What I made, by Sharon

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Linky Wednesday - the one before Bendigo

That's right, tomorrow I leave for my favourite weekend of the year - the Australian Sheep show. As usual all NetGalley copies are marked with an *. I finished In Wonderland * by Joyce Maynard . It's a mediative tale told from the point of view of a 14-year old having a very different summer, a poor girl being a 'mothers helper' for a rich, but dysfunctional family and reflections on how it affects the rest of her life. Now I'm reading The Intrigue* by Silvia Moreno-Garcia . I'm a third of the way through. It's well written on a paragraph to paragraph basis, but i just don't care about any of the characters, or what happens to them. We have a failing scam artist, a bitter spinster and a frustrated young woman, and I'm completely not invested. They all deserve each other. I might not finish it, but I'll struggle on for a bit. After that, I'll be reading The Music Between You And I by Quiana Glide * an age gap, rockstar romance with a...

FO - The Noosa Scarf for the Bendigo Project

This weekend I finished my final project for Bendigo - the Noosa Scarf . This means I've knit the Richmond Knitters jumper for our annual Knit-A-Long , and a hat , j umper , socks , and now this scarf for the Bendigo Project, which is an initiative launched last year by some Australian designers. Last year I didn't knit any of the patterns, this year I went wild with it! Knitting this was pure joy. I bought the yarn (locally died merino possum) on our recent tr ip to Adelaide . I cast it on the same month as I bought it, which is always a fun time It's the sort of knitting that uses just enough of my brain to keep it interesting. A little too complicated to knit when out and about, but just right when sitting at home on the rare quiet weekend or unfortunate sick day that has happened recently. I knit it to pattern - right down to using a merino possum wool! I went up a needle size because I think my yarn is just a tiny bit thicker than the...

Linky Wednesday - the one where I have time

I got a cold AGAIN. It's been a winter for them! Leon is sick as well. This meant we stayed home Sunday, knitting and reading. On Monday, instead of my usual after work routine of gym to knit-night I came home. Tuesday I took off work, and spent the entire day on the couch - reading and knitting. I'm feeling better now, but it's been pretty restful and I did get a lot of reading and knitting done. Books given to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honet review will be identified with a *. I read 3 5 star books in a row Cherrywood by Jock Serong , The Followers * by Maree Prat and Starlight Mountain * by Taylor Gray. Then I blew the streak with Hot Girl Murder Club * by Ashley Winstead , which was a book about sisterhood and revenge and I thought it was a hot mess (a lot of reviewers thought otherwise, so that is, obviously, just my opinion). This morning I started In Wonderland * by Joyce Maynard . So far I can say I like the writing style, but I'm re...

Goodbye Ranuculus, hello Love Note

I knit a Ranunculus in 2021 as the Richmond Knitter's Bendigo jumper for that year's (later cancelled) Richmond Knitters Bendigo Sheep Show project. It was never quite right - it got shorter over time and the colours were a bit too swirly. It is a very useful layer - in winter under a jacket, in summer it's light enough to stuff into a small handbag. Two Tuesday 's ago I cast on a Love Note , which is a similarly themed garment - fluff knit on 6mm needles. The day after I cast on I washed Ranunculus, since I had taken it on both my recent interstate trips. It came out like this: It's not felted, but it seems to have become shorter and wider and the sleeves are long and tighter. Weird, since I did it on a wool wash with all my other woolens, as usual, and the rest of them are fine. Luckily Love Note fills the gap: No too short Not too weirdly coloured. Not too anything. Just a really light, wearable, delightful jumper. I knit it to pattern, except I didn't do...

Linky Wednesday - the one where I get behind (and I'm still having fun)

This week I started the Noosa Scarf for the Bendigo Project . This is addictive knitting, which meant I spent my weekend reading time knitting and listening to audiobooks. I finished the excellent Quitters Club by Jessica Strawser and then the silly but enjoyable action adventure Hell Island by Matthew Reilly the fourth Shane Schofield book. I have 15 days to finish this scarf, which should be easy - I'm getting one repeat done a day, there are a total of 16 repeats and I've completed 5. It's not a complicated pattern, but it is too much for knitting on a quick tram ride, and I do find i need to glance at the chart. So, it's a it slower than plainer knitter. Luckily, for the first time ion a long time, we have not much in the way of weekend plans, so I can sit and relax and knit! The joy of a little extra time is real. All the knitting meant that it took me longer than usual to read the excellent Cherrywood by Jock Serong , a beau...

Non fiction Book Reviews Part 32 - Object Lessons again

W elcome to part 32 in a series of non-fiction book reviews, originally based on the idea that the books I request tell you everything you need to know about me. I have, after so many chapters of this series, realised that all these posts say about me is that this was just a place to put these reviews, but now I can see how broad my non-fiction reading is, and how many interesting, good (and sometimes not-so-good) books and topics I've had a chance to explore. Today we have three books from the Object Lessons series, which is a series of 's hort, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.' I love these, and have previously read Sticker, Blackface, Fat, OK, Glitter, Gin, TV, Recipe, Wine, Trench Coat, Videotape, Cat, Taco , Metronome, Snack, Lipstick, Stock Photo, and Microphone. There are currently a total of 110 books in the series, so more than 15 percent. Not bad! Today I add Concrete, Fist and Laboratory to...