by Kat | Nov 9, 2022 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers!
Happy Post Election Day and I hope to provide you with some things to distract you while all the ballots are tallied. So… turn off the news alerts and settle in!
First up… The Eleventh Gnome, she is DONE! An extra hour over the weekend (plus a good series on Netflix) provided more than enough time to get the bulk of her on Sunday. On Monday I just had the small bits to finish up and it took no time at all.
Meet Gnaomi! She is an avid spinner!
I made several “tweaks” to the pattern. I used handspun to knit the sweater. I knit the sweater a bit longer than the pattern called for which meant I also needed to knit the body a little longer to allow the color work at the bottom of her “dress” to show… so she is roughly 15 rows taller, but I think her long stocking cap balances the bit of extra height out. The other change I made to the pattern was to knit the beard as her hair… I knit the start of the beard as written but then knit the “center” curl 5 times and then finished the beard as written. This was enough to go from ear flap to ear flap… giving her the loveliest curly locks. The final change was to make her arms longer so I could knot the ends to make it look like she was holding the spindle and fiber. I think I did 8 more rows of I-cord. Anyways, I think she is wonderful and she might be my favorite Gnome yet! Her spindle? It is a toothpick and a button… around which I would a bit of spun fiber.
As you can see above, I have also picked the five colors for the December Mystery Gnome. Yes, I am excited for December knitting! And a five color gnome is intriguing!
I have a plan for future gnome knitting as wellI! There are two gnomes from Sarah’s Gnome Family that I have yet to knit so I am planning a thirteenth Gnome in January to close out my Year of Gnomes! That will give me a baker’s dozen. I contemplating which of the last two I will knit, but it will likely be her Never Not Gnoming pattern.
I also had great success with wheat bread baking this week! Vital wheat gluten might be my new favorite thing! I ended up with a loaf that had incredible crust, but the crumb was tender and airy! I am baking another loaf today!
The reading this week has been glorious. I am immersed in two books which I have divided into two categories:
- Day Time Listening: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I am about an hour in and really enjoying the listening!
- Before Bed Reading: Mouth To Mouth… a very curious tale. I am not quite sure how I feel about it, but I can’t stop reading!
But what I really want to talk about is something for you all to watch (instead of the never-ending election coverage) I discovered a limited series (there are just 4 episodes) with David Tennant and Stanley Tucci… Yes!! In.the.same.show! The series is Inside Man and oh my, it was SO GOOD! It will be the perfect thing to take your mind off vote counting… so get some knitting, queue it up, and enjoy!
There you have my making this week! What about you… what are you working on!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you! I will be back on Friday with a Museum of Me exhibit!
by Kat | Nov 7, 2022 | General, In This Moment
…is all about persistence.
I got a Christmas Cactus last November from Trader Joe’s… it was full of buds then, but not a single one bloomed. Instead over the course of a couple of weeks, they all fell off. I was quite heartsick over it.
But!! I did not give up! Instead I rallied around this despondent Christmas Cactus. I watered it…I made sure it had light and a lovely spot to sit. And yes, I talked to it… a lot! It is a very attentive listener! LOL
And in mid-October I began to give it the tiniest bit of fertilizer… and look at it now! Apparently, my plant was patient as well… patiently waiting for that bit of fertilizer! And it looks like it is going to be a showy November which will hopefully carry over into December as well!
The end of each phylloclade has at least one bud…quite a few have two, and some have THREE!
If ever there was a lesson for me in not giving up, this is it! Sometimes the payoff takes a LONG time… but don’t give up!
That, my friends, is my Sometimes Monday wisdom for all of you.
See you all back here on Wednesday!
by Kat | Nov 4, 2022 | General, In This Moment
Welcome to the final Currently post of this year. I know. Where did the year go?
Time flies. It’s up to you to be the navigator. — Robert Orban
Good advice, and some advice I have been following closely this year – I am the navigator of my days – the “filler of my minutes”… Let’s see what I am finding to fill those minutes, shall we?
Cooking —
Even though November has decided to revisit early summer this week…tomorrow will be in the upper 70’s and Steve is threatening to turn on the AC again. Sigh. However, I know that cold weather is hanging on the doorstep and as such, my desire to cook all the cold weather foods is burning inside me! This week I made a huge pot of chicken soup, chocked full of carrots, celery, and yes… chicken. I also picked up some Vital Wheat Gluten to try my hand at this whole wheat bread recipe, which I will be baking later today! And next week I have plans to do more baking…pumpkin bread anyone?
Watching —
I am savoring the latest Masterpiece Mystery – The Magpie Murders. I have watched one and really enjoyed it. I hope to catch myself up with it as my Gnome Knitting companion. Ha! I also watched the latest Shetland series on Britbox… the farewell to DI Jimmy Perez. It was bittersweet, but I hope they have plans to continue something with Tosh and Sandy. It is not quite the same as the books, but they are based on Ann Cleeves books. And can we just talk about the scenery for a moment? It is stunning. Speaking of stunning… I discovered a BBC Scotland show, Landward (also on Britbox.) It is a little glimpse into life in Scotland with a heavy take on farming and nature.
Knitting —
Last night, I began Gnome Eleven and purchased the December Mystery Gnome… and I have begun thinking about yarn colors (the mystery gnome needs 5 colors!) I am not purchasing yarn but rather will be peeking into my yarn leftover bag if I need to add something different than what I have used thus far this year! And my new Gnome… well, I am thinking it will be a she… so no beard, but I am seeing some curly locks! And she has a handspun sweater… so I know she is crafty. I am wondering if I could take a wee button and a bit of a broken dpn and make her a little drop spindle! The Gnome Knitting has been such a fun project this year… and I am thinking about what to do next year that will inspire whimsy and creativity! I also have been enamored of all the in-process Pressed Flowers I have seen on IG. I am not jumping on the knitting bandwagon to make a cardigan, but I am rekindling my plans for a rectangle shawl version. I am at the *thinking about yarns* stage… and wondering what I might couple with some handspun that I have.
Aging —
While we were in Erie, we walked… a lot. On all sorts of terrain… and lots of uneven terrain. And each day I began to notice that my left hip was progressively more painful than the day before. And by the end of our time in Erie, me trying to walk in the morning would be comical and if I was not in so much pain, I’d surely have laughed at how I looked hobbling around. The intense pain has subsided (although the stairs are still a bitch) but I am making an appointment to go see my doctor to discuss what might be the problem. And I am long overdue for an eye check… but oof, do I need one. So it is on my list to make an appointment, pronto! And after that… I need to address my hearing (or lack thereof) issue. Getting old is not for the faint of heart!
Worried —
While I have not been stressing about it, I am concerned about what our nation will look like after Tuesday’s elections and what all that will mean for democracy as I have known it. I have voted and I have encouraged everyone I speak with to vote. (I mostly don’t care who you vote for as long as that candidate is living in a fact-based reality…) It does make me so angry that there is a very loud faction of people in America who are racist as all get out… and they are not even ashamed of it at all. And all this not so subtle fanning of the flames of violence… well, I just don’t know how we pull back from that but I hope there are more voters that are concerned about voting for candidates who live in a fact-based reality than not. And I really hope that all the poll workers working next week are safe.
And with that, I leave you. Have a great weekend and I will be back on Monday!
by Kat | Nov 2, 2022 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers! I have returned from my glorious vacation… one in which I barely knit a stitch and since returning home on Sunday I have still barely knit a stitch!
But!! I have a great excuse… I have been madly working on getting my last painting done for my watercolor class. It is done, turned in, and I am really quite happy with my results! Perfection? Nope. But it has so many things that turned out *how I wanted them to* which means some of the techniques are becoming familiar to me and that is a very good thing! I did feel like my masking was a bit out of control, but it worked for the most part! Tangle of branches.. yes! With snow… YES! My ice needs some more practice, but overall I am very happy with it!
Besides that I have been consumed with all the “You’ve been away for 10-days” catch up things! Yuck! The only thing left on that list are to wash rugs which will happen today! Then I can breathe a bit and might even do some knitting this afternoon!
My new watercolor class started yesterday, but I have not started yet because some new watercolor paper coming later today and I want to wait for that before I start….although I absolutely should do a value study or two for this painting.
I did have a banner reading week on vacation… I finished seven books! Now, granted, two of those books were books of poetry and I have been reading one or two each morning to start the day for most of October. But still… SEVEN books! And they were all so very good!
My current reads include the above stack of poetry books as well as the new David Sedaris book – Happy Go Lucky. I am listening to David read it to me and I am loving it! I also will be reading some of Joy Harjo’s Sunrise for National Native American Heritage Month.
And with that, you have my quick update for what I am (not, lol) making and reading. I hope you all have been more productive that I have! I will be back on Friday with a fun bit of a current post!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave you link below and thank you!
by Kat | Nov 1, 2022 | General, In This Moment
Last month, I copied Carole’s idea to welcome the new month… I liked it. It kept me focused. And it was semi-successful! Ha!
So, Welcome November!
In November, the smell of food is different. It is an orange smell. A squash and pumpkin smell. It tastes like cinnamon and can fill up a house in the morning, can pull everyone from their bed in a fog. Food is better in November than any other time of the year. — Cynthia Rylant, In November
Yes to all of that! I am all about the November eats! Pumpkin pie, stuffing, turkey. Yes please! Haha! And even though I cook for a “scaled down” version of Thanksgiving. I still like to have all the parts! November, you are so good!
But food aside, there are some things I want to accomplish this month and I do have a couple of “carry overs” from October’s list as well! I put them up top on my list so they are sure to get done (or at least started… see Steve’s socks! lol)
The List of More has some really good things on it:
- More Studio Tunics, please! Yes, I have two corduroy tunics to sew! The fabric arrived the day before we left so I have a good excuse for not getting them done, but as soon as I have the fabric washed, the sewing will begin!
- I have one sock to knit… still. So Steve’s Sock gets a spot again. Sigh. My excuse… I lost a needle (and I have torn the house apart looking for it…grrr!) I can knit the sock with 4 needles, but I prefer 5. So I need to get another set of needles. This yarn is thin and really needs a size zero, so I need to make a stop at JoAnn’s and pronto!
- It’s November which means I have a new Gnome to knit! The Eleventh! And I have selected Gnemo for this month! Colorwork, a sweater, and a curly beard!
- There is a fun new thing to add this year… watercolor Christmas cards! Yes, instead of buying cards this year – I bought card stock to paint on! I am even contemplating doing a painting for Steve’s Mom and Dad for Christmas. Stay tuned!
- And speaking of watercolor… yes, I start another class today! Kym and I are committed to keeping each other painting and I am so glad! She inspires me and I just love how painting makes me feel.
- The tomatoes
were are still cranking out tomatoes before we left for Erie, so I left them (and came home to find a bowlful to pick!) but I will be pulling them this next week (we are having a week of temps in the 60’s here, so maybe they will keep on cranking out tomatoes and in the dark o’clock to take Sherman out it looked like more were ‘on the verge’ of being ripe!) But they will get pulled – eventually – so I can put their pots to bed for the season.
Now for the Less is More category… because you know that November needs to have at least one thing that I need a lot less of, right?
- Christmas… yes, in November. I like to decorate once Thanksgiving has happened…so Black Friday? Well it’s Trim the House Friday in my house! But this year I am contemplating downsizing the volume of decorating I do. Perhaps a Less is More approach and I don’t know how I feel about that, but I have some time to contemplate…I am generally a person who embraces change but Christmas decorating is all about the care of a little girl who missed out on all that fun. I grew up in a house that put up a tree on Christmas Eve and it was gone the day after Christmas. So I think you can imagine that because of that, I take Christmas to the top… and then push it over. But I am not that child anymore (or at least I hope I am not) and this year of really thinking about what a Full Life is… and is not… has me thinking about full not meaning all.the.things. but perhaps having the all the best parts…and finding joy in them. I have tried to do this in previous years and I have always felt like so much was missing. So my goal is to view this from a different approach this year and achieve success… I hope. Ha!
And with that, I have my “November Lists”… What’s on your list this month?
See you all back here on tomorrow with some Unraveling!
P.S. In case all you readers out there are in fear of a solid month of blog posts… never fear, there will be no #NaBloPoMo for me again this year. Whew, right?
