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Today’s segments include: drafting, fully drafted, Lit Review, 5 favorite things, and noteworthy.
Drafting:
Afterthought Heel Socks by Laura Linneman in String Theory Continuum colorway Witch Head Nebula on size 1/2.25mm Hiya Hiya sharps.
Time Traveler Socks by Liz Sedmak in Marigoldjen sock colorway Galaxy on size 1/2.25mm Hiya Hiya sharps.
Saturn’s Rings Shawl by Verybusymonkey in Skinny Bugga colorway The Very Quiet Cricket on size 6/4.00mm signature circular.
Turbulence socks by Cookie A in Sokkusu sock colorway River Styx on a size 2.25mm Addi lace turbo. In a Slipped Stitch Studio bag!
Spun Right Round Falkland colorway Little Creatures, fractal spun.
Fully Drafted:
Zuzu’s petals by Carina Spencer in handspun Gnome Acres colorway I Dream of Zombie.
Lit Review
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
I really enjoyed listening to this book. I could tell it was well written because I am not hiker, and yet her descriptions made me really want to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. The idea of being alone in the middle of nowhere, feeling your body change, carrying everything you need on your back, and appreciating the little things so much because you don’t have them everyday–Strayed made all of that sound so appealing.
My book club also seemed to like this book, with one or two exceptions. Even those who don’t typically like memoir or nonfiction really appreciated and enjoyed the writing in this book.
This book reminded me that all books are about knitting. Consider this quote: “How fabulous down was for those first minutes! Down, down, down I’d go until down too became impossible and punishing and so relentless that I’d pray for the trail to go back up. Going down, I realized was like taking hold of the loose strand of yarn on a sweater you’d just spent hours knitting and pulling it until the entire sweater unraveled into a pile of string. Hiking the PCT was the maddening effort of knitting that sweater and unraveling it over and over again. As if everything gained was inevitably lost.”
Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Brunt
This book was absolutely wonderful. The story is about a 14-year-old girl in the 80s whose uncle dies from AIDS, and the relationship she builds with his partner who is also dying from AIDS. Since my uncle died from AIDS in the 80s, I couldn’t stop thinking about what it must have been like for him then. I was younger than 14 when he died, but I still feel a closeness to the story. The girl, named June, reminds me of myself so much even though many circumstances of our lives are different. But all of the ways I relate to June are not the only things that made this story wonderful–the characters, though tortured by many things in their lives–are written with so much depth and dimensionality. Nobody is who they seem to be. And isn’t that truly the way life is? We have so many superficial relationships on this earth, and the author captured that so well. This book made me wish desperately that I could have known my uncle better, and that I could have known the people in his life who knew and loved him.
And I’ve decided to document how all books are about knitting. In Tell the Wolves I’m Home, two knitting projects are mentioned. One is a pair of mittens that June’s sister Greta knit for her, and she loses one of the mittens in a scene near the beginning of the book. The other is a knitted scarf that June’s uncle Finn is wearing in one of the flashback scenes later on in the book.
Five Favorite Things
From the Loopy Ewe: Fibernymph dyeworks, Cascade 220 superwash
Noteworthy:
April’s yarn personal yarn club: Fleece Artist Merino 2/6, won by Penny, Siberiancat on Ravelry
May’s yarn: Painted Skeins colorway Microbrew
Events: Huntingdon FiberArts Fest, and Knitter’s Day Out, Rhinebeck.
What’s happening with the show? April happened, and it was crazy and chaotic, but it’s over! The semester ends next week, and I will be back to recording weekly. I am going to try to shorten the show and streamline it so I can be back to recording weekly for the next school year. I’m also planning to start recording on Thursdays since I will have Thursdays free next year.