What I made, by Sharon

This week I finished The Shortest History of War  and started The Shortest History of Democracy, both e-Arcs from NetGalley. I'm not sure how I feel about these - maybe trying to make such big topics "short" is not the most helpful approach? When I requested them I didn't realise they weren't available on Kindle, so I can only read them on my tablet, which is kind of annoying. I'm also reading a review copy of The Pink Hotel . That cover - so good. It's a little bit gothic, and a little bit ominous, and a little bit too long in the middle bit. I'm enjoying it, and interested in what happens next, but it's definitely a slow build. I've started the shrug I was struggling to choose colours for and I'm very happy with how it's turning out, even if it is pretty tricky to photograph! I'm going on holidays to Tasmania tomorrow, so I'll be back on Tuesday with a full report, and possibly a finished shrug. And that's what I'm kni

Sorry about the nighttime-photos, things are getting a bit hectic around here. It just occurred to me, I should have brought these to work with me and then i could have had day-light photos. Oh well, I'm not letting perfect be the enemy of good. You could say that about these socks too: Yep, they have a different number of rows. Also they were written with four rows in between patterns - apparently i failed in reading the worlds simplest chart. The pattern also called, very specifically, for wrap and turn short rows. I always use German Short Rows, which i did for the first sock. For the second I followed the instructions, and i have to say,i still hate wrap and turn. It's gappy, and hard t see where you are at, although in the finished product there is not much to call between them. Anyway, I have a complete, if not quite identical, pair of socks, and i got to try a different kind of heel and a different toe. They are not my favourite for me, but the socks are very cute. They

We are going on a 6 day, 5 night holiday to Tasmania for Festival of Voices. I am really looking forward to it- Leon and Elise's choir are preforming all over the place, and  this time Kris is coming too, which will give me knitterly company. The main question is : what to knit? I'm tossing up between a few options: 1)  The Urban Ballerina Shrug . I just don't feel 100 confident about my background colour, although I love it and am obsessed with it, it might be a bit busy. I think I'l also swatch with the burgundy: 2) A  brioche cardigan . 3) A plainish pair of socks (in this, my oldest sock yarn). The advantage of the socks and shrug is that they are easy to throw into the medium sized handbag / convertible backpack I've recently acquired. I'm obsessed with it. The shrug uses multiple needle sizes, and, while I've never had an issue with carrying lots of needles on a plan, it still makes me a little nervous sometimes.  The brioche will be big, so I'll h

The crafting is all over the place. I've started some spinning, but haven't had a lot of time to sit and spin, I crocheted a square or two, I'm half-way through not one but two swatches. In actual projects I am making slow progress on a pair of sneaker liners - another test knit for Kat, which is always a joy. I'm reading EO-N , and only started it today. So far so good. It's on Kindle Unlimited, so I am getting some value from KU this time . I also put a new cover on my Kindle, so it's pretty and refreshed. I don't know how long I'm going to keep my Oasis, the battery life is very shoddy compared with my old Voyage and Paperwhites (I miss my Voyage so much!)  And that's really everything for this week - unfocused, all over the place, but still having fun. And that's what I'm knitting and reading right now.  To read my all my book reviews, and to see everything I knit, you can find me on Ravelry as  Sharondoublekni t and on GoodReads as  Shar

Last week, before I went back to work I knit the French Macaroon baby jumper. It was a chance to use up some old stash, and Australian's Knitting for War Affected Children (AKWAK) has asked for baby jumpers, so a win-win. I've had this cute free baby jumper in my queue for ages, and it is a really fun, simple, effective knit.  The second one took forever - being back at work has really slowed down my knitting! Speaking of being back at work, last Wednesday I wore my new cardigan to work, and realised that the shawl collar wasn't nearly shawlly enough. i ripped out the last couple of rows of the collar, and added a lot more short rows. now that it is (re)done, I realise that for a truly epic shawl collar it need to start lower, but this should be cosy and fun enough. I'm looking forward to seeing how it wears.  

Yep, illness is in my rear-view mirror. I went to the gym yesterday for the first time in 11 days - and PBd my bench press. Happy days. I also read a very good book, which originally recommended by Kat (host of WAYRN). When we Believed in Mermaids    by Barbara O'Neill is a beautiful family drama, and I cried buckets at the ending. As a bonus it's on Kindle Unlimited. Speaking of free / subscription things Leon and I had been struggling to find a good audio book to listen to together and we stumbled across Self-Help , by Ben Winters. It's on Audible Plus, so included in my subscription/ It's read by Will Weaton (always good) and is the hilarious story of a loser wanna be actor who stumbles across a self help book that starts talking to him. It's laugh-out loud funny, but also a little bit serious. I'm currently reading a Netgalley review copy of the Space Opera Ion Curtain . It's not bad, although there a lot of characters and moving parts. it's a bit Jo

  I just got out of COVID isolation, and it is so good to be back in the world. That said, I was lucky - although i was quite tired, I felt more like I had a (very) bad cold than anything worse. I was coughing and snuffly, but I didn't have brain-fog or exhaustion. And that meant i could indulge in some of my favourite things - reading, crocheting and knitting. I tested positive on Saturday night, and I'd just cast on the toe of a toe-up test sock by Kat . It used some very clever and simple techniques, and I really enjoyed knitting it this pretty Stranded-in-Oz yarn. It was a very relaxing knit. The pattern should come out in July and I recommend it.  When I wanted something that used a little more of my brain power, I crocheted squares from Granny Square Flair. I did 9 different squares. So fun and I learnt so much. I also finished the final square from Granny Square Academy. Now I have 30 squares done from there, and have realised that I Iike variety in my crochet. On my l

I first saw Ginny's cardigan a long time ago. I don't know how long  but it was well before I had to state that trans women are women and f*ck you J.K. Rowling (maybe 2016?).  Luckily it's in a book called Knitting Wizardry ,which not only has nothing to do with J.K. Rowling, but skates right at the edges of copyright violation. I didn't knit it at the time. there were some odd comments about the neckline, and the bust shaping and I was too new to garment knitting to feel confident making the changes. The other week I was l looking for something to do with this marvelous 8ply I bought last year. I knew I wanted a v-neck cardigan. I originally settled on the Glen Fiddich cardigan but a) I probably didn't have enough yarn and b) I bought the pattern and it is basically unreadable.  I converted Ginny's cardigan into a v-neck, by starting the neck when i joined the sleeves.  i left off the pockets and the bust shaping. After I finished the body I decided to make a

 I was sick last week, with the terrible cold that is going around and then on Saturday night I tested positive to COVID. I'm basically fine, it's like a very bad cold and has just moved into a cough. I'm basically off work, just checking in with occasional emails and a couple of important meetings. This has given me plenty of time for reading and crafting and drinking tea. I'm reading Nevernight by Jay Kristoff.   Its a big, chunky meaty novel, which is perfect for curling up on the couch and really getting into. The perfect book for this time. After picking up the crotchet hook again last week  it has been a pleasure to have the time to crotchet. I'm again  working from Granny Square Flair , and have progressed to some of the "moderate" squares.  And I'm knitting a test sock for Kat . It's a fairly straightforward sock, which makes a good break from the more mentally challenging crotchet. And that's what I'm knitting, hooking and readin

 A couple of weeks ago Chris Winediva suggested that the Richmond Knitters crochet squares, put together a blanket and donate it to Pam from the yarn shop ZigoZago , to raffle for charity. We took the idea with enthusiasm. The decision was to knit any squares we liked from Shelly Husband's Granny Square Academy or Granny Square Flair. Very convenient for me, since I had just finished working my way through granny Square Academy, and was all ready to crochet from Granny Square Flair. These squares were a lot of fun. I picked my favourites, and the simplest, from the 50 squares in the book. I've learnt a lot about  how squares are constructed and the marvelous things that can be done within a 14cm square. Now I've challenged myself to go on with my own blanket, maybe progressing to some of the more advanced squares in the book. I will also post a picture of the finished blanket here, once we have collected all the squares and put it together as a blanket.     

I got sick on Sunday - sore throat, headache,  cough, very tired. I did a RAT and it was negative, but I went and got a PCR, because I thought it might be the spicy cough. it wasn't, just a big standard very bad cold. It did mean I've been off work all week, and even though I've felt pretty cruddy I was not too sick to read and knit.  I'm reading the review book Drunk on All Your Strange New Words   by Eddie Robson. It's a murder mystery set mainly in a near future New York featuring aliens and translators  and it's really good. the aliens aren't the point, they are just part of the story. it's engaging and well written and the perfect thing to bury myself in while I   , 'm sick and it's raining. I have been knitting away on my cardigan, and will probably get the yoke finished today. Then it's just the button-band to go. It's an enjoyable knit, but now I'm at the "I hope it fits" stage of the process. I have also been croche