In Process: July 2020

Wind/Water/Salt

Chapter 23 - 30: Need to be taken up.

Chapter 31 - 34: Finished and posted (in two batches).

Chapter 35 - 37: I had read last month. This month I broke two of these chapters in half, making things I currently call 40.1 and 40.2. But I might get rid of 35, so everything could shift up?

Chapter 38 - 41: Read all but 41 a couple of times, smoothed things out, aligned them with the way things currently unfold.

Persephone (probably not its real name)

2K words.

Short Story

I wrote a few drafts of a steampunk story back in 2016, but then I became uncomfortable with where I had taken it and put it away. Then last month I read "Who was changed and who was dead" by Barbara Comyns, which had a lot of head-hopping. And I decided I wanted to head-hop a story. There was a really good reason to head-hop in this steampunk story, so I started another draft. I also thought about other ones. Not really productive, though.

Connecting

Critted 31 (I put this on my activity tracker, and tried to do a crit a day. This turned out to be too much I think. Maybe I'll scale back to 20 next month? I wound up adding three people to follow just to make it work.)
Got back 19 (but clearly it got me lots of feedback.)

Subs 1

Out there 1

Rejects 0

Knitting

Soxx #24.5 (3). Finished.

Aberdeen Argyll (Martin Storey). Started month with 6" of body (doing it in the round instead of flat as in pattern). I was just past the spot where I should have started decreases for the neck when I decided to tink back three rows and have that happen at a more auspicious place. Then I counted my stitches in order to put the neck in the right spot, and realized I had decreased 5x too many (20 stitches) at the armholes, so I just ripped out four more inches and I guess it's good, because I'll be able to get the sweater on? Still sucks though.

Feel good socks. I suck at lace! Finished. These feel weird to wear. Maybe I don't like this style of heel? Might be better after washing.

Tauriel socks. Done. Love these socks, might be the yarn though.

Neldoreth socks. Started the first.

I also worked on my sashiko sampler and bought more floss so I don't run out. I can always find a use for black embroidery floss, I'm sure.

What I read: September 2025

LHC #295: "The Last to Leave the Room" by Caitlin Starling. Audiobook. Workplace horror? Loved it. "Careless People" by Sarah Wynn-Williams. Hard copy, for office Data Ethics book club. The stories about Sheryl Sandberg really made me like my boss better. LHC #296: "The Fated Sky" by Mary Robinette Kowal. Hard copy. This got moved up the list because Ed had read book 1 in the series and got the rest out of the library. Loved it. He's got the next one in the series upstairs, I suppose I'll read it when he's done. LHC #297: "Bluegrass: A History" by Neil V. Rosenberg. Hard copy. No idea why it was on my list, I don't care that much about bluegrass. Nevertheless, the second half was interesting. I guess the first half was necessary, as it described in great length the way people came and went in Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys band, and also how technology and social pressures affect how music is made and performed. LHC #298: ...

What I read -- October 2025

"The Moomins and the Great Flood" by Tove Jansson. eBook. I read this because Marissa Lingen loves them. It was fine? This was the first one in the series and the only one available online; maybe the later ones are better. Maybe they're better if you read them as a child. "The Relentless Moon" by Mary Robinette Kowal. Hard copy. Read it because Ed had the whole series out of the library. It took a long time to get going, and sometimes I find MRK exhausting. Her white main characters all seem oddly aware of the Black experience. "The Martian Contingency" by Mary Robinette Kowal. Hard copy. Read it because Ed had the whole series out of the library. I don't often read subsequent books in a series in quick succession, and my reaction to this one is a lot of why: I found Alma's voice too similar to Nicole's -- sure, Nicole obsessed about food much more, but they both went on and on about "must support black guy in management" an...

In progress - January 2026

Wind/Water/Salt Chapters 39-51: Nothing Persephone (probably not its real name): NOthing Vinterlys: Worked on Chapter 2 some more. Critted 4 Got back 1 Submissions 0 Out there 0 Rejects 0 Knitting Georgia (Norah Gaughan). Started the month with one sleeve and half a front to go. Finished. Love this sweater. Aberlady (AS Celtic Collection). Did a few rows while listening to podcasts. Summer in Tokyo (Isager): Started. I was looking at the pictures and the charts, and the pattern as written is not what is in the pictures! So odd. I am going to finish up two cones of yarn with this project! Pretty exciting. I hope I don't run out of light blue. I was working along on it, and if you go and look at the sweater, it's knit bottom-up, and I was at the part where I only had two colors, about 5" maybe. And I was thinking, "wow, this is pretty ugly! Maybe I should stop...

Robynettely

Search This Blog