by Kat | Jun 14, 2019 | General, In This Moment, Words
Happy Flag Day! I think today is the first time I ever read George Washington’s words and they have special impact this year. They are a good reminder of who and what we are.
Thinking About –
Friday mornings have had a new twist this month, thanks to Michelle’s Tiny Bit of Quiet series! I am truly enjoying her thoughts. Her words provoke lots of thinking in my morning meditation time. This week it seemed the world was in step with last week’s Friday quiet thoughts when yesterday these words reminded me how important those pauses are.
Getting Ready –
I passed the halfway point in my Screen Door yesterday and I will spend some time today memorizing the decreasing rows so that I can get this knit off my needles! I am eager to start a new sweater for fall. I hope to get this sweater cast on over the weekend, that is if I can get Screen Door done! I am also very happy to not be pressured to finish this in 4-days but hope to have it done by Marie’s July 4 kick off in her FB group and I will be happily cheering along the participants.
IN Focus –
I have been thinking about my word (focus) and Macro Monday’s and I have been contemplating how challenging it is to “be in focus.” My life, just like my lens, sometimes focuses on things that are not important – this process has given me much to contemplate as I learn and grow this summer.
Fun, fun, fun –
Finally, it is Friday! Steve told me last night that he wanted Pizza and Wings for happy hour tonight – so we are doing something different and ordering them from a local restaurant. I am going to try and still my inner voice and “be okay” with whatever presentation this takes tonight. Try…. such a little word that can be so hard! Stay tuned to my IG feed to see how well I do with all of that! And, while there might be some dish and lay-out compromising happening, I am not giving in on Happy Hour Outside and there might even be a bonus tonight – I think we will be able to utilize the patio heater because today is not supposed to be warm at all.
That is all I have for this week and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! See you back here on Monday!
Photo by Tim Mossholder from Pexels
by Kat | Jun 13, 2019 | General, In This Moment
I am joining with Carole and friends today to share a few tidbits from my brain this week.
Thing One:
I loved Bridget’s paparazzi comment yesterday, but the truth is those glasses are hiding my Allergy Eyes… is it just me or does the pollen seem at an all-time high this year?
Thing Two:
The other thing that many of you commented on was the length of my hair. I had a hair appointment in May that I had to cancel due to our trip to Michigan and I have yet to reschedule that appointment. But!! I have been contemplating pulling a Vicki and not going until the fall.
Thing Three:
Reclaiming yarn from a sweater is usually not a day-long task… unless you are reclaiming yarn from a sweater that you knit with double strands. My task today is to skein the yarn up so it can have a bath to get the kinks out! Oh, and not one minute of sadness entered the equation in ripping that sweater out – it was a poor decision to knit it in the first place (sometimes jumping on that Bang Out a Sweater Bandwagon is just wrong!) The yarn is about to get new life in a new sweater!
Those are my things, pitiful as they might be! What’s rattling around your brain today?
by Kat | Jun 12, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
The days have been truly glorious and we even had a light sweater weather bonus yesterday! Sunny, breezy, and mild temperatures meant my Marsa Alam got some wear-time! Sorry for the truly pathetic photo – I am not sure if that is the fault of the photographer or the fault of the photographee (I will be kind and take the blame) but trust me when I tell you, this sweater is a winner! I shared my notes and things I would slightly alter here, if you are interested!
I can’t seem to stop with the Coast though and my Screen Door is just flying along! It is the perfect little palate cleanser before diving into a more substantial project. I am at the “half-way” point as the pattern suggests, but it feels a bit short to me, so I am doing 5 more pattern repeats and see how it feels then. Stay tuned!
Now for the reading!!
No bingos yet, but I managed to cross off three more books on my card! And, these were three wonderful reads! I loved them all – The Night Circus and The Ninth Hour each got 4-stars. The Road Back To You had quite an impact and I gave it 5-stars, but I feel like I have just started down the Enneagram Rabbit Hole! I have queued up several podcasts to listen to as I delve deeper into the subject. It is really quite a fascinating way to look at personality.
As always, if you wrote a post to share this week, please leave your link below!
Thank you!
by Kat | Jun 10, 2019 | General
More learning over the past week in regards to my camera and macro settings. For this Perfectionist, the struggle is real in the learning curve. I took many photos, but few made the cut.
This Week’s Winner:
A million maple “helicopter’s” means a million baby maple trees are growing all over my yard. This is the true Yin and Yang of life – yes, they are fun to photograph, but the weeding…oy. However, this photo won the week because I think the colors are extraordinary. Not perfect, still lots of room for improvement, but to me it is a most pleasing photograph!
The Runner Up:
This just unfurling Dianthus caught my eye this photo of the dozen or so I took was the best. If only I had noticed when I was photographing it that the yellowish “dash” above the anther was a tiny bug! He might have been too small for my lens to capture, but it would have been fun to try!
Happy Monday everyone!
by Kat | Jun 7, 2019 | General, In This Moment
Spring being a tough act to follow, God created June. – Al Bernstein
June days are simply magical. The light gently wakes me, inviting me to greet the new day. The birds fill the air with their melodies and the low buzzing of the bees join to make the loveliest of harmonies. The lavender is full of velvety purple wands that dance in the breeze. The morning in the garden is my favorite time of the day. And, this morning I was greeted by the first Stella d’Oro daylily – a bittersweet sight because it means the deer will soon be here to snack on the blooms. But that first bloom was a glorious to see!
Triumphing!
Yesterday afternoon I finished the last sleeve of my Marsa Alam and this morning it is enjoying a Spa Treatment and will soon be laying out to dry. Pearl buttons will be sewn on this weekend (thank you all for your input!) Pre-blocking this is perhaps the best fitting sweater I have ever knit! The sleeve/shoulder fit is incredible – and can I just gush about Holst Coast yarn a minute? It might be my favorite yarn ever! The stitches are beautifully even, the ribbing looks nice, the hand of the sweater is incredibly inviting, and it is next-to-skin-soft. And, lets talk about value – I purchased a 500 g/3800 yd cone for about $24. Shipping from Denmark is not bad, and it only added about $10 to the cost of the yarn – and you get the most wonderful updates from Holst and PostNord. (Also, PostNord got the yarn to the USA in less than 24 hours, but it took the USPS more than a week to deliver it to my door…) My Marsa Alam used 324g of yarn – so yes, I have more than enough left-over yarn to use to make a Screen Door, which I cast on last night and flew through 8 repeats of the easy to memorize pattern! Knitting wins are such a good feeling!
Getting Ready!
I have a stack of fabrics that have been patiently waiting for me to begin cutting and assembling them into this quilt. Why that quilt? Genevieve is turning 4 next month and my plan is to make that for her birthday! With my new sewing set up, I think that I can manage to do the machine quilting myself. And while I love the overall stippling effect on the linked quilt, I think that will be a bit beyond my very-beginner abilities. However, I think that concentric circles might be lovely… sort of like the stitching I did for this piece:
Inspired by…
Something I saw on Pinterest last night, which made me go to see the original post on IG. Oh.my.gosh. I have the tamrack pattern – I picked it up in Grainline’s pattern sale earlier this year but had not been inspired to make one, thinking it would be a good fall project. And then I saw the magic that cjoy2 did with her tamrack (also her artwork…) WOW!! It is not bulky, I love the length, and it is incredibly creative – yet simple! She hand-stitched around the butterflies in the most wonderful way! And, her binding around the edges… it is brilliant!
Flattened!
I absolutely LOVE the MBR’s Rose Pants. They are wonderfully easy to make and to wear. I want to make a pair from a light denim – but denim and pleats or gathers seemed, well – bulky in an area I don’t need any extra bulk! So I had been wondering how hard it would be to remove the pleats/gathers from the front… well, wonder no more thanks to this post, which led me to this post. I have enough fabric to make a muslin trial run pair of shorts with a flattened front! Wish me luck!
And, that is all I have to share with you all for this first Friday in June! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!
