setting a soft deadline

I’ve only linked up at Kat’s Unraveled Wednesday once…last spring…when I had to sew my ‘now or never’ projects before a cross-country move.

Why the deadline? No real reason. I’m just…better with a deadline.

Which is why I’m linking up this season!

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My son asked me to knit him a sweater. Last March.

What’ll it take? About two weeks? he asked

(Ha!)

Um. No. Not this mother.

I started on his 16th birthday. August 30. So let’s call that September. I’ve finished the back and I’m 9’ish inches up the front. I’d aimed to be done by Halloween; now I’m thinking Thanksgiving? No later than.

Checking in here should keep me moving.

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After much deliberation, we settled on this pattern. It’s not exciting to knit…but we both like the look and it satisfied Lincoln’s requests. (Not too busy; not too boring; no ribbed hem; no wide neck or V-. I’m actually going to add an inch or so to this neckline, because it’s still wider than he’d like.)

I’m using Knit Picks Swish in Mimic. He asked for a shade as close to a Navy peacoat as I could find. From Knit Picks: ‘Mimic reminds us of a seaworn wool peacoat. A handsome and stately shade perfect for cable knits and understated accessories.’

Sold!

(Thank you, knitters who assured me Swish would be just right. It’s knitting up great, and I’ll probably use it again for Elsa’s cardigan this winter.)

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Now for Part II of the party: What stories are ‘unraveling’?

I read two favorite authors this week —

From madelinemiller.com, abbreviated:

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of  Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child--not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to mortals for companionship, she discovers she does possess power -- witchcraft.  Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man's world.

I never thought I cared for myths — ’til I picked up Madeline Miller. And when I read her 2012 Orange Prize-winning Song of Achilles, I didn’t think I could love a retelling more. Then readers told me Wait! Just wait ’til you read Circe! And I did enjoy every single minute of it — Miller tells a compelling tale to the end. But it turns out I don’t love it more than Achilles.

Fans likely know M.M. is at work on Persephone but — she has Long Covid. And in her own words, it’s ‘derailed’ her life. (On IG, here.) Her experience makes you want to bottle up whatever sleep and strength and energy you can — and donate it to her.

* * *

I was thrilled when Tom Lake came up on my audio holds — because what better combo than Ann Patchett and Meryl Streep (narr.)?! (Thanks, Kat, for that heads-up!)

From Goodreads, abbreviated:

In the spring of 2020, Lara's three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared a stage and a romance years before. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider everything they thought they knew. Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. It explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. 

I’ll admit that the premise, alone, did not incite the urgency some other books have. But I’m a fan, and I knew Ann Patchett could not disappoint.

The pandemic ‘backdrop’ feels real and familiar — but it’s just that, a backdrop. (So if you’re avoiding ‘pandemic reads,’ there’s no need to count this as that.) She shifts between present and past seamlessly and it’s easy to follow (even on audio, without visual clues). I appreciate that Lara, Emily, Maisie, and Nell are unapologetic for their choices, for their paths taken and not taken. Lara, like the author, exudes grace, confidence, and wisdom — which we see developing in her three daughters, too, in time.

My favorite A.P. fiction, though? Patron Saint of Liars, still. And State of Wonder.

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Thanks again to Kat, whose weekly link-up always inspires. (And is nudging me along!)

What are you creating…reading…recommending…this week?