Sunday

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The wedding afghan is off the needles, and I proclaim it a good knit. It was interesting without requiring a lot of concentration, and I like the finished blanket. And even though I used a wool/acrylic blend (I worry about gifting 100% wool for something that might require regular washing), the feel of it is very nice, kind of heavy and drapey. Plus, I got to try out a new technique for joining yarn—the magic knot. I’ve been searching for a good way to join slicker yarns, and a knitting friend suggested I try this method. It’s perfect! The join is very secure and hardly noticeable at all. Here’s a video that shows how to do it. I can’t wait to use it the next time I’m doing colorwork because it completely eliminates the need to weave in ends!

 

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In other news, I made a second galette. It turned out much prettier than the first and just as tasty. I think I’m hooked.

 

Galette No 2

 

And during the day today, I sat outside on the porch and worked on work and the second stripey sock. It seemed like a fair arrangement, and I was certainly a happier worker than I would have been sans stripey sock.

 

Sunday Work

 

The next thing I need to decide on the knitting front is what to start as a travel project. We’ll be in the car for half a day going to and from the upcoming wedding. I’m considering the Pi Shawl (which I’ve wanted to knit forevahhhh) in some gorgeous unspun Icelandic, Citron in Malabrigo Lace in the “Amor Intenso” colorway, and the Churchmouse Easy Folded Poncho in Rowan Felted Tweed in “Maritime.” I’ve got the yarn for all of these so just need to decide which will complement CeCe to make the best travel combo. I actually cast on for CeCe on Friday night. Woohooo!

The other thing I did this weekend was finish listening to the audiobook version of A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention. The book is by Matt Richtel, who won a Pulitzer for the reporting he did on distracted driving, and I think it’s an absolutely essential read. It explains recent findings in neuroscience that are in the same league as what Laurance Gonzales presents in terms of scope and impact. The fascinating bottom line is that our ability to pay attention is not unlimited. Who knew???

Research is showing that no matter how smart you are or how hard you try, if you are human, you simply cannot pay attention to two things at once. You can go back and forth, but as Richtel shows, that is not at all the same thing. The anchor for the book is the story of Reggie Shaw, a 19-year-old whose texting while driving resulted in a wreck that killed two rocket scientists. In telling Reggie’s story, the book covers the science of attention going all the way back to World War II and stretching forward up to the moment the book was published in 2014. It’s a great read, and it reveals things about the way the brain works that blew me away.

And last but not least, weekend news revealed this. Whew!

3 Comments

  1. This lady makes Pi Shawl sound easy. I have always heard it was hard. There are a lot of classes offered on it, and to me, if it’s that easy, you wouldn’t need a class. Interesting.

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