Unraveled Wednesday: 8/7/24

I'm happy to join Kat and the Unravelers today on this first Unraveled Wednesday in August. I had hoped to finish my HotM but I have a couple of excuses for not doing so. First, it's too hot and humid to knit, but I've used that one for most of the summer. Next, I misspoke last week when I said I had 40 rows left. Because of the way this shawl is constructed, you knit from the edge to the middle using one color, knit the last stitch in the color you are working with together with a stitch from the other color, then knit back. You do that 10 times, then do the same thing on the other side with the other color. (My apologies if that is clear as mud.) Because of this, one row is composed of knitting to the middle and back, so I think I should have said I had 80 rows to go. (Now my reasons really are beginning to sound like excuses.)

But my biggest reason is that I ended up with some sort of large and oddly floppy stitch. I kept on knitting even after I noticed it, then I started to tell myself that I could run another piece of yarn through it and tighten it up, until finally I quit lying to myself and took a good look at it.

I'm still not sure how or why it happened, but I finally admitted that no fix would look right and the only thing to do was unravel. So that's what I did.

It took me most of the afternoon on Monday to unravel those piles of ramen yarn, get the stitches back on the needle, and figure out where I was in the pattern. I've knit a few rows and think I have things situated correctly. 

I'll spare you another photo since the shawl is smaller than last week (and it's also really dark outside because it's raining torrentially). I'll just say I hope to finish this Hitch on the Move sometime this summer (without any more self-imposed deadlines and weird floppy stitches).

I did read one book last week, Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger. Like Mother, Like Mother is a novel about three generations of strong women who must deal with having been raised by an abusive father and absent mother. Lila Pereira is incredibly hard-working and successful. Her upbringing by her abusive father (he was truly reprehensible) and a mother she has been told died after her husband committed her to an asylum has affected the way she raises her own three daughters. She makes sure they're well-cared for by their father but Lila has chosen to work long hours and immerse herself fully in her work as an executive editor at The Washington Globe newspaper (think Katharine Graham). Lila makes no apologies for her actions and lack of maternal caring. Her husband, Joe, is the true parent, but the lack of motherly love affects her youngest daughter, Grace. As an adult, Grace finds her own success but remains curious about what really happened to Lila's mother Zelda. Did she really die or did she escape? Grace sets out on a quest for Zelda that Lila herself never sought.

Susan Rieger has taken a look at the consequences of maternal involvement (or lack thereof) through three generations of women and the effects on those who love them. This challenges the traditional gender roles that are most often assigned to women. Through her characters, Rieger asks "How are we affected by the women in our lives who might dare to reject those roles and what has this cost those women themselves?" I'm not sure I ever understood generational trauma before, but this book certainly provides a good fictional explanation. There are many characters in the three generations with a guide at the front of the book in case you lose track like I did. This one was three stars for me. 

Thank you to The Dial Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. It will be published on October 29, 2024.

What are you making and reading this week?