I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who messaged me, commented, sent me recipes for lemons on pinterest, offered me a hug and a listening ear. I appreciate all of you. I suck at uncertainty and yet, I’m in an uncertain place trying to figure my way forward (or even what direction is forward). Your kindness, thoughts, prayers, recipes mean a great deal. Moving on…
I just finished a 5 day burst of prednisone for an allergy issue. Because Jesse is a smart man, he took the kids to the cabin for the weekend and left me to my own devices (see: side effects include crankiness). The additional side effects of not being able to sleep or sit still may have something to do with all that I managed to get accomplished the last few days but who am I to look a chemically induced mania gift horse in the mouth? Yay, organization!
Watching: Pushing Daisies. I bought it off iTunes because my most trusted television advisor recommended it. It’s one of those shows that I feel you could watch again and again and again and keep finding new layers of awesome. It’s funny, sweet, poignant and clever. Basically, it’s perfect knitting television and I love it.
Knitting: I’m working on my August pair of socks for my Desert Vista Dyeworks Monthly Sock Club. I’m trying afterthought heels for the second time. I’ve finished one sock (without the heel) so far and I’m almost done with the toe on the second. I might actually get done in time this month to knit something besides socks for a bit. Though exactly what, I haven’t decided. And then…there’s only four months to go.
In other knitting news, I’m going on sock yarn diet. I had it all packed away from when we had the new flooring put in and while unpacking and organizing it, I realized that I have enough to make socks (and shawls and hats and all sorts of yarn goodies) for months if not years. Why does there have to be so many amazing dyers and yarn shops out there?!?
Reading: I was reading Frankenstein but I managed to misplace it just as it was getting good. I know it’s around – in a car, in one of the many totes we take from here to there, hiding under a piece of furniture but I haven’t felt a whole lot like reading since we got back from Michigan. I reread Little Women because I knew I had read it but remembered nothing about it and was kind of surprised. It just felt …trite? preachy? I don’t know. Two and a half stars. I also read The Hypnotists Love Story because Liane Moriarty is usually good for a beachy, poolside, summer read. It was good, not great, not even close to my favorite (Big Little Lies). The best I’ve read recently is Brown Girl Dreaming. I’m starting to think that I either need to read YA/Junior Fiction or classics. I’m really struggling with finding anything else these days.
What are you watching, reading, working on in your corner of the world?
“…who am I to look a chemically induced mania gift horse in the mouth?” This probably shouldn’t have made me laugh…but it did 🙂 . It’s great that you managed to check so many things off your list, Kate!
I’m with you on the YA/junior or classics. I read Little Women maybe 20 years ago and remember feeling slightly let down as well. I did manage to finally finish Rebecca, which I did enjoy very much, especially when the plot twisted and things got a bit dark! I found it very interesting/maddening that we are never told the narrator’s name! At times it was just a bit hard to read, what with her willingness to subsume herself for Maxim, but obviously their relationship was a product of the times. Still, a very good read. Also just finished reading (aloud, to my 11 year-old; we took a small break from Harry Potter) The Princess Bride. There were parts which were confusing as heck (when the author is explaining how he abridged the “original” version of the PB, passages I just ended up skipping, for the most part) but my son and I enjoyed it quite a bit other than that. And now he’s free to watch the movie 😉 . And this is not YA or classic, but … also just finished reading “SHED your stuff, change your life, a four-step guide to getting unstuck”, by Julie Morgenstern, a book I happened across in the library and picked up because holy crows yes do I EVER feel stuck 🙁 . I’m normally not a big fan of self-help books, but I figured it was worth my time to read it, and I do think she had some good ideas. (It remains to be seen what, if anything, I follow from the book though.) There is currently NO BOOK waiting in the wings, something I need to correct (I feel I always have to have a book on the go and a project on the go!). (I did borrow “Wonder” by R.J. Polacio for my son to read, but so far he hasn’t picked it up; maybe I should just read it on my own, or maybe once we’re finally through Harry Potter I can read it aloud to him.)
I’m dipping in and out of Suits (on Netflix) with my husband, who’s now on the second season. It’s quite good, although half the time I don’t understand the lawyer talk! It is a very knittable show….
I think I’m the only knitter on the planet who doesn’t stash yarn!! It’s either my frugality or my self-knowledge about how clutter and unfinished projects affect me; either way, I don’t buy anything unless I have a very firm idea as to what that yarn will become and when it will happen. I’m now nearly done the second sock of a pair which I might just give to my daughter for her birthday next week. (Seems kind of odd to present socks she’s seen the progress on though, so she might just get them as a non-gift.) I’m starting to feel the hankering to knit myself a sweater, which I suspect is a VERY BAD idea 😉 .
Oh, and I almost forgot, I also just read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child … and it was rather a painful read. Have you read this yet, Kate?
I loved Rebecca and have spent a lot of time theorizing the reasons for leaving the narrator nameless while titling the book after Rebecca herself. I think I may have to look into your “getting unstuck” book because I’m on day 2 prednisone free and I am decidedly less “get up and go” than I was just 48 hours ago. (And I’m sorry to hear you’ve been feeling stuck. It’s so BLAH.
And you know, I didn’t start stashing until I started knitting socks two years ago. I hated the idea of buying yarn without having a project picked because it was just so much easier to not pick up yarn than to obsess (I’m so good at obsessing) about whether or not I was getting enough, if I’d find the right project, etc, etc, etc. Since I’ve started knitting socks, however, I know I can always buy sock yarn and knit socks. Someday. And the idea of passing up a gorgeous skein never to find it again? It’s ridiculous. And knitting yourself a sweater is a MARVELOUS idea. I knit one for my mom and started working on one for myself last winter (I set it aside for awhile because it was too hot to knit it!) and I LOVE sweater knitting. Do you have any patterns you’ve been looking at?
I haven’t heard of Suits, but I’ll have to look it up. I’m approaching the end of Pushing Daisies. I’m going to try and find a few podcasts to listen to as well. I’m not loving the amount of television I’ve been watching. (I feel a bit hypocritical when I tell my children they’ve spent more than enough time on their devices when I spend all night staring into my own!)
Oops! I forgot to answer about Cursed Child!! I’m actually going to borrow the book from a friend this week and read it. I’m hearing decidedly mixed reviews. I’m positive I would love to see it performed, if only to have that experience, but I’m a little nervous about the book.
I’m thinking the namelessness of the narrator probably further emphasizes her smallness/inferiority to Rebecca, who was initially portrayed as being perfect and larger than life? I kind of expected we would get to know her name at the very end, once she had fully stepped out of Rebecca’s shadow, but no!
Oh, I’m VERY good at obsessing too, Kate!! If I were to actually decide to make a sweater the process would be absolutely painful, because I’d be so stressed out over the yarn and the pattern and the gauge and the fit! (I’ve made sweaters for my kids, but small = easy, and my kids at that age weren’t picky about fit, while I am pretty fussy about fit when it comes to my own clothing.) That being said, I did run across a pattern the other day which I really like — Vanadium by Lisa Mutch. (I would definitely want to do a top down, seamless construction.) What pattern are you knitting for your sweater?
I’ve been listening to podcasts quite regularly! (Mostly a CBC radio show I enjoy but can never catch, and The Minimalists.) It’s really nice to just listen while knitting, without feeling like I’m missing out on something visually important. (I am very easily overwhelmed, apparently!)
And The Cursed Child … I read it very early after its release, and before reading any reviews, but I would have wanted to read it regardless, because I will read ANYTHING Harry Potter 😉 !! You’ll have to tell me what you think of it, once you do read it!
Hi Kate,
Unlike you, I’ve been not productive at all! I was in an intensive class the past two weeks, and the intensive experience of sending my girl off to college. That happened yesterday, and it’s all still feeling unreal.
But as for reads: I read The Orchardist this summer. It’s a quiet but gorgeous read. Not sure if you like historical fiction, but if so I highly recommend. I (like much of the world) loved Stranger Things on Netflix. Not sure if it would be a good knitting read. I get why Suits is: It’s mostly just people talking to each other. (My son has been watching.) I know I’ve read/watched other things, but this summer has been so strange. It feels like I missed it. I can’t really remember what I actually did for much of July.
Gosh, I wish you could come to my house and clean it with your energy. 🙂
I’m trying to find a way to recapture that get up and go and while I’m still accomplishing things, without prednisone, I’ve reverted back to a mere mortal trying to get it all done. Sad.
Is it appropriate to say I’m sorry to hear about your daughter? I mean, I’m excited for her (and for you!) but I know we’ve talked about how it’s a happy/sad time and I can imagine that’s very much the case now. Do you start school in August like many on the west coast? We won’t start until Sept 1, so we’re trying to wrest as much joy out as possible. The weather has given us a few cool days (nights have even felt COLD) to warn us that days basking in the sun are coming to an end.
Thank you for the book recommendation. “Quiet but gorgeous” sounds perfect for once I send the kids off to school. I watched the first two episodes of Stranger Things last night and I’m undecided if I can do it. It seems very well done, but I’m a complete wimp and it’s just thhhhhis side of too scary for me.
Hope you have the opportunity to relish and savor some time before you head back to work.
I think The Orchardist might be a really nice fall book. I’ll be interested to see if you like it. I saw (reading out of order) that you finished Stranger Things. I really liked that one because it wasn’t too scary/gory. Or, it was, but it never felt that real to me. Just real enough to feel sucked in, but not so real it felt too scary. Definitely hit the sweet spot for me.
And thank you for your kind words about Grace. Thank you for saying “sorry.” 🙂