What I made, by Sharon

I've rejoined Kindle Unlimited.  I do that periodically - I think I did a free month in 2017, and then a discount 3 months at the beginning of 2020, and then 3 free months when I bought my Kindle Oasis in 2020. Elise recommended an urban fantasy series and I saw that there was a John Birmingham series I hadn't read in KU I looked up the current deals and got 6 months at half price. it's just not worth it for me at $13 a month, but not I only have to read one or two KU books a month to make it worthwhile. So, I started with Dragons Don't Eat Meat by Kim McDougall Look at that cover! The book itself is fine. It's quite light, but also trying to address big issues. It's sort of trying to do too much I think.  If you have any Kindle unlimited recomm endations please let me know in the comments. Knitting has been toddling along. For reasons, I have been making Leon a bonus winter set. I'm almost finished, just the mitts to go, but I'm free-styling the patter...

  Nothing to do. Nowhere to go. It's something we say a lot in meditation. I white-knuckle it a lot, desperately trying to stay in the moment. On this holiday there was nothing to do and nowhere to go. Every day was both very similar and incredibly different. We would get up around seven, make coffee, followed by porridge. then we would break camp, put on clothes (the same as the day before) and walk. When we got to the next camp we would make tea, eat biscuits, put up the tent. Then read or knit until dinner, which was "just add hot water" and we desperately tried not to eat before six. By 7 or 7.30 it was too cold, and we would retire to the tent to read until our eyes wouldn't stay open.  So, very routine. But there was also a sense of wonder and curiosity. What would  we see on the trail? would the walking be easy or challenging today? What conversations might we have with strangers? Would the weather stay pleasant?  And there was nothing...

Yep, after my 18 days off I'm back in the office. I liked being on holidays! Getting gastro on the weekend did give me loads of time to read, so that's a bonus. I'm reading a (sort of) review copy of Songs  by Honeybird . What makes it a "sort of" review book? Well, NetGalley gave me a copy, but the formatting was all out, so after the pub date I bought a copy. Not how this is meant to work, but it sounded interesting. So far, and I'm only 10 percent into it, I'm really enjoying it.   Here's the blurb: Atlanta couple Ben and Nina plan to move in together, but their relationship unravels when Ben dismisses Nina’s surprising claim that her dog can talk.  Songs By Honeybird  follows the pair as they move on without each other. Doctoral candidate Ben dives into research on the tragic story of Honeybird, the South’s first integrated rock band, while spiritual savant Nina searches for the elusive truth about her father’s death. Will the buried secrets of th...

When we got back from holiday's I'd finished the knitting on my holiday project - the Bright Axis Tee by Stephanie Lotven. It was a very satisfying project to knit - really simple, but the yarn made it special, as did the amazing place I knit most of it. I blocked it before sewing it up, and then finished it on Saturday. Then I got gastro on Sunday, almost certainly from my mother, who had been kind enough to come and drive us home from Hall's Gap. Luckily it was brief and we could take these photos on Sunday. I had been undecided about sizes, and I sized down. Luckily, the 50 percent silk main colour had a lot of drape, so it actually ended up sized up again. With this design the sleeves are determined by the body fit, and I think it worked well. I don't really have a lot more to say about it, except I love it. I love the size it came out, and that I trusted myself and added extra length. I love the innovative use of self-striping yarn. I love having something new to ...

I talked about our bushwalking trip yesterday. One of the great joys of the trip was that there  was lots of time for reading and knitting and amazing places to do so. The walking days were not long, generally 5 - 6 hours and every afternoon was full of sunshine. Then it got dark and cold at 6 and we would retire to the tent around 7.30 and read until I couldn't keep my eyes open, which was usually only about an hour or two.  For our three nights in hall's Gap we had wonderful chairs to sit in, kangaroos to watch and birds to listen to in the perfect reading spot. That was my reading view. Before we left I posted that I was going to knit Bright Axis , a simple tee, while we were away. I thought it would be loads of knitting. It was the perfect project - simple, engaging and pretty. I finished the knitting portion in the car on the way home, and Leon and my parents had to endure three hours of me not having any knitting to do. Now I just have to sew up the shoulders and i...

We just got back from our hiking holiday and it was amazing.  We spent 3 days hiking the northern end of the Grampians Peaks Trail , three nights in Hall's Gap and then four days hiking the central and southern end. The trail exceeded any expectations I had. Each day was varied terrain, from rock hopping on barren ridges to wandering on sandy paths in almost rainforest.  There were cliffs, and ridges and mountains to climb. The campsites were amazing - generally we were camped on wooden platforms with chains  instead of tent pegs. Each campsite had a composting dunny - not a stinky droploo! we didn't use them, but there were also USB charging ports at each site.  Each  campsite also had either a shelter or a communal meeting place. On our first day on path we met Helen and Jo, two crazy hikers who have done a lot of interesting hikes and we were camped with them every night. they were the consummate hikers, and gave us so many ideas and inspirations, form f...

We are going hiking in the Grampians (Gariwerd) and I've spent the last bit getting ready ... and by getting ready I mean planning what I'm going to knit. I'm taking Bright Axis , a very simple tee - mainly knit in the round with a simple, self striping yoke. I hope that's enough (it will be heaps!) We're doing three nights of bush camping, followed by three nights in cabin in Halls Gap and then four nights in the bush. We hiked in the Grampians in March 2020, so it feels a bit like a bookend on our lockdown lives. Before we left I wanted to empty the needles, which I did on Tuesday (I finished Swancho ). But then I had two sick days, so i knit up some charity hats. And a cowl - the point about these hats is you hold together three strands of fingering weight yarn and swap them out when they run out, but on the last one they all ran out at the same time. So, cowl it is. Other than that our packs are packed, our food is prepared (mainly freeze dried dinners and lots...

I mentioned on Wednesday that I was blocking  Swancho . I then got sent home from work, via the doctor with a sinus infection. I went home, went to bed, got up, wandered into the living room, picked up my Swa ncho which  was dry, put it on and wore it until I came back to work on Friday. While I was knitting it I thought the shape might be hard to wear, but it is actually really comfortable, and looks good too. Although it does sit weirdly with a back=pack, becasue the sleeves start halfway down the elbows. I also thought it might be stupidly warm, but the weather has cooled  down a lot over the last couple of days, and the shape of the body means it does not hold as much heat as you might expect. The only mod I made was to knit the sleeves longer, because I like long sleeves. I've been cuffing them, but thy can also pull down over my hands. The procession of knitting this was very satisfying -  simple colourwork, stocking stitch in the round and sleeves that g...