Unraveled Wednesday: 7/3/24

I'm happy to join Kat and the Unravelers today with some potholder weaving! Kat is taking a break so I don't think we'll have an official linkup, but it's Wednesday so I'm here with some making and reading. I unpacked my potholder loom and since it comes with enough assorted rainbow loops to make two potholders, I used some of them first to make a random cheerful potholder.

I didn't take it off the loom until Tuesday morning because I wanted to look at it in the morning light to make sure it was a pleasing color arrangement. I decided it was, so after employing my trusty crochet hook, voilà, I had a potholder.

Front

Back

The front and back of this one both look the same but I hope to weave some patterns in the future where the front and back look different. I was quite happy with my first potholder so I started a second one in kind of a dark rainbow theme.

You might have noticed the fork in the photo above. I've been doing my weaving at the kitchen table and I found that my fork makes a perfect pusher-downer (or whatever the technical weaving term is) for the weft loops. I am really having fun! :-)

I finished two books this week. The first one, Knife by Salman Rushdie, was a very powerful memoir. I haven't read any of Salman Rushdie's previous writing but was curious what he might have to say about the horrendous experience of being attacked by an assailant with a knife in Chautauqua in August of 2022. Words are largely inadequate for situations like these, but in Knife Rushdie has shown that his ability to write rises well above. He describes the knife attack, meeting it with an almost eerie sense of calm as he has been living with the fatwa for 35 years, and his grueling recovery in intensive care, rehab., and life afterward.

 Rushdie has written an honest and visceral account of his physical recovery but also the very real damage that was done to his mental well-being and what he has gone through to not become a bitter victim. One of the things I appreciated most about this memoir was the intelligence, plain-spokenness, and even humor that was evident in his writing.

I tend to think (possibly mistakenly) that things are easier for famous people, so I was surprised to read about instances where this is not necessarily true. Rushdie said that he accepted the speaking engagement at the Chautauqua Institution in large part because the fee would pay for a new air conditioning system in his home. He suffers several iatrogenic (illness caused by medical treatment) issues with blood pressure medications that were not discontinued when he was discharged, along with the usual pain and frustration caused by doctors and medical appointments.

I don't know how I might feel about Rushdie's fiction, but the weakest part of this memoir was the long section where he imagined a conversation with his attacker. While I did understand this part (I've had many imaginary conversations in the shower with people who disagreed with me), I don't think this section fits into the book very well. But the rest of the book clearly shows a man who has a great ability to write, what that ability has cost him, and how he has managed to recover and continue to live a happy life. This was four stars for me.

“Without art, our ability to think, to see freshly, and to renew our world would wither and die.”

The second book, Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy, was one Kym recommended last week. Are you wondering what to read when the Supreme Court is making egregious decisions, politics has sharply divided us, wars are raging, and you can't face one more bit of we're-going-to-hell-in-a-handbasket news? Sipsworth might fill the bill. It's a charming story about Helen Cartwright who has lost both her husband and son. The story consists of Helen's sad and lonely daily habits until one night while picking through her neighbor's trash, she brings home an aquarium, a deep sea diver toy that reminds her of her son, and inadvertently, a mouse. Because no woman is an island and we all need something to care about, Helen becomes the mouse's protector and caretaker. She names him Sipsworth and her connection to him leads her to be open to new connections.

This book felt much like A Man Called Ove but it didn't hold quite the same meaningful possibilities. It's still deserving of 3.5 stars rounded up as a welcome respite from the news.

What are you making and reading this week?