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Thursday, April 23, 2020

In Which My Mojo Returns -- Mostly

Thursday already? The weeks are starting to go a little faster now, which I suppose is a good thing. Work seems to be getting into a more regular rhythm, and I am filling in the less-busy times with crafting and reading. (In addition to not having to worry about putting on my makeup or doing my hair every day, I'm finding a really nice perk of working from home is that I can fit more crafting in, especially during meetings, where now I mainly just have to listen in and no one can see what I'm doing with my hands.)

My spinning mojo has been high this whole time, and I'm seeing it as a good way to work my way through a lot of stash. This week I'm spinning up those gorgeous purple batts that have been in the stash for nearly three years. I'm now on the third and final bobbin of singles.


Crochet, of course, has also been a fairly constant companion. As part of the 100 Day Project, I've been working on Rainbow's blanket for at least 15 minutes every day. It's actually been a fairly good project for my biweekly team meetings, which tend to run about 15-20 minutes. Yesterday I joined in the second ball of Felici, so progress is being steadily made.


The best news is that knitting mojo seems to be back! I've worked on my shawl the past couple of days (but I'll spare you a photo because it doesn't look much different from the last time you saw it), and I also pulled out Rainbow's socks, which I'd kind of forgotten about.


The green stripe I'm about to start should be the last one I have to do before I'm ready to start the heel, so I feel like this pair is in the home stretch. I can work on these while I'm reading or in a meeting because (with the exception of the heel) there is no patterning or counting to pay attention to. Though I was thinking of laying off the sock knitting for a while because my drawers are overfull at the moment, it occurred to me that I can knit socks for holiday gifts now and just put them away for the time being, giving me a very good excuse to have a sock on the go all the time.

Perhaps what I am most excited about right now is that I've been able to focus on my reading again -- and I suspect what did the trick is the amazing book I finished earlier this week.

I know quite of few of you have already read The Ten Thousand Doors of January, so I probably don't need to tell you that it's amazing. This book had me hooked from the first few pages. I found it to be so beautifully written, and for me it's always a real treat when a book not only tells a good story but also gives you ample reason to admire the craftsmanship of it. There's an element of magic to the story, so if that's not your thing, you might not enjoy this book, but I adored it. It reminded me a lot of Erin Morgenstern's books, both in terms of themes in the story and the way the story is put together. I'm fairly certain that I noted in my Goodreads review that this was one of those books that I simultaneously wanted to race through and also never end. 5 stars from me!


In a case of "it never rains but it pours," all my library holds seem to be coming up at the same time. Fortunately Libby, the app I use, has a feature where you can delay delivery of your hold for up to 30 days, so I've now done that with three books. Yesterday I finally started one of them, A Trick of the Light, and I've gotten a couple of chapters read. I'm anxious to get through it because Apeirogon and Blue Lightening are coming soon!

As we head into another weekend, I wish you all the reading and crafting mojo you can use right now!

8 comments:

  1. Your purple spinning looks heavenly and I'm glad your knitting mojo has returned with a gift plan. It is good to think about coming out of this with something creative and positive to show for all the weeks spent at home. I just started Ten Thousand Doors this week, and while I'm not racing through it, it is proving to be great escape pandemic reading.

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  2. Libby sounds like a Godsend! I need her :) I love how you've worked your 100 Day Project into your days, and that you've taken the opportunity to fill your 'found' time with such GOOD stuff. I've always told my husband he should take up handwork--between his work travel and conference calls, he could turn out all kinds of good stuff! He has yet to take me up on it, though :)

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  3. Yay for the return of your mojo! Those socks are adorable - you all are making me want to pick up a pair of socks!!

    I also loved January and agree that it reminded me a lot of The Starless Sea - but I thought January was SO MUCH BETTER!

    Enjoy this Armand Gamache. I love the series so much! My favorite is The Beautiful Mystery, which is number eight -- next for you!!

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  4. Your spinning is lovely and that sock yarn almost makes me want to knit socks - ha ha! Happy that your knitting mojo has returned,

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  5. I am still cranking on the birthday socks and think I will finish this weekend (maybe I can report that Sunday if we're in attendance). Love Rainbow's blanket!

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  6. I love all the making! (and, I too enjoyed 10 thousand doors... I could not stop thinking, what if...and wishing it could just be a tiny bit true! I'd like to find a door about now!)

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  7. Hooray for all the making! The purple spinning is gorgeous. Isn't it grand when you find a book that you don't want to end? Nice to see you today on Zoom!

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  8. I LOVE that you loved Ten Thousand Doors ... like Kat says, I wish it weren't magic!

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