What I made, by Sharon

 This week I read  Better Days by Claire Zorn , a NetGalley review book that was interesting, well written, well paced. A solid read (with a great, if irrelevant to the plot, cover). I realised I took the better part of a week to read an average length book. When I'm not enjoying a book I power through it to "get it done" and when I'm enjoying it well enough, I meander through it. I was also listening to a NetGalley review book  We Rip the World Apart by Charlene Carr , which I wasn't enjoying.  So I was more dedicated to that, and spent quite a lot of the weekend sitting and knitting and spinning and listening, rather than eye reading. I think I take the same approach to a lot of things. I'm now listening to another NetGalley review book   Mona Acts Out by Mischa Berlinski . Then I'm going to read  The Silence of the Girls   for the before 1200 time period of the    When am I Reading book challenge . I've set up my challenge page here  ...

  This is my "live page" for the challenge , so I can keep track of what I have read and what I intend to read. Intentions: Pre-1200:  The Silence of the Girls (Women of Troy, #1) by Pat Barker   1200-1499: 1500-1699: The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon by Richard Zimmler 1700-1799: 1800-1899:  Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens ( audio) 1900-1919: Valentine Grey by Sandi Toksvig 1920-1939 :  Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson 1940-1959: 1960-1979: 1980-1999: 2000-Present: The Future: Actually read: Pre-1200: 1200-1499: 1500-1699: 1700-1799: 1800-1899: 1900-1919: 1920-1939: 1940-1959: 1960-1979: 1980-1999: 2000-Present: The Future:

  I mentioned that I had my knitting all planned out for our recent holiday, and then out of the blue decide I HAD to knit the Traveler Shell. Which is fine, but I don't know where that mania came from. And then last week I was cruising around reading the MDK 'bang out a sweater' for 2025. They do this every year in February - knit a quick, thick jumper. February being the hottest month of the year here in Melbourne I generally casually follow along from afar. This year, they announced the  Bolin Cardigan by Norah Gaughan  and I felt that I HAVE TO KNIT IT. I don't know why  - it's a fine cardigan, but very warm - mohair held with 8ply. It didn't really suit me, timewise because I had planned to knit a Weaver B , in January to February, and we are away for the last week of February (when I will be starting Leon's Winter Set). Despite all this I was obsessed. I could not stop thinking about this cardigan, planning it, preparing for it.   I swatched for it, an...

You may remember that in December I said I was doing a secret test knit. Well, now I can reveal that I was testing a pair of Alma socks, to match my Alma Cardiga n. I started by dying some white sock yarn, because I wanted the socks tan and orange, like the cardigan: And then I used some leftover orange (the gift that keeps on giving).  They were really fun to knit.  Susanna is a great designer, and obviously shares my love of matchy-matchyness.   They were quick to knit and are very comfortable. The fact that the pattern is aligned differently on each sock is a me issue, not an issue with the pattern. After all that, I still had orange yarn left over, so i made a reverse pair of shorties. I knit exactly the same pattern, I just left of the whole leg. So fun! The pattern is currently exclusive to a the Bombed Yarns Sock Club sock club (that I didn't hear about until after it was sold out). it will be widely available next month - which give you enough time to knit ...

I generally don't do reading (or other challenges) because I can get a bit obsessive. Also, I read for pleasure, not volume.  Sam from  Taking on   a World of Words  hosts a reading challenge called   When Are You Reading?   which asks the participants to read across time periods (the catagories being  Pre 1200,  1300-1499,  1500-1699,  1700-1799, 1800-1899,  1900-1919,  1920-1939,  1940-1959,  1960-1979,  1980-1999,  2000-Present,  The Future.) Fun! So I'm signing up for that. I'll have a think about what books to choose later. Right now I've just finished a review book that I did not enjoy at all.   B orn For This by Caitlin Devlin.  Great cover though: I decided to read the next book in the Victoria Goodard series, since it's cosy and I knew i would love it. It's actually just a short story  Féonie and the Islander Regalia. Then I'm going to  dive in to my next revi...

We came back from the away part of our trip with 6 days until we had to go back to work, and nothing much we had to do. It's a very luxurious feeling. We went for a couple of runs, hosted my parents for Friday night dinner, read some books, coped with the weather (38 degrees again today).  Mainly I focussed on plying the singles I've spent the last six months spinning: I've got 1368 metres for 600 grams. When I finished it I thought it was sport to dk weight, but it puffed up when I wet-finished it. I'll have to swatch to know for sure, but rather than the Traveler  hoodie I thought I was spinning for, I might make a Weekender .  I might be hesitating to try the Traveler because I'm slightly short on yarn, or because my yarn is now slightly heavier than the pattern calls for. Or I might just be quite sick of the knit / purl ridges that make up that pattern, since I have spent the break working on the Traveler Shell  which is getting to the point where I am ready to ...