What I made, by Sharon

This is part two of a series where you learn more about me, based on the NetGalley review books I request and review. (Part 1 here .) Today we are talking about music.  I'm not the biggest music fan. I listen to music, but it's more a "lets put something on while I cook dinner" than a "$1200 for Taylor Swift tickets, seems like a bargain" kind of thing. Recently two books about artists I like (and occasionally listen to) came up on Negalley: Dolly Parton: 100 Remarkable Moments in an Extraordinary Life by Tracey Laird (publishing 10/10/2023) This is a measured, well researched and comprehensive scan across Dolly's whole career. It has lots of information, photos of Dolly across her career and an informative, factual and easy to read tone and layout. It uses a wide range of secondary sources to provide this information. What this book does not do (or try to do) is provide any new or controversial material. It would make a great coffee table book, and I...

 After I finished the books I was struggling with last week (except the romance, I'll leave that for another day) I started We Once Were Giants by J.E. Fishman. It's a NetGalley review book that I requested based solely on the description and it is SO GOOD.   It's a dystopian, near future quest novel set in a world beset by climate change, pollution and their results - poor crop yields, reducing fertility and heat, so much heat. Drop and his band of friends, allies and enemies travel from what's left of Manhattan, trying to find a seed bank in Antarctica. This book is so well written and believably plotted and I cannot put it down. It's dark, but also hopeful and I'm loving it. Highly recommended, if you like this kind of thing. I've nearly finished it, and next us in a review copy of Hold My Girl by Charlene Carr, a novel with one of my favourite tropes - accidentally swapped babies or embryos.   Leon and I are also listening to Gideon the Ninth  ...

I have to say good-bye to a pair of socks that have been in my life since 2011. they were Pomatomus by Cookie A, and I knit them out of the first yarn I ever dyed.I knit them in sOctober 2011, and I've worn them pretty regularly since, so they have had a good run, but I found a hole in the heel and when I thought about darning them i realised how thin there are on both the ball and the toes.   They represent such a time in my life - when it felt like everything in knitting was new to me and waiting to be discovered, and that I could never knit enough socks. Ravelry was newish, blogs were vibrant and active and Cookie A was just starting out on her design journey. How much has changed in a decade! Apparently it's nostalgia Monday today! I'm wearing these worn out socks for one last time,a nd then I will let them go.  

I've been having trouble getting into reading this week, and that is really not like me. I'm not usually a mood reader, and I've tried three different (very different) genres, and nothing has really held my interest. I started with my next NetGalley review book The Book of Paradise , which is a very odd book first published in 1939. It's giving me Good Omen's vibes, but it's also very strange and has a talking baby. I wanted something more accessible , so I started Traitors Run , which is marketed as a space opera.   There is a lot of world building here, and two main viewpoints, one in first person and one in third person, which was odd. I didn't get into it  because it was a bit epic and big for my mood so I took a break to read a romance, but that seemed too small and simple. See what I mean about my reading mood being difficult? Anyway, I put the romance aside and am now quite enjoying Traitor's Run . The story is coming clear it just takes a (very ...

  We have a moth problem. I've known for quite a while that something has been gently nibbling at my knitwear, but I've been in denial (except when I've been sad about it). I'm an artist, and my tools of trade are wool.  On Thursday I put on a pair of long socks to wear around the house. When I took them off I discovered three large holes in the sole.  But I didn't notice them when I put the socks on, and normally holes in the sole = cold patches. Then on Friday I wore my Ancasta Dress . At the end of the day, after dinner, I noticed a hole in the sleeve, near the wrist.  I don't know if this is because the bugs eat nearly through the yarn, and then it comes apart on wearing, or if I just don't notice - although I have taken to checking my clothes before putting them on. Anyway, I took out each of my knitted items, gave them a shake and vacuumed the shelves. Hopefully that will minimise the damage, and - if nothing else - my jumpers are now folded pro...

I realised recently that when reviewing books, particularly non-fiction, the reviewer is also telling the reader about themselves, what they like and what they do. Since this blog is all about these things, here are reviews two non-fiction books, that with reveal everything about my character and personality that you need to know.  As usual these were given to me by NetGalley, in exchange for honest reviews.  The Chocolate Chip Cookie Book by Katie Jacobs (releases October 3rd 2023) I love chocolate chip biscuits, and I'd been struggling with my biscuits never flattening out in the oven. I'd done a bunch of research, but it still wasn't working out. So i was pretty happy to receive this book from NetGalley.  It's very clear and well written, starting with interesting and informative general information and moving into recopies, which are divided into three sections: Cookie, bars and fancy desserts.  I know when I request these books that, generally speaking, th...

 Sometimes I request review books that are outside my usual genres (which are quite broad) as an opportunity to widen my experience. When I saw a children's book called  Nasty Negative What Ifs  I thought it would be an opportunity. When I was a child (oh so long ago ;) we didn't talk much about our inner worlds and what was going on inside our heads, and that has certainly changed. So, a children's book about ruminating? Yes please. It's cute, but kind of simplistic. Nicely illustrated and a good message.  I took a quick break from reviewing to read the oldest book on my Kindle.  A Heart Full of Headstones   the 24th Inspector Rebus book.  I started reading this series around 2011 - before I started on Goodreads, and I'm pretty sure, over the years, I've read all of them.  It feels like visiting with an old, cranky friend.Its  interesting to me that both this and my previous read (the Barbara O'Neil new release The Starfish Sisters ) integra...

I'm home for four weekends in a row, and I have to say I'm delighted about having a bit of to do stuff. I started this weekend by blocking my mother's cardigan , prior to attaching the button bands. I needed something to knit while that dried, so I cast on a charity hat using the oldest yarn in my stash.  On Saturday morning I made buttons out of Fimo to go on the cardigan, and I'm very happy with how they came out.  Saturday afternoon I went to Kris' place to hang out and also use her electric ball winder, which is significantly easier than winding by hand - and there was also more laughter and gin than I would have had on my own!  Kris also taught me to knit backwards, and I am considering  doing  baby cardigan using that technique to practice.  We went out for dinner afterwards.  By then I'd finished the hat and cast l on a matching cowl. On Sunday I decided to rip my Starnkeeker .  It had been hibernating for a while and I wasn't enjoying knit...

  This is going to be my fourth Stephen West MKAL, starting in 2020 with Slipstravaganza which got me through the lockdowns. It now lives on the back of my office chair. Then came Shawlography, which I didn't like how my colour choices came out, and I found knitting it annoying and life was annoying, as Melbourne became the longest locked down city in the world. The shape didn't suit me and I never wore it. Last year I knit Twist and Turns. I love my colours, and find it very easy to wear. I hadn't realised until I put these photos together that they are all taken in the beautiful Marysville. Not surprising, since we go up there for a fun run on the second weekend of November each year. This years shawl is called Geogradient, and calls for (surprise) a gradient. I have two skeins in my stash - one for lightest colour and on for the darkest, and I decided to dye a light pink and a bold teal to round out the gradient: It came out quite well, but I think the brownish / purpl...

Yes, I've moved into "all review books, all the time territory" again. And everything I'm reading is SO GOOD. I finished Adama by Lavie Tidhar. It was a rather dark historical novel about the founding and growth of the state of Israel and the sacrifices and compromises made.  I wanted something a little less epic and lighter and I was going to read a non-review book , but NetGalley was offering The Starfish Sisters   by Barbara O'Neil, and her books tend to be  so I'm reading that instead. It's very good, relationship based, found family drama.Everyone has secrets and it's all going to come out. And look at that cover! Next up is another Jewish themed review book, A Book of Paradise , which was originally published in 1939 and is translated from Romanian, so that will be different! I'm still knitting my mother's jumper. The yarn striped up completely differently on the second balls, and I have some thoughts about that, but I'll save that r...

I've written before about my balcony garden and how much I love it. It's spring right now and all the plants are thriving, inside and outside. Leon bought me a plant-stand for my Monstera and it sits there, growing enormous and making me happy every-time I see it. I am not shy about having giant trees inside. we have a pretty minimalist house, without much extra furniture, or paintings, or photos around. instead, we have plants. When Edible Houseplants by Laurelyn G. Martin came up on Netgalley I was intrigued. The subheading is  Grow Your Own Citrus, Coffee, Vanilla, and 43 Other Tasty Tropical Plants   and this books tells you how to grow and care for all these plants, in pots.  It also provides recipes and other ideas what you can use the produce for. It's quite inspiring, and I'd quite like to grow my own coffee and vanilla, to go with the lemons, bay leaves, rosemary and other herbs I already grow. This book is a good general guide and would make a lovely gift...

I made a Mussleburgh hat earlier in the year, and even though I thought I was following the directions exactly it did not come out quite right.  It was a little bit loose. My head is 51 cm, my gauge was 7 stitches, so according to the pattern I knit the right size. It's also a little bit shorter than I would like it. Too long for a beanie, too short for a good turn-up. I couldn't work out why. I still wore it, but it was not quite right. When I decided to knit one for Elise I knew I wanted to make it longer, and tighter. After I finished Elise's (with 24 fewer stitches) I realised something about mine: Now, this is a knit tube. I know how to knit tubes. When I make sleeves or socks, they don't balloon out in the middle. So I decided to reblock it. The instructions actually specifically say to fold it inside each other after blocking, but I probably folded it and dried it on my head, because that's how I block my hats. Not this time: Now it's longer and thinner ...