I'm joining Kat and the Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday, with a few more inches done on the body of my Antler cardigan. I've knit about eight inches, so only 11 or 12 inches more before I join the sleeves and the body.
John has this real reverence for deer antlers, so let's not tell him that I borrowed this one from his desk for a photo.
I was slightly concerned to see that today is December 1st. I haven't done any shopping, and more concerning than that, I don't have any ideas for gifts. It looks like I'll have to actually come up with some ideas and do some sort of shopping, but all I really want to do is sit and knit. (That's not a lot different from any other time of year.)
I did do some reading, and finished a great book but there was another that was not my cup of tea. These Precious Days is a wonderful book of essays by Ann Patchett. I've enjoyed several of her novels (especially The Dutch House) but I think her essays are even better. Many readers may have heard about the title essay, but in case you haven't, you can read it here in Harper's. It's about the author's friendship with Tom Hanks and ultimately his assistant Sooki Raphael. If there is anything worse than the pandemic, it may be having recurrent pancreatic cancer during a pandemic. Ann Patchett eventually offers her home to Sooki while she's being treated in Nashville, and this is the story of how it happened. As good as this piece is, there are several that I liked even more, like "Three Fathers", "How to Practice", and "How Knitting Saved My Life". Because of the essay entitled "Reading Kate DiCamillo", I am doing just that. I thought the essay about Snoopy was a bit weak, but the rest of the collection more than makes up for that. Patchett's writing is clear, honest, and personal. There were many times I felt almost as if I was having a conversation with her. She writes about the fear and inevitability of death, but she also offers hope and optimism. In the author's words, she was writing "about what I needed, whom I loved, what I could let go, and how much energy the letting go would take.” I highly recommend this collection for some excellent writing and clear thoughts on those questions.
The book that was just not for me was The Christmas Promise. There are too many good books available to spend time with something you are not enjoying at all.
Because of one of the essays in These Precious Days, I'm reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo and re-read Ann Patchett's first essay collection, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage. It's as good as I remembered. Books that I requested from the library are piling up, so I've also started the new Jodi Picoult novel, Wish You Were Here. It's a pandemic novel, but a female traveler gets stranded in the Galapagos, so it sounded interesting to me.
What are you making and reading this week?
Love your sweater Bonny! And posed on the antler is perfect!! The Ann Patchett book sounds very good and just the other day I came across The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane in something else I was reading - curious to hear your take on it! good luck with the shopping. I need some ideas desperately for Fletcher!
ReplyDeletemy husband is the hardest to buy for! I have no ideas... I love your sweater progress and of course the antlers to show case the photo!
ReplyDeleteYou are just zooming along on that sweater! Go you!! I sent off the Gifts for the Grands before Thanksgiving... so that buying is checked off my list. I have just got to get things for their parents and my son and his girlfriend (who I am not knitting for because apparently that jinxes the relationship, lol)
ReplyDeleteI am on the wait list for Ann's book and your review makes me hope it is here soon! :)
Posing your Antler sweater on an actual antler is perfection (and my lips are sealed). I'm glad to hear your review of the Ann Patchett essay collection; I have to check my library and see if it's available because it sounds like a good vacation read.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had some brilliant gift ideas for you, but I struggle with that every year. My husband is particularly problematic; anything he has an interest in he just buys for himself!
Your sweater is coming along so nicely, Bonny! You (instead of the Reverent Antlers) will be enjoying it's comforting warmth very soon (even with the Christmas Crunch). In our family, we simplified gift-giving a few years ago . . . by not giving/getting any. I know that sounds weird, but we're all happier without the fuss of gift-giving. (I do still do gifts for my kids, although these days it's mostly of the cash variety.) I grew tired of making and fulfilling wish lists . . . it just didn't seem fun or meaningful anymore. So there you have it. Less is more. . . XO
ReplyDeletePS - I sound very Bah! Humbug! and I'm really not. We just . . . stepped off the gift-giving crazy-train. :-)
ReplyDeleteKym, we did the very same thing several years ago, and we have never looked back. Giving gifts because society says we should on a certain day seems like marketing and consumerism at its finest. We prefer to give gifts when we see something that somebody would love or when someone is in need. I don't think it is bah, humbug at all. I have found it makes for a much more relaxed and enjoyable holiday. If we are considered to be bah, humbug, I counter with, "no, we are just thoughtful". So there!
DeleteGreat progress on that sweater, Bonny, and the composition of the picture is stellar. I got a lot of books that I had on hold, but I was disappointed in several of them. I tried to read Bewilderment, but I just could not get into it. I did not enjoy the premise nor the writing style. The premise seemed a bit contrived to me. I am about to start Cloud Cuckoo Land. It is a bit of a tome, but I loved All the Light We Cannot See, so I think I will probably love this one by Doerr.
ReplyDeleteI love that you posed your Antler Sweater with antlers! We love them around here, too, and consider them to be great art.
ReplyDeleteI'm busy knitting The Shift cowl for a Christmas gift, I fell behind due to a flare up of fibromyalgia but was able to start knitting again this week for shorter periods of time with stretching exercises in between. I'm just past the halfway point, so I hope to finish it in time.
ReplyDeleteYour sweater is coming right along and is looking good!
I'm glad you enjoyed These Precious Days and I look forward to reading it. I just started The Love Songs of WEB DuBois, if the rest of the book is as good as the first 25 pages, it will be a fantastic read!
I hope you can make painless progress with the Shift cowl. I've been a bit wary of The Love Songs of WED Dubois because of the length, but if a book can grab you in the first 25 pages that does sound fantastic. I'm off to place my hold!
DeleteHa! I would never breathe a word about antlers borrowed for a photo. I so enjoyed Patchett's previous essay collections and now am looking forward to this one. I'm flitting around knitting projects knitting a few rows on two shawls and then back to the sweater and not seeing much progress.
ReplyDeletethank you for that review of These Precious Days ... I'm looking forward to it! and woohoo on that sweater - you're making great progress!
ReplyDelete