Unraveled, Week 29/2025

Greetings from Nashville! Molly and I arrived safely, albeit a bit delayed. We found out later it was due to weather wherever it was the incoming flight was coming from, but at the time, we thought it was because of this:

In case you can't tell, that's Air Force One -- we saw it as we were taking off.

Though we arrived two hours later than anticipated, it all worked out well. We shared a cab with two other retreat attendees and only had to wait about 15 minutes before we could check into our Vrbo rental.

But enough about our travels -- it's Wednesday, which means it time to check in with Kat and the Unravelers and give an update on my making and my reading.

Before we left, I finished up the neon sock yarn hat I'd been knitting (though I'm sorry to say I didn't check it see if it measured a full Ruthie):

I used my Same as It Ever Was pattern (Ravelry link) and a slightly overweight skein of fingering (it weighed 104 g to begin and I had 3 g remaining). I haven't blocked it yet, obviously, but I plan to stretch it out a bit to make it slouchier and then it'll go in the charity pile.

Finishing up that hat meant I was officially without any projects on the needles, and I'm sure you all know how that makes me feel! So I had to figure out what to start and take for our trip. First, I cast on another hat:

This is using a skein of Fibernymph Dye Works Bedazzled that I bought years ago intending to make socks or something for Molly and never did, and as the colors aren't really me or anyone I knit for regularly, it seemed perfect for another charity hat. I got the increases done on Monday so that it would to the mindless point by the time we left.

I also wound two skeins of sock yarn. One I'd bought at a local fiber festival a number of years ago. Then last year I got another one as a gift from my friend Margene -- and they were the same colorway! Seemed like a perfect way to get Molly in sock knitting, something she's long said she wanted to do. So I wound both skeins and knit a cuff for her (to make it easier for her to work on magic loop):

And I cast on mine in the car on the way to the airport and worked on it while waiting at the gate and while on the plane:

It's entirely possible that I will finish a pair of socks and a hat while we're here, especially without having to work or walk a dog many times a day, so I also brought a spindle and some fiber because the Tour de Fleece is happening right now and I haven't done any spinning since Ruthie came home. And there's also a little market happening on Saturday and a "free to a good home" table throughout the retreat, so I'm sure I could get my hands on more yarn if needed.

I've had a phenomenal week of reading -- I finished four books!

After reading Geraldine Brooks's memoir last week, I decided I should read the last of her novels that I hadn't yet read. The Secret Chord tells the story of King David told by his advisor, the prophet Natan. While the king has achieved mythic status in biblical history, Brooks presents him very much as a fallible man who has weaknesses, jealousies, and insatiable appetites. Some of the story deals with the previous king, Shaul (Saul), and the prophet Shmuel (Samuel), who abandoned him. I can understand why this book would not appeal to some readers and might be confusing to some. Brooks notes that she intentionally uses the Hebrew names of the main players, which are likely to be less familiar. But Shaul and Shmuel were both familiar names to me; the Haftarah I read at my bat mitzvah was from the book of Samuel and dealt with his relationship with Saul. I can't say this was my favorite Brooks novel, but I found it to be compelling because it felt a bit like I was reading about my people's history. King David is perhaps most well known for uniting several kingdoms in what is today Israel and Palestine, and I'd bet most of you have heard of his son Solomon, known for his wise decision making. In any case, I wouldn't rush to reread this one, but I did enjoy it and gave it 4 stars.

Next, I read ahead of schedule a bit and finished The Map of Love, a book from 1999 that Mary, Juliann, and Margene are reading over the course of the summer as we did last year with A Suitable Boy. This book has two timelines nearly a century apart. In the early 1900s, a recently widowed Englishwoman travels to Egypt, keen to see its wonders for herself, and falls in love not only with the country but with a handsome Egyptian man. In the late 1990s, an American falls in love with an Egyptian conductor and travels to Egypt to seek the help of his sister in unraveling the love story of the earlier couple. The older story is told through letters, diary entries, and how the more modern women imagine things playing out. This book has a lot to say about colonialism (there's enough about Kitchener, even though it's only a pretty brief mention, to make you call the stitch to finish a sock toe "grafting" forever). I enjoyed most of the story, but there's a lot about politics, particularly the politics of Arab/Muslim countries in the Middle East, that wasn't to my liking. I liked it but didn't love it. I gave it 3 stars.

I listened to Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space over the course of a week. Though I was alive when the Challenger disaster happened, at the time I was too young to be aware of it, so I only learned about it as an event in history. What this incredibly well-researched book makes clear is that what I learned was very little of the full story and perhaps not even the truth. It goes back to long before the existence of the space shuttle to examine the earlier history of NASA's space efforts, takes side trips to visit the contractors who produced components for the shuttle, and of course gives a full picture of the lives of the astronauts on board. There are a lot of names and positions to keep track of; though the audio begins with a cast of characters, so to speak, I didn't worry too much about trying to keep straight who was who and let the audio just pass by me. In the end, it didn't really matter because the lessons to be learned from the disaster are so much bigger than any one person. I gave it 4 stars -- highly recommend.

Finally, my favorite from the past week was Isola, a work of historical fiction set in 15th-century France. Marguerite is of noble birth, but when she is orphaned, her life and large fortune fall under the control of a cousin, a man with dreams of fame and fortune -- and debts. When the king sends him on an expedition to "New France" (aka Canada), he takes her along, and when she and his secretary fall in love, he abandons them (along with Marguerite's nursemaid) on a remote island. The most stunning part of this book is that is based on a true story. It felt to me like what you might get if you crossed two of Lauren Groff's books, Matrix and The Vaster Wilds. It won't appeal to everyone, but if you like stories of resilient women who are ahead of their time, you might like it. I loved it -- and it reminded me of how I loved Island of the Blue Dolphins as a child. 5 stars.

I'm currently reading We Do Not Part as part of my effort to read the work of the most recent literature Nobel laureate.

What are you making and reading this week?

Done before Midsummer

As promised, I come to you today with an official FO post!

Pattern: Midsommarkrans sleeveless top by Lene Tøsti (Ravelry link), size S
Yarn: Miss Babs Damask (65% cultivated silk, 35% bleached linen) in the colorway Together, 1.3 skeins (546 yds./499 m)
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm) and US 3 (3.25 mm)
Started/Completed: June 8/July 10
Mods: worked different increases for lower body shaping.

You've all heard me complain about this project for weeks on end, but I hope you can tell by my smile how much it was worth all the ripping and reknitting. And I'd honestly do it again, now that I've figured out where I went wrong. I don't usually have any issues keeping my left and my right straight, but something about fronts and backs threw me off -- and it really shouldn't have because this top is completely reversible, so really I just had to do the same thing twice and not think quite so hard about it.

How I'm modeling it here is how I will likely wear it, over a tank or perhaps a dress. I think the v-neck is a bit low in the back to go with just a bra, not to mention that the top feels a bit risqué to me without something underneath, but even on a hot summer day it'll still feel light even with a layer under. This yarn is pretty special, and it was surprisingly comfortable to knit with given that it has no stretch whatsoever. It held up well to the repeated frogging and reknitting, too, so I didn't feel guilty about messing up with a yarn that was not especially cheap. I still have a fair amount leftover, too, which I think would be really nice for one of those little scarves that are all the rage right now. The silk content makes the knit fabric feel really cool, and linen adds some crispness. I expect that it'll soften with wear, too.

The only modification I made to the pattern (or at least the only one I made on purpose and didn't rip out) was working the lower body increases as lifted increases rather than the called-for yarnovers that were to be twisted on the following round. I don't think you can really tell a difference even if you look, and I didn't want to forget to twist a YO and end up having to rip back yet again when I was so close to being done. I opted for the more gentle shaping option; the pattern includes instructions for a straight body or  more pronounced shaping (which I think is what appears in the sample used in the pattern photos) as well. I may have had my issues with the pattern, but given how thorough it is and the fact that it was completely free, I would still recommend it -- provided, of course, that you are a confident knitter and don't need a ton of hand-holding.

This top will be coming with me to Nashville. We leave midday tomorrow and will be back midday Sunday. I am taking my computer with me and plan to continue my regular blogging schedule, so I'll be able to give you some peeks at what we're doing. In the meantime, please send all the good thoughts you can spare the way of the Mister and Ruthie, who I'm hoping will find a way to peacefully coexist at the very minimum (I'm secretly hoping they become good buddies while we're gone).

FO Friday

Friends, I can hardly believe I did it, but look what's done!

Obviously it still needs to be blocked and ends are woven in but not trimmed, but all the knitting is done. And it fits! I tried it on last night to be sure and was greatly relieved (I had been holding it up to me along the way but never actually tried it on). This isn't a proper FO post, of course. After it's blocked, we'll do a photo shoot and I'll share all the details, but for now you can see some proof of life, so to speak.

We've got a hot weekend ahead. Tonight the Mister and I are going out to dinner with some friends, and tomorrow morning is the last session of puppy class. Molly is working tomorrow and then has a friend sleeping over tomorrow evening, and we're all invited to dinner at some friends' on Sunday evening. In between all the usual stuff, Molly and I will need to pack for our trip this weekend. We'll see if we can pack light enough to carry on our luggage or not!

Have a good weekend, friends, and stay cool! Ruthie recommends napping as much as possible.

Unraveled, Week 28/2025

It's Wednesday! Kat isn't hosting an official link-up this week, but I try never to skip an Unraveled Wednesday if I can.

First, thank you for all of your reassurance about Ruthie and the Mister on Monday's post. I'm happy to report that the past two days, he's gone down in the morning, successfully gotten her harness on, and taken her out for a walk. He's fed her whenever he's around at her meal times, given her extra treats, and joined me for the last walk of the day. I expect it'll be rough for a day or so, until she realizes that he's all she's got while Molly and I are away, but I'm feeling better about things, particularly now that he's putting in the effort. (In all honesty, even if we weren't going away, it's important for him to be able to do all the stuff involved with Ruthie. Inevitably there will be a day when I'm sick or hurt and can't take her out, and he needs to be able to do so then. So we're just preparing for that inevitability.)

I don't have a huge update on my knitting because everything is pretty much as it was on Monday. I managed to take a very bad photo of my two WIPs yesterday afternoon, with horrible overhead lighting, and though I was able to improve it a bit on my phone, it's still nowhere near accurate:

I've now gotten through two increases on the body of my Midsommarkrans, and though I haven't touched the hat in several days since I decided to try to finish the tank, I did do a bit of knitting on it over the weekend and have 21 g of yarn left (I'll start the crown when I have 10 g remaining).

It's been a humid and occasionally stormy week here -- in fact, I got soaked walking home from the office yesterday morning -- so the afternoons have been great for curling up for nap (Ruthie) and reading (me). I finished two books in the last week:

I've long been a huge fan of Geraldine Brooks's fiction, and I was on a long wait list at the library for her memoir Memorial Days when it was a Kindle deal and I decided not to wait. Before she was a novelist, Brooks was a journalist, as was her husband, Tony Horwitz. On Memorial Day in 2019, Horwitz was in Washington, D.C., as part of a book tour when he suffered a fatal cardiac event on a sidewalk. This book, told in chapters that alternate between 2019 and three years later, recounts the first days after Horwitz's death and Brooks's journey to a remote cabin on an Australian cabin in an effort to fully process her grief. Her writing, as in her novels, is exquisite, even when she is writing about her very darkest days, and somehow she manages to turn a memoir into a study on mourning and how different cultures do it. It should be a sad read but instead is a moving portrait of how to face tragedy and find reasons to keep going. I gave it 5 stars.

I suppose it was a week for sad books because my other finish was a truly heartbreaking read. Tali Girls was translated into English in 2023, though it was written earlier. Set in Afghanistan beginning in 2002, it tells the stories of three girls living in what seems to be an idyllic rural village as the Taliban is rising to power. What follows is devastating, as their dreams of education, marriage for love, and a life other than one of endless servitude are crushed in a society where illiteracy is high, the patriarchy is fully in power, and corruption is rampant. There were moments in this book that were incredibly hard to read, but it was also very worthwhile, in my opinion, for a look into a society about which Westerners really know little. I gave it 4 stars.

I'm still reading The Map of Love, though I have less than 100 pages left to read, and this week I've started Challenger on audio and The Secret Chord -- the last Geraldine Brooks novel I have to read to have read all of them -- on Kindle.

What are you making and reading this week?

Holiday Weekending

It was a hot long weekend here. Friday ended up being much less relaxing than I'd hoped. I went for a run and cleaned bathrooms as planned, but then the Mister decided to get out our steam cleaner to clean the bathroom floor, some of the hardwood floor, the cooktop, and the sliding glass doors at the back of the house that open up to the back deck. All of this was happening in the kitchen and family room -- the two rooms where Ruthie lives -- which means she didn't get much rest. And then we had family over, so lots of people. Let's just say she was a very tired girl Friday night! The good news is that she seemed completely oblivious to the fireworks. I did buy a white noise machine for near her crate, and I'm sure that helped (or at least it didn't hurt).

We went to our penultimate puppy class on Saturday morning. I'm going to miss seeing the puppies playing together after next week, but I won't miss the stress of driving there and back and worrying if/when Ruthie is going to get carsick! Molly worked from 10 to 2, and after she got home, we went over to swim at some family friends' pool for a little. Then we had plans to go out to dinner with a friend of Molly's and her parents, which was very fun but made for a later night.

Yesterday was thankfully calmer (though Ruthie was up before 6, ugh!). At one point, there were three of us napping on the couch in the family room! My nap was pretty brief, though, and I spent the afternoon reading and working on my Midsommarkrans, which is now cruising down the body:

It may be ambitious to get this done in the next week-ish, but it's not entirely out of the question. The knitting at this point is simple enough that I can work on it downstairs while Ruthie naps. At this stage, the only thing that happens other than stockinette in the round is four decreases (at markers) every 12th round. After I work those decreases four times in total, I work even for a bit and then work four sets of increases at the markers. The bottom is finished off with a round of eyelets (yo, k2tog around) and several rounds of garter stitch -- easy peasy. I'm enjoying this yarn so much, too, that I'm thinking that perhaps I will pick up another couple of skeins at the SSK market to make the other top that I originally bought these for!

Speaking of SSK, this week is all about getting ready for it, and frankly I'm nervous. The Mister is going to have to do a lot with Ruthie, which is a challenge given that she's still skittish around him. He's been joining me on walks the past several days, and I have him giving her treats and feeding her whenever possible. But it's going to be a challenge: I am clearly her person and have been doing pretty much everything (I think Molly has taken her out on her own twice, and one of those times was when I was sick and physically couldn't), so getting Ruthie to trust him enough to let him take her out for walks is a big ask. He's not happy about it, either, as he's not a huge fan of hers because she barks at him and runs away from him (see the vicious circle here?). If it were just me going to SSK, I would cancel at this point, but Molly is so excited about going that I'd hate to do that. So send some positive thoughts our way, would you?

A Free Friday

It's Friday, and it's Independence Day here in the United States, though I'm not feeling much like celebrating this year. Still, I have the day off (not that I slept in, because some-puppy was up before 6) and we're having family over for a cookout this evening. Otherwise, it's going to be a normal day. I'm going to go for a run a little later and then have to clean all the bathrooms and do some laundry. Ruthie and I will likely curl up on the couch for a nap this afternoon. And tonight I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that the fireworks don't wake her up and scare her (she's been indifferent to thunder, so I'm hoping the booms don't bother her, either).

I don't have much of a knitting update, but here's a new photo of my Midsommarkrans, with the body well under way:

I worked all the top sections using one skein of yarn (I didn't want to add to the complexity by also alternating skeins), but now that I'm working stockinette in the round, I've added in the second skein and am alternating every round. The body is very simple, with the only thing to pay attention to is some simple shaping -- decreases and then increases at four points indicated by stitch markers. I think it might be overly ambitious to have this done to take to SSK in less than two weeks, but at worst I can take it with me and likely finish it while we're there. I'm going to have to start thinking about what to take with me in any case and soon.

We've got a hot summer weekend ahead. Molly is working tomorrow, after which we may go swimming, and tomorrow night we have plans to go out to dinner with one of her closest friends and her parents. Other than that, it will be the usual -- puppy class, walks, naps, etc.

If you're off today, I hope you enjoy your long weekend. If you're not, I hope the day passes quickly so you can get to your weekend. See you all back here on Monday!

Unraveling, Week 27/2025

Happy Wednesday, friends. The world is still a bit of a dumpster fire, but at least it's no longer hotter than Hades here. We've had quite a bit of rain, including an unexpected downpour yesterday when I was taking Ruthie to the vet to get her second round of vaccinations, so I'm still very much in the mode of not bothering to try to blow-dry my hair or look presentable. But I did manage to run on Monday -- not as much as usual, because it was super humid, but it was something!

But let's back up a bit. I have to share a photo from Ruthie's playdate last Friday, at which much fun was had by all:

Bagel and Ruthie ran around the whole time (while Star, Bagel's older sister, mostly ignored their shenanigans) and got on very well together. At one point they even disappeared upstairs somewhere, where I hope they didn't get into too much trouble! She also had a fun time at puppy class on Saturday morning (we were one for two on car sickness), and we had very enjoyable afternoons sitting together on the couch. We've basically given up on keeping her off of it and got a slipcover, on top of which I have "her" blanket on the chaise portion, and it's very comfortable to sit there with her napping next to me. As a result of those naps, I've gotten a fair amount of knitting done on my hat:

She was asleep, otherwise I'd never have risked this!

I haven't measured the length of the hat or weighed my yarn, but I can't tell you it's about 2/3 of a Ruthie!

And significant progress has been made on my Midsommarkrans -- just look at this!

I've completed the lace chart for the v-necks on both the front and the back. There's a small gusset chart under each arm, too, that brings the edging together nicely. I have a feeling that there's going to be a lot more of this tank to share the next time you see it!

I've done a fair amount of reading in the past week while Ruthie has been napping and finished two books.

While the news of Indigenous children dying at residential schools in North America in the 19th and 20th centuries has only relatively recently been widely reported, it is something that their communities have known the whole time. The Knowing: How the Oppression of Indigenous Peoples Continues to Echo Today takes on the subject of the residential schools in Canada and shows how it was part of a larger effort by colonizers to oppress and erase First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people. The author is a journalist with a long history of writing about Canada's Indigenous peoples and is herself Indigenous. Woven throughout her exploration of the residential school system is a memoir of sorts; part of her impetus for writing the book was trying to figure out what had happened to her great-grandmother, who was essentially imprisoned and died in a psychiatric hospital. This is a difficult book to read. It doesn't hold back in detailing the cruelty in ripping children from their families and communities to place them in residential schools where they faced substandard living conditions, frequent spread of illness and disease, and often starvation. And that is to say nothing of the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse often inflicted upon them. While the book focuses on Canada, it's clear that the residential school system in the United States was no different and, in some cases, even influenced its neighbor to the north. Nothing can undo the harm that was done, but I believe in learning about it, we can show our respect for those who have been lost. I gave it 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/Hanover Square Press for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in return for an honest review. This book will be published July 15, 2025.

My other finish this week was a backlist title ahead of one of my library holds. A Separation came out in 2017; I have Katie Kitamura's most recent book on hold, and Mary suggested I explore some of her backlist in the meantime. This one had no wait from the library, so I thought I try it. This is a quiet novel, mostly the thoughts of the unnamed narrator. There is a small amount of dialogue, but notably it's not in quotation marks, so sometimes it's hard to tell what's been spoken and what's only been thought. The plot, such as it is, is minimal: At the outset, the narrator has gotten a call from her mother-in-law, who believes all is not right with her son, who has traveled on his own to Greece, ostensibly to conduct research for a book he is writing. What the narrator knows and her mother-in-law does not, however, is that she and her husband have separated, but he asked her to keep it a secret for the time being. And now she is being sent after him to see what has happened to him and is finding herself split between the almost ex-wife she knows she is and the wife everyone else believes her to be and trying to navigate that split identity as she searches for her husband, who has gone missing. I could certainly see the author's writing ability, but some of my enjoyment of the book was diminished because I couldn't turn my editor brain off (the comma splices, oy vey!). It's at least relatively short, so not a long read, but still it's one I'd recommend to very few people (Vera, this one is not for you!). I gave it 3 stars.

What are you making and reading this week? Be sure to visit Kat and the other Unravelers to see what they're up to!

Less in 2025: June

Is anyone else in absolute shock that today is the last day of June? Despite the longer days, this month always seem to pass much faster than I'd like, but this year it seemed especially quick, I suppose because I lost some days due to illness (mine and Ruthie's).

So how has Less made itself apparent in my life this month? Several ways.

To start with, there's certainly Less in my wallet after trips to the vet, urgent care, the pharmacy, and the vet twice more (to pick up meds). I'm sure in the long run, my health care is a lot more expensive, but the bills were certainly bigger for Ruthie this month!

There is also these days Less of me. Those of you who have been reading for a long time might remember that several years ago, when my cholesterol was starting to get a little high, I made some major changes to lose weight and get it down, and I've been maintaining my weight ever since. But this month, in spite of more than a few days of not exercising at all (first because I was ill, then because of the extreme heat), I've lost more weight. I know part of it is due to anxiety about the aforementioned illnesses; when I'm really worried about something, I lose my appetite. But I think another part of it has been because it's rare these days to find me sitting down, especially at a mealtime. Keeping an eye on a puppy who is always getting into mischief can be a full-time job, and it can be even more challenging at breakfast and lunch when I'm the only one here with her. It is ironic that I'm losing weight without trying or wanting to for probably the first time ever in my life! I am keeping an eye on it, just in case it's not my increased level of physical activity and something that merits seeking medical attention, but for now I'm just trying to make sure I'm eating enough.

On a more positive side, this month there's also been Less to-do about puppy bedtime. Hearkening back to when Molly was little and demanded I stay with her until she fell asleep, I had been sitting with Ruthie in the evening after her final walk, letting her curl up and fall asleep in her bed, and then trying to transfer her to her crate and leave before she woke up. Kym told me that I was pretty much nuts to do that (well, she said it using much nicer words) because I was letter Ruthie have all the control. Instead, she advised, say goodnight, put her in her crate, and leave her. And naturally she was right. We have a bedtime routine now -- I sing a little to her (I changed the words of "Goodnight, Ladies" from The Music Man to "Goodnight, Ruthie), put her in her crate and pet her for a minute, then close the door and leave. For the first week and a half or so, she cried and barked for up to an hour. Lately, though, she has been great. I hold her when I start to sing and then put her down in front of her crate, and she goes right in and curls up. If we hear anything from her, it's either a noise she's making in her sleep or there's something outside she's barking out, and it's usually very brief. I'm hoping one day we'll get to the point where she puts herself to bed, but I have a feeling we've got a while until that happens. In the meantime, I'm enjoying our little snuggles and then having my evening back.

Thank you to Kat for hosting our monthly One Little Word link-ups! Be sure to visit her post for today to read her reflection and get links to others'.

TGIF

What a week it has been, friends! The heat has been something else. I know other places have had it worse and I am lucky to have AC to hide out in, but just taking Ruthie out for (brief) walks has been enough to leave me dripping. I made the executive decision to not worry about exercising this week -- too dangerous to do outside, frankly -- and have accepted that I'll be a little stinky all day until I shower before bed. I haven't blown my hair dry in a week, not that I've needed to, and much of my time has been spent in a dark room. We finally got a brief thunderstorm late yesterday afternoon. It didn't do anything for the humidity, but it at least dropped the heat index by about 20 degrees. Today we're only (ha) supposed to reach a high of 88ºF. Still a bit too warm for me, but it's better than mid- to upper 90s.

While I haven't made a ton of progress on my Midsommarkrans, I am happy to report that I have conquered the left/right confusion and have 3/4 panels done and the fourth under way:

After knitting and reknitting so many times, I am finding that I am getting faster at the lace because I'm not checking the stitch key as often. I've just started the neck shaping on this panel and it's moving right along. I hope that by next week, I'll have joined all four panels in the round and gotten started on the body.

By way of a pup-date, I'll let you know that Ruthie is doing much better (although she did wake me up at 4:30 a.m. yesterday -- good thing I had the day off and could nap with her in the afternoon!). She has a playdate with Bagel this morning and puppy class tomorrow morning, and she's had a couple of quick play sessions with the pups on the next street over this week when we've happened to run into them on a walk. She has been enjoying taking naps on these hot days, which isn't much of a departure from her usual routine except that I've been next to her. We've pretty much given up on keeping her off the couch in the family room, so we got a slipcover to protect the upholstery and it's working well. She still occasionally "digs" or chews on it, but, you know, puppy.

I am not going to express any hopes or expectations for the weekend ahead because that hasn't gone at all well the past two weeks. Instead, I'll say I hope it's a good one for you, and I'll leave you with the spectacular rainbow we spotted when we went out for our last walk yesterday evening, right after the showers moved through.

Unraveling, Week 26/2025

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!

It's Always Something, Part III

Remember when weekends used to be calm? We've started an extreme heat wave here, and of course that's when Ruthie would have, um, let's say "the runs." I suspect that it's likely due to her parasite treatment based on my internet research, but I will be calling the vet when they open this morning (assuming the night goes okay -- I'm writing this Sunday night to save time). My biggest concern has been dehydration, because it's already a concern with the heat, and lately she's been more interested in playing with her water dish than drinking from it. But I got some good recommendations from an Instagram post, including boiling chicken in water and giving her the broth, and that was a huge help! I'll let you all know how she's doing and what the vet says, but send healing thoughts her way if you're so inclined.

Update from Monday morning: She slept all night and had a solid poop to start the day! Things are at least heading in the right direction!

Before all the drama yesterday, I was able to finish my Kouyou. I still have to find time to weave in ends and block, but it is done! And I have started another project, using a skein of yarn that I hand-wound while Ruthie was napping on Saturday afternoon:

This is a skein that's been in my stash for many years. It came from the Steel City Fiber Collective, an effort that closed up many years ago. This is a sparkly sock yarn with a neon rainbow in it, and I thought it would be perfect for a charity hat cast on during Pride Month. I'm making my own pattern again and will knit until I'm out of yarn. It'll make for good mindless knitting while reading (which I need, because I got a library hold on Saturday).

The weekend wasn't all doom and gloom (and heat) -- Ruthie had a great time at puppy class on Saturday morning! Here's a video of her running around with some of the other pups:

She's getting less timid and clearly enjoys having the space to run!

Here's hoping your weekend was better than mine. Stay cool and hydrated, friends!

A Free Friday

TGIF, friends! I always love having a Friday off from work, and it's even better when you've also been off the day before! I still had to get up early (well, the normal time) yesterday to get to my follow-up appointment (everything is normal and good!), and my day didn't look all that different because of Ruthie, but it was so nice to not be tied to my laptop all day. Also, Ruthie had a playdate with two other puppies in the neighborhood that I couldn't have taken her to had it been a regular workday, and we both very much enjoyed that. Today will be more of the same, I expect.

I promised you an update on my Midsommarkrans top, and today feels like a very appropriate day to do it given that "Midsommar" is the Swedish festival for the summer solstice, which just happens to be today! Here is what it looks like at the moment:

In the midst of my illness, it took me a while to work the joining row for the front, but once I was feeling better, I made excellent progress. On Wednesday evening, I was getting ready to finish up the left back panel when I picked up the piece and took a good look at it -- only to realize I had done it completely wrong. Lest you think it was the illness causing it, I want to share with you the instructions for the back panels. See if you can figure out where I went wrong:

Can you see the problem? If not, does this help?

That old adage about getting what you paid for is completely true when it comes to this free pattern, not to mention that the designer's first language does not appear to be English because I've come across some other weird instructions and a few typos. What this should say, for the left side of the back, is to work it as for the right front. I had worked the left, as written here, and that resulted in the lace panel ending up closer to the armhole than the neck. Riiiiip! I've restarted and knit back most of what I ripped, but at least I know what I'm doing now. I think I have now ripped and reknit this one sweater more than any other project I've ever worked on, but I am now even more determined to get it right!

I expect that by next week I'll have finished my Kouyou, as I only have a handful of rows remaining (they're long rows, of course, and the bind-off has picots so will take some extra time). And I've pulled out some yarn to wind for my next mindless project, which I'll share next week. This weekend we have plans to get together with some friends who are moving out of town next month, and Ruthie and I will go to puppy class tomorrow morning. I hope this time she's a little more adventurous when it comes to playing with other dogs. She and I both wish you a good weekend -- enjoy the longest day of the year today if you're in the Northern Hemisphere!

Please admire my long legs!

Unraveling, Week 25/2025

Thank you all, first of all, for your concern and your good wishes. I'm feeling so much better and am so grateful for modern medicine! I have a follow-up appointment with a provider in my OBGYN practice tomorrow morning (one who happens to be a nurse-midwife, so who is presumably very familiar with this sort of thing). I will certainly be asking if she has any insight into how I could have gotten mastitis without actively breastfeeding; the last time I had it -- the only other time -- was when Molly was 2 months old and clogged milk ducts were a typical thing for me.

Today is my Friday, but it's technically Wednesday, which means it's time to join up with Kat and the Unravelers. And I have an FO to share that I completely forgot about on Monday!

I'm sure the pattern doesn't need any introduction, but just in case you're new to my corner of the blogosphere, this is the ever-popular Hitchhiker (Ravelry link). I used all but about 3 g of yarn from a skein of Old Rusted Chair Sock that originally weighed 108 g, so I used 420 yards in total. I also went up to a US 5/3.75 mm needle, so I only got 37 teeth on this particular shawl. It may not have the recommended 42 teeth, but I like how well the variegated colorway played with the garter stitch. The colorway is called Panic in Detroit, which is apparently a David Bowie song, but I bought it because, in addition to just liking it, my father's originally from Detroit and, moreover, I was shopping with a friend from suburban Detroit. This was part of my SSK 2023 stash, which I have actively been trying to use up before Molly and I go to SSK this year. I took a photo of what I came home with two summers ago, and as I've been using items, I've been crossing them out on the photo. Here's where things stand now:

That pale pink on the right is what I'm using for my Midsommarkrans tank, which may not be done before we get to SSK but at least is on the needles. All that's left is the two skeins of Stranded Dyeworks that I bought to make something for Molly, but she hasn't been able to figure out anything she wants me to make with it, so it may stay in the stash.

In other news, Ruthie took a good nap yesterday afternoon and I got a good number of rows knit on my Kouyou, though it still doesn't look like much because it's lace and not yet blocked. That didn't stop her from trying to taste it, though.

The colors aren't quite right because I snapped this in the family room with the overhead lights on in a hurry so that it didn't end up in her mouth, so this photo doesn't do it justice. The handspun has a lot of sparkle and bits of color in it. I will be sure to take better photos in good lighting when it's done.

I don't have an update on my tank because I had to rip and redo the joining row so many times that I haven't gotten much done on it, but I will definitely share more on Friday.

Reading has continued and I finished two books this week.

I'd had Banyan Moon on my Kindle shelf for a while and finally got around to reading it. It's a family drama following three women: Minh, who immigrated to the United States from Vietnam following the death of her husband; Huong, her daughter; and Ann, her granddaughter. The three are connected as members of the same family but also by the Banyan House, an aging home full of the belongings of the former owner. When Minh dies and Ann comes home to say good-bye, Ann and Huong are forced to confront their semi-estrangement and Ann has to make decisions about what to do about her relationship with her boyfriend, given his recent revelation of a betrayal and her recent discovery of her pregnancy. The book deals with the relationships between mothers and daughters but also about personal identity, what makes a home, and what we inherit. It was an enjoyable read. I gave it 4 stars.

My other finish wasn't one I'd been wanting to read, but it's what I picked when I was caught up on podcasts and was looking at audiobooks that were available from the library and could be listened to in two to three days. The Silent Patient is billed as a psychological thriller and a mystery to uncover why an artist shot her husband dead and then refused to speak. It's told mostly from the point of view of her psychotherapist, with entries from her journal interspersed, and of course there's a twist at the end. I found it entertaining enough to listen to, but overall it felt like another example of a woman's concerns being written off as mental illness. I didn't necessarily see the twist coming, but I expected it all the same. I gave it 2 stars. 

I'll be back on (real) Friday with another update on my knitting and a report on what I find out at my appointment tomorrow!

It's Always Something, Part II

Can I get a do-over on the weekend? I was hoping it would be quiet and relaxing, but it seems like when I need that, I don't get it. I never heard back about whether Ruthie could attend puppy class, but it ended up being a moot point after I nearly fainted while walking her Saturday morning and then felt awful the rest of the day. I was exhausted (likely because Ruthie was up barking for several hours Friday night), my body hurt, I had chills, and I had a terrible sinus headache. I wasn't sure what was wrong with me. The Mister told me to go back to bed for a bit and sat with Ruthie, and in the afternoon all three of us girls snoozed. I slept well Saturday night and felt a little better when I got up on Sunday, but when I was looking in the mirror before stepping into the shower, I realized what the problem was. A visit to urgent care later in the day confirmed a case of mastitis (yes, even though I haven't nursed a baby in well more than a decade!). I'm now on antibiotics and hoping that they kick in soon, though Tylenol is helping with the aches and pains. On top of my list today is calling my OB/GYN to get in in a few days to get it checked out to be sure everything is as it should be.

If you want to know just how terrible I felt on Saturday, I will tell you that it was bad enough that I couldn't knit. It's been a long time since that happened. I think part of it was certainly the worry over not knowing what was wrong with me, so even though things weren't that much better on Sunday, I at least was pretty sure what the problem was and was just waiting for confirmation, so while Ruthie napped, I watched the U.S. Open and pulled out my Kouyou to figure out where I was going wrong.

It turns out that it was partly user error and partly bad charting. It seems that the four total border stitches (which are meant to be worked in garter stitch) are included in the chart, but I didn't realize that because they're charted as being in stockinette, so I was assuming what was on the chart was only the body stitches. Once I reread the instructions and realized the issue, everything worked out perfectly.

My Midsommarkrans top is making progress, too, though slowly. I've reached the point on the left and right front where the two pieces will be joined to complete the lace feature.

The good news is that it's a three-day week for me. The university is closed on Thursday for Juneteenth, and then I'm taking Friday off (using one of my two personal days that go poof at the end of the month if I don't use them). I don't expect my days off to be all that different, given that Ruthie doesn't understand that she can sleep in, but at least I won't be tied to a laptop all day. Here's hoping the next three days go quickly and easily! And just because, here's a photo of my girls. Clearly we're failing at keeping Ruthie off the couch!

It's Always Something!

I am so glad that it's Friday today. It's been a long week -- and a hot week, too. With Ruthie's vet visit on Tuesday and a dentist appointment for me Wednesday morning, our usual schedule has gotten disrupted, and combine that with the heat and you get a grumpy, worn-out me. To add to it, I got a call from the vet on Wednesday saying that Ruthie's, um, sample had tested positive for a parasite, so I had to go back to pick up two medications for her. Poor thing. Fortunately she doesn't seem to be having symptoms, and she really doesn't mind getting the peanut butter and cheese that are the vehicles for getting the meds into her, but it's one more thing to worry about. 

I haven't gotten much knitting or reading done the past several days, for obvious reasons, though I've added a tooth or two to my Hitchhiker each afternoon and the remaining yarn is quickly getting smaller. I think I should be able to finish it up soon, and I think I'm going to give it to my mother as a birthday present because I don't have time to knit her a pair of socks. I'm hoping to find some quiet time this weekend to try to figure out the lace on my Kouyou again; I've put it aside since the two failed attempts and am hoping the break will help me to clarify things.

We have no big plans for the weekend other than a Father's Day brunch with my family. I'm not even sure if Ruthie and I can attend puppy class on Saturday morning (I'm waiting to hear back about whether it's okay because she'll have been on the medication for several days by that point). With no exciting knitting photos to share, I'll leave you with a shot of my hydrangeas, which have just exploded with blooms in all shades the past couple of weeks:

and a shot of Ruthie -- just because (and hey, today also marks two months since she joined our family!):

Have a good weekend, friends!

Unraveled, Week 24/2025

Happy Wednesday! It's shaping up to be a beautiful day here, and it's my favorite blogging day of the week. Time to join in with Kat and the Unravelers!

First, I'll let you all know that Ruthie was a real trooper at her vet appointment. Though I'm sure they say this to all the dogs who come in, the staff really fawned over her and kept telling her how cute she was. She also got lots of treats and an entire individual container of peanut butter -- all of which came out of her on the way home, poor thing! But she did really well with getting her vaccines and will go back for the second round in three weeks. We also got good recommendations for further training and some things to try to help her be less anxious. And this practice also offers what they call "happy visits," where you can schedule a time to go in for a short period of time where nothing scary happens so that the pet doesn't associate going to the vet with only the traumatic stuff.

As for the knitting, the Hitchhiker has grown a bit since you last saw it (it's my go-to afternoon nap knitting) and I managed to finally cast on my summer top using the linen/silk yarn. I don't have a lot to show for a couple of evenings with it (it's a pretty involved pattern, so I'm pausing to check it frequently), but it sure is pretty.

I finished a pair of books this week.

After last week's Lily King finish, I decided to delve into her back catalog for an audiobook and found Euphoria available on Hoopla. To be perfectly honest, I didn't really look into what it was about before borrowing it because I knew I like the author's work and wanted to read more of it. This novel is set in New Guinea in the 1930s and focuses on a trio of anthropologists: American Nell Stone; her husband, Fen, from Australia or New Zealand; and the British Andrew Bankson. All three are studying the native tribes. Soon it becomes clear that Fen resents his wife's success and that Bankson is in love with her, and in the context of upheaval within the tribe with whom they're living, it all comes to a head. I didn't realize until later, when looking for more information about the book because so much had flown by me on audio, that these characters are based on real people -- Margaret Mead, Reo Fortune, and Gregory Bateson. I thought the writing was good and the narration of the audiobook was well done, but I didn't love the story and felt like I was missing a lot by not reading with my eyes. I gave it 3 stars.

Black Cake was popping up a lot of places a few years ago, and I'd heard it mentioned again recently following the publication of the author's most recent book, so I thought I'd give it a try. This is a novel about adult siblings who are estranged but who come together following the death of their mother and soon learn that nearly everything they knew about her was a lie. The mother tells her story, via a recording she made for her children when she realized her time was limited, taking them back to an unnamed Caribbean island (presumably Jamaica), then to the UK, and finally to California. Through it all, the constant is the traditional black cake, a recipe handed down from one generation to the next and signifying the connection to home, even across oceans and continents. I thought it was a fairly entertaining read, though I figured out a number of the mysteries before they were revealed and thought that there were maybe too many cliffhangers from one chapter to the next. It's a good summer read, for when you want the pages to turn quickly and don't want to have to think too hard. I gave it 3 stars.

It seems I'm in the mood for family stories, because that's how you could classify both of my current reads: Banyan Moon and The Map of Love. 

I'll leave you with this, one of many positions that don't look comfortable in the least to me but in which Ruthie seems to like to sleep:

Still Drying Out

I'm sure you'll all be shocked by this, but we had more rain over the weekend. It poured late in the day on Friday and rained overnight. It did clear up a bit during the day on Saturday, but it came back overnight and rained off and on for most of yesterday. And it's been warm, so it's very humid out there. It's the time of year when blowing my hair dry is a bit of an exercise in futility!

Puppy class went well on Saturday. I didn't give Ruthie anything to eat other than a few small treats for going to the bathroom outside before we left, but she was still sick in the car on the way there (fortunately, I had a towel under her and it wasn't much). She did much better on the way home, I think because she finally figured out that if she was lying down, it wasn't so bad. Mostly she just drooled. The class instructor recommended putting her in a crate in the car, at least until she grows out of it, so I ordered a travel crate to use for transporting her. If this video will work, you can see a bit of class. Most of the hour is free play for the puppies, so they can get used to socializing with each other and with other people. During this time, you're not allowed to to call or interact with your own dog, though you are free to do so with other dogs. Ruthie was definitely a bit reserved, but she didn't hide under my chair the whole time and did interact with some of the other dogs.

In terms of knitting, all I've really made progress on is my Hitchhiker. It's been the easiest thing to pick up and put down quickly. I attempted to start the lace on my Kouyou but had to tink back twice because I got to the end of the row and didn't have the correct number of stitches to finish the pattern. I think I will need to mark off the number of stitches required for each repeat with stitch markers before I try again. I think once I have the lace established, it'll be easier to find my place, but clearly my brain hasn't been fully engaged thus far. Thank goodness for the simplicity of the Hitchhiker!

The last time I counted, I had 31 teeth, but I don't know if the yarn that remains is enough to get me to the official 42. We'll see!

This week the (golf) U.S. Open is in town, and the Mister will be attending a couple of days because his company has some sort of sponsorship thing there. Molly's scheduled for two shifts at her job, and I've got my usual schedule. This week's challenge is to try to keep Ruthie off the couch. She's not supposed to be on it, so of course it's the only place she wants to be. The puppy class instructor recommended giving her a better alternative (cuddles, treats, etc.), but of course now she seems to be going on the couch on purpose to get whatever the reward is for getting off. She likes to push my buttons!

Finally, because I know some of you asked to know, I wanted to let you know that more than 90% of the households who voted yesterday were in favor of unification, and the numbers for the other congregation were similar. So we will soon have a new entity forming!