Unraveled Wednesday

I'm joining Kat and friends, with a big thank you to Kat for hosting Unraveled Wednesday for us each week. I've been feeling a bit unmoored lately. My nephew's memorial service was last Saturday, so I've been thinking about him, my sister, and the rest of her family almost constantly. That has led me to think about the things that I do help me to feel a bit more stable, and Unraveled Wednesday is one of those things. There are many days when I struggle to find something to write about, and then struggle to write, but Kat makes it a pleasure to show up on Wednesdays to talk about knitting and reading. These have been important anchors during this unmoored time and I'm grateful to have these pastimes to fall back on, and to Kat for providing us with a place and space to talk about them. 

I'm still working on Hitchhiker stripes, and have just started the third (pink) one. The last one is orange, then a few more teeth in the Nervous Breakdown color and I'll finally be done. Margene said that the stripes give this Hitchhiker some happier pizzazz, and I agree.

There are a few ends to weave in, and there will be a few more, but they shouldn't be too big of a deal. I'll keep plugging along (and will maybe be done by next week).

I've been lucky enough to spend a lot of time reading lately. There have been some unexpected surprises available via Overdrive (The Plot, Challenger Deep, and The Best of Me). You can read my humble opinions on these books by clicking on the links in the right-hand sidebar. My big book treat is a book that I have been looking for for several decades. I have always loved The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher, and ever since I first read it back in 1990, I've been searching for something similar. There are authors similar to Rosamunde Pilcher, like Maeve Binchy and Marcia Willett, but I've never been able to find a book that captured me like The Shell Seekers. Until now. I stumbled upon Shake Down the Stars by Frances Donnelly and this just might be it. The first similarity was the requisite flowered cover, and now that I've received and started reading the used copy I ordered, the setting (WWII in England) is also similar. Neither The Shell Seekers nor Shake Down the Stars is great literature, but they are both feel-good, comforting books. Novels like that will always occupy a valued place on my bookshelf.

What are you making, reading, and thinking about this week?