What I made, by Sharon

W elcome to part 22 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 have eclectic taste and endless curiosity.   I can't believe I'm up to part 22, 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 I am talking about bohemia (the cultural state, not the Eastern European region), sloths and relaxing.  I don't do a start rating here (although I have to on NetGalley) because sometimes I prefer to use words to express how I felt about a book than provide a stark, unscientific and often inconsistent number.  All books in this post are kindly provided in e-arc form from the publishers through NetGalley. The Twiligh...

I'm currently listening to a NetGalley review copy of  Rabbit Moon by Jennifer Haigh . It's a family drama about two divorced parents whose 20 year old daughter moved to China and gets hit by a car. It is a really moving and lovely book, and the narrator is perfection. Next up in audio is a Jodi Picoult    Where There's Smoke , which is also from NetGalley. In eye-reading, I finished  The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon  by Richard Zimler , although I skim read the last part, and did not enjoy it at all. Now I'm reading   Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew by Shehan Karunatilaka,  in an attempt to read some novels about Sri Lanka before we go there next month.  After that I'm going to read  The Confidence Woman by Sophie Quick . My goal is to alternate a Sri Lanka novel and a NetGalley review book until we go away in just over three weeks, and then read local novels while we are away.  In crafting, my shoulder has seized up again, so I'm ...

 I've always considered myself a product knitter. I love the finished object and I love wearing my handknits. But recently, as I spent every free minute of my time knitting on a hat for no-one in particulra ( Sonsie by Kate Davies Designs )  I started to consider that maybe my relationship with knitting has evolved. The act of just so soothing, making every stitch and every stitch making a piece of art, as well as a practical, usable garment.  I was obsessed with knitting this hat, and not for any particular reason. I used some machine dyed Bellevie Park yarn that was left over from one of Katie's projects, and some had-dyed yarn left from Leon's winter set. And I love it. The bright solid against the hand-dyed is so effective.  Mixing and matching hand and machine dyed is not something I've thought a lot about, but it's something I want to experiment with more.

I'm not sure who I was kidding when I said it would be quiet now we're back from our various holidays. I'm not here for a quiet time, I'm here for a good time! Last week I managed one night at home (Wednesday, in case you were wondering) in between all my usual activities, a night at the theatre and some cabaret. Good times, spent with friends. Luckily I can knit, even when socialising. I'm working on the  muka pullover , a plain tee with big, dramatic lace sleeves. I've got a way to go before I have to think about the sleeves! In reading it was a big review week, but unfortunately not full of highly rated reads. I 3 starred a not particularly thrilling thriller  Everyone in the Group Chat Dies by L.M. Chilton , and 2 starred a  Audible Original  Trap Line by Timothy Zahn,  both of which were from NetGalley. Now I'm reading  The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon  by Richard Zimler , for the  When am I reading? 2025 book challenge . It's very good, but als...

  The internet (and this blog) are littered with well fitting, marvellous garments, which we report were super easy and fun to knit and worked out perfectly. And one reason for this is - who wants to sit down and write a post about how their 259th sock was a complete fail. What happened was - when we were on holidays in Warbutton I was finishing Leon's socks, and i didn't really have the time or energy to get together my next project - wind the yarn, get the right needles, consider a swatch and so on. So I grabbed some contrast yarn and decided to knit the Confetti socks, a paid sock pattern. this is the picture from the pattern: so pretty! I cast on, and then discovered that those crosses are not cable crosses - they are this weird winding technique than requires a cable needle, and taking both hands off the needles. It was slow and painful. I did already know that using a dark colour for the slipped stitches in these style of socks is a bad idea - it pulls the whole thing to...

  As happens quite often, I knit Leon's winter set while we were on holidays together. Many years, including 2025, we get to Adelaide for the Adelaide Fringe, which runs in February and early March. Since it starts to cool off here in April, it's all perfect timing. This year I wanted something simple, so I used a 4 x 1 broken rib. I wanted to let the yarn shine. It's Bombed Yarns from Tasmania, beautifully handdyed. I made the usual set - scarf, hats and mitts. This year I made a slouch hat. i do love a louchy hat: The only thing I would have done differently is that I could have (should have?) made the last 3 stitches of each row garter. It was so curly before I blocked it but blocking did it's wonders and now it's flat (or at least flat enough). I used an actual pattern for the matching socks ( Broken Record Broken Rib) , which are also 4 x 1 broken rib. And that's the best photo I have of them. I don't have a lot more to say about this set. It was a sim...

  All my recent holidays have been very fun, but I'm glad to have a moment at home and catch my breath (and catch up on the washing!). The knitting this week hasn't been great - I didn't have time to sort out a new project before we went away for the weekend, so I started a sock and it was a disaster. I'll come back on Sunday and explain the whole situation. Then, on Tuesday I grabbed some yarn and started a   Sonsie hat by Kate Davies , using left overs from Leon's winter set and some leftovers that Katie kindly gave me. In reading I finished an overdue NetGalley review book  Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su  . I loved it, a wonderful coming of age book with an awkward protagonist. Now I'm reading a NetGalley book that publishes tomorrow.  Everyone in the Group Chat Dies by L.M. Chilton .  It's giving strong  Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson   vibes and I am here for it. Except our main character is an En...

  For the third year we went to Warburton for the Labour day long weekend, to participate in the Warburton Trail fest, three days of running events, supporting and just having an all round good time hanging out with our friends. As usual, we stayed in a rented house,a nd this year we had sheep in the yard of the house just down the road. Sheep! On Saturday morning I ran the Redwoods Rush, a very pleasant 27 km run, that goes up a steep hill, follows an aqueduct and then goes through a forest of Californian redwoods, planted as an experiment in the 1960s.  It was perfect weather, and I had a good run. Also, it was hard and I would like to go back next year and see if I can make it easier and / or faster. While I was doing that, Leon was running the Lumber jack - a 50 kilometer race, which he finished really well. A well earned beer on Sunday afternoon The rest of the weekend included taking photos of Leon's winter set, supporting other runners who had just run up Mount Donna Bu...

  As I mentioned  last week we went to Fibre Feast SA. I've been to a few fibre festivals around the world, from the insanity that was Edinburg Yarn Festival  to a local festival in a scout hall.  This was somewhere in between. It was held in a fancy private school. There was a general market on the front lawn, and then an open sided gym and an inside gym full of yarn sellers. As well as some of my Victorian friends, there were lots of local sellers, and an heartening amount of yarn that was sources, spun and dyed locally. So, what's in the bag? My first purchase was very local, from the Yarn Trader yarn shop. It's   Højtid Single  from Circus Tonic Handmade. I bought it  Blanko pattern by Lone Kjeldsen , a large poncho style jumper that will be so snuggly and delicious knit in the merino, yak and silk blend. Then I found some beautiful grey yarn from Aveley FinnSheep. I'm obsessed with making an ordinary, slightly boxy grey cardigan. I did also b...

That's right, after getting back from holidays on Sunday night, we are leaving for a long weekend and running festival on Friday night. Luckily my event (a 26 km trail run) is on Saturday morning, so I will have the rest of the weekend to relax, hang out with my friends, knit and read. I had some good reading time last week and read  Matrix by Lauren Groff  (my  When am I reading?  book for time period 1200-1499) and The Fourth Consort ( a science fiction review book that I very much enjoyed) Now I'm romancing it up with Penny Reid's  Drama King   Not my favourite cover, but an enjoyable romance, with a very strong focus on consent and respect. Lovely.  Next up are two NetGalley  review books -  Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su  which is rather overdue and  Everyone in the Group Chat Dies , which is interestingly described as a 'Laugh out loud thriller'. I've also got  The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon  by Richard Zimmler ...

 We're back and we had a wonderful trip, which I am going to try to sum up here in a quick page. On Friday night Leon, Kris, Elise and I assembled in Sydney. We set the tone for the weekend by having a lovely dinner, some drinks and laughs. On Saturday morning Leon and I went on a run along the harbour. So pretty, and the path just randomly took us into a National Park - in the middle of Sydney. Wild! In the background of this picture is the harbour and the bridge and the Opera House. On Saturday we touristed and then saw Pirates of Penzance - a sort of updated version. Odd but good. Sunday saw the girls flying home and Leon and I going to Adelaide, largely for the Adelaide Fringe. We saw lots of shows. It's weird how some years we see lots of comedy, and other years it skews a different way. This year we saw a lot of quite fringy shows - surreal and mimey and quite wonderful.  Other themes this trip included coffee - we drank quite a lot of it, and most of it was very good. ...