Thank you, Ann Voskamp for that quote to remind me that practicing is indeed the hardest part of learning… but it is necessary to changing/learning/growing/being.
So this month, I have been practicing… and it has not been easy at all.
I went back and pulled out my Authenticity Manifesto and looked at it to see if I could find my struggles… and almost instantly I did.
Less-Controlling Kat, where are you?
Defining one’s struggles this easily should mean it would be easy to move past them, to let go of them, to release them… but no, I am living proof it is not.
So this month… I stumbled… and I struggled more… and I reacquainted myself with my word and my goals…but it was a challenging month and I will absolutely keep practicing!
As always, I want to thank Carolyn for providing us all a space to share our progress!
So why am I thinking about this today you might wonder. Well, with all this thinking about being “an invisible woman,” a poem by my beloved Ada Limón has been on my mind as well… I like how she reimagines what might be a familiar story for many of us. And yet, even in this reframing, (which I think is brilliant, by the way) there is a degree of invisibility that leaves an unsettled feeling I in me as I read it… but a good unsettled feeling… one that makes me think about reimagining all the things!
A Name
by Ada Limón
When Eve walked among
the animals and named them—
nightingale, red-shouldered hawk,
fiddler crab, fallow deer—
I wonder if she ever wanted
them to speak back, looked into
their wide wonderful eyes and
whispered, Name me, name me.
I have a trio of wee gnomes in my gnome choir! I will get the alto started soon, rounding out my quartet! Ha!
But my bass is finished.. meet Gnolan! He is Gnola’s twin and they have been singing in harmony for eons! Or at least since their cast on! Ha! (if you are wondering which pattern I used, it is this one!)
But for all the joy of Gnome Finishes… I did have a bit of unraveling this week. Sigh. I discovered an error that once I noticed it, I could not stop seeing it. Tinking back 6-ish inches was not happening so I ripped it back to the end of the ribbing and began again. A word of warning… that first chart is not one that is easy to memorize, lol. (or my feeble brain just can’t get it!) But I am now on to the second *memorized* chart and the knitting moves so much quicker. I should be back to my rip back point soon!
Mistake-free knitting… thus far!
I also have my painting place *all ready to go*… now I just need to … well… pick up a paintbrush and begin!
It has been another slow reading week. I have just one finish… Invisible Women which Bonny put on my radar recently. I would challenge men listen to this…really. Listen and learn.
I have also been reading poems from Naomi Shihab Nye and Lucille Clifton… so so good! These ladies have been perking up my afternoon time considerably!
I am roughly halfway through The Bee Sting and almost finished with my nighttime read, My Friends. I have been savoring My Friends… the writing is so beautiful. The story is moving. And I am learning something about Libya and the Libyan people and while the story is based on characters that lived in Benghazi, I have much been thinking about Derna. A timely read, to be sure!
Whew… for not much making or reading, this was a rather wordy post! What about you? What are you focused on this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.
― Albert Einstein
This month’s prompt was challenging: What did your day look like when you got home from school?
I am most certain that it would bring no benefit to anyone and most especially me to go back and recall what my day looked like when I got home from school.
But…
I visited my library on Friday and picked up a book of Naomi Shihab Nye’s poems: Fuel
And of course she had the answer for me… (because doesn’t poetry always?!)
BECAUSE OF LIBRARIES WE CAN SAY THESE THINGS
by Naomi Shihab Nye
She is holding the book close to her body,
carrying it home on the cracked sidewalk,
down the tangled hill.
If a dog runs at her again, she will use the book as a shield.
She looked hard among the long lines
of books to find this one.
When they start talking about money,
when the day contains such long and hot places,
she will go inside.
An orange bed is waiting.
Story without corners.
She will have two families.
They will eat at different hours.
She is carrying a book past the fire station
and the five-and-dime.
What this town has not given her
the book will provide; a sheep,
a wilderness of new solutions.
The book has already lived through its troubles.
The book has a calm cover, a straight spine.
When the step returns to itself
as the best place for sitting,
the old men up and down the street
are latching their clippers,
she will not be alone.
She will have a book to open
and open and open.
Her life starts here.
Friends, we have reached the halfway point of September. I know, it makes me sad too!
I have some finds to share with you this week…so let’s get started!
First up, I really love Kym’s monthly activity share that she focuses on. I actually try and add them into my daily routine…sometimes successfully even! That’s right, I am very vested in my Squat-ember squatting and every time I engage in my daily squat I remind myself that this will make planting the plethora of bulbs the tiniest bit easier! That’s my story… and I am sticking to it (not that I think planting a plethora of bulbs will be easy… at all! HA!)
Anyways, this week NPR brought my attention back to Kym’s monthly activity focus with this intriguing article which led me down a very fascinating rabbit hole! I have been watching a little bit of Dan’s Live to 100: The Secrets of the Blue Zones on Netflix every evening and I have been enjoying it. (I especially love the gardening, the spending time on the floor, the eating… really, I think he talked to Kym before writing his book!) Anyways, if you are looking for something to watch instead of sports, I recommend this (you can watch an episode on the floor… easily! They are short and packed full of fun things!)
Some months ago I signed up for Ailbíona McLochlainn’s newsletter, Nuacht Cniotála (Knitting News) and have discovered a delightful peek into life in Ireland in a small making community. She lives on the Inishowen Peninsula and I am in love with everything she shares. If you are looking for knitting news that is not all knitting, not all selling… you might like to sign up for her newsletter as well. The peek into her community is delightful!
Recently, I also signed up for Ellen Bass‘ newsletter… and this week the first one showed up in my inbox! It is packed full of goodies… one of which is that she highlights poetry from her students. This one caught my attention… I don’t know about you, but I have had several classmates who have walked hiked the Camino de Santiago… and it was an undertaking! This little book of poetry sounds like a good way to experience it… without making the trek!!
And there you have my recent finds! Have a fantastic weekend and I will see you all back here next week!
**Sorry for this late posting, I thought I scheduled it to post, but apparently that did not work out… sigh. Entirely operator error… not at all a WordPress issue.**
It pains me to say this but September is just racing along, isn’t it? This week the temperature switch was flipped… sigh. I was hoping the humidity would depart first. I have little to show for my making this week but I do have a healthy start on a soprano and bass gnome.
Gnola just needs her music and she will be complete. Her twin brother, Gnolan, needs a bit more knitting time. That will leave me with just an alto gnome to knit and I will have my singing quartet! I also have a vision of a tall tree that they can sing around…which should get me to the next mystery gnome! I am not on the bandwagon for all the goodies but I do love the slower pace that the December mystery knit brings!
I “reactivated” my afternoon spinning reminder as well – and those few minutes have been productive! I have one bobbin done of the contrast for the heels and toes and one bobbin of singles for the yarn done… two bobbins to go! I want to get this done to have a handspun sock to knit on vacation next month! This is a “bird” color way from a club that Fibernymph Dye Works did a couple of years ago… some Blue Jay socks will be so fun!
The reading has had a good book and a not so good book. I had two finishes, one I enjoyed: Martin Walker’s The Patriarch with Chief Bruno Courreges. A great mystery, and as always, Bruno’s delectable cooking! The one that was no so good (at least for me) was The Librarianist… a disappointing read. This is a very character driven novel… which is great unless the characters are not so likable.
I am much more enjoying the characters in My Friends… and the writing is so much better than The Librarianist… so much better. I am just over halfway through and loving every bit of it. I also dove into The Bee Sting and am roughly a third of the way in. It is long but I am loving it thus far!
What about you… what is occupying your time this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
