Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Unraveled Wednesday

I'm joining Kat and the Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday, but am sparing you yet another photo of my Antler cardigan with some antlers. I haven't knit on the sweater at all this week, but am looking forward to inching closer to joining the sleeves for the yoke next week. Instead, I've been knitting hats. I've done this for at least the past three years - told myself I'm not doing any Christmas knitting, then felt terrible that I haven't expressed love for my family through stitches, chosen a hat pattern, and ended up knitting something warm for them. I've previously knit waffle hats and Rikke, but this year I chose Bankhead (Ravelry link).


It was an easy choice. It's the most popular hat pattern on Ravelry, with more than 10,000 projects, free, and written for five sizes from baby through adult xl. I've enjoyed it enough to knit two in quick succession, with the third in progress. I may even make a fourth one for myself. I rarely wear hats, but even I might wear this one. 

While hat knitting has been proceeding at full speed, reading has slowed down. I finished a library book, What Just Happened, and am almost done with another one, Small Things Like These. What Just Happened is a memoir of the pandemic by Charles Finch. Many of the reviews speak about how humorous it is, but I found it to be more poignant. Beginning on March 11, 2020, with "It now seems inevitable that in certain places where the virus is spreading, people will have to quarantine for a week or two", the author continues his diary through December of 2020. He marks the milestones of numbers of deaths, with 200,000 on September 21, and here we are 15 months later with an almost unimaginable 805,000 people dead in the US. It was well-written, but I think I will need to wait for a long time before I read another pandemic memoir. 

But Small Things Like These is providing the perfect antidote to pandemic nonfiction. A novella by Claire Keegan, it is set in cold and wintry Ireland in 1985, with Bill Furlong asking himself important life questions after an encounter at a Magdalen laundry while delivering coal. The writing is exquisite and I don't want the book to end. I know I'll be thinking about it long after I finish. 

What are you making and reading this week?

10 comments:

  1. Good looking hats, Bonny. I have trouble knitting hats in a way that I get a good fit. I know it's about gauge, but I check my gauge, then everything goes sideways. Tips? I have done some reading about the pandemic lately, and I agree. It is too immediate to make for engaging reading. I just want to close the book and forget about it when I can. I am enjoying These Precious Days very much. I have requested her earlier essays from the library. And I almost forgot, I was following your trail of breadcrumbs and read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and it charmed my socks off! I may have to look for some of her other works.

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  2. Those hats are brilliant! (and I have added two books to my library wait list!)

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  3. I've added "Small Things" to my ever expanding TBR list, but I think I will skip the pandemic book. Your hats look great! I'm planning to make some in the new year (a jump on next year's Christmas gifts!!).

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  4. What great hats! I'm so disappointed that my library doesn't have "Small Things" at all . . . but based on your comments here, it sounds like a book I might need to own anyway. It sounds delightful -- and like a perfect thing for me to read right now. XO

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  5. The hats look wonderful! It's surprising to me that it's the most popular hat pattern on Ravelry and yet I'd never heard of it before!

    My library doesn't have "Small Things" yet, either, so I'll have to keep checking back. I just started (re)reading Love Medicine, though I haven't gotten too far yet. In addition to the official selections for the Erdrich-along, I'd like to eventually read all her books, so it makes sense to start at the beginning.

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  6. there is just something soothing about hat knitting! you know the person will wear it and it's just mindless so you can watch tv or talk. Love your hats!

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  7. I might skip that pandemic memoir for now but Small Things sounds wonderful. And your hats are terrific!

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  8. I'm not ready for any pandemic memoir (Erdrich's The Sentence is the closest I've come to anything pandemic and she sets a VERY high bar). Your hats look very festive and I do hope you knit one for yourself, too!

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  9. I'm working on a pair of socks for me and THINKING about the hat I want to make for Steve. I bought yarn yesterday at Yarn Attic and Alison (the owner) suggested Bankhead. I think that may be the one.

    Reading? Fluff! I'm reading a Jenny Colgan Christmas book.

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  10. You are making good progress on your hats. The colors will be cheerful on a cold gray days. I have looked at Small Things Like These. I am glad to read your review. Any book that makes me think for days afterwards is a good read. I am reading The Madness of Crowds - excellent as most of Louise Penny's other books in this series. I also have some easy rereading going on - some of the first Anne Perry Christmas mysteries. The Christmas Guest and The Christmas Secret. The first four or five in this series are the ones I like. The later ones tend to be a little preachy. Enjoy your family this week.

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