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Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Unraveled, Week 38/2022

Wednesday again, already? Does anyone else feel like the days are going faster as we get further into the year? It's a good thing I have this day in the middle of every week to pause and link up with Kat and the Unravelers!

Now that my sweater is finished, my main goal for the rest of this month is to finish up this sock:


As I think you can tell from all the twisted stitches and cabling, this is not a quick knit. I got through the first one as fast as I did mainly because I was stuck in a room when the Mister had COVID and I was anxious about him, so I channeled that anxiety into my knitting. I think I should be able to get this done in this last bit of September, though, and I'm looking forward to having a fancy new pair of socks to wear once the temperatures drop.

I've done a bit of sewing recently, too. Rainbow was the impetus for us to stop using paper napkins a while back, though I've still been using them in her lunch. When we went to Michaels last weekend to fill her kitchen cotton needs, she also spotted a bundle of fat quarters of quilter's cotton featuring some sloth prints that she had to have (have I mentioned she has long been obsessed with sloths?), and she asked me to make her some smaller cloth napkins to take in her lunchbox. I did some very basic sewing to whip up five of them over the weekend:


With the exception of the dark blue print on the left, these all have different fabric on each side. They were dead easy to make -- cut out two squares, hold them together with right sides facing and stitch around the edges (leaving a gap on one side), trim the corners, turn them inside out through the gap, press, and top stitch. Are they perfect? No. But they are very functional and very cute, and Rainbow is delighted with them. The fabric cost maybe $12 for five fat quarters, and I think I spent less than two hours measuring, cutting, and sewing. Not bad!

Reading has been a little slower this week; I've only finished one book.

I once again was in need of an audiobook to keep me company while I was exercising and cleaning over the weekend, and luckily the next book I had to read in the Maisie Dobbs series was available with no wait. As the title suggests, Among the Mad deals largely with mental health issues, and they are central to both the case Maisie is pulled into and the the lives of some of the series' peripheral characters. This book takes place at the very end of 1931 and the very beginning of 1932, and there are still echoes of the first World War being felt, even as the rumbling of what will turn into the second are beginning. I enjoyed this a lot and can see that Maisie is likely headed toward less work with the police and more work with intelligence. I gave it 4 stars.

I am still reading The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, though I'm at least more than halfway through. I also now officially own the two other books that I have left to read on the Booker short list, Glory and The Trees. I've got a long weekend coming up (Rosh Hashanah starts Sunday evening), and I hope to make some headway on that list because I'd really like to have all the finalists read by the time the award winner is announced on October 17 -- and there are other books I'd like to read soon, too, like the copy of The Marriage Portrait I picked up at my local bookstore over the weekend!

What are you making and reading this week?

8 comments:

  1. That sock is a really beautiful color and the pattern is quite lovely! And those sloth napkins! I bet they will make mealtime more fun. Enjoy your long weekend and some good reading!

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  2. Those napkins are really quite brilliant, Sarah! What a great idea! I recently tossed some cloth napkins because they were stained or worn out... this is a brilliant way to replenish my stack!

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  3. What GREAT napkins, Sarah! So cute -- and practical. I'll bet Rainbow loves opening her lunchbox every day to find a sloth-napkin sewn with love by her mom. XO Those socks will be just lovely, Sarah (and I'll bet you finish them in no time). I'm reading Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies (which I both can't put down AND don't want to end) and listening to Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.

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  4. Yes to fabric napkins. We even made small fabric napkin for my daughter’s wedding reception and invited people to take them home (it was a small wedding 😉)

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  5. The blue sock is so pretty but yikes that is not social knitting. We use cloth napkins all the time. The stack in the napkin holder on the table is looking a little worse for the wear - stained and frayed. I never thought of making them double but what a good idea. I love the Maisie Dobbs series. Is it great literature? Probably not but it's a great palate cleanser in between other books I read.

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  6. I love the idea of turning fat quarters into napkins! (I might have some pretty liberty lawn leftover from my mask-sewing that would be perfect ... hummm....) Marriage Portrait is top of my list for October. Right now, I'm still savoring the anticipation of it.

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  7. I totally agree about you with time - somehow, January means that time is running super, super slow, and then suddenly: BAM! Welcome to autumn, and then the year is almost over!
    I really love your sock, but yeah, I can imagine that a worried stayed of mind is not ideal for it, but isn't it strange? Sometimes you need something complicated (or advanced) to keep your mind off the worries, and then again, you are already so occupied and comsumed by them that you need something much simpler. Huh.

    I absolutely adore the napkins you made! Did you use your sewing machine for them? I bought paper napkins again yesterday (because I do love them), but not without a pang of guilt. I'm still not so sure whether I should try and sew my own by hand - that would certainly take ages. (I'm still debating though ;) )

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  8. I love those napkins! I keep saying that I need to sew up some cloth napkins for us to use... thanks for the nudge. So glad you enjoyed this Maisie. I listened to it recently too and loved it. And I'm nervous at WWII sneaking into the storyline. Winspear must eventually make it there because she's on, what?, the 18th book of the series now?

    I hope you're enjoying the other Booker titles on your agenda. And I'm so excited to get to The Marriage Portrait! But I'm going to try to stay focused on my September plans before jumping into it :)

    I hope you're enjoying your long holiday weekend. This is a Good Food holiday, isn't it? If so, I hope everything is delicious. And spiritually fulfilling too, of course :)

    Take good care, Sarah!

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