While there has been a decent amount of forward progress this week on both the knitting (Clue 2 of the TTL Mystery done and the body of Tide Chart bound off) and reading fronts (two more books added to my “read” pile), there has been a bit of real unraveling.
First, I frogged Lucy. Maybe I was never really committed to her (quite unlike me, I never added a photo to my Ravelry project page), but when I got to thinking about the upcoming Stillwater KAL, I thought that cardigan – especially in cream cotton – would be a better fit for my wardrobe. Sunday afternoon, I unraveled a sleeve and half a body, re-skeined the yarn, soaked it and hung it up to dry.
This morning, I wound the yarn, printed the pattern and thought about swatching 🙂
On the reading front, the unraveling came after I finished The Heart Goes Last (for the Speculative Fiction square). It was a disappointment and I needed something good to get back on track. The Classic square seemed like a good bet. I tried Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities and Wuthering Heights. ugh, ugh and ugh. I visited my bookshelves and considered re-reading Heidi, Little Women or anything by Jane Austen. But I already have a Re-read square … and mostly, I’m sure there are plenty of classics I still need to discover.
Searching around on Goodreads, it appeared I’d never read Howard’s End. A quick visit to LibriVox turned up a recording by my favorite narrator (Elizabeth Klett). The first couple of chapters seemed really familiar (I remembered the concert scene with the lost umbrella), but after that, it was all new. And most enjoyable. I was hoping – foolishly I know – for a happy ending. Forster writes manners like Austen, but his social commentary – and plotting – is much more like Wharton.
After all that, here’s what my Bingo shelf looked like early this morning
The first two rows (12 books!) are finished. I’m still re-thinking and shuffling those bottom two rows. I haven’t committed to the free square and there is more unraveling to come. I just downloaded Hillbilly Elegy ($4.99 on Kindle today) and think that will be a nice fit for Set in a place you’d like to know more about. …in any event, it might be a while before I get another Bingo!
Linking up with Kat and looking forward to reading about forward progress!
mere-et-filles 
You've got so many good things here, along with good warnings (for me, anyway)! Your Stillwater yarn is gorgeous; I love the color and the very slight sheen. Twelve books completed (and only one dud so far) is wonderful. Part of why I enjoy SBB so much is seeing what others are reading, and how they felt about it. My reading is really lacking in classics, so I may try a few later this year. (But no speculative fiction for me!)
Ouch for the unraveling, but yay for knowing what you really want to knit! And, yes, 12 books completed since memorial Day is wonderful. Like Bonny, I love seeing what everyone else is reading and getting recommendations (or cautions to stay away – lol).
I love the new sweater you are knitting! gorgeous! I'm trying to read 32 books this year and according to goodreads I'm right on track 🙂 I feel accomplished!
Hillbilly Elegy keeps coming up as a recommendation for me… and I supposed I should read it. ;P
Wow! I can't get over how many books you've already read. Your Stillwater will be gorgeous. I love that yarn!
Looking forward to "watching" you knit that sweater. Your bingo shelf is very impressive.
I have a pile of "to be unraveled" that seems to be growing-maybe that will be a fall project. Making good progress on the reading front, but still need to do some more planning.
Bravo to you on the reading! You finished Jack already? Wow! I am impressed!
Oh, Mary! Don't give up on Dickens!!! (My favorite.) It does take awhile to get into any of the classics, sure. But Dickens is truly worth the initial struggle. Looks like perfect yarn for your Stillwater challenge! Go, Mary! Go!
I love Howard's End and History of Love is one of my favorite books (ever). You've some great reading ahead!
I have Hillbilly Elegy as a potential square as well. I'm one square away from a bingo which is pretty good for me and July 2! I think your unravel choice was a good one. Can't wait to see this unfold!