I picked up my pen!
It has been a busy and weird time and writing just didn’t happen. In all honesty there was limited crafty engagement also, however I’ve returned 😊
Now I hope all of you lovely folk are well and creating marvellous things as well as reading lots of lovely books (I’ve a new hot off the press one to share further on 🤫).
Firstly some crafty news. I’ve been starting and not completing many project, bad magpie! That said I’ve recently finished the Alpine Bloom sweater from Boyland knitworks and I love it. I used a mix off Beyul from Linda of Kettle Yarn Co and a bespoke mix from Spincycle dyed especially for Fig Tree Yarns.
I’m also almost finished a little top using Knitting for Olives pure silk in Blood Orange. I adore this colour 😍 As you can see Lily is guarding my knitty works from our pair of nesting seagulls whom we’ve named Cecil and Cynthia. One of the two hatchlings has a bent base of wing so a parent is with it at all times. We’re hopeful as it’s strength develops it will be ok but we’re advised to break the golden rule around feeding seagulls and give them a dietary top up for a few weeks. Therefore at 18:00 hrs every evening Cecil hammers on the window for supper, they especially like fresh tuna and mussels!
Now I’ll not bore you with the reasons for my being MIA as all being well normal( ish) service is resuming. One of the reasons however I’ve been a tad less creative is that I forgot how to knit! Not all knitting but chart work, in particular cable charts. This came about after my head and an oak beam met with considerable force resulting in my being knocked out. An MRI confirmed that there was little to damage and that rest until concussion resolved should be all that was required. After a few weeks I was much better until I came to continue a cable sweater of Thea Colemans . It was a total blank, as if I’d never seen a cable chart before. I’ve been following them since forever! Everything else seemed fine, no issues with roadsigns or other important stuff. How mad is that. I’m slowly teaching myself cable again.
In view of the above I’ve been reading a lot more. My most recent acquisition via Netgalley ( an advance review copy ) is The Wilds by @sarahpearseauthor you can read my full review here:
The Wilds
by Sarah Pearse
Pub Date: 16 Jul 2024
The third and final instalment in Sarah Pearses atmospheric novels and a fitting conclusion. I’m not adding in a synopsis as they are plentiful..
I love a novel set home and away ( living in Devon being the home bit ). As well as Devon the majority of this book plays out in Portugal but definitely not the holiday areas that first spring to mind when you think of it.
As with her other novels the setting soon becomes real, her descriptive writing style definitely appeals to me. What I felt was very clever was how claustrophobic being out in the open felt, how not all prisons have walls was soon apparent.
The overarching storyline is one of family, dysfunctional relationships ( both with oneself and others) and emotional and physical abuse. Having witnessed coercive control as a child and having dealt with victims of abuse professionally this did make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up such was the accuracy portrayed.
Whilst there is enough background information to make this readable as a standalone novel I do feel you will get a lot more from it and some of the characters if you read the two others first.
Thank you to @netgalley @littlebrownbookgroup_uk and @sarahpearseauthor for this advance copy.
as it is not released until later in July you’ve time to read The Sanitarium and The Retreat first.
Next time I’ll fill you in a little more about my attempts to itemise my yarn collection on Ravelry and also my latest projects.
Love Magpie 😘
The Knitting Magpie 