I am having the best time knitting this Boxy. The garter stitch border took roughly forever, but now that I am in the acres-of-stockinette portion, it is nothing but mindless relaxing fun. After arranging all the cakes of red fingering weight on my tv table I realized that I have a bit more solid red than tonal or variegated, which means I need to take that into account when choosing the next cake. I am using helical stripes to blend the color–
Ooh, ooh, I just figured out how to apportion the colors! Four helical stripes of a solid, three helical stripes of a tonal/variegated! That should use up the yarns at roughly the same rate.
Rough Treatment by John Harvey. I finished this, the second book in the Charlie Resnick series. Writing was engaging, plot was a bit weak although better than book one in the series. 3★
Nighttown by Timothy Hallinan. Another newly-discovered series! This is number seven in the Junior Bender series. The protagonist is a burglar (!) so it is roughly the opposite of a police procedural. Engaging, dry humor, reasonable although not fabulous plot line. Good enough that I might just read more of them. 3★
Stashbuster Knits by Melissa Leapman. Nothing here that grabbed me… except for the page where she lays out what weight/gauge one would end up with when holding two strands of yarn together. I am quite fond of that technique, so I shall scan that page of the book for future reference. As to patterns or inspiration, YMMV.
Stash Knitting: 25 Quick and Easy Projects to Make by Emma Osmand. Ditto the above stashbuster book, except this one lacked that one useful page. As to patterns or inspiration, YMMV.
Not a book, but something I highly recommend: Home Fires, a British series available on Amazon Prime (we are watching the DVDs, which I got from the library). Smokey happened to catch one episode on our PBS affiliate in the middle of the night and said that he thought we would enjoy it. The acting, plots, cinematography, and even the background music are all excellent. (I liked the music so well I just ordered the soundtrack CD.) The series is set in Britain at the beginning of WWII and focuses on the women on the home front. Tragically, there are only two seasons. Highly recommend!
Go check out the other linked posts on Kat’s blog!
kmkat & her kneedles 
I love your Boxy! And, great idea for blending all those yarns together! (and LOVED Homefires!! If only there was more!)
So glad you’re enjoying your Boxy! It’s going to be so lovely. And I think it’s always a good idea to have a miles-of-stockinette project going — for TV or chatting or meetings or with wine. Y’know? XO (And thanks for the tip re: Home Fires. Always looking for decent streaming suggestions.)
Okay, adding Home Fires to my list. But first I’ve got to finish ALL the seasons of the Great British Baking Show…
Enjoy all that soothing stockinette!
You would love The Bletchley Circle, then. It is a series on Netflix about 5 women who did decoding during the war. They start to use their skills after the war (inn the early 50’s inn San Francisco) to detect and find a serial killer. You see the brick walls women had to overcome to be taken seriously. One woman is black and another is gay, so attitudes in addition to gender inequality are highlighted.
Your Boxy is looking great! I think it’s a great idea as a stash-busting project, too.
Your Boxy is the best, and I’m glad you figured out a “formula” for apportioning. Hopefully the acres of stockinette will take less than forever. Thanks for the Home Fires reminder. I watched a couple episodes ages ago and then promptly forgot all about it. I’m going to watch with a bit o’ knitting tonight.
I love the idea of knitting a sweater out of all those reds. Figuring out how to blend the yarns via the helical stripes is perfect. I am currently knitting a sweater out of a very tonal yarn – as in the skeins vary among and between themselves. I plan to use this method once I separate the sleeves.
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