Unraveled Wednesday | Brioche Squish Supreme

Happy Wednesday, dear ones. I’m linking up with Kat and the other Unravelers to share my stitching and reading for the week. Knitting and books have been my solace this week and I’m excited to catch up with you.

STITCHING THIS WEEK:

I didn’t squeeze in as much stitching as I’d hoped this weekend, but look at how much the brioche section has grown on my Ramble Shawl! I did some unraveling early on and got the brioche yarn overs a bit twisted, so that mistake jumps out at me every time I look at it. But life moves on and so shall I. Friends, the squish factor is out of this world. I have a drawer full of brioche shawls and still — the squish surprises me every time!

READING THIS WEEK:

The End of Days was a powerful book that forces you to think about the paths in your life. This was a series of short stories about the same woman, imagining 5 very different lives for her. My main takeaway: suffering is inevitable in life. And I must stop second guessing my choices because I have no idea what sort of life I’d be living otherwise!

Also: this is another book that illustrates the depths of suffering Eastern Europe experienced prior to and between the World Wars. That suffering is what gave Hitler his foothold, allowed him to press the us vs. them mentality, and festered such hatred towards a specific group of people. What a timely reminder that we have a responsibility to help those in need. It has such repercussions throughout history.

I read The One and Only Ivan with Bryce. There’s a sequel to this one which we read first, but I think it was fine to read them out of order. This is a story about Ivan, a silverback gorilla who is the main attraction at a run-down mall, just off of the highway. He’s made friends with the other animals at the mall and has accepted his sad situation, but he begins to wish for more for Ruby, an innocent baby elephant. He wishes she had other elephants with her and didn’t spent her entire day tied to the floor. He’s an artist, so he uses his art to call attention to the fact that Ruby deserves a real home. Things start to spin out of control for Ivan when he gets more attention than he bargained for. These are somewhat difficult stories to read and I think they might be too emotionally mature for my particular 8 year old, but I’m glad we read them because we had some great conversations about caring for animals and the best ways animals thrive in the world.

I was first attracted to The Paper Palace by its cover and title. And then I read its plot at home and thought ewww, so I returned it unread to the library. But it’s on the Women’s Prize long list and is actually in my library’s collection, so I borrowed it again and gave it another shot.  And I couldn’t put it down. The author beautifully told the multi-generational history of the family’s run-down shabby camp, lovingly and ironically dubbed The Paper Palace. It also showed us how young love sinks its hooks into you and, sometimes, just won’t let you go. I loved this author’s writing: it was sharp, poetic, and page-turning; I can’t believe it’s her first novel. And the ending. Can we talk about it?

---

And that’s going to be it for me — I’m off to read a bit before everyone else wakes up this morning. I hope to be back on Friday with a brief update on our week. Take good care!