Unraveled, Week 2/2026

It's Wednesday, and as predicted, I've had a little setback with sinus infection (which may or may not have happened after I read through the agenda for the retreat and saw "team-building improv session"). While we have miserable weather today -- rain turning to snow -- I will be staying warm inside with Ruthie, and I'll kick things off by joining Kat and the Unravelers.

As promised, here is the official FO post for the cowl, which has now had all its ends woven in and been given its spa treatment.

Pattern: Static by Kacey Herlihy (Ravelry link) size large

Yarn: Emma's Yarn Simply Spectacular DK (75% superwash merino/25% nylon) in Terrazzo (main color) and Simply Spectacular DK Smalls in After Dark (black), Wish You Were Beer (gold), and Briar Rose (pink)
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm) and US 5 (3.75 mm)

Started/Completed: January 5/January 11

Mods: none, other than binding off in pattern

This was such a fun knit. I either bought the pattern during a past Down Cellar Studio event or won it as a prize, but it was in my library regardless and I thought it would be a great use of the cowl set I picked up from the SSK giveaway table last summer, a full skein of DK plus three DK minis. Because of the three colors, it made perfect sense to do the large size with three colorwork bands (the smaller option has just two). I ended up with just small amounts of the colors and about 20 g from the full skein, so it was an excellent match of pattern and yarn. And I had such fun with this motif that I will definitely be knitting this cowl again -- though wouldn't that motif look fabulous at the bottom of a sweater? For now, this cowl will go in the charity pile, but I think eventually it'll keep someone very cozy because all that stranding makes for a very squishy fabric.

Speaking of charity knitting, the hat has grown a little during Ruthie's afternoon naps:

I should be able to finish this up by the end of the day (even with needing to make sure I catch all three strands in each stitch, this fabric works up quickly!) and then will need to sort out my next almost-mindless knitting.

It's been another good week of reading, with lots of audio!

I am grouping the three audiobooks I finished this week together because they're all Emma M. Lion -- volumes 5, 6, and 7. These books are such a delight, and they've been such a nice diversion from the heavy news from around the world the past couple of weeks. I have so enjoyed the most recent finishes that I've been reflecting on the previous books I've read and bumped them all up to 5 stars. They have been fabulous on audio, but I am planning to buy myself physical copies so I can have them in my personal library.

My other finish this week was Steven Rowley's forthcoming Take Me with You. Jesse and his husband, Norman, have been together a long time, and like many middle-aged couples, they are finding some aspects of their life together a little disappointing. But it's a shock to Jesse when he wakes up in their Joshua Tree home in the middle of night to bright lights outside and then to see Norman step into that light and disappear. Was it a dream? An alien abduction? Or did Norman simply leave him? Whatever happened, Jesse realizes that Norman is gone and he has to get his life back on track. Meanwhile, Norman's younger sister, Lally, has realized that she's not getting any younger and wants to be a mother, but to do that, she needs the embryos created from her eggs and Jesse's sperm back when Jesse and Norman thought they wanted to be parents, but she needs to find Norman to get him to sign off on releasing the embryos to her. Throw in a private investigator and a conspiracy theorist living next door in an Airstream camper and it seems like one of Steven Rowley's typically outrageous and hilarious books. But that's not what this book is. Yes, it is funny, but it's more touching and thoughtful than laugh-out-loud. This new novel speaks to those moments in life when you're on autopilot, or so you think, and suddenly everything changes, forcing you to correct your course and perhaps even question if it's a course you want to stay on. I gave it 4 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in return for an honest review. This book will be published May 19, 2026.

I'm taking a little break from Emma for a few days, at least, while I catch up on some podcasts and am currently reading The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) on Kindle and The Devil's Grip on paper. How about you -- what are you making and reading this week?