Wednesday 1 July 2020

Unraveled Wednesday and Yarn Along




Joining in today with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday and Small Things for July Yarn Along.

The three projects have become four - how did that happen?!



The pink Stitchcraft jumper (With Angora Tie from the October 1932 issue) looks like it is at exactly the same place as last week. But it is not! Last week's was the first sleeve and this is the second sleeve. So close to finishing!

If you can see the placement of the progress keeper, the Pool Party leg warmers are probably getting the least love at the moment. It is very monotonous knitting!

The Naptime doll has her head knitted. Still waiting for wool to dry - takes a while in winter!


And the sneaky fourth project, the Sparkly shawl, has been moving along nicely, just so I can see the colours emerge!

Maybe, hopefully, I will have some sort of finished object for next week!



In reading, I have just finished The Woman In Black by Susan Hill.

This is the review I wrote on LibraryThing.

This is my kind of scary read! The understated, dare I say elegant, nature of this book is far more atmospheric and scary for me than blood and gore and lurid details.

From the first few pages, when Arthur says:

'I had always known in my heart that the experience would never leave me, that it was now woven into my very fibres, an inextricable part of my past . . .'

to his very last words in the book:
'They had asked for my story. I have told it. Enough.'

I was reading so quickly to find out what had happened.

This is a book that has star ratings on Goodreads ranging from two to five. It very much depends on what you expect from a scary book. If you like a Gothic in the true tradition, where the atmosphere and the setting plays as much of a role in the story as the actual characters, this may be for you. I read a review that called it the ghost story Jane Austen would have written.

Now to see the movie!

I have just started to read A Robot In The Garden by Deborah Install. I needed a book about sentient things for a science fiction reading challenge and this description stood out to me. It is for fans of The Rosie Project and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and I loved both those books. Quirky is my thing!
I am only three chapters in but it has caught my attention and I am sure I will like it.

And I was excited to see that Curvy Month has begun over at Subversive Femme. Let's face it, most vintage patterns are for more petite figures so every year, Bex hunts out the patterns for those of us with fuller figures in her annual Curvy Month.
The first pattern is fabulous - I do love some stripes! It is called California Basque and is from circa 1940s.


And the model's hair - gorgeous! 


Reading and knitting are my favourites - hope you have been getting time for lots of both this week!




20 comments:

  1. Isn't it interesting how stripey yarn keeps us motivated?

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    1. I do find that. If you have to do just plain stocking stitch, it is always good to at least have some colour changes to keep it interesting.

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  2. I'm down to two projects and want to start something new but if I do then I won't finish the two any time soon! It's such a wonderful predicament to be in as a knitter.

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    1. It is a predicament! I find if I have bigger projects, I need to have some small ones too, just to have something more interesting and the satisfaction of a finished object. I do tend to take it too far though and start way too many things!

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  3. I pass on the scary books, but love the sweet doll and other of your creations.

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    1. I am definitely not a horror book or movie person - I only like the Gothic classics or books in that style. Thank you for your kind words.

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  4. My husband has just finished The Woman in Black too. I really enjoyed it. Have you read Dolly by Susan Hill? That is a very weird spooky book. You'll enjoy the film of Woman in Black, it has some differences from the book and is a little gruesome in parts but I think it retains the gothicness (is that a word?) of the book.

    I love 1940s/50s fashion and pictures.

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    1. That was my first Susan Hill book but I will have to look for more. I figured they would have to 'scary' the movie up a bit for modern audiences - there might not be enough happening. The settings certainly look the part.

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  5. I'm glad you enjoyed The Woman in Black. For some reason it reminded me of 'Turn of the Screw', I don't know why because the storylines are so different. Probably just the eerie atmosphere.

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    1. Yes, very Gothic atmosphere in both. I also enjoyed The Haunting of Hill House for the same reason.

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  6. I came by to return the blog visit and thank you for your kind comment about my new book cover. I love both reading and knitting, although these days I seem to have little time for either. I love sci fi quirky too, and had never heard of Deborah Install. Thanks for the recommendation!

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    1. Thanks for visiting! The robot book is really charming.

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  7. So many great things here--good knits, good reads! Classic gothic genre is definitely hard to do well, but when it is, wow. I'll have to look into that book.

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    1. I also love Angela Carter, particularly her short story collection The Bloody Chamber. The stories are retellings of fairy tales, bringing back their original dark aspects.

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  8. I love the fashions from the 40s! The men looked dapper, and the women were gorgeous.

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    1. Absolutely! I don't know how they found the time - maybe no internet to distract them was the key! :)

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  9. A robot in the garden sounds like a book I'd enjoy. So easy to have more than one knitting project on the go. Wonder if it will turn to five!

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    1. Oh, let's hope I can keep myself from adding any more! Especially as I still have WIPs that I have not included in the count yet.
      I have finished A Robot In The Garden and it really was delightful.

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  10. I love that naptime doll. But for now I might just stick with the projects on hand (although I am not progressing at all at the moment, just don't feel it).

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    1. I do that too. I can have time where I do no knitting at all, normally in summer. But as it is winter here, I am really enjoying it.

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