Unraveled Wednesday 3/6/24

 Good Morning!

Not only is my brain foggy this morning, but it is very foggy outside as well.  Yesterday was rainy pretty much all day and somehow time got away from me (again) and I never even picked up my knitting until after dinner.  I really need to figure out this retirement time thing!  LOL

Anyway, here we are mid-week and it's time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk making and reading.  Despite time seeming to get away from me, I do have progress to show on both my March sock (the first) and my Hitch on the Move.

The March sock did prove to be a bit of a problem initially.  I tried two different patterns and had to unravel both before I listened to the yarn and discovered that it just wanted to be a plain sock.  But now I've knit down the leg and will start the heel flap this morning when I meet up with Dee.

Now I just need to figure out if I want a contrasting flap and heel or not.  Decisions, decisions!

My Hitch on the Move did see a bit of love this week with 3 sections being added.  This is a fun knit and so easy to memorize.  

I weighed my main color (Wish You Were Beer - the brown on the left) and I've hardly used any of it, so I'm sure I will have plenty of yarn to make this a BIG shawl.

Reading has been a bit slower.  I keep forgetting to turn on my audible book (Where the Line Bleeds by Jesmyn Ward) when I sit down to knit or stitch.  My book-book that I'm reading with my eyes is This Cold Country by Annabel Davis-Goff.  This is a book that I bought years (decades??) ago at Barnes & Noble and it has been sitting on a book shelf ever since then.  While waiting on a book from the library I decided I needed to start reading some of the books I already own.  It is ok.  Not great, but it seems to be getting better.  It takes place during the Second World War and there are some strange characters in it.

After dinner, Fletch and I are listening to The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson's memoir of growing up in the 50's in the US.  The author is the narrator and there are parts of it that are laugh out loud funny.  I think Fletch is enjoying it a bit more than I am, but that is fine.

Well, time for me to pour another cup of coffee and get dressed...looking forward to meeting up with Dee is a little over an hour.  Hope your Wednesday is full of fun!

Unraveled Wednesday 2/21/24

 Good Morning!

Whew!  It is another brisk morning in Eastern PA.  I let Mabel out at 5:15 and when I got up and let her back in at 6:30, her coat felt like ice.  It is just 20 degrees out there according to my computer.  but, I've a cup of coffee to sip on as I type and soon I'll be warmed up.

It's Wednesday which means Unraveled Wednesday and time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk all about making and reading.  Fun topics and always filled with inspiration.  Fortunately for me, there has not been any unraveling this week.  Rather both of my knitting projects are moving steadily ahead.  Route 66 Sock #2 is now past the heel and the gussett decreases and knitting down the foot should be smooth sailing.

A bit more knitting was accomplished on my Hitch on the Move as well.

This is an easy knit to memorize and even as the rows get longer, it seems to go fast.  The one thing I am not thrilled about is how it looks where the two colors join.  It seems loose to me.  Those of you who have already knit this pattern (Kat, Bonny & Kym), do you have any suggestions or tips?  I've been trying to pull tightly on the Knit 2 together stitches where the colors join, but that doesn't really appear to help.

So far, 2024 is shaping up to be a memoir reading year for me.  Which is fine - I've always enjoyed that genre.  I am so very happy to say that I finished and returned The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz.  I could only give this book 2 stars.  I was so thrilled to have removed it from my house that I didn't even bother saving ANY of the recipes  LOL

Now I'm in the midst of House Lessons: Renovating a Life by Erica Bauermeister (author of "School of Essential Ingredients" and "No Two Persons").  This is her memoir of buying and renovating a house in the Pacific Northwest and boy was there a lot to do!  The house had previously been owned by hoarders and entailed first hauling away a ton of junk.  I'm a little over halfway through and finding it a good read.

Fletch and I are continuing our nightly reading of The Ride of Her Life and enjoying it very much.  Last night's passage included a marriage proposal from a Wyoming rancher!  I've moved up to #7 in the queue for The Berry Pickers and I'm hoping that comes to me soon.

Yesterday I did manage to get some chores done (both bathrooms have been scrubbed, towels washed and rugs washed as well and the larders have been restocked with groceries).  Today I will reach out to our tax person.  I also have a retirement lunch today!  The girls (my peers at work) are taking me to Nectar - a great restaurant in Berwyn.  Looking forward to that!

Happy Hump Day and Happy Unraveled Wednesday!