Unraveled, Week 7/2026

It's Wednesday, which means it's my day to join with Kat and the Unravelers -- and this week I do have some unraveling to report, a rarity for me!

When you last saw it on Monday, my Melt the ICE hat was at the decreases. I took it to Molly's dentist appointment so I could work on it in the waiting room, and then I pulled it out again in the afternoon while Ruthie snoozed. I was getting pretty close to the end when I paused and actually looked at my knitting (I was reading at the same time, so that was holding most of my attention), only to realize that something was very off. It was only last week that I had trouble counting to two, and it seems I also had some trouble dividing my stitches in half when I set up this hat for magic loop. I had 12 stitches on one half and 20+ on the other, so somewhere along the way I'd miscounted. Fortunately the yarn I'm using is very sticky and is being knit at a firm gauge, so I pulled it off the needles and unraveled back to the start of the decreases (that took a bit of time, as I'm alternating skeins and had to pause every now and then to untangle). I got the stitches back on the needle and this time actually followed the pattern to place some markers and do my decreases in the correct spot -- yes, I'd thought I knew better, and didn't it come back to bit me in the end? I'm back on track and nearly to where I was when I discovered the problem, so I should have a finished hat in another day or so.

In the meantime, I had brought yarn and needles downstairs to have on hand anticipating that I was going to finish the hat, and when I realized I'd screwed it up, I put it aside and cast on for a new project:

This is some Knit Picks Wonderfluff that I bought several years back when it was on sale and I was trying to get to free shipping. It's a bulky weight, but because it's made of a nylon tube into which merino and baby alpaca is blown, it's very light. The fuzziness makes it a little trickier to knit with than a smooth yarn, but the softness makes up for it. I'm knitting up another version of this hat that I improvised with some scraps last month and contemplating writing up a pattern -- I figured I should make a version in a single yarn to see if it works out and then make a decision.

The cowl is still on the needles but doesn't look much different. I'm trying to focus on it to get it done this week, if at all possible, so I can make the necessary revisions to the pattern and get it back to my tech editor.

As I continue to chip away at Anna Karenina at a rate of about 5% per day, on average, I've been able to listen to a couple of audiobooks this week.

There are often books I read because friends who are readers I respect read and recommend them. That was why I picked up The Wordy Shipmates, a work of nonfiction focused on the Puritans who settled in New England in the early days of the American colonies and left behind quite a bit of writing in the form of journals, essays, pamphlets, sermons, and even novels. The author, a historian, takes a close look at their thoughts, so many of which formed the basis of many of the ideals of the new nation, and unflinchingly points out the hypocrisy in the fact that they fled England allegedly to seek religious freedom yet became intolerant of those who acted against their interpretations. I enjoyed the book, though perhaps didn't listen at the right time (this was when Ruthie was under the weather), so I had a hard time following and staying focused at time. I did find it to be well written and funny, but I probably didn't get as much out of it as I could have had it read it at a different time. I also enjoyed the audio narration; it's mostly read by the author, but a number of actors play the roles of Puritans whose writings are quoted. I gave it 3 stars.

Though from the title you might think that Homeschooled is primarily about homeschooling, and indeed it's a central part of the narrative, really it's a narrative about a son and his relationship with his mother. When Stefan Block was 9, his mother decided that the public school system in Plano, Texas, was no good for him and that it would be better if she homeschooled him -- despite having no background in education or instruction. In many ways, though, this effort seemed to be a way to keep her youngest child close and a reaction to his getting older. The author struggled to reconcile the great freedom he gained at home with his loneliness from being separated from his peers and constantly worried whether he'd ever be able to get back to school -- and if doing so would alienate him forever from his mother. Though this memoir wasn't as hard to read as others I've read that deal with similar themes, I found it sad to learn how much Block missed out on due to his mother's unfounded beliefs about the education system and unwillingness to accept that her child would eventually grow up and leave her. But the memoir is well done, with moments of humor to offset the sad moments, and well narrated by the author. I gave it 4 stars.

To round out this post, I though I'd share an early sign of spring spotted in my neighborhood (even though there's now in the forecast for this weekend):

Spring may not be here yet, but it's definitely on its way!