Yarn Along: Sweater Progress and Crawford

I'm making slow but steady progress on the Saucy Librarian sweater.  (I know I've said it before, but the title of the pattern really is most unfortunate).  I've tried it on a few times, and I'm just not sure about it.  The yarn feels better against my skin than the Sapphire sweater (it is also Wool of the Andes, but in DK weight, and the Aurora Heather colorway), and I like the collar and fit a bit better, but it was very difficult to accurately measure the length of the body and sleeves while on the needles, so both have come out slightly shorter than ideal.  I'm also not sure that such a dark green is the best color for my complexion--it reads almost black against my skin, and black definitely does not do me any favors.  If nothing else, it will be a good learning experience.

I returned some knitpicks yarn that I bought during their sale, as I ended up not liking any of the colors (my monitor must really be off right now).  I did buy some yarn from Webs yesterday that I think might work better.  I just found out that my beloved Stockbridge yarn is being discontinued, so I'm trying to decide whether to stock up on that or not.  I did buy the red-purple colorway to make another pullover sweater at some point, but I'm considering one of the lighter blues as well.

I picked up Matthew B. Crawford's second book again this morning, and am riveted.  I had started it last fall, and then set it aside in favor of other things, but am now getting back to it.  My husband said it was easily the best book he read last year.  I read Crawford's first book, Shop Class as Soul Craft, last summer and got a lot out of it.

I continue to plug away at War and Peace--I'm nearly half way now!  I'm about 40 pages from the end of Volume 2.  Natasha has just encountered Anatole Kuragin for the first time, so I'm sure the going is going to be gritty for the rest of this section.  And yes, that is an empty bias tape card holding my place in the book--they make excellent bookmarks!

(As a side note, I thought the recent BBC production of the same was very well done overall, and so far tracks very well with the novel, but I thought the actor playing Kuragin was miscast.  He is supposed to be extremely good-looking, and I didn't really think he was that appealing.

That aside, Episode Seven was stunning: breathtaking beauty in its emotional and spiritual scope. I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but both times I watched it, I had to take a few days to process the episode before moving on to the final one.  I'm so eager to see how those scenes were written in the novel!  I feel certain there is even more depth and beauty to be found in the written words.)

And finally: the ductless AC on the back of the house is finished!  It took 2 and a half days, starting Bright Wednesday.  I forgot how disruptive it is to have workmen in the house all day long, but I'm hoping that these units will help us have a better summer.  After nine AC-less years in the Swamp, I'm ready for some help with the humidity!  Because we have a row house, it wasn't possible to put units on the front half of the house, but we do have two small floor units for the second and third floor front rooms, and the living room generally stays pleasant during the summer anyway.  We have ceiling fans in every room of the house, so that helps too.  

It's funny, though because the weather is still feeling very late winter/early spring like, rather than late spring/early summer-like, as usually the case by the second week in May.  I'm still in tights and long sleeves, and sometimes heavy wool sweaters, and I'm wearing lots of layers at night.  It's been very damp, so it just gets into my bones and makes me feel cold, even though the highs are getting into the low 60s some days.  I'm not complaining--I'm not really a fan of the hot weather, but it just feels weird.  I also planned my spring rotation badly, because I assumed a more normal weather pattern for this time of year. Oh well.  It goes that way sometimes.  I guess my spring rotation is just going to be the Rotation of a Thousand Swaps.

I still have that last skirt to sew for my summer rotation, but I've just not had the time or energy to get out my sewing machine since Holy Week.  I'm hoping to get it done before the end of next week.  It's really a two-hour project, but skirt fitting takes a certain type of concentration that I'm a bit short on at the moment.  

I'm kind of in clean-out mode, so I'd like to tackle the bathroom cabinets later this week as well.  I somehow ended up with a lot of appointments stacked up this week as well, so it seems like all my free time is taken up with those.  It's okay--they have to get done as well!  I keep telling myself that All The Things will get finished in their own time.  My focus at the moment is making sure I don't exhaust myself, and to make time and space for reading and thinking.  And Russian.

I've got three loads of clean laundry calling my name, so I'd better put on my hiking boots and scale Washmore once again.  I've gone back to the beginning of The Americans, because it has been a while since I started the series; I am finding new things to like in the first season, since I understand the plot trajectory better now.  Plus, I'm really crushing on Keri Russell's clothes in the series.  I feel some late 1970s/early 1980s fall fashions coming into my rotation later this year.  Bring on the cowl neck sweaters, midi skirts, and tall boots!

Linking with Ginny for Yarn Along!