by Kat | Jan 10, 2019 | General, Words
I am joining with Carole today and my things all surround something that sort of blew up over social media this week thanks to a very poorly conceived blog post and the crucial things we all need to learn from this debacle:
Thing One:
An apology for offending people is not an apology. The apology needed to be for the behavior, thoughts, ignorance, and yes… the extremely poorly worded blog post.
Thing Two:
Making excuses for your behavior does nothing but compound the problem.
Thing Three:
Finally, it requires each of us to spend time realizing that we don’t know, what we don’t know – and in that realization – we need to make the commitment to learn more. Be more aware. Acknowledge that we have said – say – did – do things every single day that compound this problem. And, yes… even that we are silent when we should not be.
This opened the door to a very real problem that exists in the Fiber Community, et al – it is structured for white success. We all need to work on making it more inclusive – this is not something we can think well “someone else will do that.” It is something that requires work from each of us collectively – every day!
I am not linking to the blog post, but you can find it on the Fringe Association blog but there is a very interesting conversation happening on IG which you can see here and here and here.
Image used courtesy of Peter Heeling.
by Kat | Jan 9, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Welcome Unravelers! Another week brings more making, and yes – more reading! Sorry for the lateness of the post, but light has been at a premium here lately and so you get knitting with a sprinkling of snow today!
With my illness-fogged brain – I was struggling mightily trying to knit anything on my ADVENTurer wrap – I carefully unknit as much as I knit! Good thing I had this lovely almost mindless knit to keep me company! I am well into the third colorway – a nice blend of pink and green to transition to those final skeins. Although the rows are getting longer, I think I should have this done this week! Then a bit of blocking and weave in the few ends and off it can go to CA for my daughter’s birthday!
It has not been all knitting though – I have spent some time going back and looking at photos from last January – specifically my stitching project. I have been feeling like something is missing and I think stitching is it! And, while I don’t want to necessarily repeat that project but I have been thinking about stitching and even looking at some things on Etsy. There might very well be some small stitching projects in my future! These birds are really calling to me!
This week’s reading was most excellent though!
I feel like I have been on the waitlist forever for Esi Edugyan’s Washington Black but it finally came through! I listened to it and LOVED every word! It is the story of George Washington Black an 11-year-old slave who lives on a plantation in Barbados. After a bit of a rough start in life, Wash ends up with his master’s brother – Christopher Wilde or Titch, as he tells Wash to call him. Theirs is a magical relationship – one where learning is a must, exploring is all, and people are equal. Together they leave Barbados and travel to spectacular places. It is simply a magnificent story, beautifully written and masterfully told. I did not want it to end – and I highly recommend it. It easily gets 5-stars!
I also read the first Vera Stanhope story – A Crow’s Trap. Wow! I have read and enjoyed Ann Cleeves Shetland series, but what she does with Vera is wonderful! The character development is so good! Although, I wish Vera would have arrived in the story sooner than later! This will not be my last Vera mystery – 4-stars and I highly recommend!
Finally, I round out the week with Michael Eric Dyson’s What Truth Sounds Like. Wow. This is one powerful, thought-provoking, damning little book! I will be thinking about it for a very long time. 4-stars!
My current reads are also things that I have waited seemingly forever for – I started Where the Crawdads Sing yesterday and last night, Louise Erdrich’s The Round House came through on Overdrive!
This is truly the perfect start to my year of reading! But, what about you? What is catching your eye this week?
Did you write a post to share today? Please leave you link below!
And, thank you for your participation!
by Kat | Jan 8, 2019 | General, Words
First up, I want to thank everyone for their well wishes yesterday! Through the wonder of antibiotics, each day I am feeling the tiniest bit better! Today, I even managed to do a short bit of Pilates and that is a very good thing! No chances of an afternoon walk today though – it is wet and rainy outside and those few minutes of Pilates were enough to expend my energy. No overdoing it for this girl!
Last week, Juliann asked what changes I made this year to my planner system. I managed to work a bit on it yesterday – and I am happy with my results! I need to make a trip to Joann’s to get some Tombow markers – but yesterday, colored pencils worked just fine. I have been finding some really helpful things on Pinterest and have implemented some of them this year. Previously, I had been using a Traveler’s Notebook weekly calendar with the week on one side and grid paper on the other side. This worked well when I was “working” and spent my day attached to my PC and my planner. I used it to track hours worked, and things I needed to complete and by when.
This system was great for that, but in my non-working-for-pay life, its functionality was just not functional for my daily life. First, I am not at the PC like I was when I was working and, therefore, not “attached” to my planner in the same way. Too many pages were unused and so when I needed to replace it, I looked at what I wanted my calendar to do in my day.
Enter my take on the “BuJo” craze. On Amazon, I found a set of 3-dot grid books that fit perfectly in my traveler’s notebook. They are stitched, and the paper works well for fountain pens!
I will set up each month with the calendar and my focus for the month. As you can see, my focus right now is moving and thanks to this pneumonia that is not off to the most auspicious start, but that is okay. It is there, and I am well aware of it. Each week has a section, and I can fill in things that I need to remember that week. I still need to make that page of my yearly “remember” things, i.e. birthdays, anniversaries, prescription refill dates, etc. I am also contemplating adding something in with a gratitude/mental health/focus list, but I am not entirely sure how to work that in yet.
My morning routine now includes, checking in with what is “yet to be done” this week as I spend a few minutes writing in my journal pages… a much better and more productive start to my day!
What about you? Do you “BuJo”? And, if you do, how do you make it work for you?
by Kat | Jan 7, 2019 | General, In This Moment
Require a slower start….
I don’t think Carole meant to jinx me when she commented last week about her cold turning to pneumonia, but that is indeed what happened! Saturday, I spent the better part of the morning at a local urgent center – diagnosis: pneumonia.
I am easing into Monday and I hope yours is off to a much better start!
by Kat | Jan 4, 2019 | General, In This Moment
I am so happy that it is Friday and the end of the last two mixed up crazy weeks. Not one single day felt like it should have thanks to the two holidays! Sadly, New Year’s Day brought with it the Mother of All Colds to my house which has not helped at all but I am happy to say that despite a cold-fogged brain, I have made some progress on my daughter’s birthday gift and last night I started on the second color! Also, the cowl I made for Steve’s Mom for Christmas was such a hit, his dad would like one as well and I hope to get something cast on for him over the weekend.
I had hoped that Steve would be excited to sit down and work on our 19 in 2019 list… ha! However, I have not forgotten, and I started working on it without him – and it just might be the best “honey-do” list ever created. Haha!
Thinking About – My morning routine – deeply thinking about it. It should be the high point of the day, and I am spending too much time on things that are a distraction from that. I have been “trying out” some new ideas and I believe that I have come up with the perfect solution. Part of this solution includes a new way of planning my day out. I had been using the same basic system for years and have continued to use the same thought process as when I was working – however, I did not accommodate for the changes that would happen in my schedule – I do not need a list to remind me when to do laundry, or dust (okay, maybe I need this on a list somewhere! Haha!) I spent a good deal of time in December thinking about what I need from my planner and what I don’t need! January 1 brought the implementation of that new process which already feels smoother with less internal struggling! Cold aside, this has truly helped me enjoy a more focused morning to get myself off to a better start of the day! I still need to make a list that incorporates all the important dates of the year, but I will work on creating that page later today. I have not been one to be “artistic” in my planner, but this will allow me the freedom to be creative if I want to be! Four days in to the New Year and this already feels more comfortable and my mornings have been much improved!
Grateful For – Puffs Plus Lotion and hot tea!
Inspired By – How diverse and, yes, female, the new congress is! Women won more than 60% of the seats that were flipped last November! The NYTimes posted this great interactive article that allows you to go deeper into those elected! This gives me great hope and yes, inspires me greatly! We are finally moving toward a body of elected officials that look like the people of this great nation! And, yes, with Hakeem Jeffries, I am down with NDP!
Fascinated By – Everyone’s words this year! I am entirely fascinated in the choices, the process of how they were selected, and I am really looking forward to seeing how they unfold for you this year. It is not too late to join us, Juliann will be hosting on the last Tuesday of each month.
That is all I have for this week! Have a great weekend and I will see you all back here on Monday!
Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels
