It's time for my favorite day of the week, Unraveled Wednesday with Kat and fellow Unravelers. I haven't worked on the Highlighter Stripe sock at all since last week, but have concentrated on the Drachenblut Hitchhiker instead. It doesn't look a lot different from the picture last week, but there have been several teeth added, and red yarn for possible stripes has arrived.
A thunderstorm started when I was going out to snap a quick photo, so I had to take one indoors on the kitchen table. No matter how much I adjusted the color, the red yarn looks pink. The Wollmeise color is Herzblut (heart blood), so be assured it is not pink.
I have managed to finish several books, and several stellar ones at that. The Sleepwalker was a decent three stars, but The Empire of Pain and Count the Ways were both 5 stars for me. Empire of Pain is a horrifying but wonderfully written account of several generations of the Sackler family and the large part they played in the opioid crisis. It was difficult to read, but it's also difficult for the families of the more than 841,000 people who have died from drug overdoses in the past 20 years. Ultimately it is the patient's choice whether they swallow that first pill, but Patrick Radden Keefe helped me to understand how complicated and sordid the story is, how many people (like the Sacklers) and corporations (like Purdue Pharma) have played a part, and it's not over. States, the Justice Department, Purdue Pharma, and the Sackler family are wrangling over bankruptcy proceedings. The Sacklers maintain they did nothing wrong and acted ethically, but you need to read Empire of Pain to better understand why that is such a lie.
Count the Ways was a delightful and poignant story about a woman named Eleanor and her home, family, and parenthood. Her own parents are killed in a car crash when she is 16, she buys an old farmhouse in New Hampshire, meets and marries Cam, has three children, and their lives unfold. Eleanor and her happy family life are not immune to tragedy, and throughout the book she learns the importance of grief, giving and accepting forgiveness, and letting go in some hard-fought lessons. I have two sons, but could still relate to Eleanor completely tearing the house apart to look for a missing Barbie shoe in a misguided attempt to make her daughter happy. I've started another book by Joyce Maynard as I was surprised to find that I haven't read any others (that I remember anyway).
What are you making and reading this week?
Red is such a beast to photograph! I can tell that the new skein is red and is such a vibrant red that it's blowing out on camera. I think it will be a fantastic pop on the HH.
ReplyDeleteTwo five-star reads in a week is excellent! I'm still working my way through The Rose Code and just got a notification from the library this morning that one of my holds is ready for me, so I will likely be starting Home Fire today.
love the red, it looks pinkish red over here...I think it's going to add a striking design detail.
ReplyDeleteSleeves... my making is all about sleeves! :) But I think that red yarn will be the perfect addition to this gorgeous Hitchhiker!
ReplyDeleteAnd I have moved up on the waitlist for The Empire of Pain! Yay!
I really like the colors of your current Hitchhiker and think that red will be a perfect complement. I'm knitting a sweater with a unique construction, and I think I'm going to like it, but - as usual - I'm struggling with row gauge (and on this one, it matters). So . . . we'll see. ;-) And Count the Ways sounds really good! (Although I'm in one of those states where ALL my library holds arrived in the same week! An abundance of riches. . . )
ReplyDeleteOh that pop of red is going to be gorgeous on your latest Hitchhiker. Perfect! Count the Ways sounds interesting...but not sure I want to go there after just finishing Unsettled Ground. I think I will add this to my (growing) list of TBR.
ReplyDeleteNot knitting much because it is so stinking HOT! But I have been reading, and I have already told you about Orchard by Peter Heller. I am now reading Winter by Rick Bass, and I am enjoying his account of his adventure of living through the winter in Montana with no electricity. It helps in enduring the heat to read about the extremely cold temps and a lot of snow this time of year. I am not sure I could read Empire of Pain. The Sacklers are going to get away with it with their billions intact. Such injustice! Your HH looks great, Bonny.
ReplyDeleteMy knitting is still on hold due to this ongoing heat and humidity. Even with the AC, the air is thick with humidity. I wasn't thrilled with the last two books I read, but I've started Instructions For a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell and I think this will be a good one...and appropriate for the current weather!
ReplyDeleteI don't want to wish my life away, but I do wish that the heat and humidity end soon and we can begin to feel a few cool fall breezes. It's sweltering out there, and will probably stay that way through Sunday. Hope the book is a good one!
DeleteAny color ending in -blut is going to be a favorite of mine! Loving that Hitchhiker.
ReplyDeleteI was interested to hear a reveiw of The Empire of Pain. Sounds like I need to add that to my list!
ReplyDeleteIt's a tough book to read at times, and the family certainly had some ambitious members, but it's an awful shame they wreaked so much havoc and grief on other people's lives while earning their billions.
DeleteI could've sworn I'd read something by Joyce Maynard, but according to Goodreads, nope! That said, I was delighted to see her name show up as a contributor in Ann Hood's Knitting Yarns ... apparently, she's a knitter! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50623604-knitting-yarns
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've read anything by Maynard but your recommendation will send me to the library to see what I can find. And if, as Mary writes, she is a knitter - well all the better. The hitchhiker is beautiful.
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