Good Morning!
Mabel was kind enough to not wake me up until almost 7 this morning! That was wonderful and enabled me to get 8.5 hours of sleep. Bliss! It is a crisp 23 degrees outside and the birds are coming to the feeder at my office window. Mabel is somewhere else in the house - she is not on her ledge where she can bat against the window.
Last night's Book Zoom meet-up was good. Even though I had not read the book. And even though the discussions did not led me to want to read the book. LOL. It was nice to see everyone again.
Now it's Wednesday. Hump Day. Mid-Week. Time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk all about making and reading. Two of my favorite subjects. As I mentioned the other day on my blog, there was a bit of unraveling that went on. In fact all that I had knit on the Heart Warmer Cowl was ripped back to the very beginning (meaning cast on). I had gotten through the first round of lace work and was starting on the second round when (somehow) I was distracted and really messed it up. I tried for over an hour to un-knit or tink back what I had done but honestly I could not make sense out of any of it. Finally I realized it would be faster to rip it out and start over. So, that is what I did.
This is how it looks now. Ten rows of ribbing (1x1) are completed and the first two rounds of the cable and lace pattern have been knit. Yesterday I did no knitting thanks to being busy and my finger bothering me. Today I am hoping for some quiet time when I can get back to work on this (no distractions and no irritating background noise!! - wish me luck...).
Reading has been good. I finished The Return of the Light - Twelve Tales From Around the World for the Winter Solstice which I enjoyed. This is a book I had suggested to Fletch that we read after dinner, but he did not enjoy it. The tales are short and easy to read and they are all about light (sun). Easy to read a tale before turning out the light to go to sleep.
I also read The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd - another book that I enjoyed. At first I thought it was one I had already read, but as it moved along, I realized I had not. (I guess I may have read a number of books like it - slavery in the South in the early 1800's.) The book was a good read for me - easy to read and not too taxing on my brain. Exactly the kind of book I like to read in early January.
I'm happy to say that Fletch and I have agreed on a book that we are listening to after dinner: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. The narration, so far, is wonderful. This book has been on my TRB list for quite some time and Sunday the post from MDK was about it which was the reminder I needed! For those of you who have already read the book, and for those interested in it, I had a newsletter from our local PBS station and it mentioned that Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (of "Finding Your Roots" fame) has made a documentary titled "The Great Migration." The four part series will start airing on PBS at the end of January.
And that's a wrap for me. Today is a day where I have absolutely no plans and that suits me just fine! I hope everyone has a wonderful day and remember to check out Kat's blog to see what everyone else is up to in the making and reading worlds.
Lots of times it's just easier to rip back and start again fresh, and now your cowl is looking good. I hope you can continue to knit without distractions. The yarn looks cheery to me! The Invention of Wings sounds familiar to me, but I'm not sure if I read it or not. I'm heading to the library today, so I will take a look. Enjoy your day with no plans!
ReplyDeleteI love that cowl pattern so much! I've knit it many times and could easily knit another one!!
ReplyDeleteSigh... I am sorry this cowl wins the Unraveled Award not once but twice! My fingers are crossed that the third time will be the charm!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the reminder, I wanted to read The Warmth of Other Suns as well before the PBS series!
With your crisp temperatures you will need that cowl! I hope this time around it goes smoothly!
ReplyDeleteThis time is the winner for the cowl and looking good so far. We're supposed to warm into the 20's today so I think this ridiculous cold snap is over for the time being.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Betsy
The cowl will certainly get some use with the recent weather. I've been playing with the idea of making myself some fingerless gloves so pumping gas isn't such an ordeal! We've got some real biting wind right now!
ReplyDeleteI hope the redo of the cowl works out better -- and I agree that sometimes it's a lot faster to just rip and restart! I really loved The Warmth of Other Suns. I think she's such a talented writer -- she does thorough research, but reading her nonfiction is like reading a good novel.
ReplyDeleteI love Finding Your Roots. It's what made me go looking for my own family's roots-only to discover a lot of things I wish I hadn't known.
ReplyDeleteAbove all, NEVER go looking for your family members in old copies of newspapers. What a bunch of criminals and not very nice people I am descended from....lol.
I hope your cowl knitting goes smoothly from here on out. It’s a lovely pattern.
ReplyDeleteI remember that I enjoyed The Invention of Wings and I loved The Warmth of Other Suns.
It is hard to start over on a project but the yarn is lovely so it will be nice to have it sparkle and shine. I love The Warmth of Other Suns and was considering giving it a listen to for a re-read
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are back on track with the cowl. The yarn is sure pretty. I look forward to seeing more of the pattern. I remember listening to The Warmth of Other Suns and really learning a lot. The stories are fascinating. It's frustrating to me that so much was left out of my history classes.
ReplyDelete