Unraveled Wednesday | Lots of knitting; NO unraveling!

Happy Wednesday, friends! Today I’m linking up with Kat at As Kat Knits to share what I’ve been reading and stitching this week for Unraveled Wednesday. I am happy to report that there has been no unraveling (whew!) and even a little bit of reading.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I just cannot be consistent in the spring. There’s too much calling out for me and everything is so up in the air. Sometimes the sun is shining for days on end and I absolutely must be in my gardens, planting and watering. Sometimes the entire weekend is cloudy, cool, and rainy and I can manage the time by popping in my ear buds and listening to wonderful stories while playing with the kids and cleaning the house. Some evenings are perfect for knitting in front of the television while others are a delicious recipe for exercising in the basement. I’m not good at finding balance but am trying to practice looking at the big picture – just because there’s little to share of something one week doesn’t mean progress won’t be made during another.

These last several weeks are a good example. I went two solid weeks without a knitting update but managed to get a ton knitted in the last few days thanks (?) to a slew of sick children. It’s important to remind ourselves that opportunities for the things we love come and go and it’s not necessary to do everything every day. (or maybe it’s still just me who struggles with this?)

KNITTING THIS WEEK:

So here’s my knitting progress this week! This the DRK Everyday Sweater knit up in KnitPicks Wool of the Andes (here’s my very sparse Ravelry project page). Luckily, I managed to separate the sleeves from the body at the end of last week so now it’s the perfect pick up/put down project because it’s just stockinette in the round for about 8 inches. That makes it easy to work on whenever I have a few quiet minutes and super simple to put down when a sick child needs something. No counting involved!

This is my first cropped top, which I’m a little nervous about. The pattern calls for 8″ of body and 4″ of ribbing, but I’m not sure how comfortable I am with that. I’m thinking another inch of body will be more adequate for my shape. I’ll put in a lifeline at 8″ and another at 9″ before the ribbing – and then I have the option to easily rip back at either point to make it shorter or longer, depending on the fit.

And yay for progress!

READING THIS WEEK:

Bronwyn and I finished another American Girl book this week. These books are only about 30 pages long but we literally read just a page or two a night so it takes us about a month to finish one. In this one, Felicity’s grandfather, a loyalist to the King of England, visits for her birthday. Felicity overhears a couple of Royal soldiers discussing their plan to steal the colonist’s gunpowder and she has to decide whether to tell her family, which would upset her grandfather. In the end, she does tell her family but they don’t believe her. Felicity recruits Ben, her father’s apprentice, and Isaac, a free black man to help her alert the people in town of the plot. She’s nervous about how her family will react, but she earns the respect of her father for taking action on something she knows is right.

I finished my annual spring reread of The Hobbit. I’ve said it many times, but I’m always aching to visit The Shire whenever the grass starts to turn green around here. And because there aren’t any books in which the hobbits actually stay in their hobbit holes in Bag’s End, this is the closest I can get. I didn’t enjoy the story as much this year, but I think it’s a symptom of my own restlessness more than anything else.

(Also, I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said Life is better in the Shire. These are my people.)

The Reading List wasn’t on my TBR this month but my library hold came through and, because books about books always reignites my reading fire, I thought this might be a wonderful addition to this month’s list. And I was right — I gave it 5 stars because it came into my life just as I needed it. What a wonderful story about the power of books and reading! This is a lovely reminder about what books can teach us about ourselves, how characters can change our lives and perspectives, and that bookish friends make such an impact on us. The audio version is very good and I was so thankful to have this in my earbuds this week (and a handkerchief nearby)!

I was hoping to finish Last Report, but I simply cannot sit down and just read right now. And look at the top shelf of my book cart:

Those are the books I hoped to read this month but we’re already 11 days in and I haven’t cracked a single one of them. It is okay. Balance. It is spring and the flowers are calling my name; all 3 children and my husband are sick and they are also calling my name. May isn’t going to go as planned (I knew it wouldn’t), and that is okay. I’m taking my wins where I can and trying to stay focused on what’s right in front of me.

I hope you’re able to find a few enjoyable things to help you get through the rest of the week. I plan to be back on Friday with a few more updates. Until then – stay cozy!