Knitting: I’ve spent the past two evenings watching the Olympics and swatching for Bristol Ivy’s Asagi. I’m using the called for yarn – Jill Draper Esopus – in colorway Gold Star. I’m sort of halfheartedly making this my project for Ravellenics. I haven’t joined any teams, but I’ve set a personal goal of trying to get this sweater completed during the Olympic Games … and in a nod to the Olympics and the colorway, I’m calling this my Going for Gold Asagi! As you can see, I’ve already done two swatches for this project. The pattern suggests a size 4 needle, and since I tend to be a loose knitter, I always start by swatching one needle size down from the recommendation. For my first swatch, I thought I was using a size US 3 … only to find when the swatch was washed and blocked (and way too tight) that I’d accidentally used a US 2.5! I was so off, that I went ahead and tried a US 4 for my second swatch, which left me with a still-too-tight gauge — a rare occurrence for this loose knitter! There seems little, if any, difference in my pre- and post-blocking gauges, so I think I’m going to boldly cast on with a 5 tonight, rather than doing another swatch, and take a gauge of the sweater as soon as I’ve knit enough.
Reading: Ok, so I haven’t actually started Girl on a Train. Which is ridiculous, because I’ve lugged this book halfway around the world and back with me! I thought I’d start last night before bed, but Women’s Gymnastics kept me up past my usual bedtime! I’m cracking into it tonight — I’ve publicly declared it, so now I’ll have to do it, right? I know I’m horribly late to the party on this book, but I’m really excited to read it nonetheless!
To see what others are knitting and reading this week, head over to the original Yarnalong post. What are you knitting and reading this week? I’m always looking for suggestions of books to add to my ever growing “to read” pile!
fiber and sustenance 
I will tell you that I wasn’t a fan when I first started reading Girl on a Train. However, stick with it because it does get better! The Olympics have also been keeping me up past my bedtime. I’ve started recording it after watching the first two hours so I can skip past the commercials. If I didn’t keep getting notified of who won by news headlines / friends posts on FB, I would probably watch the whole thing live 🙂 I love the color for your sweater and can’t wait to see how it turns out.
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Oh, thanks for mentioning about Girl on a Train! That’s good to know. I wish I could record the Olympics — we don’t have a TV here yet, so we’ve been using this online cable service to watch, and there’s no recording function. I would love to be able to fast forward … especially because, even though I enjoy swimming as much as the last person, there was a ton to wade through before the end of gymnastics last night. I instituted a house wide ban on news sites or Facebook after a certain hour yesterday so that the women’s results werne’t spoiled — but I almost saw what happened because of a NYT alert on my phone! So hard to keep it all a surprise!! Thanks for your kind words about my swatch … hopefully I’ll get to actually cast on tonight 🙂 hope your numbness has gotten better 🙂
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I’m still in the no knitting zone right now. I started wearing my braces and hope to be back up and at ’em soon! The main character is not very sympathetic at the beginning and I think that’s why I was put off at first. However, I promise that it does get better the further you get. I try to keep reminding myself not to check FB…if I were knitting, I probably wouldn’t 🙂 I just hate watching the same commercials over and over again while watching it live. Maybe I should bring my Kindle downstairs and read in between instead.
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Oh boo! Hope it gets better soon. I think the kindle plan is a great one in the meantime though 🙂
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I’ve been listening to The Girl on the Train via Audible and am completely sucked into the story; such a great way to get in my reading and my knitting!
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Ohh, glad to hear you’re liking it! I really need to get into audio books so I can listen and knit at the same time!
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The Girl on the Train is sitting in my pile of “books to read next” on my desk! It’s so interesting to hear about the different reactions to it. Maybe I’ll start it after I finish the book I’m currently reading, and we can compare notes! 🙂
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Yay! Definitely let me know if you start it! I read just a teeny bit last night, and so far, so good 🙂
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I will! Glad to hear you like what you’ve read!
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I’m terribly behind on my reading; I’ve been reading lots and lots of internet (FB, twitter, articles here & there) and very few books. I took this picture https://www.instagram.com/p/BIiAC5rg18o of my stack of books last week in an attempt to commit to reading an hour every day. I sort of succeeded; I finished Patti Smith’s M Train, which I’m very late to the game on, but I haven’t moved on to the next book and it’s been a few days. I need to get back in the habit of reading books!
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I know exactly what you mean! I am trying to make more time for reading books, rather than time online, etc. It’s so easy to be distracted! I finished Girl on the Train, so now I need to figure out what to read next!
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