Category Archives: Knitting

W.I.P. Wednesday: Magical and Mundane

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The Hook

Back in December, I think, I purchased a crochet “block-a-month” kit from Annie’s Kit Clubs. This one is the Coastal Sampler Afghan. Each month, I get yarn and instructions for three blocks. I am currently working on block 9 of 30. I don’t tend to crochet much, so this sampler is stretching my brain a bit. I’ve gotten stuck on a few of the blocks, including this current one. However, that was the whole idea of doing this sampler afghan. I wanted to learn some new stitches and expand my skills. My goal was to be done when I receive the final piece of instructions, but I’m quite behind in that regard.

The Book

Currently, I am listening to Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi on Audible. I am loving this book! I started listening to it quite some time ago, but seemed to only listen to it in the car on long drives. I’ve got to change that! The story “follows heroine Zélie Adebola as she attempts to restore magic to the kingdom of Orïsha, following the ruling class kosidáns’ brutal suppression of the class of magic practitioners Zélie belongs to, the maji” (from Wikipedia). The world created by Adeyemi is beautiful and complex, but also anchored in reality. For example, Lagos, the capital of Orïsha, is actually a city in Nigeria, and the sacred language spoken by the Maji clans is Yoruba. I am also thoroughly enjoying the narration by Bahni Turpin. She does a beautiful job giving the different characters different personalities through their voices.

After I started listening to this book, I purchased this Barnes & Noble exclusive edition. The inside artwork is stunning!

I started reading Children of Blood and Bone as part of a Bookstagram representation challenge I’m doing. Wanna join me? So far, I’ve only ticked off a couple boxes, but I have a long “To Be Read” list for the rest of them. I’m open to suggestions as well.

The Needles

That’s it. That’s all you’re getting. It’s a shawl, and it’s a gift. It’s taking far longer than it should. No spoilers.

See you next Wednesday!

W.I.P. Wednesday: A Shawl, A Sock, and a Ship-Full of Crazy

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Well, hello. It’s a been a while.
Again.
That’s for another post.
For now, let me return to my roots:
yarn, books, gardening,and the like.

The Shawl

I’ve been working on this shawl for some time now. It’s a prayer shawl for my church’s Prayer Shawl Ministry. I’m knitting it in Lion Brand Homespun. I think the colorway is “Mediterranean”, but I’m not sure. The shawl is a long stole, knit in garter stitch, and is taking forever! It’s gotten too unwieldy to tote around, so it’s a “couch project” now, and doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

The Sock

I’ve been knitting this sock for a while, too, though not nearly as long as the shawl. These are “plain vanilla” socks in Knit Pick’s Felici. I’m not using a pattern as such. It’s more of a formula that I’ve worked out for my own feet. If they look Halloween-ish, they are. 🙂 The colorway is “Spooky.” I love it! I’m very nearly to the heel, and then it will be smooth sailing all the way to the cuff. They’ve been set aside for another project that I’m not posting publicly yet.

The Ship-Full of Crazy

How have I never read this book?!
I have never belly laughed so hard at a book as I have at The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Oh my word! I’m actually listening to it on Audible, and the version I’m listening to is read by Stephen Fry. I can highly recommend it. He does the voices. It’s hysterical! I’m at a point where something terrible is occurring, and the ship’s computer is warbling “You’ll Never Walk Alone” as the crew panics. When I tell you I guffawed… 😂 Being an avid supporter of Liverpool FC (YNWA is their anthem) made it even more funny. I’m going to be a bit sad when this one is over. Dare I “read” the rest of the trilogy?

So, that’s a little update on what’s on my needles and in my ears. What are you working on? Reading? Listening to? I’d love to know.

WIP Wednesday: Of Poets and Time Travel

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Greetings from yesterday!

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Given that yesterday was “Back To The Future Day,” I decided I could go back to yesterday to do my WIP Wednesday post. I was barely home yesterday, and was sleeping, actually or mentally, when I was. So today we’ll go back in time.

The Hook

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I finished Section 3 of my Spice Of Life blanket. Section 6 (the final one) was released Tuesday, so I am significantly behind the main pack. I just started on Section 4, but I’ve only got one row done. The final few rows of my Section 3 are Cornflower, White, Soft Blue, and Amethyst.

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The Book

The other night at work, it suddenly dawned on me that audio books might be a good idea for those long nights. So, I checked out Audible. I don’t know why I’ve never done that! It’s amazing! I signed up for a monthly plan and started my first book.

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Yes, that’s John Lithgow, and, no, he didn’t write the poetry. This book is an introduction to his favorite poets and some of their work. It’s fascinating! Mr. Lithgow provides a brief biography of each poet before a celebrity guest reads one of their poems. After the poem, Mr. Lithgow provides his thoughts on it, how it influenced him, and a few more titles by that poet. The poets are presented alphabetically by last name. I just finished Chapter 6, William Blake.

I chose this book to start with because I have realized my general lack of knowledge regarding poems and poets that my peers seem to know. I also find poetry difficult to read at times (though not to write, but that is another post). I figured that listening to it might make it more accessible to my extremely auditory brain. So far, this book has spurred interest in further readings by Elizabeth Bishop and William Blake.

The Needles

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As you can see from the photo, I have finished one of the hats for my coworkers and very nearly finished one of the Milos. Actually, I finished the Milo at the salon shortly after this photo was taken.

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I’m going to finish the knitting on Super Secret Project before casting on for the next Milo.

I hope you are having a great Thursday. I shall hop back in my DeLorean and rejoin you shortly. I’ll also link up to the Yarn Along.

See you there.

~Janet