What I made, by Sharon

(There is a small Open Up Mystery Shawl spoiler at the bottom of this post, don't scroll down if you don't want to see) I finished my second last NetGalley review book for the year  Roadshow by Nikki Ervice  I loved it. Well written, thoughtful and interesting. Lots of good themes. It would make a good bookclub book, if I was a bookclub sort of person Then, I went back to trying to read through my GoodReads TBR. I discovered that  Glitterati by Oliver K. Langmead  , which has been on the list since May 2022 is also on Kobo plus, so I signed up for a moth of Kobo Plus.  I am also loving this one. It's a sort of satire on rich people. I'm not usually a bit fan of satire, but this is really well done. I found out that Kobo Plus has a whole lot of T. Kingfisher books. I've never read her, and am excited to. I'm starting with   Nettle & Bone , unless anyone has another suggestion? In knitting, I'm still working away on the Joji Mystery Shawl: I've got a ...

I have posted many years about the Marysville Marathon Weekend. My parents have a holiday house in Marysville, and in the second weekend in November we go up there and participate in the run. This year I couldn't run because two weeks ago I tore my meniscus, but Leon did the half marathon. I did go for a 5km run to the Falls, which I really enjoyed and also reinforced that I shouldn't have been running at all.  You can just see Leon, almost at the top, in the red running vest. I gave my mother her birthday knit: We went out for a family dinners and family walks, and unintentionally and unironically wore matching knits: And my parents were cute.  The thing is, my parents share their house with a friend and late last year they said they wanted to sell. At the time we were outraged, but having spent a weekend there with them they are getting on and I think it might be good for them to not have a two hour mountain drive, or the responsibilities of two houses. They have already ann...

 Did you know you can do long-tailed cast on in knit AND purl? Neither did I, but it's really easy.  I was pretty excited when i learnt it. I've spent a lot of time thinking about the best cast on for the top of socks. I had previously used the alternating cable cast on as my favourite. I cast on each of these socks using those methods: And I can say that the long-tailed (on the left) is quicker, but the alternating cable (on the right) gives that beautiful rounded edge, so I'll be sticking with that. The other thing I tried with these sock is the  Addi Trio Unicorn .  I don't love magic loop and because we were bush camping, in cars and on public transport I didn't want to risk dropping a DPN. Also, i love to try new things. I've tried the Trios before, but that was when they only had short ones, and I need a 15cm because of my knitting style.  These are...fine. Because they are longer, they droop down a bit and remind me of when i used to knit on two circ...

I had Monday off as leave and Tuesday as a public holiday. Wednesdays I always work from home, and I have a medical appointment in the city that is going to write-off most of my morning. Also almost everyone else at my very small organisation is away, so I'm feeling a bit unfocussed about work. I'm not feeling unfocussed about knitting though! Yesterday I cast on a pair of baby socks out of handspun to finish a baby set. I've just got the toe of the second sock to go.  I also cast on for Joji's mystery shawl knit-along . No photos because spoilers, and also I've only just started, but it has cables AND lace. Very fun. The reading has been a bit more varied. As promised last week I started    First Famous Christmas by Carrie Wittmer*  - another 831 Stories romance.  I was lying in my tent as the rain beat down and this should have been delightful but I found it kind of annoying. Maybe it's because I'm not a Christmas person, but it's loaded with referen...

We just had a lovely 4 days in Pomonal. We go camping there every year on Cup weekend, and tradition that is now in it's fourth year, so I think I can call it every. Previously we have stayed near out friend's house there, but this year they have moved to a regional town. they still have access to their land, and we camped in a stunning spot - a large clearing in a forested area, with mountain views and a firepit in the middle.  Unfortunately I've injured my (other) knee, so on Sunday morning Leon set off for a run, and I did not. But we met him in Hall's gap. There is a Sunday market their and it was really high quality, lots of stuff being sold by the people who made them, including a new to me yarn dyer Que Sera Yarn Co . She has lots of stunning brights and pastels, but I came home with an interesting army green, to be socks for Leon. We had an inordinate amount of rain on Monday, and saw lots of soggy sheep - although they really don't seem to mind when the wea...

  I finished the skein of yarn I've been working on since I got back from spinning camp at the beginning of the month. I got about 685 meters of a heavy laceweight. I want to make a shawl tow wear to a wedding. I've settled on this shawl  (designer's photo) but with beads instead of nupps. I'm trying not to cast on until December- I'm away camping this weekend, so I'm taking a pair of shorty socks. I've also signed up for Joji's one-skein mystery shawl, which is releasing it's first clue on Monday our time. I'm excited to knit with my avocado dyed yarn . I don't think it will take all my knitting time, but i don't really want to be working on two shawls at the same time, so I might make Leon a pair of socks.  for this weekend away I'm taking a pair of shorty socks, the MKAL yarn and a pair of charity socks, just in case the MKAL doesn't work out for some reason. that should be enough for 4 days away... I hope.