Episode 307: Gastrointestinal

We are so sorry about episode 307, which we recorded on Thanksgiving and discovered had been mostly erased by the time it was posted on November 30.  We promise to have our family redo their Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down segment when we celebrate Christmas in a few weeks, and we have added comments to our usual star ratings about each of the books we read below.

As we announced in October after 14 years and over 300 episodes, we have made the decision to wind down the podcast over the next year and finish in September 2026, our fifteenth anniversary.  We have loved making the podcast and all of the people it has brought into our lives!  We want to assure you that this decision wasn't made because of any kind of health reasons - we are simply both feeling that it's time to bring the project to a close. What we don't want to see end is our wonderful community - we will continue to see you on our Ravelry boards, at fiber events throughout the year, and on our weekly Zoom call on Saturdays at noon PST!

Our 2025-2026 Fall Sweater KAL has begun and will go until January 15, 2026.  

You must be a member of this group to enter

You must make an adult size sweater.  

If you have a sweater that is 50% finished or less, you can finish that sweater during our KAL

Need some inspiration?  We have bundles!

Beginner Sweaters Bundle 

Adventurous Beginners to Advanced Sweater Bundle

Crochet Sweaters Bundle

Coming Events:

New Year Fiber Retreat - January 1-4 in San Juan Bautista, CA

TKGA retreat - November 6-9 in San Francisco, CA

NoCKRs retreat April 10-13 in San Juan Bautista, CA

 

KNITTING

Barb has finished:  

1.  One Row scarf (adopted from Stephanie Pearl McFee) using a Caron Cake

Barb's One-Row Scarf

2.  Bankhead Hat #35

Tracie Has Finished:

1.  Carnegie Vest by James Magee (from Stitching in the Stacks) using Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Sport in the Sheridan Circle colorway

2.  Swaddle Pal (cat) by Susan B. Anderson using assorted acrylic DK yarns

3.  Leni Hat #1 by Isabelle Kraemer in Malabrigo Rios in Rheinhessen Caramel colorway

4.   Leni Hat #2 by Isabelle Kraemer in Malabrigo Rios in the Aquamarine colorway

5.  2 Tubey Hats by Wooly Wurmhead in Hayfield Spirit in Sundown

6.  I was a Teenage Mutant by Alex Tinsley from Doomsday Knits in Lisa SouzaBlue Faced Leicester Worsted in Styx

Swaddle Pal

 Barb has cast on: 

1. One-Row Scarf #2 Stephanie Purl McPhee using a Caron Cake

 

Barb's 2nd One-Row Scarf

2.  Pivot Cowl by Purl Soho using Duren Dyeworks in Contenment DK

Tracie has cast on:

1.  Nice to Gnome You by Sarah Schira using assorted scrap yarn

Barb is still working on:

1.  Colorwork Dip pullover by Suvi Knits, using 2 colors of Berocco Light in the Mist and the Peony colorway  

3.  Flax Sock pullover by Tin Can Knits, using Wonderland Dyeworks Smitten in the Deep Lilac colorway

Tracie continues to work on:

1. Vanilla socks with FLK heel in Dreaming of Hue 75%SW Merino/25% Nylon in Unicorn Tales

2.  Brooklyn Raglan Light* by Tori You in Mod Yarn Fingering 101 in Angeline

3. Ruby's Ruby Sweater, using the Darling Darby pattern by Jean Clement in Plymouth Encore Starz

4.  #991 Neck Down Pullover for Men by Diane Soucy in Berroco Remix Chunky in the Fern colorway

BOOKS

Barb has finished:   

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon - 4.5 stars

This historical fiction book takes place in the 1700's in Hallowell, Maine.  Martha Ballard, a local midwife and healer, is the main character. Martha is privy to a lot of local secrets, but is not a gossip.  On one cold winter's eve, the frozen body of a local man is found in the Kennebec River, setting off a chain of events that no one could have seen coming. 

Inspired by the life of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into history.

The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout - 4 stars

Haunted by the freak accident that killed their father when they were children, Jim and Bob Burgess escaped from their Maine hometown of Shirley Falls for New York City as soon as they possibly could. . Jim, a sleek, successful corporate lawyer, has belittled his bighearted brother their whole lives, and Bob, a Legal Aid attorney who idolizes Jim, has always taken it in stride.  

I'll admit it - I love Elizabeth Strout's writing. The town of Shirley Falls has been the setting of many of her books, along with many of the same characters, making  

me feel right at home from the first paragraph.   

Tracie has finished:

1.  The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill - 2 stars

My review from Goodreads: This book was SO long, with so many unnecessary characters and subplots about alternative medicine and choir and grown women developing intense schoolgirl crushes, only to reveal the killer’s identity three quarters of the way through and then end with what the author may have thought was a daringly dark choice I can only imagine most readers will hate as much as I did. I won’t continue with this series.

2.  All That is Mine I Carry with Me -  4 stars

I really enjoyed this novel by the author of Defending Jacob.  After their mother's disappearance in 1975, the three Larkin siblings are left with the father the main detective on the case is convinced killed his wife.  Shifting timelines and perspectives made this an interesting read.  I did find the ending a little cryptic.

3.  The Mother Next Door: Medicine, Deception and Munchausen by Proxy by Andrea Dunlop - 5 stars

Mom and I both read this one and thought it was very good.  Andrea Dunlop also does an excellent podcast, Nobody Should Believe Me, on this subject of Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy, also know as Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another, where a parent (a mother the vast majority of the time) makes their child ill or lies about their child being ill for attention, admiration and sympathy.  She covers 3 cases in this book and talk a lot about the difficulties of investigating and prosecuting the offenders.  If you can stomach the subject matter, it’s riveting.

4. Skeleton Road (Inspector Karin Pirie #3)  by Van McDermid - 4 stars

This is the second book in this series I have read, and I also recommend both seasons of the Karen Pirie series on BritBox.  In this book, Scottish cold case investigator DI Pirie tackles the case of a body found in an alcove on top of a building deserted for 20 years, and the investigation leads to Croatia and back to the horrors of the war in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.  I didn’t know as much about that conflict as I should so I found it very interesting, and I enjoy Karen and her team.

5.  We Are All the Same in the Dark by Julia Heaberlin - 2.5 stars.

This book, about a small town with secrets and a long missing girl, drew me in at first but went on way too long and was overwritten.  I felt it dwelled way too much on the parallel of one character missing an eye and another missing a leg.  The ending was too pedestrian to be worth everything leading up to it.