In Progress
Reading: This week I started reading Radium Girls. The first night, a handful of pages in and I had a pit in my stomach. The focus is the girls (teenagers!) who worked to paint watch dials and instruments dials with paint that would glow in the dark. Radium was the main ingredient. Radium at the time was in fashion and trendy and the hot new science miracle. These stories are intense, shocking, tragic, outrageous, complicated by business politics, and their injuries and medical issues are graphically described. Consider the workplace rules and regulations, environmental concerns, and lawsuits you hear about today and realize that none of those were in place for these girls back in the 1920s. This book is going to stay with me for a long time.
Knitting: I cast on for the Bonny in Madelinetosh Prairie, the Nassau Blue colorway. Appropriate for this post, the color is almost luminescent and hard to accurately capture. I’ve got a good section of plain stockinette to go before I get to the lace.
Also knitting: The Yukon River Stockings have received a lot of knitting attention. I thought for sure I’d be getting to the top and ready for the cuff, then I reread the instructions and I have ten more inches to knit! It feels a bit like sleeve island. After reading this post from Interweave about modifications on the pattern, I may just work them to be knee-highs rather than over-the-knee. Height is on my side, but I am positive that a knee-high style will be just right for wearing with pajama leggings. One more repeat of the chart, then I should be able to work the cuff ribbing.
HO (half-finished object)!
One rainbow-striped sock is done and the second sock already has the heel turned. I can’t wait to wear them!
I have Radium Girls on my hold list at the library, but I am way down the list! And, those socks! Amazing!