A Not-so-Fresh Start – Unraveled Wednesday

Happy Wednesday all! Linking back in with fellow crafters and readers over at As Kat Knits for the first time in a long time!

I have amazing news – I finished the knitting for my test knit!! Whoohoo!! It took just under 10 weeks and I am so, so, so glad to be done with it! I actually really love the finished object, and can’t wait to share it with you all (not quite sure when that will be able to happen) but getting there was a bit of a slog.

So, which of those sweaters that I wrote about Sunday did I pick for my fresh start of knitting? Well… none of them. I signed up for a new test knit, because of course I did. This one has cables and I’m not supposed to share it on social media (though I am supposed to post pictures to Ravelry once completed so if you’re friends with me there you can probably sneak pics). Soo…. basically nothing has changed lol! Idk I wasn’t quite ready to dive into another large project as soon as this one was off the needles. This one shouldn’t take me that long to get through, and I do think I’ll start another project this weekend, so I don’t think the blog draught will be as long as last time. For now I’ll just leave this picture here from my lovely afternoon spent on the porch knitting and reading. I took the day off because even though I’ve had a few days off work recently, I haven’t had a true day to do nothing in a really long time. Between mask making, wedding stuff, and church commitments, I just needed a random day to do nothing. And I did, it was really really lovely.

I’ve hit one of my reading strides in the past week or so. I think it was Thursday night, I was just like “I should read something” and since then I’ve finished 3 books!

I had started Piranesi in one of my reading moods in February, and then stopped being in one of those moods and let my hold on it in Libby lapse. But I noticed this morning that it was available, and thankfully it remembered my place, so I finished it off this afternoon! I REALLY liked this one. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with a concept quite like it. I think I’ve started to read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel a few times and couldn’t get through it, but I was able to enjoy this one (the two month break is more about my mood than the story itself). I recommend this one if you’re into fantasy, a bit of mystery, and a bit of the absurd.

I would say The Other Einstein is about average. I really liked the concept – exploring the character of Albert Einstein’s first wife, her life choices, and how much she might have had a hand in the papers which made him famous. And I’m all for stories of strong women who pave their own path in a typically male profession. But something about how this book was written left me a bit lacking. I don’t know, I think I maybe wanted more physics? That sounds a bit weird to say because I don’t really know anything about physics myself, but if the study of physics and math was so important to Mitza why didn’t we hear more about that? The author is a lawyer so I guess I can’t ask too much. Nothing about this book was bad, just kind of average in my opinion.

Now The Widows of Malabar Hill is “women paving their own path” done totally right. I absolutely loved this novel of the only female lawyer in 1920’s Bombay. There are women who choose to live in seclusion, a murder, and bubbling political tensions. From my perspective (obviously not being a part of the community I’m not the opinion that’s needed), the topics of religious seclusion and polygyny were handled really respectfully. Perveen is a great character, though at points I thought the flashbacks got a bit in the way of the story. I see that there are sequels, so maybe those will be able to deal a bit more with the present now that the backstory has been established. Overall though, it was really really good, a quick read, and I definitely encourage you to give it a try!

Well, there’s my update for the week! Feels good to be in a bit of a reading mood again, though who knows how long this one will last. The more this happens, the more I realize I’m just a sporadic reader and I’m ok with that! What are you working on and/or reading this week?