Instant Gratification Knitting – Unraveled Wednesday 9/8/21

Happy Wednesday! It’s been a while since I checked in with the folks over at Unraveled Wednesday, because I haven’t been doing too much reading, and I feel bad just checking in about knitting. But I have been in a bit of a reading mood again (if you’re new here, my reading moods definitely come and go) so I figured I’d share!

Let’s start with knitting. I continue to make progress on my Twist and Shout test socks (I’m through the heel and gusset decreases), and I have started the baby blanket for my friend. I definitely do not need to complete this blanket now because the baby isn’t due until February, but this blanket will make a good interim project until the next big knit starts in October (more on that in a sec). I decided to make the Diagonal Comfort Blanket from some Lion Brand Pound of Love my friend gifted me. And oh my goodness, this is just such instant gratification knitting! I just checked my notes, and I haven’t knit with anything over sport weight since May. And even that was my secret test which was technically knit with worsted weight but at such a tight gauge with size 4 needles. I can’t believe how much this blanket is flying! I started it Monday night when I got the yarn, and I’m already about a quarter of the way through (I think, I might make this one a little bigger just because I have so much yarn). I know this is kind of a boring gift, and I have some more exciting gifts planned, but I wanted to make something that could be used right away when the baby is born.

I’m hoping I can finish off this blanket this month, because I want my needles to be relatively clear for the WestKnits MKAL that starts October 8! I had such a fun time with Slipstravaganza last year, and I can’t wait to start Shawlography! I decided to buy some yarn, since I used from stash last year, and I picked up these 5 skeins of Organic Studio Sock from Neighborhood Fiber Co. I’m really proud of myself for picking 5 colors that I think will look really good together, I watched the whole video on color combos and I think I picked a good “contrasting neutrals with pops of color” combo. Though I am slightly doubting the purple because it doesn’t pop as much as I thought it did on the screen. Well, I’ve got a month to figure it out, my stash as a few options that will coordinate with the teal (because I love teal) so I may play around with a few options.

On the reading front, I’m going back and forth between two books that I’m really enjoying! I also recently switched over from Goodreads to The Story Graph, which was created partially by a Black women and has lots of awesome charts and graphs (which you know I love!).

This the The Master by Christopher Clarey. Because the US Open in tennis is happening right now, this book is being talked about a lot, and so I thought I’d give it a try. I’m really enjoying it so far. It’s more in first person that I think I expected, but Clarey’s insight’s don’t really bother me. It isn’t dry to read, and moves through Fed’s career without taking too much time on any one tournament or match.

I’m slowly working my way through the Lord Peter Wimsey books, and this is the second to last novel that I plan to read, as I’ve listened to the last one, Busman’s Honeymoon. Lord Peter is one of my favorite fictional characters, and I’m enjoying his usual charm and problem solving skills. I actually have watched the TV series with Ian Carmichael based on this book, so I do find I’m remembering some of what happens, but that’s actually ok. These books are definitely full of lots of details, so sometimes it’s nice to remember the larger plot points.