Wednesday, September 22, 2021

A Really Unraveled Wednesday

I'm joining Kat and the Merry Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday, today with some real unraveling. After last week, I knit a slightly wider four row red stripe, some more Drachenblut, plus another red stripe and decided I wasn't loving it. The stripes looked "blurry" because there is a lot of red adjacent to the stripes in the Drachenblut, the yarn changes for the stripes were really messy, and I thought the red didn't really match when I looked at it closely. I had enough knitting real estate to make a real assessment, so I ripped it out. That's a nice thing about knitting; it's so easy to unravel!

I started to knit with just the Drachenblut, but after a couple of teeth, I once again began to re-think things. Maybe it would look better if I tried the red stripes again, paying more attention to  doing a neater yarn change? So there was more unraveling and more attention paid to adding red stripes. So now I'm back where I was a week ago, knitting-wise. I think I've quit unraveling and overthinking, am relatively happy with it, and will keep it this way. A few more stripes and I might be done. 

This week I finished The Other Black Girl, but it wasn't a book for me. It began with an interesting premise and raises some important points, like the lack of diversity in publishing, microaggressions, and discrimination, but for me it was sorely lacking in the execution. I found the plot rambling and unfocused, leading to confusion at the end. I had to re-read the ending because I thought I had missed something but what I really missed was the potential that this book initially held.

I have started two wonderful books (so far, anyway). They are very different from each other, but that gives me a choice for what I'm in the mood to listen to. Mary Jane is a coming-of-age story of a 14-year-old girl set in 1970s Baltimore, a little on the light side, and What Strange Paradise is the anything-but-light story of the world refugee crisis seen through the eyes of children. I have been enjoying both of them, so much so that I'm actually looking forward to taking John's truck to the Honda dealership this morning for a new part that will take three hours to replace. Great listening time!

What are you making and reading this week?

10 comments:

  1. I thought the wider red stripes would look good, I'm sorry for the advice I gave you on that! And I have similar feelings about The Other Black Girl - it had such potential but really missed the mark.

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  2. I like the contrast of the red stripes, Bonny. I think it's going to look great! :-) And I felt the same way about The Other Black Girl. I thought maybe it was just my mood, but in the end, I sent it back to the library without finishing. (And I loved What Strange Paradise, even though it is definitely not a light read. . . ) I hope your wait at the dealership goes quickly!

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  3. I am sorry that I missed your post last week (shame on me, I posted my Unraveled post and then shut the laptop and ignored "regular life") However, I find it can be tricky when changing colors in all garter stitch... but I think you've done it beautifully here! Those stripes are crisp and clean on that side! Well done! (and on my monitor it looks like those yarns match perfectly)

    I am on the waitlist for What Strange Paradise and I am excited to have it be my turn!

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  4. I love the pop that the red stripes have on your Hitchhiker Bonny and I like the thin stripes. Best of luck at the dealership today - good that you have some good books to listen to.

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  5. Isn't it funny how we don't mind waiting for things when we have knitting and a good book to keep us company? I'm glad you have something light to read now to contrast with the heavier subject matter of the other book.

    I've got to get back to my Shifty, and I just finished a library book last night and need to find my next ebook to read while I continue to work my way through my hard copy of Jane Eyre.

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  6. What is important is that you are satisfied now with your HH. I'm glad it finally fits your vision of what you wanted. I have been doing lots of reading lately, but nothing really clicked until I started reading Peter Heller's new book, The Guide. I am really enjoying it, but I love reading his descriptions of nature and appreciation of the natural world. This book is a story that includes the survivor from The River, which I didn't realize for quite a few pages.

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  7. I like the red stripes and I think your HH is going to look great!
    I am immersed in a 900+ page brick of a book called The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili. The author is Georgian, the book was written in German, and I'm reading the English translation. I'm reading along with a small group from the Modern Mrs. Darcy book club and the reading schedule stretches from Sept.-Nov. I planned to read small sections and break it up with other reading, however after reading the first two sections, I can't put this book down and I can't stop thinking about it. It is all I want to read right now, so I will probably finish it sooner rather than later. I never imagined this book would be so fascinating!

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    1. Thanks, Debbie! I had to look up The Eighth Life after your compelling description, and it does sound very interesting. I'm definitely going to put this book on my radar and maybe get it from Amazon. I don't think I can finish 900+ pages in the month that I would have the book from the library!

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  8. I do love the red stripes and sometimes knitting is unknitting and reknitting.

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  9. Sometimes the projects that need to be reknit are the best. Last year or so I knit a shawl out of leftovers. I played around quite a bit but finally knit a shawl that I love. I like the narrower red stripes. I look forward to seeing the finished HH.

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