Unraveled Wednesday - December 29, 2021

 Good Morning All!

Here we are at the last Unraveled Wednesday of 2021.  First though, some unsettling news.

Anna, Mailing's sister with whom we celebrated on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day has tested positive for Covid.  It was touch and go whether she would join us or not as her boyfriend had tested positive.  But, she took 4-5 tests and they ALL came back Negative, so all assumed she was fine.  She tested again on Monday (she is a pharmacist and had to test before going back to work), and bingo - positive.

My little brother in CO has had the same experience.  He was with someone who tested positive.  He and his wife tested numerous time and all were negative.  After telling him about Anna, he tested again and, in his words, he is "hot."

Colin & Mailing are getting tested today.  Fletch and I have decided to hold off.  There have been so many negative tests (obviously) and then later positive tests.  We will probably test in a week to 10 days.  Or earlier if we develop symptoms.  Luckily we all feel fine (including Colin & Mailing).  I plan to text Bonnie this a.m. to be sure she and Zhongren are ok and also find out how Anna is doing.  She felt fine each time we saw her.  This new Omnicron variant seems to be a sneaky one, so please, everyone, be safe and be careful!

On a more positive note I did get out for a walk again yesterday.  Once again I chose the Canal Path (Schuylkill River Trail - canal on one side, river on the other).  I forgot to mention yesterday when I posted that the skeleton that was always sitting on a bench across the canal from the trail is missing!  It was disappointing not to see him.  

The bench to the right of the white boat is where Skelly always sat.  I wonder what happened to him...

I did see some interesting shelf fungi though.

That is the river in the background.  The day (obvious from the pictures) was grey and overcast.  But it was about 10 degrees warmer than the day before.  I saw several groups of people on bikes, several folks jogging, some walkers and one girl walking two dogs.  But the trail still felt pretty empty which I prefer.  I am hoping/planning to get out for another walk this morning (haven't decided where yet).

Now for the meat of this post!  LOL  As usual, I am linking up with Kat and her Merry Unravelers to talk making and reading.  Wait till you see Kat's final finish for 2021 - it is fabulous and too cute for words!!

Once again my knitting seems to have slowed down, but I am fine with that.  My first "Holiday Sock" is at the point where I will start the heel flap.

My plan was to do the flap and turn the heel last night, but I didn't.  Instead I worked on my stitching and read some.  These socks will get done, just not quickly.  Again, I am fine with that.  No deadlines, no pressure and (for me, the key) I am enjoying the making.  

I do have some ideas of things I would like to make in 2022.  I may join Vicki in making some stars - I think they would be cute gift toppers added to packages next Christmas.  But...I want to make mine using left over sock yarn.  I tried a 9" circular yesterday and couldn't get that to work for me, so I will try DPNs and see how that goes.  I'd like to finish my French Market Bag and also the Guernsey Wrap that I started last year.  And, of all things, I discovered a shawl that I finished over a year ago (Odyssey Shawl by Joji Locatelli) and never bound off!  The yarn was from a huge cake and I think I was debating about continuing to knit and make it larger, but that is not really necessary...so I need/want to get that bound off and blocked!  There are other projects too, but I'll figure it all out later.

My reading this last week was not enjoyable!  Sarah had mentioned "The Guide" by Peter Heller and I thought it sounded good, so requested it from my library.  Sarah suggested that I read "The River" first as some characters were the same and there was a spoiler in "The Guide," so I took that out.  OMG I could only think Deliverance and that banjo music kept playing in my head.  I did finish the book but I did not enjoy it at all.  So, I returned both Heller books to the library yesterday as well as another I had taken out but not yet read.  

While at the library (fully masked - actually everyone is - our library requires masks), there were two books for me to pick up that I had been waiting months for:  The Madness of Crowds and Matrix - how exciting to get them both!  Meanwhile I started No Time to Spare by Ursula LeGuin and am really enjoying it.  Fletch picked that up for me for Christmas.  LeGuin is not an author I would normally choose to read - I think she wrote mostly sci-fi and fantasy type books, but this is a series of essays or posts from her blog which she started when she was in her mid-eighties.  From the blurb on Amazon:

The collected best of Ursula’s blog, No Time to Spare presents perfectly crystallized dispatches on what mattered to her late in life, her concerns with the world, and her wonder at it: “How rich we are in knowledge, and in all that lies around us yet to learn. Billionaires, all of us.”

I've only read the first few chapters, but it is very engaging.  She has a certain sarcastic and cauastic tone which I love.

So it appears that I am poised with excellent reads, interesting knitting and stitching projects as we move gracefully into 2022.  A lot of folks are doing reviews of the year - reading, making, etc.  I will get to that, just not this week - LOL

It is another grey and overcast day here.  Mabel is perched on her shelf at the window to my right and is mercifully quiet at the moment.  Last night, BTW, she played "fetch!"  I was stitching at the table and she grabbed a catnip toy in her mouth, jumped up onto the table and dropped it.  I picked the toy up and threw it.  She jumped down, got the toy, jumped back up onto the table and dropped it again.  This went on for about 8 turns!  I was laughing so hard.

OK, time to get a second cup of coffee and decide what to wear to go walking.  Be sure to head over to Kat's to see what everyone is making and reading!