I often don't swatch. I cast on with a fair idea of my yarn and usual knitting style. If it doesn't work out, I stop and reassess. On Tuesday I cast on for Alpine Bloom pattern by Caitlin Hunter which I was intending to extend into a dress with a full skirt. It was apparent pretty early that, while I had gauge, my fabric was going to be too loose to make a dress that was decent. After googling slips and finding pout I could buy one at K-Mart, I stepped back and started swatching. I started with doubling the yarn on 3.5 mm needles, which made a nice fabric, but a bit thick. Then I went down to a 3mm needle, which makes a lovely, but slightly airy fabric. Back up to a 3.5 for comparison and that was immediately way too stretchy and flexible. I ripped what I had started and cast on again with smaller needles. The second attempt has been much more satisfying. The colourwork is soothing, the contrast colour is slowly changing from pastel to pastel shade and the fabric...
Last week I said I was struggling with The Intrigue* by Silvia Moreno-Garcia . Unusually for me I put it aside and read The Music Between You And I by Quiana Glide * a book that was full of grammar and plot errors. After that I returned to The Intrigue, but I didn't suddenly start caring about the characters or plot. I had just read three 5 star books in a row, so I guess I was due a slump. Now I'm reading Double Standard*: An 831 Stories Romance by Mallory Thomas . All 831 romances have the same boring cover, in different colours. The book itself is an easy read and I'm liking it. I have an unusual number of ARCs to read - after Double Standard there are four due on the 11th of August, which should be quite achievable, none of them are particularly long. Although i really should stop requesting ARCs with short timeframes! these all sounded really good. They are Ninefox Gambit* by Yoon Ha Lee ( military space opera) Never D...