Birthday Weekending

It was quite a weekend here -- birthday celebrations and a snowstorm! They were predicting snow for Saturday afternoon and night, but I think we ended up with more than anticipated. It's pretty, but it also got very cold, which meant the roads were a mess. Fortunately Molly's party wasn't affected, and we didn't have anywhere far to go on Sunday. Ruthie and I got bundled up to go for our walks!

The deepest snow was most of the way up her legs -- it's a good thing she didn't get the stumpy Jack Russell legs!

The view from the end of our street

It felt appropriate to stay in and bake during a cold, snowy weekend. One of Molly's friends stay over Saturday night, and they collaborated to bake a bûche de Noël to get extra credit in French class:

The swirl might not have been as pretty as the picture, but I was impressed! It tasted good, too (we got to eat the cut-off ends). Once the cake was done, I whipped up a batch of cookies for Molly to take to a potluck this week:

It seems a bit rude that both these baking projects made the house smell great and we don't get to enjoy them, but I'll survive.

Today, of course, is Molly's 16th birthday. Hard to believe it! She was not particularly excited about her birthday falling on a Monday, but it happens to all of us from time to time. It'll be a low-key birthday, not least because she's had three celebrations already. It's going to be a busy week for all of us -- she's got her holiday concert tomorrow evening, then has a math test and a research paper due the next day; the Mister has his work holiday party; I've got a dentist appointment -- but we just have to get through it and early Saturday morning we'll be on our way to vacation!

Five More Days

TGIF! What a long, chaotic week this has been. We've had rain, we've had snow, we've had wind. But it has not been without accomplishments. First, the commencement program is done! We had gremlins in the file that caused text to disappear and a comma to randomly appear where it wasn't wanted, but all the powers that be signed off on it and it was posted online Wednesday. Second, I successfully donated blood for the sixth time in 2025 yesterday. That's the first time I've ever managed to donate the maximum number of times in one calendar year, and it feels really good.

I've also finished most of a gnome:

All that's left is a beard, a nose, two arms, and two feet. Those all seem very likely to get done soon. What's less certain is whether my niece's Cat Stack will get done -- I'm only about halfway through the first cat. I'm hoping that once the gnome is done, I can focus more on the cats and see some real progress.

The title of this post is how many days of work I have remaining this year (I'm taking a few days of vacation to start the break early), and Molly has five and a half days of school remaining. But we have a lot to get through before we're officially on vacation! For starters, this evening we start a multi-day celebration for Molly's birthday. Tonight the three of us are going to to dinner with my in-laws. Tomorrow, Molly is have a small group of friends over for a birthday brunch, and then one is staying to sleep over that evening. On Sunday, we're getting together with my parents and my brother and his family for a joint birthday/Chanukah dinner. And Monday is her actual birthday, so I'll make whatever she wants for dinner.

It looks like it's going to be a snowy weekend here, so it will be good for staying inside and knitting cats. I hope you have something good planned, and feel free to use Molly's birthday as an excuse to have a treat!

Unraveled, Week 50/2025

It seems that once again I got off count in what number Wednesday it is, so my apologies if you got several weeks' worth of my posts in your feed or reader today; I just went back to correct the mistakes. At least all of those posts have appeared on Wednesday, and I'm here again this week to join in with Kat and the Unravelers.

This week is all about the gift knitting. I've started my nephew's gnome, which is being knit from the pattern Gnome News Is Good News. Because he's a toddler, though, I'm knitting in DK rather than fingering so that this gnome is more of stuffed animal than a shelf ornament. As usual, I'm so delighted by Sarah Schirra's creativity and smarts in her shaping.

The body is knit from a self-striping yarn from Fibernymph Dye Works that was created as a Valentine's Day colorway, but I thought it looked a bit like a candy cane. And while you really can't tell from the photo, it's sparkly! The hat is also FDW, Lisa's Bona Fide DK base in a semisolid light green. I'm likely going to use a fuzzy synthetic yarn for the beard -- something from a big box store that I bought for unknown reasons years ago.

I don't have a WIP photo yet, but I'm also working on a Cat Stack (Ravelry link) for my niece. They're essentially knit balls with faces, ears, and tails, and I think they'll be good for her to pick up and toss around.

The past week has been busy at work, but I've been able to finish three books thanks to two of them being on audio.

I've read my fair share of speculative fiction, but I'm fairly certain that Moon of the Crusted Snow is the first one I've read that set within an Indigenous community. It's fall, winter is coming, and in this Anishinaabe community in northern Ontario, the cable and then cell service have gone out. The landlines and power soon follow, and without any way to contact anyone outside the community, they can't know if this is a temporary or permanent situation -- until two teen boys who were in the city for school return and tell tales of chaos in the wider world. The community has a generator and an emergency store of food, but their fuel and food won't last forever. And then a white outsider shows up, but is he a white savior or the Windigo? This novel tells a bleak story, but there is hope in seeing a community come together and rely on their traditional knowledge to survive. I also greatly appreciated the use of an Indigenous reader for the audio, as he was able to read the Anishinaabe words and also capture the cadence that is so unique to Indigenous people. I gave it 4 stars -- and I think my reading experience was truly enhanced by listening primarily while I was outside in the winter weather!

I've been a fan of Steven Rowley's since reading The Guncle, and I've been wanting to read more of his backlist, so I took advantage of a Kindle deal not too long ago to buy Lily and the Octopus. This is a novel, but I imagine it's largely inspired by Rowley's experience with the loss of his dog, the real Lily. In this fictionalized account, the protagonist's beloved dachshund is terrorized not by a brain tumor byt by an actual octopus that has taken up residence on her head and is gradually taking away her life. In this world, Lily can talk to her owner (as can the octopus), and the two of them go to extremes to get the octopus to leave. While it gets a little over-the-top at one point, I found it to be a funny, touching, and also heartbreaking look at the bond between a person and their pet, especially when that beloved pet is that person's family. I'll admit I ugly-cried at the end, and if an animal dying is a no-go for you, you'll definitely want to skip this one. (I realize that's a bit of a spoiler, but given the dog's condition, which you know from the first chapter, it's pretty inevitable.) I wouldn't recommend this as widely as The Guncle, but I really enjoyed it -- and hugged my own puppy a little tighter at the end. I gave it 4 stars.

And speaking of trigger warnings, it takes real skill to make a book that deals with murder, suicide, the death of a child, alcoholism, divorce, and family estrangements funny and delightful, and that's what you get in The Road to Tender Hearts. PJ Halliday is an alcoholic in his 60s still mourning the accidental drowning of his teenage daughter. He's divorced but still friends with his ex-wife, who lives down the street from him and makes him breakfast every morning in addition to trimming all the sad stories out of the newspaper; PJ's already had three heart attacks and can't take any more bad news. But when his ex-wife leaves on a long trip with her boyfriend, PJ comes across an obituary for a former classmate -- who was married to a girl he's long thought of as the one who got away -- and he decides to drive to Arizona to woo her. Before he can leave, however, he finds that a orphaned pair of kids, his great-niece and great-nephew, have been left to him. And there's the slight complication that his license is still suspended from too many DUIs, so his estranged daughter, Sophie, is roped into coming along. As if this motley crew wasn't enough, they're joined by Pancakes the cat, who used to live at a nursing home and had a knack for predicting when someone was going to die soon and who showed up at PJ's house after breaking out of the animal shelter. As they drive from Massachusetts to Arizona, they all learn more about themselves and each other -- and they seem to dodge death regularly. This was excellent on audio. I gave it (you guessed it!) 4 stars.

What are you making and reading this week?

Felting, Finishing, and Failing a Little

It's Monday again, but I only have to work one more Monday after this one this year! And frankly I'm happy to have a day with a normal schedule after a weekend that was a bit all over the place.

On Saturday morning, Ruthie and I drove out to meet the woman who will be boarding her while we're away later this month. I'd gotten an anti-nausea medication from the vet ahead of time, but apparently it was no match for Ruthie delicate stomach, nor has she outgrown her carsickness yet. I felt so bad that I had to put her through a longer car ride twice, but the good news is that once we got there, there was another dog to play with and a big fenced-in yard to run around it. I'll get in touch with the vet to see if they have any more advice, but I think we may just need to not feed her before a car trip. (She got to have lunch when we got home, seeing as she didn't get much of a chance to digest breakfast, and she got some extra treats and extra snuggles as well. The only good thing about this situation is that as soon as we're out of the car, she's absolutely fine.)

As long as I was doing laundry (I had old towels under her in the car, as I always do), I decided to felt my mittens. Here's what they looked like freshly off the needles:

The pattern I used (Ravelry link) has you pick up and add the cuffs after felting. To ensure I had holes to pick those stitches up, I got out some cotton yarn and my crochet hook and worked it into the stitches all the way around the cast-on edge. I did single crochets into the fabric with a chain in between just to ensure I had enough wiggle room. The pattern just tells you to poke your needle through, but knowing how thick felted fabric can get, I though this would be easier. I promised Vera that I would share how I felt in the dryer, a method that I've found both works easier than using my front-load washer (because it can't be opened in the middle of the cycle to check on them) and that uses a heck of a lot less water. All you have to do is soak your item(s) to be felted so they're good and wet -- not dripping, but definitely soaked through. Then just toss them in the dryer with something else for some agitation. If you're worried about bleeding, use some old towels or jeans or anything that you don't care too much about. These went in first with the towels and then in the next load of laundry. Those two cycles were enough to felt the mittens sufficiently, and as I was already drying those two loads of laundry, they didn't require any extra effort or power. I let the mittens dry on the radiator overnight and then picked up and knit the cuffs yesterday. My apologies for the subpar photo of them, but I was trapped next to a sleeping dog at the time and knew the next chance I would have to take a photo before publishing this post would be after the sun had already set.

I knit the adult small, and they fit -- but only just. I think I may make another pair and make the next size up, which would allow me to wear some thin gloves underneath on the really frigid days. These knit up so quickly on such big needles that it won't take long at all to make another pair -- but only after gift knitting is complete, so maybe not until we're on vacation.

I had another finish this weekend in the form of the hat for my brother, which is done but not yet blocked.

As I was knitting it, I couldn't figure out why I needed a higher stitch count than usual. At the time, I figured my gauge was just a little tighter than normal, which wouldn't be that surprising given all the stress I've been under at work. But when I was pulling the needles out of the project bag to put them away, I realized what had happened. Do you see it?

The needles I usually use for this hat are US 2.5, or 3 mm. A US 2.5 is not the same as a 2.5 mm, which is what I grabbed to use for the crown increases and decreases. And because the hat starts with a crown and it determines the stitch count for the entire hat, that meant that I was using a smaller diameter needle, leading to smaller stitches, leading to needing more of them. That means the resulting hat is probably a little wider than it needs to be. I'm not about to rip it out and start over, but when I block it, I will stretch it out a lot to make it narrower and longer. That should make it fit better and also enable my brother to have enough fabric to fold up an extra brim. And I have learned that I need to read labels a bit more carefully!

This week is shaping up to be another busy one, but at least the big commencement project should be wrapping up toward the beginning of it. Wednesday is my office holiday party, sort of -- they're asking all of us to bring in food for a potluck and cookies to share, which is a far cry from the holiday parties we used to have. That day we'll also be wrapping gifts for a local childcare center for which we sign up to "elf" for. The kid I shopped for is 2 and wanted balls and Pittsburgh-themed clothing, so that's exactly what I bought. Including today, I have nine more days of work this year!

Recent Reads

For a brief period of time yesterday, I was caught up at work, but that came too late for me to get these book reviews into my Unraveled Wednesday post. Lucky for you, I have time for them today -- and the delay allowed me to finish another book!

One of the first books I read this year was Love & Saffron, so I've been (somewhat) patiently waiting for the follow-up. Last I checked, my library hadn't yet gotten it, so I took advantage of a Kindle deal to add it to my shelf. Kate & Frida isn't really a sequel and you don't need to have read the other book to enjoy it (you'll just know who Frida is), but it's also an epistolary novel about two women who form a friendship through their letters. This time we're in the early '90s. Frida is in Paris, trying to figure out if she has it in her to be a "real" journalist, and connects with Kate when she writes to a Seattle bookstore in search of a particular book and gets a response to Kate. Over the next several years, the two women bond over books they love, give each other love advice, and help each other through hard times. Though there are both sad and scary moments, I found this novel to be delightful and an excellent palate cleanser after some heavier reads. I gave it 4 stars.

Bonny's recent review of Run for the Hills reminded me to check Hoopla for it again, as that's where I found two of Kevin Wilson's previous books that I listened to earlier in the fall. In his newest novel, we start out with Mad, who runs an organic farm in Tennessee with her mother after her father left them when she was younger. One day a man in a PT Cruiser shows up at the farm with the news that he's her half-brother and that their father left his family in Boston before showing up in Tennessee. What's more, their father apparently repeated this pattern at least twice more. The two siblings, Mad and Rube, set out on a road trip to find their father in California, along the way picking up their other two half-siblings, though they're not sure what they'll do when -- if -- they find him. The characters are all quirky but charming, and their journey leads them not only to finding their father but to understanding more about themselves and their personal narratives. I listened to this one, and the narration was great. I gave it 4 stars.

Bonny also inspired my next read. Finding Grace is a book that you can't really describe without giving too much away, so it's difficult to write a review with any discussion of plot. There is a dramatic and tragic event that occurs at the end of the very first chapter that drives the rest of the narrative, and it's something that's very unexpected, so I can't even hint at it. This book deals with a lot of topics that might necessitate trigger warnings, so if you'd like to avoid any of those, I'd recommend researching them before picking up this book. I thought the storyline was unusual and creative, certainly unlike anything I've read before, but I also was cringing regularly at the actions of one of the main characters and thought the story wrapped up a little too neatly, given the complexity of the rest of the plot. I gave it 3.5 stars.

Even though the Booker Prize for this year has already been awarded, I'm still reading some of the titles on the list that didn't win and that only recently became available here. The Land in Winter is one of those. Set in rural England in the early 1960s, this novel focuses on two couples who live near each other. Eric Parry is one of the local doctors and lives in a cottage with his wife, Irene. Across the field is farmer Bill Simmons, whose wife, Rita, seems an odd complement to him. Both women are pregnant and dealing with different challenges in their personal lives when an unusually cold winter sets in. I listened to this book, read by the author, and found the writing to be good -- "atmospheric" is the best word I can think to describe it. But I found it hard to keep track of the characters and their storylines and backgrounds. Perhaps the format caused some of this difficulty, but I not going to reread with my eyes to know for sure. I gave it 3 stars.

And there you have it! If you've read any of these books, I'd love to hear what you thought of them.

I hope to do some more reading this weekend -- hope it's a good one for you!

Unraveled, Week 49/2025

Greetings from a snowy Pittsburgh! A storm came through in the early hours of yesterday morning. I was woken up by my phone ringing at 5:30 a.m. -- a notification from Molly's school that they would be on a two-hour delay (about an hour and a half later, they cancelled altogether). But of course I didn't get a delay for work, and Ruthie had to go out in any case, so I was up at the normal time. I wish I could have filmed Ruthie's reaction to the snow! First she tried to eat it all, then she was running back and forth in our neighbors' yard, clearly delighted with it. I had to remind her several times that she was out to do her business! She continued to enjoy herself in the snow on our walks, and she must've eaten quite a bit because she didn't seem to drink as much as normal.

I unfortunately had to trudge to work in the snow, though I did get treated to some beautiful views along the way.

But enough about the snow -- time to link up with Kat and the Unravelers! While the current hat in progress is growing slowly (darn work getting in the way!), I've started a new project for my evening knitting that is going quite quickly thanks to some very large needles.

Sometime in the weekend before Thanksgiving, I lost one of my felted mittens, leaving my hands painfully cold on walks. So I've been making myself a pair of Snowball Throwin' Mittens (Ravelry link) using some yarn scraps. The pattern calls for worsted, but I'm using two strands of fingering held together, and I'm hoping they'll felt into a nice fabric. The pattern I used for the previous pair used superwash for the cuff and non-superwash for the hand, but this one calls for felting the hand first and then picking up for the cuff (for which the same yarn could be used, if desired). I'm planning to use some cotton yarn to crochet around the bottom edge to ensure that I have holes to pick up. I'm knitting on US 10/6 mm needles -- and DPNs! When was the last time you saw me knit on DPNs? The truth is that I don't think I have circular needles that big, so I had to make do with what I had.

I've finished several books this week, but I'm running out of time to get this post done, so I will share my reviews on Friday.

Back to the Mines

After two weekends and a full week off in between, it's going to be hard to get back to the usual schedule today, especially because I know there's a ton of work waiting for me. On top of all that, we're supposed to have some real winter weather (read: snow) this week, right when the Mister has to go on a quick work trip. At least I know that the number of work days before I'm off for a good two weeks is not very high!

We had a fairly quiet weekend after all the excitement of the holiday. It was just the three of us at home eating leftovers on Friday night, and we got together with some family friends on Saturday for pizza and salad. Last night we were invited over by some friends to kick off the holiday season, and the coasters I'd knit for them were all done:

Pattern: Worsted Tree Coasters by Amy Marie (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Knit Picks Dishie (100% cotton) in Swan and Kenai; 100 yds. used
Needles: US 5/3.75 mm
Started/Completed: November 22/November 27

These were fun and straightforward to knit, and had I given myself more time, I would have made more of them. I purposefully picked out colors that would read as wintery but not necessarily Christmas; though the green looks darker here, it's more of a pine-y green that can look a little teal in certain lights. I think it would be fun to take this pattern and widen it to make a towel or placemat, so maybe once the holiday knitting is done, I'll play around with it.

Speaking of holiday knitting, my brother's hat is about 2/3 of a Ruthie at the moment:

Once I finish this up, I will be on to this year's gnome for my nephew, which will be Gnome News Is Good News. I'm going to be making him in DK/worsted rather than fingering so that he's big and huggable, and I even found some sparkly self-striping in colors that remind me of candy canes that I think will be fun.

And now, time to get on with all the stuff I have to do today! I think the pumpkin pie is ready to get dumped, but the friends we had dinner with last night sent us home with coffee cake, so it's there if I need a little pick-me-up to get through the day. Enjoy your first day of meteorological winter, if you're in the Northern Hemisphere like I am!

Thankful. And Full.

I love Thanksgiving and I'm so grateful that we were able to celebrate with all of our family yesterday, but I have to admit there were times I wished it was just the three of us -- I'm exhausted from celebrating!

But let me back up a bit. We did do our turkey trot, which was quite chilly because the temperature was in the low 30s (F) and there was a strong wind, making it feel like it was in the teens. I don't think I started feeling at all warm until I hit the 2-mile mark. Molly and I did wear our matching hats, though we discovered that they weren't very warm:

I wasn't aiming to be especially fast, just to run the whole thing, but adrenaline always kicks in a bit in a race, so I was a little faster than I am on a normal run. Here are my results:

I got a laugh at my overall placement.

The route was different (and much more hilly) than the last time I ran it two years ago, and in addition to being cold, I was annoyed at all the people I kept having to dodge because they were oblivious to others around them. Maybe next year I'll just go on my own run in the neighborhood!

We got home, warmed up with breakfast and coffee, and then gave Ruthie a much-needed bath. Then there were showers for the humans and green bean casserole and Brussels sprouts prep. Ruthie got to nap for about half an hour before my parents showed up with the food to go in the oven, and then everyone else came around 4. Ruthie got one of her leftover sedatives from her surgery recovery, but she was still nervous enough around all the people that she peed inside (fortunately on one of our inexpensive rubber/nylon rugs that we have near the doors in fall and winter). Other than me and Molly, to some extent, the only person she seemed to be comfortable with was my niece:

I have a feeling these two are going to be special buddies as they grow up together!

Today is going to be a much more quiet day. The only thing on the agenda is that I'm taking Molly to get her ears pierced this afternoon -- something that I think is probably more exciting for me than for her! When I was a kid, I begged to get my ears pierced for years, starting when I was in single digits, so it's been astounding to me that Molly hasn't wanted to until now. We've got lots of leftovers to eat, and I've got some laundry and cleaning to do. And isn't it nice that there's still a weekend ahead of us?

I realized I didn't say it in my last post, so I wanted to make sure I include it in this one: Friends, I am grateful for all of you -- for your friendship, for your encouragement, for your book recommendations and crafting inspiration and sharing of beauty. I love that the internet has enabled so many of us with shared interests to connect, and I only wish there was an easier way for us to gather in person!

Unraveled, Week 48/2025

Good morning and happy Wednesday, friends! Today I'm very happy that all our immediate family members live in the same city we do and that we don't have to travel for Thanksgiving. I know we're very lucky in that respect, and I hope anyone who does have to travel makes it to their destination without too much difficulty.

Kat said on Monday that she intended to post, so I am joining with her and the Unravelers today with my update.

Over the weekend, I hunkered down with my crochet and managed to finish up the silly turkey hat -- and I'm delighted with it!

I'm glad that the wonkiness of my sewing (though some was certainly intentional) added to the personality of the whole thing, so it's okay that nothing is really aligned. The hat base was made with Knit Picks Brava Worsted; Molly had ordered a bunch of skeins of it last year and decided she didn't want to use this color, so we conveniently had two skeins of it in stash. The red, yellow, and orange are all Loops & Threads Soft Classic -- 100% pure acrylic! The white for the eyeballs was some leftover Blue Sky Fibers Organic Cotton from many years ago, and I used a whopping 1 g of the Fibernymph Dye Works Confetti Tweed leftover from my two most recent charity hats for the pupils. I used an I hook (5.5 mm) for the hat and an H hook (5.0 mm) for all the other bits. Originally I was going to add braids or tassels to the earflaps, but the Mister pointed out that I might find those annoying while running, so I left them off. Altogether, I used 164 yards of yarn and had a fun little break from knitting!

This week, as I continue to work on my brother's hat, I'm also knitting on a gift that I will take to dinner this coming Sunday evening that we and my parents have been invited to. These friends decorate their house beautifully for the holidays, so I thought I would make a little something that could be used during the season:

The pattern is Worsted Tree Coasters (Ravelry link), and I'm using two colors of Knit Picks Dishie. The plan is to make four coasters, two that look like this and two with the colors reversed. If I manage to get them done really quickly and have enough yarn left, perhaps I'll make two more. This is a mosaic knitting pattern, so you knit with one color at a time, alternating every two rows. It's potato-chippy in much the same way stranded knitting is but without having to wrangle two strands of yarn at the same time.

I've read a fair amount in the past week, though I can't say all of it was good. I have four finishes to share with you today.

The best of the week was definitely Jane Austen's Bookshelf. Written by Rebecca Romney, a rare book collector and dealer, this work of nonfiction explores female authors writing in roughly the same time as Austen who published works she likely read, based upon mentions in her personal letters and even some of her novels. Each chapter focuses on a different author, providing a bit of a biography as well as a look at her published works and how those books influenced Austen and literature in general. Romney's project to read the works of these writers and give them context in the world of Austen shows how (unsurprisingly) the work of women writers has long been discounted, especially within the canon of so-called "great literature," and reveals that Austen's work wasn't revolutionary or unique but rather informed by the work of other women writers whose books she read. It also raises the question of why Austen's works have been so celebrated over the years and these other writers and their books have faded into obscurity. I gave it 4 stars.

While browsing audiobooks on NetGalley, I came across The Story Keeper, written by an author I'd read before, and the description was intriguing: After trouble in her personal life, Fiona, a middle-aged woman with grown children, returns to the family estate in Australia where she spent her childhood. The house has a long history and reputation for being haunted. It's been years since she was last there following the death of her uncle, and the house is in a state of disuse. As she works on cleaning and getting the place back into order, she comes across a case of books that arrived just around the time of her uncle's death and was left unopened. Figuring that her uncle wanted his family to read them, she dives in -- only to discover that the story in the book feels strangely familiar. The Fiona's story alternates with the narrative of the book she's reading throughout. This novel is billed as a mystery, but I was able to figure out what was going on about a third of the way through, including the mysterious noises and broken household objects in the house that might suggest something supernatural. The book-within-the-book also wasn't as well written as the more present-day narrative, and I even caught one instance where a character name from one story was used (incorrectly) in the other. There are some lingering questions at the end, once everything has been revealed, and that felt unsatisfying to me. I gave it 2 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for providing me with a free copy of this audiobook in return for an honest review. This book will be published July 21, 2026.

While waiting for my next library hold, I spent an afternoon reading The Serviceberry. This is really a long essay more than a book, though it was still enjoyable. Robin Wall Kimmerer, perhaps best known for Braiding Sweetgrass, uses nature in general and the serviceberry in particular to show how a gift economy and a society based on giving could present an alternative way of living that would benefit us all and combat climate change at the same time. I have a feeling that this is a work I will want to reread from time to time; the message it sends is a hopeful one, and I think that's a message we could all use right now. I know many of you have already read this (I'm late to the party as usual!), but I'd recommend it if you haven't. I gave it 4 stars.

Flesh is this year's Booker Prize winner, and really that is the only reason I read it. The book follows Istvan throughout a good portion of his life, starting when he is 15 and living in Hungary. It then follows him through a stint in the army serving in Afghanistan, working in London as a strip club bouncer and then personal security officer, running his own business in real estate development, and then living back in Hungary. Throughout the book, he seems entirely detached from things that are happening to him and doesn't seem to have particularly strong feelings about anything. He does seem to like having a lot of sex, though, especially with married women. I didn't particularly like this book, but I felt strangely compelled to see where it was going. In the end, I though it was just, to quote Istvan, "okay." I gave it 3 stars (and I think there were better books on the shortlist that should have won).

I am currently reading The Idiot on paper and Kate & Frida on Kindle, the latter because I know it'll be light and happy!

Tomorrow, the three of us will be running in the Turkey Trot and then will be hosting a crowd for Thanksgiving dinner. It's been a hard year for many people for many reasons, so I am glad to have an excuse to slow down and be grateful for so many things. If you are celebrating the holiday tomorrow, I hope your food is delicious and your company enjoyable! Gobble gobble!

Less in 2025: November

It's the final Monday of the month, so it's time for my penultimate check-in with my One Little Word.

When I think of Less this past month, the first thing that comes to mind is that there is less daylight. The days are getting noticeably shorter, and even in the middle of the day, the sunlight is weaker. While in the summer, I was able to sit with Ruthie in the afternoon with all the lights off, I need the lights on now to see what I'm reading or working on. This is probably my least favorite thing about the fall and winter; I don't like the cold, but being a knitter, I know how to properly dress for it. I can't do anything about the lack of light, though, and it definitely has an effect on my mood. This year, I'm hoping that many of my neighbors put up twinkle lights to bring some extra light to the dark evenings.

Another area of Less this month has been a fewer number of daily walks with Ruthie. She is 11 months old today, and she doesn't need to go out as often. We're down to about five bathroom breaks a day now, which includes first thing in the morning, when we literally just go next door. I take her for three longer walks during the day (generally 0.75 miles to 1.1 miles, according to my Apple Watch), and as of the last week or so, she hasn't wanted to walk when we go out right before bedtime and instead has done her business next door. I know that on the really frigid days of winter, that's going to be very welcome! 

I don't think Kat is hosting a link-up for this OLW update or on Wednesday, but I will be back with an Unraveled update. In the meantime, enjoy your Monday!

I'm a Hooker, Too, Sometimes

You know what's even better than getting to Friday? Getting to Friday before a long holiday break! Molly and I just have to get through today and then we're (mostly) free until early December. That feels darn good.

I hinted in my last post that I was working on a crochet project, and in truth I didn't want to share photos until I was sure it was going to turn out okay -- I mean, I'm pretty good at the basics of crochet, but I don't have a ton of experience following a pattern to get something that fits. Fortunately, with a couple of instances of ripping back (because apparently I can't count), all is well and I have this after a couple of evenings with my hook:

There's a lot of embellishment left to do, but I'm reasonably certain you can all identify that as a hat. It's this hat, specifically, that I'm making to wear in this year's Turkey Trot. People really do dress up for it here, and of course as a crafter I figured I could manage something fun. Molly and I were planning to make them together last year before my broken foot messed up our plans; it still remains to be seen if she'll make one for this year, if I'll make it for her, or if she decides she doesn't want one after all.

This weekend we have absolutely nothing on the schedule, other than some errands I need to run tomorrow morning, and that's just the way I like it. One of those errands is to Costco, so I may pick up a rotisserie chicken or two and make chicken broth for the freezer. Molly will likely be working a shift or two, and we'll have to plan for next week's cooking. I'm hoping the weekend includes plenty of reading and knitting time.

Finally, I just wanted to mention that the Indie Designer Giftalong kicked off on Ravelry yesterday evening, and the 25% off pattern sale runs for the first week of it. If you're interested in any of my eligible patterns, you can find my bundle here. The coupon code is the same for all participating designers: giftalong2025.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Unraveled, Week 47/2025

Is anyone else a bit panicked looking at that number -- we're really on the 48th Wednesday of the month? Egads, I don't know where the time goes! But I do know that this morning I'm here to update you on my making and my reading*.

After finishing up those two WIPs over the weekend, I naturally needed to cast on something new, particularly something I could work on during Ruthie's "snoozy time" while I work or read. I thought instead of a pair of socks (because his feet are so big and they'd be interminable), I'd make my brother a hat. So I found a OOAK skein of Fibernymph Dye Works Bounce from a grab bag that seemed suitable and cast on one of my hats:

It's not yet big enough to qualify as a partial Ruthie.

The colors lean more blue than they appear here; it was snowing and raining and generally gray all day here yesterday, so the lighting was not optimal. I've finished the crown increases and am now in the knit-until-the-cows-come-home phase of the project, which is just perfect for when I've got a computer on my lap and a dog wedged next to me.

I've also started a special seasonal crochet project, but you'll have to wait a bit to see any of that.

I've finished four books this week, evenly split between digital and audio.

First up, Endling from the Booker Prize longlist. This is a strange book that's a bit hard to describe, though I'll start by saying that it's set in Ukraine in 2022, just before the start of Russian aggression. Yeva is a biologist whose main focus is on snails and who is traveling through the country with a camper ("mobile lab") trying to find rare snails in the wild in an effort to save them from extinction. Funding for this kind of work is hard to find, so to earn money, she gets involved in the thriving romance industry, in which foreign men come to take romance tours and meet native women. She's not interested in meeting a husband, but the money is good. Also involved in this industry are Nastia, barely a legal adult, and her sister, Solomiya, who works as her interpreter. Their mother, once a radical protestor of the industry, has disappeared, and Nastia hopes that if she stages something involving the bachelors, it will make the news and cause their mother to return. One of these bachelors is a man who was born in Ukraine but left it for Canada as a child and is seeking to find his heritage in some weird way. And then come the Russians, with their bombs, their guns, and their propaganda makers. In the middle of all this, the author pops in with a bit of her own history and her worries about her grandfather, who is still back in Ukraine and refuses to leave. Though I honestly wasn't sure what to make of this book, I enjoyed it, and it was good on audio (the author even narrates her own interjections). I gave it 4 stars.

While I was waiting for some holds, I turned to my Kindle library and decided to read the second installment in the Thursday Murder Club series. The club is back at it in The Man Who Died Twice, when a man from Elizabeth's past shows up at Cooper's Chase looking for safety in a situation involving the mafia, international ne'er-do-wells, and a middleman who brokers the deals between them. Meanwhile, the club's police friends are trying to finagle a way to arrest the local drug kingpin, and three members of the club are looking after the fourth when he's injured in a mugging and plotting a way to avenge his injuries. There are spies, assassins, and perhaps double agents. There's also quite a lot of humor. I can't say I find this series to be at all realistic, but it's good light fun, at least if you can consider a murder mystery to be light. I gave it 3 stars.

Several of you have already read and recommended When the Cranes Fly South, and though I usually prefer to read with my eyes, I opted for the audio from the library because the wait was shorter. I'm sure it's good either way, but it was wonderful on audio thanks to the excellent primary reader. This novel tells the story of Bo, an elderly man who is physically and mentally struggling more and more but who is determined to keep living as he has been. His wife is in a nursing home with dementia, and now his adult son is threatening to take away his beloved dog, Sixten. Bo spends his day thinking back on his earlier life, recalling his childhood and his difficult relationship with his father, the early days of his marriage, and his sometimes challenging relationship with his son when he was a child. His thoughts are interspersed with notes from the carers who come in to prepare food for him, help him bathe, and check that all is well around the house. This is a sad book, but I think it's well worth reading for the reminder for those of us who are younger to treat our elders with the dignity they deserve and to give a better understanding of why so many people seem so stubborn about leaving their homes or giving up aspects of their lives. I gave it 4 stars.

Finally, I was excited by how quickly I got The Black Wolf from the library given the demand -- I'm pretty sure I had it on hold less than a week! It has been almost a year since I read the previous book in the Gamache series, so I'd no doubt forgotten some of the details, but that didn't seem to hold it back. After stopping a plan to poison the water of Quebec, Gamache and his team have realized that was only a prelude to a bigger plot, but they're not completely sure what that bigger plot is, who is behind it, and who to trust. As I've come to expect from Louise Penny, there are twists and turns, people who appear to be allies turn out to be enemies (and vice versa), and the same characters in Three Pines who bring levity to the plot are there -- though I would have liked more of them. I'll admit I found it hard to keep a couple of the non-regular characters straight, so sometimes I felt a bit lost, but I always know I'm in for a good time when I pick up a book in this series. This one felt a little too real at times; thank goodness for Rosa the duck! I gave it 4 stars.

*I want to close by noting that there's no link-up this week -- if you haven't seen it already, Kat has posted a sad update on her blog. Please keep her family in your thoughts.

The Slowdown

It feels like the weekend was just starting, but here we are back at Monday again. It was a quieter weekend for a number of reasons. Molly ended up staying home from school with a cold on Friday. Thankfully she was feeling well enough Saturday morning to attend the birthday brunch, but she was kind of grumpy all weekend because she didn't feel well and had lots of homework to do. I'm glad she rallied because the birthday party was fun. It was just immediate family, but there was plenty of good food and plenty of amusement in the form of my nephew, who wanted to open all the presents for his little sister. The sweater was a hit, and we finally took a photo of the photo of Molly wearing it so I could share it here:

Can you see the spot of drool?

Once we got home from the party, it was time for Ruthie's midday walk and then "snoozie time," during which I read the newest Louise Penny, having just gotten my hold from the library, and knit. On Sunday morning, I was on a two-hour Zoom with the dog trainer (super useful!) and then another one-hour Zoom before, again, the midday walk and puppy nap time. So I didn't get in any walks on my own, but sometimes it's nice to take a little break from a lot of physical activity. I figure I had a really good run on Friday and was still getting in a few miles in walks each day with Ruthie, so I embraced the slower pace. It also allowed me to finish up two projects.

First up was a charity hat using some leftovers -- most of the remaining Fibernymph Dye Works Confetti Tweed DK that I had remaining from the last hat held together with fingering scraps (two other FDW yarns and about half of the leftover Felici from the first sister-in-law socks). I used the Sagamore Flyover pattern (Ravelry link), with a slight modification to the crown decreases, and US 7/4.5 mm and US 8/5 mm needles. I've knit a bunch of these hats this year, though all the previously completed ones have now been donated, so this is the first in my rebuilding of the charity hat stash.

I also finished the Ryoko wrap for my mother-in-law -- and as you can see, it needs very badly to be blocked to be a triangle rather than a diamond!

I don't have any idea how busy this week is going to be at work, but even if it gets chaotic, I know I only have to get through the next five days and then I'm off for a week -- nine days in a row, if you include the weekends on either end! I think I can manage whatever gets thrown at me if I keep that in mind. Here's hoping I didn't just jinx myself!

I hope the week is off to an okay start for you -- and if you have a minute, be sure to go wish Mary a happy birthday today!

An FO and a Blast from the Past

It's Friday, finally! It's not been too bad of a week, but the shorter days and the cold have made it feel like it's dragged on, so I'm happy to see the weekend almost here. I'm even happier that I have another pair of socks off the needles:

These are for my larger-footed sister-in-law and used my last two skeins of Knit Picks Felici (unless there is more buried deep in the stash). The colorway is Secret Garden. I tried my best to get them to match, but obviously I got a little off somewhere. They're close enough for me, though, and the recipient, if she even notices, is too nice to say anything. I still have some leftovers from the most recent pairs, all of which will become charity hats of some sort.

Today is an exciting day because it's my niece's first birthday! We will be celebrating her at brunch tomorrow. She's going to be getting a contribution to her college fund for her main present, but I thought I would also give her something a little sentimental.

This is a sweater I knit back in October 2010 -- for Molly. In fact, she wore it when we had photos taken of her to commemorate her first birthday (sadly, we don't appear to have any digital versions). I'm not sure if she wore it other than that one time, but I kept it, just in case. And as it's still in great shape, I think it's time to pass it along to my niece. It got a nice wash and block, and it'll be wrapped up for her parents to open tomorrow.

Other than the birthday brunch tomorrow, we don't have much planned for the weekend. I have a Zoom scheduled Sunday morning for a consultation with a dog trainer who I'm hoping can give me an idea of what we can do next to help her have some better manners, and there might be some chicken soup on the stove at some point. We are supposed to get some heavy rain tomorrow afternoon, so I plan to stay cozy inside as much as possible!

Have a good weekend, friends, and see you back here on Monday!

Unraveled, Week 46/2025

How is it Wednesday again already? Time to link up with Kat and the Unravelers!

I am still working on the same two projects but at least am getting closer to finishing them. I got a bunch of work yesterday and so only managed a handful of rounds on the socks, but the evenings have been dedicated wrap/shawl knitting time, and the rows are getting shorter:

I managed to leave Ruthie for about two minutes to snap a photo of this upstairs while the sun was actually out (not that it did much to warm things up) so you could get a better sense of the actual color of the yarns. I'm hoping I'm able to stretch this out and get a bit more length when I block it, because as written it's not a very big wrap, but I think the mohair/silk will make it very cozy. I might have to find a pretty shawl stick or other closure for it.

I've once again had a good week of reading with four finishes, though two of them were ARCs.

In Life: A Love Story, 92-year-old Flo has received a terminal diagnosis and knows she doesn't have much time left in her life, so she resolves to write a letter explaining some things to Ruthie, the now-grown little girl who used to live next door and was like a daughter to her. Flo has decided to leave her house and all her possessions to Ruthie, but she also wants to leave behind some life lessons she's learned. In giving the history of some of the objects in her house, some of which might seem worthless or mundane, she shows that what matters isn't always things but the memories and the people they recall. This is a quiet book, and while it's not without difficulties that arise in people's lives and marriages, it's a peaceful and welcome departure from the news. That said, I also found it to be rather schmaltzy and, at times, a little over-the-top with religion. Your mileage may vary. I gave it 3 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in return for an honest review. This book will be published March 17, 2026.

After enjoying her forthcoming novel so much, I decided to listen to Anna Quindlen's most recent release. After Annie follows a family in the year following the sudden death of its mother. There's the husband who is overwhelmed at being the sole parent and the one who rarely did much of the heavy lifting of parenting before. There are her four children, the oldest of whom, her only daughter, finds herself feeling responsible for her three younger siblings. And there's her best friend, who finds herself slipping back into drug addiction without Annie to keep her on the straight and narrow. It's a sad story, as you would expect, and it certainly highlights how much work mothers do to keep their families running, but it paints a picture of how families can come together after a tragedy. I gave it 4 stars.

Some time back, I bought a used copy of The Language of Goldfish because I couldn't find it any of the library apps (probably because I think it's been out of print for a while). This is a book I can remember reading multiple times as a young teenager, and I wanted to revisit it as an adult because my memories of it were vague and I was curious about what it was about it that spoke so loudly to me. This book follows 13-year-old Carrie as she struggles to adjust to living in a new place and growing up. She begins to have episodes of visual hallucinations and even has an instance of losing awareness of time and where she is before she attempts suicide. Following that, she is hospitalized and then goes to see a therapist every day to address what was causing her such distress. I can't say that I loved this book as much on a reread (at least as an adult) as I did as a young teen, but it at least held up relatively well in the time that's passed. It was probably pretty advanced for when it was published, in fact, in that it addressed mental illness frankly and as something that should be talked about and addressed. Adult me, however -- particularly the adult me who has a degree in psychology -- felt a little frustrated that Carrie's illness was never really defined and that her therapist didn't seem to do much other than listen to her talk. But all the same it was nice to read something from my childhood that didn't surprise me with something like overt racism for a change. I gave it 4 stars.

If there's one historical era I've read more about than any other, it's the Holocaust and WWII, so it's always a pleasant surprise to learn something about the history of that time period that is new to me. Once There Was a Town: The Memory Books of a Lost Jewish World introduced me to the documents known as yizkor books, volumes created as memorial records of the towns and shtetls essentially erased by the Nazis. They describe what life was like in these places and what sort of people inhabited them in addition to containing lists of the names of those killed. While the book addresses this topic generally, there's also a focus on the town where the author's relatives came from, making this a memoir of sorts, too, as her study of the yizkor book for their shtetl was able to tell her things about the family left behind that her grandmother and great uncles could not and would not discuss. I found it to be a fascinating read. My only disappointment in the book is that the ARC I received did not contain the photos that are referenced in the back of the book -- I would have loved to see those family photos! But that just gives me an excuse to pick up a physical copy of the book when it's published. I gave it 4 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in return for an honest review. This book will be published January 20, 2026.

What are you making and reading this week?

Sweater (and Socks and Hat and Scarf) Weather

Brrrr! We are waking up to the coldest weather yet of the season. Yesterday we had rain showers on and off, and it was supposed to turn to snow overnight (as usual, I'm getting this post ready the night before, so I can't yet confirm if it did indeed snow). I think the ground is still too warm for any to stick, but it's cold enough for it to come down. Time to switch from the fall jacket to the winter jacket (but not the long winter jacket just yet)!

Ruthie's new harness arrived on Friday, and I'm happy to report that it works really well. If she pulls, it tightens, making it extremely difficult for her to slip out of it.

It doesn't quite match the collar and leash, but we can live with it.

On top of my to-do list this weekend was sending off quite a large number of charity hats. I've been collecting the ones I've been making for about a year, and Molly made a ton using up scraps and leftovers, so Saturday morning I boxed them up and sent them off to two collections:

Yesterday I made a big vat of vegetable soup, which we had for dinner along with some crusty bread, and Molly gathered up the M&Ms from the Halloween candy, supplemented them with some chocolate chips, and made us some cookies (using this recipe, which I highly recommend):

I'll add that she did everything -- all I did was empty the mini packets of M&Ms, tear the sheets of parchment paper, and cleaned up the dishes. They were fantastic!

And there was knitting. With apologies for the poor lighting, here's where my WIPs stand:

I've finished the gusset on the second sock for my sister-in-law, and I've officially passed the halfway mark on the wrap. 

I expect it's going to be another busy week at work, but we've got two more weeks until Thanksgiving. Molly is off school all that week, and it turns out that I've reached the maximum on my vacation time, so I decided to take Monday through Wednesday off as well. I think I can get through the next two weeks knowing I'll have an entire week off after that! I hope your Monday is as gentle as possible and you're staying cozy. Time to break out those hand-knit sweaters, friends!