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What I read: October 2024

LHC #270: "The Ruin of all Witches" by Malcolm Gaskill.  eBook. It's a history of a witch hunt in 1646 in Springfield, MA. There are a lot of characters and sometimes I had a hard time keeping track of who was who. And is the case with trials, the same ground was sometimes covered over and over, hard to keep track of. Still, it was a good read and reminded me of something important I forgot in WWS.  LHC #271: "Blood and guts in High School" by Kathy Acker. eBook with poorly reproduced graphics. Very strange and short. I wonder if this is what Gemma Files' notebooks are like? It was nice to get to practice my Farsi.  LHC #272: "The Next Supper" by Corey Mintz. Hard copy because that's what was available. Published in 2021, it's very much a still in the pandemic book. 3+ years later, that sometimes felt a bit weird, but there was a lot of interesting information in here, and food has always been a volatile industry so I suppose whenever he w
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In progress: October 2024

Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 39-51:   While reading about puritans, I discovered a scene that I'd missed that might be a wedge into finishing this.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): I think I figured out the ending.  Short Stories:   Last month I was writing one from scratch. It's pretty close to done now.  Critted  5  Got back  2 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Blushing Cloud  (Knitty S/S24). Started the month with 7.5 inches of back done. Did 3".  Elbrus socks II . Last month I had finished the first and run out of yarn, which was a whole mess of coming up with an elegant solution. They're finished now. Hamilton  (Self). Started the month with 2" of bottom edge, finished that and started main colorway.   Seamless seam socks (Knitpicks Pop Socks). Love this pattern. Finished one sock, nearing the toe on the second.  Sashiko project:  Nothing.   Ruffle skirt: Nothing.  Purple Romper:  Nothing. 

In progress: Sept 2024

Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 39-51:   Still n eed to take up comments and revise. I actually opened the file this month, because I discovered a missing scene! Need to find a way to work that in.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): Continued to think thoughts.  Short Stories: I have two open on my late night desktop now, and I pick away at one of them most every night.  Critted  4  Got back  2 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Cathar  (self). Finished the endless finishing.   Blushing Cloud  (Knitty S/S24). Started the month with five inches of back done (up from three). Now I have 7.5, so half done.  Elbrus socks II . Last month I had started the first. Ran out of yarn, finished first, almost done second.  Hamilton  (Self). Started. will get to second colorway and decide if I hate it or not. I think I don't. I'm still on the waistband though, which looks ugly. But it's early.  Sashiko project:  Nothing.   Ruffle skirt:  Nothing.  Purple Romper:  Since

What I read: September 2024

An interesting stat (to me anyway): Nine (1/8) of the books on my library holds list are sequels to things I've already read. I think only six are non-series books by an author I've read before.  LHC #265: "Silver in the wood" by Emily Tesh. eBook, nice and short and delightful. The follow-up is on the list.   LHC #266: "How we learn to move" by Rob Gray PhD. Hard copy because that's what the library had. There are a lot of pics in this book and they are low-quality. While the concepts are interesting, I had to make an effort to relate them to the activities I participate in.  Most interesting perhaps was the brief discussion of habit and automatic portions of a movement, and whether automation is something we should even strive for. For me, if there's a portion of a movement I can automate, that's a win, because then I can focus on something else, e.g., automating the embusen of a kata. But is that even automated? At the same time, the idea th

In progress: August 2024

Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 39-51:   Still n eed to take up comments and revise.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): Continued to think thoughts.  Short Stories:   After posting that short story from last month onto the workshop, I picked one of those short stories I'd started and forced a plot onto it.  Critted  5  Got back  4 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Cathar  (self). Started month with two inches done above the armholes. Listening to audiobooks, I finished the fair isle portion, cut the steeks, and set up and knit the neckline. Just the endless finishing now.   Blushing Cloud  (Knitty S/S24). Started the month with (still) three inches of back done. Socks take priority.  Elbrus socks (Knitty first fall 2024). Finished.  Elbrus socks II . Started the first.  Pole shorts  (Joan McGowan-Michael). I knitted these several years ago, but the crotch was too narrow so I rarely wore them. I still had a bit of yarn so I added a couple of inches, much more re

What I read: August 2024

LHC #260: "Pale Horse, Pale Rider: Three Short Novels" by Katherine Anne Porter.  I put this on my list because of my ongoing writing project about a pandemic, but that was two years ago and I've barely worked on that project in the last year to be honest. Question for myelf: Why am I so afraid of reading old things? I had trepidation about this, but in fact it was a delight. Not sure these would count as novels these days, as I read each one basically on a bus ride to/from dance class.  LHC #261: "Run, Hide, Repeat: A memoir of a fugitive childhood" by Pauline Dakin.  eBook. I wanted something less stressful because Klara and the Sun was getting me down, and a whole lot of things had a waitlist, so I chose this. I spent most of the book wondering which character was going to wind up with what mental disorder, very satisfying. Good read.  LHC #262: "The Mountain in the Sea" by Ray Nayler. eBook. I wanted this one because it was the next longest on the

In progress, July 2024

  Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 39-51:   Still n eed to take up comments and revise.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): Continued to think thoughts.  Short Stories:   Rewrote the ending of the story I pulled out last month. Started a couple of other short stories, but they're more percolating.  Critted  3  Got back  1 Submissions  0  Out there   0   Rejects   0 Knitting Cathar  (self). Started the month in the color work of sleeve 2. Due to a 10-hour round trip in the car to Cleveland one weekend, I finished the sleeve and attached it to the body. Then due to listening to an audio book, I did two inches. Every row is shorter than the last! Hope to finish the fair isle portion in August.  Blushing Cloud  (Knitty S/S24). Started the month with (still) three inches of back done. Socks take priority.  Rainbow II.  Finished both.  Sashiko project:  Nothing.  Ruffle skirt:  Nothing.  Purple Romper:  I'd love to wear this this summer. Unfortunately, that means I'd have to work