I resumed knitting my Fairfield sweater again, but with somewhat less enthusiasm than before. I am a few inches up the armscythes, so progress is being made… slowly.

When one project does not delight, what to do? Cast on another one, of course.

This is the Rainbow Warrior shawl, which has been in my favorites for awhile. I was pondering what to do with the self-striping yarn; it is Knitting Fever Indulgence 6-ply with Silk and soft enough for next-to-skin wear. But the colors are, um, unusual. Much pondering led me to combine it with this KnitCircus Greatest of Ease I. decided I wanted to knit a crescent-shaped shawl in two colors for next year’s silent auction; this pattern fit the bill. As soon as I figure out how to keep my stitch counts correct it will be off to the races with this one.

A knitter always needs a portable project, too, so here is the latest double-stranded pair of socks — actually sock, as I am still on the first one. More KF Indulgence w Silk. (It was on sale at Webs last year — what can I say?)

Reading is such a joy when one finds a couple really good books, which is what I read in the last week.

 This book is every bit as good — and as disturbing — as you have heard. Whitehead writes readable prose, and this story is horrifying and absolutely believable. One quibble I have seen is that the he does not write the female characters with any depth; true. Even the white guards at the boys’ *school* are more fully realized than the few female characters. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this book. 4✭

This is the fifth book in Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie series. I think I need to go back and re-read them all; Brodie is present in this book, but does he actually initiate or meaningfully direct the action? I’m not sure. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable real with frequent dry humor, and I recommend it. 4✭

Sometimes a wildly popular author recommended on NPR does not appeal; this is one. Andrea Camilleri, an Italian mystery writer whose many books have been translated into English among other languages, died last month, and NPR did a piece about him. (I cannot it find it on their website; perhaps I heard it elsewhere?) So I requested three of his books from the library. Sadly, the first one did not translate well for me, either in language or culture, and I gave up halfway through. YMMV, however, so you may want to check out his writings.