chauffeur, but I certainly don't mind spending a nice late spring afternoon out of the house.

I haven't done all that much crafting this week, but I did cast on a new project:

It doesn't look like much (mostly because I had to rip out and restart), but this is the beginning of a pair of baby pants for the friends expecting a baby later this year. It's a clever design that has a hemmed waistband with holes for a drawstring. Gauge is given for the main fabric, but the pattern calls for a US 1/2.25 mm needle to be used for the waistband, so that's what a started with. I'd knit a couple of inches before I realized that it was going to be way too small, so I ripped it out and started again with a US 2/2.75 mm needle. Now it's approximately one Ruthie wide and much closer to the finished measurement it should be. I'm using Fibernymph Dye Works yarn, the last skein left unknit from the Lepidoptera Club from a couple of years back -- the colorway is Swallowtails. I've been saving it for something special, and I think this is a worthy use.

We've got a fairly calm weekend ahead, and for once the weather is going to be perfect (sunny and in the mid- to upper 70s). Tonight we're going out for a nice dinner to celebrate a successful end to the school year. Tomorrow I expect Molly will be working, as Sunday she has to be back at school for graduation to perform with the glee club. I'm hoping to get a little extra sleep, take a couple of good long walks by myself, and figure out what larger project I want to start next.

I hope that after last weekend's washout in so many parts of the country, you are getting some sunshine, too, and you can find time to slow down and enjoy this last weekend in May!

Unraveled, Week 21/2026

It's already Wednesday -- another good thing about a short week after a long weekend! Time to join up with Kat and the Unravelers.

As promised, I have a big reveal today. Tada!

Pattern: Speculoos Sweater (Ravelry link) by Elenor Mortensen, size M (approx. 41 in./104 cm bust), giving me approximately 5 in. of positive ease
Yarn: handspun Rambouillet in Thunderstruck (MC), approximately 1,058 yds. used, and handspun mystery wool (CC) in Pebbles, approximately 211 yds. used, both from Southern Cross Fibre
Needles: US 5/3.75 mm (for colorwork), US 4/3.5 mm (for stockinette), and US 2.5/3.0 mm (for ribbing)
Started/Completed: March 12/May 23
Mods: none

I'd had the four skeins of handspun set aside to be knit into a sweater for a couple of years and had intended them for at least two other patterns before I saw and fell in love with this one. And I cast on almost right away once I'd bought it and wound the yarn.

The sweater is knit top down, starting with the contrast color and some short-row shaping to raise the back neck. The neckline itself is very minimal -- knit a round and purl around. Time will tell if it has enough structure for me.

The only thing about this sweater that I don't completely love is that the mystery wool I used for the contrast did not bloom as much as the Rambouillet I used for the main color, so the colorwork didn't even out as much as I would have liked when I blocked it and the yoke still looks a little textured. It doesn't affect the visibility of the pattern, especially not from far away, but it's just not as finished as I would like.

I followed the pattern exactly as written and didn't have any issues with it, though it was clear to me through some of the phrasing/wording that the designer isn't a native speaker of English. It's not that anything was confusing per se, it's just that instructions were worded a bit differently than how I'd do it. It's obvious that all the measurements and grading were done in metric to begin with because the equivalent imperial measurement are a bit ... odd (like "work to 2.3 inches"). It might trip up a newer sweater knitter; for me, it was just a curiosity.

I also finished my brother's socks over the weekend, though they're nothing really exciting -- except for the fact that I finished both and didn't run out of yarn! I'm fortunate that Lisa's skeins are frequently a smidge over 100 g; this pair took 98 g.

These will need to be blocked and then will be put away either for his birthday (in July) or Chanukah.

Meanwhile, in reading, I finished another five books:

I'm not entirely sure why, but at some point I bought How to Lose Your Mother when it was a Kindle deal, so I thought I might as well read it. I've never read Erica Jong's Fear of Flying or any of her books, but I was certainly aware of it and that it was a bit of a cultural phenomenon. And I'd heard of Molly Jong-Fast as a political commentator, but I didn't know much about her personal life. This memoir chronicles her experience as Erica Jong's daughter and specifically a year in her life in which she had to move both her mother (suffering from dementia) and her stepfather (suffering from Parkinson's and dementia) into assisted living while also dealing with her husband's cancer diagnosis and treatment. Through all this, she reflects on what it was like to grow up with a famous mother, on getting sober in her late teens, and on her complicated relationship with her mother. It was an interesting read, perhaps one I never would have gotten to if I hadn't taken a chance on a bargain. It made me thankful to have a much less complicated relationship with my own mother. I gave it 3 stars.

American Han came up in one of my Sunday Zooms and sounded intriguing, so I put it on hold. It's told from the point of view of a 20-something Korean American woman reflecting on her difficult childhood with an older brother and immigrant parents. The blurb calls it "deeply serious and absurdly funny"; I found it to be just plain sad because no one in this family seems to be happy with their lives and they're all horrible to each other. I did finish it, so I can't say I hated it, but I didn't much care for it. I gave it 2 stars.

A much more enjoyable listen was History of the Rain. Ruthie is a college student who has fallen ill with a mysterious disorder that confines her to her bed, so she passes her days by writing the story of her family, especially her father, who gave her his vast library of books. Interspersed are anecdotes about her childhood and the charming characters in her Irish town. It's at points funny, heartbreaking, and poignant. I think I might have enjoyed it even more were it not for some of the odd choices of the narrator, such as pausing at unusual moments and pronouncing words oddly; I also had trouble following the plot at times because I was listening. But, overall, it was delightful. 4 stars.

Time Shelter won the 2023 Booker International Prize, and the premise sounded intriguing: The narrator (who may or may not be the author) came across a man named Gaustine was had come up with a unique idea for a clinic for those suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia: It would be set up in such a way that it would exactly resemble a time period from the past, one in which the patients believed they were living, so that they would cease being confused and instead be happy that the world outside matched the one in their head. This concept becomes hugely successful, but then nations start holding referendums on returning to a different time as well and things get strange. I really enjoyed the first third or so of this book, but then it started becoming somewhat of a slog. If you enjoy books that are a little weird, that make you think about time, and that make you question what's real in the world of the book, you might enjoy this. I gave it 3 stars.

Finally, a novella that I read in two relatively brief sittings on Monday: The narrator in The English Understand Wool is a 17-year-old raised by her French mother to avoid being in bad taste at all costs. She is given the best of everything, traveling with her mother to Scotland to obtain tweed fabric and then to London to have it made into suits by a tailor there, but if she wanted something in linen, that would need to be obtained in Ireland and be sewn by a Thai seamstress in Paris. One day her entire life is turned upside-down when she learns that everything she thought she knew about her family was a lie, and what follows is how she proceeds with her life with the training she's been given. It's a weird little story, very well written and very odd. I gave it 3 stars.

What are you making and reading this week?

Long Weekending

It's Monday, but it's also kind of a second Sunday because it's a federal holiday and we're all home. Today we're hoping the weather finally cooperates, because the last two days have been largely overcast and wet. The rain is good for the grass seed we've had planted and the plants I just put in my raised beds last week, but it makes for some pretty miserable walks (I have a really good raincoat, but what makes it good at keeping me dry also makes it really hot, so I either have to be dry and sweaty or cooler and wet).

In spite of the weather, we had a relaxing couple of days. Molly didn't work at all this weekend, so she was able to get in a couple of hours of driving practice. We also went out for a couple of nice dinners, and Ruthie and I got some good afternoon snuggles in (she napped while I read and knit). Yesterday I made some rather involved but delicious and enormous cookies:

Today I plan to go for my usual run, Molly and the Mister will probably go out driving again, and we're all headed to a big cookout with my parents, my in-laws, and my brother and his family for dinner. Then Tuesday it'll be back to the usual schedule, but at least it'll be a short week. It's Molly's last week of school, and Friday she's really only there for a couple of hours. I'm taking that day off, and in the afternoon, she and her friend and I are going to go do a little retail therapy to celebrate the end of school.

I will have a big update on Wednesday, but here's a little preview!

Not Quite Summer Yet

We had a taste of summer to start the week, but for Memorial Day weekend, traditionally the start of summer, it's gotten cooler again and an awful lot of rain is in the forecast. We don't have any cookouts planned, so it's all the same to me, but I feel bad for all the people who are opening the pools and the local amusement parks this weekend -- I don't think they're going to get much business!

My holiday weekend will start at 2 this afternoon, when my office closes early. I'll be curled up with a napping puppy at that point, most likely, so that just means closing my laptop. And there's not much planned for the weekend, other than going to a dinner with the extended family on Monday. Molly will likely work over the weekend, we've got to do a Target run to stock up on some stuff, and we'll try to get her some driving practice. Because of the expected rain, I'm hoping to plant some flower seeds in the front (I'm going to be tossing a bunch of stuff in the ground and seeing what comes up), but mostly I'm planning to use the weekend to rest, read, and knit.

Speaking of knitting, here's where things stand with my WIPs (at least as of last night):

All that's left on the sweater is the cuff on the second sleeve, and the heel has been turned on the second sock of the pair. These aren't going to be WIPs for much longer!

I may also spend some time this weekend digging in the stash and browsing patterns because yesterday I found out that a friend who has been dealing with fertility issues for several years is expecting a baby this fall -- knit all the baby things! She and her husband are currently living in Sweden because of his job, so that baby will need some warm woolies, and I'm happy to supply some of them.

I hope you all have a wonderful, restful long weekend!

Unraveled, Week 20/2026

Happy Wednesday, friends! As per usual, I'm joining up with Kat and the Unravelers to talk about what I've been making and reading in the past week.

It's been an interesting start to the week. The Mister left early on Monday (like shortly after 6 a.m.) to head to Indianapolis via Chicago. His first flight got off fine, but then there was a ground stop in Chicago (due to bad weather), then the plane needed to be inspected, and then they needed to bring in a new plane. The connecting flight didn't take off until something like 9:30 p.m. Central. Oy. He said even though he spent most of the day in an airport, it was still preferable to flying because at least he could be productive. I would have been miserable. Back at home, we had summer-like weather (humid and near 90ºF), on top of which the filming going on in our neighborhood meant that when Ruthie and I were coming back from our first walk, we had to wait for them to call cut on a shot before we could even walk to our street and I had to get really creative with my route on my run. On the plus side, the very first time I walked by the area, I spotted Jeremy Renner:

Not the greatest shot, but the best I could do at a distance

Molly, Ruthie, and I have been enjoying having a girls-only house. It means I have to do a little more around the house, like cleaning up the dinner dishes and taking out the garbage, but it's certainly a loss less work than it used to be now that Molly is pretty self-sufficient. That's allowed me to get in some time on my sweater, too, and I am closing in on the end of the second sleeve:

I finished the last of the decreases Monday night, so now I just have to knit straight until I reach a particular length and can do the cuff. Assuming my counting of rounds was correct (which it very well may not be, because my eyesight isn't what it used to be and dark yarn makes it hard to count in any case), I think I have about 50 rounds or so remaining. I'm fairly confident that I'll finish this week. I'm less confident that I have enough yarn, but I'm feeling a little better on that front.

It's been another stellar week of reading, as least as far as numbers are concerned. I finished six books this past week, though again I'll add the caveat that they were all relatively short.

The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman (digital)

4 stars

I had a pretty long wait for this book at the library, and I can understand why: The books in this series are just plain fun. What's not to enjoy about a group of retirees in their 70s solving murders that the police haven't managed to solve? This one involves a former KGB agent, a man known as the Viking who specializes in laundering money using crypto currency, and a police chief who dabbles in writing crime fiction. Easy to read, funny, heartwarming, and generally a good romp.

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout (audio)

4 stars

Somehow I was able to catch when my library added Strout's newest release and borrow it without having to put it on hold. Though this book has no Lucy Barton, no Olive Kitteridge, and no Maine in it, it still has everything that so many people love about her books -- the stories of real people, with all their faults. It focuses on high school history teacher Artie Dam, who learns a shocking secret and starts to reevaluate everything, but who also holds space for his friends and students.

Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden (digital)

4 stars

In the middle of pandemic lockdown, Burden's husband of two decades announced that he'd been having an affair and he was leaving her. In their following interactions, she felt that this man was so unlike the man she'd fallen in love and had three children with that she began to doubt everything. This memoir was her way of processing this sudden change and her efforts to build a new life in the wake of her divorce. Burden is up front about her great privilege (read: she had a lot of money) that enabled her to maintain her life as a stay-at-home mom, but she also draws a lot of attention to how often men get a pass and women are blamed when this type of split happens.

On the Calculation of Volume IV by Solvej Balle, translated by Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell (on paper)

4 stars

When I started this series, I did not know how someone could make the story of a woman stuck in the same day last for seven volumes, and I continue to be impressed. In this volume, Tara has found a fairly large group of others who are stuck in November 18, and they've formed a community in an abandoned house they've found in Germany where they all live together, regularly having meetings where they discuss their situation from every point of view. As in previous volumes, this one ends with a bit of a cliffhanger -- and now I have to wait for the next one!

No Cure for Being Human (And Other Truths I Need to Hear) by Kate Bowler (audio)

4 stars

This is another memoir about Kate Bowler's cancer diagnosis and treatment, much like Everything Happens for a Reason, but this one feels more personal and less about her professional interests. I'm not sure I'd have enjoyed it as much if I'd read with my eyes; mainly I just love listening to Kate Bowler be Kate Bowler!

The Measure by Nikki Erlick (audio)

3 stars

The premise is this: On the same day, all around the world, all adults 22 and older receive a box. On it is a plaque telling them that the box contains the measure of their life, and inside is a string whose length corresponds to the length of their life. The book follows a series of individuals, connected in various ways, who make choices about their lives based upon whether or not they choose to look at their strings and what they do if they do look. It's an interesting concept, but I thought the book was a little longer than it needed to be and wrapped up a little too neatly.

Currently reading: How to Lose Your Mother (digital), Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont (on paper), and American Han (audio)

A Monday, without a Case of the Mondays

Good morning, my friends! Even though it's my least-favorite day of the week, I am feeling rested and less anxious than usual this Monday. Part of it is that I had a bonus day off (though, in all honesty, it still felt like a typical Friday except for not being on the computer all day). Part of it is that I was able to sleep in a bit and wake up naturally both Saturday and Sunday. And part of it is that Molly is done with exams and stress for this school year and is more or less recovered from her sinus issues, so I can look forward to a happier girl around the house for the foreseeable future.

We did make it to the movie on Friday afternoon (I believe that there were fewer than 10 people in the theater altogether!), and I took my sock in progress with me. At one point I was concerned that I was getting close to the measurement for the foot before starting the toe, so I put it away until I could measure it. Wouldn't you know that I had knit to exactly the right length? Seems like there was some good luck or magic or karma at work because not only had I not knit too far, but when I finished the first sock later that night and measured the remaining yarn, I had more than 50 g remaining, so I shouldn't need to worry about playing yarn chicken with the second sock.

We had a quiet Saturday, with some strange weather (dark clouds threatened much of the day, but it only rained lightly a few times). Molly had a get-together with some friends that evening, so the Mister and I went out to dinner -- and lest you think we had a lovely, romantic evening, I'll tell you that when we came home, we collectively folded three loads of laundry. Middle age is very exciting! We spent some of our dinner reflecting on the fact that this was the second Saturday in a row that we'd been able to go out as just a couple and that in about two more years, we'll be doing it all the time. Seems like just yesterday that we were talking about how we couldn't wait to be out of the diapers phase, the tantrum phase, etc.

Yesterday we had what felt like the start of summer. Even though it was about 40ºF on Friday morning when I took Ruthie out first thing, yesterday it warmed into the mid-80s and we had to switch off the heat and turn on the air conditioning. Today and tomorrow we're supposed to break 90! I'm fully convinced that we're not going to get a real spring this year and that it'll either be colder or much hotter than average. I picked up the plants I ordered (two types of tomatoes, bell pepper, basil, and rosemary) yesterday, and I'm hoping that at least we've seen the last of the frost and I can safely plant them.

The Mister is headed out of town on a work trip for a few days, so it'll be just us girls at home. Now that Molly is done with classes (they do mini courses for the last two weeks of the year), she won't have homework or studying to do, so I'm hoping she'll help me with dinner and spend time with me in the evening. We still have to finish watching the most recent season of Only Murders in the Building, which came out last fall, because she soon got so busy at school that she needed her evenings to do homework. I'm expecting work to pick up a bit this week, though I assume we will have an early dismissal on Friday ahead of the holiday weekend (how is it already almost Memorial Day?!). Though we're past the worst of this school year, there's still a lot on the schedule before the start of summer, so I'm just taking it one day at a time.

I hope your Monday isn't as bad as it could be and the week goes quickly. I'll be back on Wednesday with a sweater update!

Happy Weekend

I do love a Friday off! Molly is officially done with exams, so she is no longer stressed out, but she's also come down with what we believe is a sinus infection (thanks to the aforementioned stress + allergies + lack of sleep). If it's not one thing, it's another! She is, understandably, sleeping in late today, and provided she feels up to it, we're going to the movies to see The Devil Wears Prada 2 with my mother later this afternoon. In the meantime, though I've taken the day off from work, I'll be up to my usual non-work activities today: a run, cleaning the bathroom, doing some laundry. And of course there will be some knitting. If we do go to the movie, I'll be taking my brother's socks with me.

Colors aren't accurate thanks to bad lighting

As of Thursday afternoon, I was about an inch and a half past the completion of the gusset decreases. My brother's feet are 10.75 inches long, so there's still quite a bit of foot to go! It'll be good movie knitting or, if we stay home, good reading-while-Ruthie-naps knitting.

We had cooler weather this week, but we're supposed to get back to the 80s and may even hit 90 on Monday! I'm picking up the plants I ordered from our synagogue's plant sale on Sunday and am hoping it's safe to plant them -- I never would have expected we'd get frost warnings in May! We have no big plans for the weekend, but our neighborhood business district has an art fair happening this weekend (which always seems to bring on the hot weather), so I expect we'll stroll through at some point to see if there's anything interesting. There's also some filming going on in our neighborhood, pretty much across the street from our street, so perhaps we'll spot some actors on our walks.

I hope you're able to relax, get some sunshine, and do something you enjoy this weekend. And to leave you with a little eye candy, I present the first rose of the season to bloom on our last remaining rose bush:

Unraveled, Week 19/2026

We've made it to the midpoint of the week, so it's time to link up with Kat and the Unravelers -- and I've got a pretty big update today!

Though it's still looking a bit disheveled because it's badly in need of blocking, my sweater now has a finished body and a finished sleeve! I have started the second sleeve -- and simultaneously started worrying that I don't have enough yarn. As this is all handspun, what I have is all I'll ever have, so I'm hoping there's more yardage in those two cakes than I think. I know I had more total yardage than called for in the pattern, but I'm also a bit off on row gauge. And of course I always have this moment of panic in just about every project, so I'd worry if I wasn't facing a potential round of yarn chicken. If I do run short, I could shorten the other sleeve to match or undo the body and sacrifice some length, so I do have options. But I'm hoping I won't need them. Please keep your fingers crossed! In the meantime, I'll just try to knit faster; everyone knows that's how you make yarn last longer!

It has been an incredible week of reading for me in terms of sheer numbers, with seven books finished! But that makes it sound more impressive than it is because four of them were relatively short audiobooks, two were ebooks that were only around 200 pages, and the last one was long (500+ pages) but had been started about a month ago, so I only had the last bit to finish. Because of the total number, though, I'm only going to do some very brief reviews here in the interest of time and space. If you want to know more about my thoughts on any particular title, please let me know and I'll be happy to elaborate.

Dominion by Addie E. Citchens (digital)
2 stars

The Winfrey family -- the Rev. Sabre, First Lady Priscilla, and their five sons -- are the elite of Dominion society, but the actions of their youngest son, nicknamed Wonderboy, threaten to undo it all. I struggled to understand some of it and didn't care for it much; even though the narrative is told mostly by two women, it felt like it was all about men behaving badly and hurting the women who love them.

Always Carry Salt: A Memoir of Preserving Language and Culture by Samantha Ellis (audio)
4 stars

This memoir, read by the author, details her efforts to explore and perhaps save the Judeo-Iraqi Arabic spoken by her parents and grandparents and to learn more about what their lives were like in Iraq. I learned a lot about the history of Jews who lived in predominantly Arab countries (so-called Mizrahi Jews).

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande (audio)

4 stars

If you haven't read this book yet, please do. I found it particularly relevant given that my parents and in-laws are aging, but certainly all of us hope to reach old age, and this book provides a lot to think about how we want to live when the end of our life is in sight.

Wreck by Catherine Newman (audio)

4 stars

We return to Rocky and her family several years after Sandwich; her mother has passed away and her father is living with them. The death of a young man in their community that is connected to her son's job and her own health struggles lead Rocky to once again focus on her family. Charming and relatable.

We Are Green and Trembling by Gabriela Cabezon Camara, translated by Robin Myers (digital)

2 stars

This book won the National Book Award for translated literature last year and was on the International Booker Prize longlist this year, so I wanted to like it. The writing was certainly beautiful, but I couldn't fully understand what was going on. At least it was short!

The Hakawati by Rabih Almeddine (paperback)

4 stars

Osama returns home to his father's deathbed in Lebanon and recalls his childhood, including the time he spent with his grandfather, a hakawati (storyteller) to the local village official. Interwoven with his own family's stories are traditional Lebanese and Middle Eastern tales.

Tunnel 29: The True Story of an Extraordinary Escape Beneath the Berlin Wall by Helena Merriman (audio)

4 stars

This work of narrative nonfiction tells the story about a daring escape from East Berlin to West Berlin via a tunnel under the Berlin Wall. It follows the history of the wall's construction, the work of the Stasi in East Germany, and the film crew that captured the escape. Very compelling!

Currently reading: On the Calculation of Volume IV on paper, The Bullet That Missed on Kindle, and The Things We Never Say on audio.

Rested and Drying Out

It was a cool, damp weekend here, with rain much of the day on Saturday and during the morning on Sunday. Thankfully the sun came out Sunday afternoon, so it didn't feel like a total wash-out. Ruthie and I still went out for our walks; she seemed even more interested in sniffing everything now that it was wet, so some of them were even longer than usual. The Mister and I had a good dinner out on Saturday, Molly had fun at her event, and we all ate too much at brunch on Sunday. The socks were a hit, and given that we've got a potential for frost overnight early this week, they might even get worn soon! My request for Mother's Day was not to have to cook dinner and the Mister obliged. And now it's Monday again and time to start the weekly grind over.

One item on my to-do list that I crossed off over the weekend was blocking the two hats I just knit.

The ribbing is obviously making these look very skinny, but they are very stretchy and accommodating. The pattern is the free Two by Two (Ravelry link), which I had knit at least once before. It's a very simple pattern -- 2x2 ribbing for a while, then eight decreases every other round at either side of four markers, then eight decreases every round for the last handful. I actually did one more than called for so that I ended with 8 stitches at the end rather than 16. I used Fibernymph Dye Works DK-weight yarn for both, Mountain House Autumn on Beguiled (superwash Merino/nylon/sparkle) on the left and Gnome Place Like Home on Strong DK (superwash Merino/nylon) on the right. The pattern calls for worsted, but the DK worked out just fine; I went down to a US 5/3.75 mm needle to work with the slightly lighter yarn. I'd originally intended the one on the right to be for my brother, but the stripes might be a bit too wild for him. I wouldn't give it to him until Chanukah in any case, so I have some time to decide. But in the meantime I needed a new mindless afternoon project, so I cast on a pair of socks for him.

This is also Fibernymph Dye Works yarn, a colorway called Winter's Bite, one of Lisa's Middle Earth-themed colorways. This skein was actually a prize from her ongoing make-along, and I thought these darker, moody colors would suit my brother well. This pair will either be for his birthday in July or be put away for Chanukah.

This week Molly has finals, which means she'll be super stressed out but at least after Thursday she'll be done and has only fun stuff for the rest of the school year. And I am taking Friday off so we can have a girls' day. I'm hoping that the shorter week moves quickly!

Thank Goodness

We have made it to Friday! I don't know why, but this has felt like a very long week. The weather's been all over the place, our schedule's been off a bit, and everyone's been stressed out. So I am more than ready for the weekend. Molly is going to a charity gala with a friend on Saturday night, so the Mister and I are going out to dinner, and then Sunday we're going to the annual Mother's Day brunch at my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house. If the weather were going to be nicer, I might spend the day getting the garden somewhat put together, but it's supposed to be cool and rainy, so I'll settle with reading and snuggling the puppy.

Speaking of which:

Ruthie would like me to remind you to put your screens down and relax! Have a good weekend, friends!

Unraveled, Week 18/2026

Wednesday again -- time to link up with Kat and the Unravelers!

Not that much progress has been made on either of my two WIPs, so I'll spare you another photo of a little bit of a sleeve and some ribbing. Instead, I present for your viewing pleasure the four pairs of Mother's Day socks, all washed and blocked:

I don't feel a need to block socks I knit for myself, but I like to do it for socks I'm giving as gifts, not least because it helps to get rid of the magic loop ridges. These will get wrapped up later this week, and who knows, they might even get worn right away because it's supposed to be a slightly chilly weekend!

In addition to a slower week of knitting for me, it's been a slower week of reading as well, though I think that's in large part due to the fact that one of the two books I finished was 700 pages.

I had heard about The Remembered Soldier from several friends who had read it after it was named to the International Booker Prize longlist. It follows the life of a Belgian man who had fought in WWI but had lost his memory and had been living in a psychiatric asylum until a woman shows up and identifies him as her husband, Amand. Though he has no memory of her, he returns home with her and learns about his life as Amand, a photographer and shopkeeper with his wife, Julianne, and two children. Over time, Amand and Julienne have to get to know each other and fall in love all over again, even as Amand struggles with the horrifying dreams of war and his uncertainty of what is real and what is not. Then he starts "disappearing" for longer and longer periods of time, during which he claims to be someone else -- a man married to someone else. What is real? What is dream or imagined? Are these disappearances caused by the trauma of war or glimpses of his real self? And can he not remember Julienne because he has truly lost his memory or because he never had the memories to begin with? This is a long book, and it's written almost entirely in run-on sentences that give it a sense of breathlessness, but it gives the reader a lot to think about and certainly raises some big questions about memory and its reliability. I gave it 4 stars.

Crooks was mentioned on a recent episode of the What Should I Read Next podcast and sounded like something fun and a little lighter, which I was in the mood for. It follows members of the Mercurio family, who come from a long line of criminals and thieves -- crooks, in other words. Each section of the book follows a different member of the family, starting with the father and then moving through his children, all of whom are involved in crime in some way. The exceptions are Alice, the smart one, who has known what her family is all along and has avoided it for most of her life, and Piggy, the baby, who feels like he's missing out. I had a little trouble staying focused on this book at the beginning, but the narrator does a great job of reading with appropriate emotion and made it more entertaining. I'd never heard of this book or this author before, and I can't say I'm eager to read more of his work, but this made me laugh, and that's what I wanted. I gave it 4 stars as well.

I'm currently in the home stretch of The Hakawati, am a little more than a third through Dominion, and just started a really interesting work of nonfiction on audio.

What are you making and reading this week?

May (not March) Weekending

It was a very strange weekend here, at least as far as the weather was concerned -- it felt much more like the first weekend in March rather than the first weekend in May! Saturday was particularly miserable. It was in the low 30s when I got up, didn't get much warmer than 50ºF, rained on and off, and even hailed at one point. Thank goodness my nephew's birthday party was inside! He was very excited by all his gifts (we got him a Spiderman bedding set for his "big boy" bed) and cake (well, cupcakes) was eaten. Ruthie and I curled up to read and knit and nap in the afternoon, and the Mister and I went out for dinner with a group that included family and family friends.

Yesterday started out even colder (33ºF) and may have well been the coldest temperature ever for the Pittsburgh Marathon. We didn't run, but the course comes right through our neighborhood in the middle of the race, so we always see and often cheer on the runners. At least the sun was out and warmed things up to about 60ºF. Still, it didn't feel much like May, especially considering that in years past, I would have been at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this weekend. (Molly still wants to go at some point, but I think we'll have to wait until she's in college because her finals always fall around this time.)

Though it wasn't the best weekend for getting outdoors, I made the most of the time I was inside. I finished up my brother's hat -- I still need to block it, but because it's entirely 2x2 rib, there's no good way to show it to you other than through this awkward selfie:

I immediately cast on another one of these using the other skein of yarn that came in the grab bag, and I expect it'll be done very soon as well. I'll likely block them both at the same time and share photos and all the details when they're done.

Progress was made on my sweater as well -- the body is finished and the first sleeve is started!

Before I picked up for the sleeve, I also wove in all my ends (which wasn't that many, but I thought future me would thank me). I really like how the designer has you finish off the ribbing -- knit one round and then bind off knitwise. It gives a really polished edge:

We've got a fairly typical week ahead, with the one exception being a reception at Molly's school Tuesday evening because she's being inducted into the French National Honor Society. I have no idea if this is a big deal or not because it wasn't a thing when I was in high school, but we're proud of her nonetheless! This week will be all about preparation and studying for finals, which are next week; I don't know whether she'll be more or less stressed than usual, but I'm looking forward to her being done next Thursday. (After finals, her school does mini courses until the end of the year; her last day is May 29.) I'm also hoping that things warm up again -- I'd really like to put my winter coat away for good!

Have a good start to your week -- and May the Fourth be with you!