What I made, by Sharon

I just had the longest, most relaxing weekend in history! I took Thursday off because it was Passover, and so the Easter break was 5 glorious days. I feel like we made the most of it (in a relax hard way). Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were family dinners, and Saturday and Sunday night we went to comedy shows (I love Comedy Festival time!).  I did have a little knitting mission - in December I finished a cute little top called Backlit , something I had been planning for ages. One the Wednesday I noticed there was once drop of coffee on the centre front. I did everything I could - washed it, tried to scrape it, but the stain remained. So I ripped it back. And then knit it forward! In this photo you can clearly see the line between the old knitting and the reknitting. Now it's re-blocked the textures are the same. Other than that we did a lot of sleeping - 5 days without an alarm is my idea of bliss. I woke up every morning at my own pace, and then lay around reading until the ...

 Regular (blog) scheduling has recommenced! Life scheduling - who knows. I've got 5 days off in a row - one annual leave day for Passover, and then four days for Easter. Bliss. On the first day off I finished  Joji's  Hipster Top . It was a very fun knit, with some fancy shoulder stitches and then simple two row stipes, all the way down.  The only criticism i have of the pattern is that she says that, once you finish the knitting there is no finishing. Sure, if you want it to look unfinished. I put some i-cord along the back neck, and did a tubular cast off to make it look more finished. I did not do jogless stipes, something that is very obvious when you look at the side seam, but doesn't really bother me. I don't know how much wear I'll get from it this year - while yesterday was beautiful, today there is a distinct chill to air. It was a fun, satisfying knit and I can imagine it with a pair of simple denim shorts, or with a full black skirt. It styles surprisingl...

As well as everything that has been going on in the world, there have been some dramas close to home. Leon's elderly father died last week. The funeral was on Monday, and the whole family (7 children, 12 grandchildren) were there, so it was a sad occasion, but also beautiful. And the church it was held in must have seen me coming, because this window was clearly designed with me in mind. As I kept promising I signed up for a month of Kobo Plus. My first book was Lavie Tidhar's The Violent Century , which posited that some people got superpowers before World War 2. an alternative history, which I found quite compelling. now I'm reading King Cal by Peter McDade, and loving the plot, wanting to know what happens, and also finding it quite plodding and repetitious, and the relationships don't resonate with me.  After this I'll either take a turn and go back to romance (Penny Reid's The Prom King ) or read V.E. Schwab's Vicious , which sounds like it shares some...

 I decided to make a little toy to go with the charity baby jumper I was knitting. I chose the very cute   Pentapus . I made one... and then I kept making them. Six so far and I don't think I've finished yet. I want to try some in some very bright colours, and some in stripes. So fun. They take about 45 minutes each and the legs are actually bobbles, not sewn on, so they can't come off. Child safe toys for the win! I've also been knitting a top for myself. It's pretty straightforward, but the colours are just making my heart sing. It's Joji's  Hipster Top , a little sleeveless tee. We are in the dying days of summer, so I don't think I'll get much wear from it this year, but the simplicity of the knit (stocking stitch in the round) is makes it great public knitting. In reading, I just finished  After The Siren by Darcy Green , a very sweet MM romance set in Melbourne and the AFL. It was refreshing and nice and I got it from the library, which is stil...

Really, all I'm questioning is, does there have to be a theme and a dramatic title? No there does not. As predicted last week , I'm clearing up my NetGalley before I do a month of Kobo Plus I read    Found Time  by Caroline Goldstein , which was a lovely romance, full of lovely people, but the stakes were so low that It all got annoying. Now I'm reading Start at the End  a sliding doors novel about a couple who meet, fall in love and then different options emerge. It's intriguing. Next up is Transcription by Ben Lerner. I'm not much of a blurb reader, so the main thing I know about this one is that it is short! I've been listening to two audio books, one non-fiction by myself -  Do I Know You  by  Sadie Dingfelder . It's meant to be about face blindness, but it's also about her other visual and neurological challenges. I feel like I should like it, particularly since Leon has a lazy eye (I can't believe it's still called that) but Sadie seems l...

 On Sunday we went to Ballarat because Leon's father is not doing well, so we went for a (probably final) visit. One our way we stopped and ran around Lake Wendoree and then took photos of my just finished  Agave . And when I say just finished, it was still slightly damp when I put it in the car. This was a really fun knit, my first with linen and a rare instance of me using the exact yarn recommended in the pattern. I followed the directions and knit it flat, which was a bit tricky until I got the hang of the lace on both sides. I extended the sleeves (flutter sleeves, I love them so much) by one repeat, because I wanted to use up as much yarn as possible, and have the sleeves as fluttery as possible.  It ended up 46 inches around, instead of the 50 I thought I was knitting, but since that's still 12 inches of positive ease, I think it's plenty. I got to wear it yesterday. Summer is rapidly receding, but I'm hoping to get one or two more wears before it goes away in fa...