Monthly Digest & Wrap Up

A Very Delayed Monthly Digest & Wrap Up | August 2023

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Hello and welcome to an August Wrap up! I don’t know about you, but August always feel like the last month of summer, even though I know for a fact is apparently doesn’t end until September 23rd this year. But, I will be honest as soon as September 1st comes around I feel like fall is in the air. Anyway, I say this because I always feel like I try to fit in the most adventures in August to really get all I can out of Summer. This has led to some serious reading, crafting, and adventures this month. Yes, I did say some reading!

Books

The Spite House by Johnny Compton, this was a really interesting horror read for sure! I was looking for horror and that is exactly what I got. I mentioned a few months back that I picked this book up because I really loved the idea of an evil house instead of just being a filled with ghosts. I did not expect was the really interesting family dynamic and slowly learning how the family truly gets to this point. I feel like the only downside, which I really feel is more of a personal preference thing. I felt like this story would have been better suited as a novella, at times I felt like there was too much fluff and I was waiting for something to happen to the point of the story dragging at certain points. Which, I can see building suspense in a positive way for a different reader. Either way, I am very glad I read this book and enjoyed it, I am excited to see what Compton writes next!

Adventures

One of the first things I did in August was go on a NYC adventure with one of my best friends. It was a total blast we spent the entire day walking around, we started by stopping at Shakespeare & Co were I ended up picking up a copy of American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, which is the book about J. Robert Oppenheimer that inspired the movie Oppenheimer I believe. So after seeing and really enjoying the movie, I wanted to know more about him. I also ended up picking up a tiny little short story called Ghost Wall by Sarafi Moss, which was recommended by a staff member and I have no idea what it is about still. Then we stopped at Levain Bakery, where I enjoyed a really yummy cinnamon bread and latte. Then we just went into random stores that caught our interest and then went to a show. It was a really lovely day overall. The only bad part was loosing my project bag, knitting needle, and yarn in the subway. Thankfully, this can all easily be replaced.

  • On the left is a picture of the inside of the bookstore Shakespeare & Co.
  • On the right is a picture of my breakfast at Levain, a cinnamon bread and latte on a table top with bakery bag.
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Current Reads and WIPs

Current WIPs and Reads | August 2023

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Hello and welcome to a little mid-month check in with the book or books I am reading and projects that are keeping me busy. I will say, I already finished a book this month…who am I?! But, I am still working on another that I believe will last me the rest of the month because it a TOME. As for projects I am, as always, working on a few.

Current Reads

American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, which is about J. Robert Oppenheimer. Yes, I did see the movie Oppenheimer and then promptly picked up the book the next time I went to a bookstore. This is a tome, but I am reading a little bit at a time and really enjoying learning a bit more about Oppenheimer. I can’t say that this is an aspect of history I really ever delved in, I never thought to look up who or whom created the atomic bomb and their stories. After seeing the movie, I became curious and as is customary, not everything can be kept in a movie so I am already seeing some information that is new to me.

Current WIPs

Completed ribbing on knitting needles on couch next to lemon themed yarn bag.

While I have about four WIPs or works in progress on the go, I am really focusing on two at this point in time. The first being Wyethia by Jessica McDonald (Ravelry | Website) This is a really nice shirt with lace along the bottom that I really would love to finish ASAP so I get some wear out of it before the weather cools off. As of writing this I am done with the lace, body, and have split for front and back. I am currently working on the back, so I don’t have a ton more to do. I am using Concept by Katia Cotton-Merino in color 59 (gray), which is 70% cotton and 30% wool.

The second project I am really just starting is my Tessellated Vest by Andrea Mowry (Ravelry | Website) for New York Sheep and Wool this year. I am using a kit I picked up from Farmer’s Daughter Fibers using pincycle Yarns Dyed in the Wool in the color ghost ranch (wool), The Farmer’s Daughter Fibers Oh Dang! in the color clay dreaming (alpaca suri silk blend), and The Farmer’s Daughter Fibers Spinster’s Daughter in the color willow creek (wool). My goal is to work on this and finish in time to actually wear it to the festival. Since I decided to work on the vest, I think I will be able to do it in time.

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Let's Talk

Why I Think I Don’t Read As Much As I Used To and How I Plan to Change It

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Hello everyone and welcome to a little retrospective post. I know I have been silent for sometime…yet again. I thought I was on such an upswing of blogging and reading following Blogmas and finishing a book in January. Well, as you can probably easily see, my blog has been silent for the most part. I have not felt motivated at all to write or read in the last few months, which has been very strange for me. I am used to reading over 100 books a year and filling every free moment with reading and talking about reading…what has changed? Well, this has led me to do some self reflecting and ask myself, “Why don’t I want to do the things I absolutely loved anymore?”.

First and foremost, I think the main reason is because I fell in love with a new hobby. Reading has been my main hobby for years and years! I participated in others, but they were not new to me and I had done them for years as well. During the Summer of 2021 specifically August I taught myself how to knit and it became a love for me. Well, let me tell you something it is hard to knit and read. So, I slowly read less and less because of it. Yes, I can listen to audiobooks and I do from time to time, but when I need to count, do yarn overs, and patterning listening to a book leads me to make a lot of mistakes. I am hoping as I knit more, this will be something I can work through, but we shall see.

Life style change is probably the second biggest contributor I would say. I honestly can say I prefer reading physical books, but I do enjoy other formats a lot. But, I think because of some changes I needed to make in my life in recent years not getting my hands on physical books has led me not to pick up my ereader or phone to listen to an audiobook. I have had to downsize a lot in recent years, my library of physical books has really dwindled. Most of the ones I have chosen to keep have been some of my favorite reads of all times or special books that have been signed or picked up at events. That doesn’t really leave a ton of room to add books to the bookshelf I do have and I do not want them to spread around the space, apart from the book I am currently reading on my nightstand. On top of that, I have gotten out of the habit of putting library books on hold at my library. Now, because I think of the pandemic, I got in the habit of really looking at their digital library and downloading stuff onto my kindle and then promptly forgetting they are there because they are just in a kindle that always looks the same. This is for sure something I have realized and need to work on.

So, what does this mean? Well, for me I think this self reflection is really helpful in figuring out what is a priority in my life. I want reading to be one of those again and I think realizing the why is a good tool in getting it back to that place. Now, I don’t want to stop knitting, it is something I love as well, but I think I need to get in the habit of balancing my time better. Why not set aside some time for fun reading? Why not borrow a physical book again? These are things I have under my control and I can change. My limited space is not something I can control. I think I just need to make an effort to find a balance and realize that it is not going to happen over night. It is not going to happen through force, but through my desire to read.

I think two things I am going to try to do over the next two months. The first being requesting physical books from the library again…I need to figure out how to get my login information again. The second I think is setting aside some time in my week to read. I think I kept failing at reintroducing it into my life was because I kept saying doing one book a week or 30 min a day. I was adding pressure to it instead of letting it fit into my time more organically. I feel like I should be happy and proud that I sit down to read once a week at this point. If this week it happens on a Monday, then next week it is on a Thursday…Perfect! I read at least once during the week.

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Monthly Digest & Wrap Up

Monthly Digest & Wrap Up | July 2023

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Hello and welcome to my monthly recap! This months post is going to be short and sweet, but I did some reading and got a few projects off of my needles. I didn’t go outside too much due to the heat so I was able to get a bunch done on my projects.

Books

As for reading this month, I am making my way through The Spite House by Johnny Compton. So far, I am enjoying it, but I will say the building at the start is a bit slow. I am at a point where things are getting real and the pace is more something I enjoy. I am curious to see where this story brings this family in this apparent haunted house. I feel like it might get very intense, but I can’t be too sure.

Crochet & Knitting

Tee shirt with short balloon sleeves in a cream color with specs of various colors.


Ghost Whisperer by Park Williams (Ravelry | Website), this is the first project I finished this past month. I really enjoyed making this pattern, although I did enjoy up adding a few inches to the body for my preference. My plan is to wear this over a dress for a little bit of a cover when in the air conditioning this summer as well. This pattern is made with a single strand of mohair for most of it, but in certain points it is held double.

A pair of red socks with stitch markers counting rows.


My second completed project was a modified version of the Dorsal Socks by Helen Stewart (Ravelry). I actually made this pair in a single week as part of Knitty Natty’s Sock Week. It takes place every year in the Summer where you do your best to knit a single sock within the week, she also runs something similar in the winter that is a bit longer where the goal is to knit a pair. Anyway, I modified this pattern by only adding a single fin on the back of the socks and using a shadow wrap heel created by EarthtonesGirl. This is also my first pair of shortie socks and I can see myself making more of them to wear around the house in the warmer weather.

Adventures

Collage of yarn store, comic store, bubble tea, and knitting at a restaurant with a tea.

This month I went on a few adventures, but I am going to only share a few. The first one I want to share is the fact I went on a little day trip my with boyfriend to Doyles Town, PA. There we went to a yarn shop, comic shop, and ate some yummy ramen. It was a lovely day just walking around a little downtown together and exploring a new place. Another day I took myself out to breakfast, not something I normally do, but I was bored and I wanted breakfast food. So I took myself and my knitting out to breakfast and worked on my Twisted Tea Shirt by The Little Wolf Knits. I also ended up going to get my hair done that day and running to a little local yarn store and picked up some yarn to make a pair of socks.

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Knitting, Crochet & More

52 Weeks of Socks | Week 01: Intersections

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Hello and welcome! Todays post is going to be a little walk through in my experience in knitting my first pair of socks from 52 Weeks of Socks published by Laine. For this first week I ended up actually picking the first pattern in the book, who would have thought? When I first brought up this series in my post, 52 Weeks of Socks | Series Introduction, I said I was going to pick pattern from a bottle. I ended up getting my hands on some beautiful yarn that wouldn’t work with just any pattern so I ended up picking differently. The name of this pattern is Intersections (Ravelry) and was written by Marceline Smith. Anyway, here is how it went!

Casting On

52 Weeks of Sock Book with the completed toes of two socks in a multi colored yarn and a mini skin of a golden solid placed on the floor.

I ended up casting this pair of socks in early March of 2023. I ended up using a limited edition color way from TheLittleWolfKnits in her Catamaran base. This pattern is written toe up, which is something I am new to, but casting on and completing the toes went well and flew by. At this point in time I was thinking about having a contrasting heel and cuff, so I wound up a mini skein as well.

The Process

These socks took me some time, not because I was not enjoying them, but because I had a lot of gift knits I needed to get done. I picked them up for a bit then would put them on the back burning, leading to these taking about 3 months. I will say, I really did like working on these socks. The pattern repeat was really easily memorized and even after putting it down for a few weeks at a time I had no problem picking up where I left off.

I think the only downside to working on these socks or frustrations I had was purely my own fault. I ended up knitting these in tandum, which is something I usually do. I decided for some reason to pull from the inside of the ball and the outside to do this. Usually I am smart and split the skein, but I don’t know why I felt it was a great idea to pull from both ends of the ball. This led to tangles needing to be fixed before starting my knitting session. It wasn’t horrible or a huge deal, but it cut into my knitting time and was annoying.

Final Socks

I ended up finished June 30th, 2023! I am in love with these socks. They are my first all over lace socks and I will say I really learned a lot from them. Always split my yarn if I knit in tandem was a huge one. On top of the practical lesson I learned I like doing a heel flap and gusset from the toe up more than cuff down. While I can and do pick up stitches in my socks normally, I enjoyed this process a ton more and it has inspired me to try some other heel, options such as the Shadow Wrap Heel (Ravelry Link). Spoiler alert, I used it this heel last week and I loved it so much. Anyway, I also realized if I do lace I might invest in US 1.5 needles. While they do fit very well while wearing them, I really have to tug to get them over my ankle. Overall, I feel like this first sock was a huge success and I am inspired to keep on going with this series/challenge.

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Current Reads and WIPs · Let's Talk

The Book and Projects I am Taking On Vacation

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Four skeins of textured yarn surrounding a kindle with The Only One Left cover displayed.

Hello dear reader! Today I am going to share the books and projects I will be taking with my on vacation this year. Last year I went a little over the top with packing, I actually wrote two separate blog posts, Books I Took With Me On Vacation and What’s In My Project Bag, Vacation Edition. I only read one book the entire time I was there and as for the projects, I only worked on one as well. So looking back at this and reflecting, I don’t need to overpack again…or at least try not to. While looking at my shelves and yarn stash I ended up settling on what to bring with me, here they are!

The Book

The Only One Left by Riley Sager: I really fell in love with Riley Sager when I read The House Across the Lake last summer. It was a perfect summer read that kept me on my toes, engaged, but also had unexpected twists and elements I was not expecting. Since The Only One Left just came out on June 20th, I new I needed to read it sooner rather than later. So, I am bringing it along with me as I travel. From the description it looks like it is going to focus on a gruesome crime that took place in the early 1900s, from my impression that the individual is inspired by Lizzie Borden. The book itself takes place years later, when our narrator moves into the house the crime took place to take care of the one many believe to have committed the crimes.

Projects

The main project I am going to be bringing with me is Hedgerows Shawl (Ravelry | Website) by Fox & Folk using Chelsea Luxe Cozy in the color Spring Chicken. This is a fresh start project, I wanted a brand new cast on for my travels. Not only that, but this shawl is simple, beautiful and meditative. It is mostly garter worked from the largest edge to the smallest. It features an edging of flowers along the longest edge. I felt that this was perfect for travel, it only needs one set of needles and is a singular color. Plus, I am spending my vacation in the woods so creating something with wild flowers on it sounds like a perfect combination. I will admit, I am planning on bringing another project along with me, but I am unsure of how much I am going to be working on it. I am planning on bringing along a sock project that is more portable for when I am out and about. The sock pattern I have settled on is 04 Ipseitas by Emilie Hallet from 52 Weeks of Socks Vol. 2. At the time of writing this I have no idea what yarn I will be using or at least no idea what it looks like, I am in a sock yarn swap so I am planning on using that.

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Monthly Intent & TBR

July 2023 | Using a Prompt Generator to Make My TBR

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This month I decided to do something a little different and I wanted to use a prompt generator once again to pick my TBR. I did this quite a while ago, you can see what it ended up picking for me last time here: To Be Read | November 2020, Using a Prompt Generator. This time around I ended up using Random Prompt by heyreader. Without more of a delay here are the prompts it sent my way as well as the books I decided to read based upon them.

Significant Other Picks

For this prompt I let my boyfriend look over my owned TBR and pick any of the books on it. He ended up actually picking a number to corresponds with my goodreads shelf, Owned TBR. He ended up picking number 14, which means I am going to be reading Mary by Nat Cassidy. It is a newer book to my Owned TBR, it is described as a horror/thriller where a woman begins to have strange experiences that mirror a well known serial killer.

Published Before 1900

For this one I have to run to the library for, which I am excited to go to the library and support them. I don’t have any classics on my shelf, but one classic I would love to reread is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I last read this in 2015… a whole 8 years ago! I would like to see how my feelings are the same and/or different. Looking back at my goodreads I gave this book 4 stars.

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Monthly Intent & TBR

Three Books I Want to Read This Summer

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Hello readers! Today I am going to to share some of the books I really want to read this Summer. I have not done a lot of reading in recent months, but I am hoping to slowly get back into reading. I miss getting lost in a book and honestly just having some me time so I am trying to make it part of my daily routine, even if it just a page or two. Anyway, here are the books I hope to read!

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou

Hand holding up Disorientation outside.

This book follows a PhD student in late 20s who just wants to finish her dissertation that focuses on Xiao-Wen Chou. From what I read in the description it seems like she finds a letter in a book that not only helps her in her goal, but also changes her life dramatically. I was drawn to this mainly because I enjoy reading about individuals in college or university, but when I read the description I felt like I needed to know what she found that impacts her life so intensely.

Red Milk by Sjón

Hand holding Red Milk outside.

I will be the first to admit that the cover of this book is really what got my attention on the shelf at the bookstore. But, I am not one to buy a book based only on the cover only. I picked it up and read this, “In England in 1962, an Icelandic man is found dead on a train bound for Cheltenham Spa”. Then I was automatically won over, a train murder mystery, I am in! Then I read a bit more and realized it was a historical fiction and pulls from the 1950s/60s and takes a look at how someone could be shaped by a hateful ideology.

The Spite House by Johnny Compton

I went to the bookstore in May on the hunt for a horror novel. This book had a little blurb from a staff member that intrigued me enough to pick it up and read the description. If you are newer here I really enjoyed reading House of Leaves a few years ago and one thing I really liked was the idea of a house being the evil entity. So, when a father of two comes across an ad to live in a haunted house and detail their encounters for obscene amount of money I was intrigued to see if this would have the same evil location vibes.

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Knitting, Crochet & More

Knitting WIP Parade

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Hello and welcome to a what is going to shape up to be a post on the longer side. Since I have been on the quite side and updating some things on the blog (I still have some things to do as well), I wanted to take a moment to share all the projects I am currently working on. So, if you are not familiar with what a WIP parade is. It pretty much is just showing all of the projects you are currently working on. In some cases others will take this as a moment to maybe determine to frog or unravel a project as well. I am not going to frog any of my WIPs I am talking about because I recently posted, Projects I Decided to Frog, but I will be evaluating my project priorities.


Coming Together (Website | Ravelry) by Lisa K. Ross

The start of a multicolored and textured shawl in a bag full of balls of yarn.

This is a gift project, they picked out the pattern and yarn in October 2022. I ended up casting it on in March. I am in the fourth section of it and I am enjoying the process. The only thing is I really need to pay attention while I am working on this pattern since the sections are so different and I am learning a lot of new stitches. I am planning on slowly working my way through each section and hopefully be done by October.


Intersections (Website | Ravelry) by Marceline Smith

The feet of two textured zigzag socks that are partially done connected to the ball of yarn and knitting needles.

These socks are my first socks I am knitting from the book 52 Weeks of Socks, I did a post a while ago called 52 Weeks of Socks | Series Introduction. I am still planning on keeping track of my experiences knitting from this book, but a lot of other things got it in the way. As with the last pattern, this as well as others from the book, I need to pay attention to and isn’t a pattern I can just watch tv or read a book while working on. I would really love to finish these by the end of the month since I only have the legs and cuffs to do at this time.

Test Knit Seashore Dress by TheLittleWolfKnits – Unreleased at this time

Start of a dress on the knitting needles sitting on a couch.

This is a really fun test knit I am flying through for TheLittleWolfKnits. I have never knit a dress before, but I am really loving the process so far. This picture is a little outdated at this point, but I finished the body of the body of the skirt as well as the bottom ruffle. It is shaping up to being a really awesome me made wardrobe piece. I am planning to finish this by Mid-July.


Ghost Whisperer (Payhip | Ravelry)by Park Williams

Start of a mohair (lace weight) shirt on the knitting needles.

This is a summer cast on that I have been wanting to make since the middle of Winter. I ended up casting it on during the last week or so of May and I am flying through. This is an older picture once again. I am actually on the back shaping currently. I am planning on finishing this project this month as well. I am excited to throw this over a dress during the hotter months.

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Knitting, Crochet & More

Projects I Decided to Frog

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Hello and welcome to an interesting post where I am going to talk about two projects I am planning on frogging. If you are not familiar frogging is where you unravel a knitting or crochet project. There are many reasons to unravel a project, does fit how you want, want to remake something since your skills have progressed, or you just lost interest. There are most likely more as well that I can’t think of at the moment. Either way, they are your projects you are allowed to do what you want with them. Anyway, on to the frogging projects!

Pressed Flowers (Ravelry)by Amy Christoffers

Four yarns, two balled up and two still in the skein. One of each format is a solid red and the others are multi-colored yarns with shades of pink, yellow, and orange. They are sitting on the floor next to a pillow.

This project I am actually surprised that I came to this decision. This has been on my needles for over a year and I kind of pretended it did not exist for a bit. I am not sure why it ended up in this position because it was one of my most looked forward to projects. It is fun, playful, and all around beautiful. Plus, I ended up picking up some beautiful yarn from Ritual Dyes to make it, Ritual Dyes Marona in the shade Lambs Ear and Spincycle Yarns Dream State in the color way Written in the Stars. I honestly think I just was not in the mood to knit flowers in the colder months and then when it was nicer I didn’t have time to make it. Now that a year later I finally made the decision I was going to frog this project, I did some digging for other uses for this yarn, because I am not going to waste it. I think I have settled on making a two tone version of Nightshift (Website | Ravelry) by Andrea Mowry.


Alpenglow I (Ravelry | Website) by Andrea Mowry

Complete color work sweater with various colored yarns and textures showcasing lines, zigzags and little rectangles. Sweater is long sleeved and cropped.

Okay, so this project is a huge one for me and I am kind of surprised at how easy it is to say goodbye to. This is one of my first color work items I ever made, prior I only made a shawl with minimal color work before this. On top of that I jumped into this full color work sweater after this as well as it being my 4th ever wearable top I knit. This sweater was a bunch of fun, but also challenging. It really tested me, but I also grew so much as a knitter, I learned about catching floats, how to mosaic knit, and figured out how to mange so much yarn. On top of that I ended up wearing this to my first ever Rhinebeck – Sheep and Wool Festival. I have a lot of memories wearing this sweater and meeting up with some awesome people. So you might be wondering, why in the world I am frogging it?! Well, It is way to big on me. I made a size way to large for me, plus I have lost some weight since then. The arms are also a big unruly when trying to eat due to their length. The truth is I love this sweater so much, but I only ever wore it that one day. I realized I could do so much more fun things with this beautiful yarn. So, I am frogging it. I am thinking of maybe trying to make the Robinia Light (Ravelry | Website) by Anne Ventzel or save for another sweater. I haven’t fully committed to anything just yet.

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