Unraveling, Week 34/2025

Who else out there is melting? It's so darn hot out there this week, and I know how lucky I am to be able to spend most of the day in the air conditioning, but puppies do not understand this and so I've been out in it regularly the past several days. I'm happy to report that Ruthie is doing much better and in fact is loving her new diet of chicken and rice with the occasional addition of pumpkin puree. She's also gotten a probiotic from the vet that's like a giant piece of candy to her, and to encourage her to drink more water in the heat, she's gotten some weak chicken broth (from making the boiled chicken). I may have in fact been a little overzealous in trying to get liquids into her because she's had several accidents in the house and that hadn't happened in a long time. Fortunately she's been nice enough to have them on a towel or blanket or on one of the rubber/synthetic mats by the door, so at least cleanup was easy. When we haven't been taking quick walks outside (though not as quick as I'd like), we're staying insight with the lights dimmed or off to help keep things cool, and she's been napping a lot.

Feels like 100+ outside and she still has to be touching me!

But enough puppy stuff -- this isn't a dog blog, it's a knitting blog! Time to join in with Kat and the Unravelers for another week!

I'm sorry to say this week there has been more unraveling of my Midsommarkrans tank. Yes, once again I mixed up left and right. I was looking at the left-hand side back panel as I was working on it, but of course it was actually the right back panel as worn. Good grief! I think by the time I finish this tank I will have knit it about four times. Also, it might be winter. But all that is to say that I don't have a progress photo because it looks pretty much the same as the last time I shared a photo because all I have done is knit, rip, and reknit the same section.

Fortunately the hat is going much better, as you would expect. I knit on it while Ruthie was napping as I was able, and it's grown. I really like how the neon sections are pooling so that I get thin neon stripes. I think this will make someone very happy.

I have finished only one book this week, but it was a great one.

When we first meet Cora in the late 1980s, she is on her way to the local registrar's office to register her newborn son's name. Her abusive and controlling husband expect her to register the name Gordon, the name all first-born sons in the family carry. But Cora rather likes the name Julian, and her daughter Maia, who is accompanying her on the errand, suggests Bear. From there, the story splits in three, imagining where life goes for this family if the baby had received each of these names. Every seven years, the reader gets another installment of Bear, Julian, and Gordon and gets to ponder that old question: What's in a name? Within each possible life trajectory, there are triumphs and tragedies, achievements and losses. This creative structure allows the author to examine the dual impacts of nature and nurture and how something that seems as simple as choosing a name for a child can have implications far beyond identity. The prose is beautiful and often emotional, especially when dealing with abuse that's hard to read, and you never stop rooting for Cora and her kids. This may very well end up being one of my favorites for the year! I gave it 5 stars.

Sitting inside with a good book and a cool beverage seems like the best way to get through this heat wave! I hope the rest of you who are in it are managing. Remember your sunblock and to stay hydrated!