by Kat | Nov 8, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers!
On Monday, I promised a tale of some swatches… and a tale it is! I have four different swatches and all tell an entirely different story. (because, of course they do… right? LOL)
Swatch One
Swatch One… my plain old stockinette swatch…. I am off on stitch gauge by 1/2 a stitch and row gauge by 1 row. I might be worried about this except for I am *between sizes* and suggested ease – which means that I should knit the next size up…but more on this in the next swatch.
Swatch Two
Swatch Two… my first cable swatch. I knit one entire repeat of the chart and I am off significantly. Like an inch and a half off… as in my swatch is 1.5 inches larger than hers. This kind of horrified me. I washed the swatch and did not stretch it, I did not push it together, I just laid it flat and let it dry.
But… I think my problem is that I knit some garter rows to start, on each side, and before I bound off. I wondered if those garter stitches were preventing the purl stitches from snugging up nicely with their neighboring knits… as Swatch Three did (see below). So I spent Monday afternoon knitting another cable swatch, gave it a good soak, and let it try to measure again on Tuesday.
Swatch Three
Swatch Three… my ribbing swatch. I matched the pattern gauge PERFECTLY. (Okay, this is good because gaping ribbing is not what I am hoping for!) Note that I knit no garter borders… Yeah. My thought process on this was that ribbing won’t curl and likes to lay flat.
Swatch Four… on the bottom!
Swatch Four… Houston, we almost have lift off! I never imagined that some plain old garter could *eff* things up so drastically! As you can see… one of these things is not like the other! But my all important measurement tells me that I am closer to Emily’s gauge of 6.5 inches, but not exact. My swatch measures 6.75 inches. Sigh.
So after doing some monumental amounts of Knitty Maths on Tuesday… I have picked my cast on size… and with a good bit of trepidation, I cast on. I wish I felt more confident, but there you have it… I don’t think you are ever completely confident knitting a sweater in pieces that you hope will fit! I started a sleeve and will be verifying measurements as I go… fingers crossed!
Gnoah, on the right and Gnicodemus on the left!
But… despite all this Sweater Angst… I do have a wee little Gnoah, who similar to another Noah of Biblical fame, will be gathering up a few more wee little gnomes this month. Gnoah has been pestering me for a friend, so I present Gnicodemus! And not to worry, there will be some wee little girl gnomes as well… I have some brilliant ideas for new hair styles! Thankfully, I have this glorious pile of “yarn crayons” that I am going to use. And… there is no angst in gnome knitting ever!
The Choir can sing all the Christmas Gnome Songs around their Gnome Tree!
Also… The Choir has a TREE! Woo! I love it so much that I think I need a couple of smaller trees adorned with the same bright garland! FYI… Gnome Trees are also Angst-Free Knitting!
The reading this week has been so very good. I finished Horse and Téa Obreht’s new book, The Morningside. Two very different novels, each of which I really enjoyed! I have been listening to the next book in the Max Tudor Mystery series while I plant bulbs… it is a nice gardening companion! And at night I am settling in with Richard Russo’s Straight Man.
But! What about you all? What are you making and reading?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Nov 6, 2023 | General, Welcome
But there is always a November space after the leaves have fallen when she felt it was almost indecent to intrude on the woods…for their glory terrestrial had departed and their glory celestial of spirit and purity and whiteness had not yet come upon them. ― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Windy Poplars
I stumbled upon this quote quite be accident… and what a happy accident that was!
November… space… pause… a bit of a breath… between the glory of the leaves changing (they are pretty much done here now) and winter. I need these words to remind me to revel in the “indecent” beauty of bare trees, crunchy leaves to walk through, and sunny days when the sun feels impossibly warm… reminding me that I should seek joy in what is around me… and not wish for things gone.
I also had a wise comment on IG after I posted that photo on Saturday night… mourning the last sunset after that will happen after 6PM until next March. Sigh.
Dear eence1979 shared these words of wisdom:
“I enjoy the darkness of winter—tucking in, wearing all knits and resting. Of course, finishing WIPS and starting new WIPS. It’s the Life Cycle.”
Thank you so much… I have requested Katherine May’s Wintering from my library! It will be a good refresher of all that winter can hold!
So what, dear November, do I hope to accomplish as you race along….
- A tiny bit of Thanksgiving decorating! (I am pulling out a few of my favorites this morning!)
- Cast on my Great Sweater Knit …. most appropriate for NaKniSweMo, right? (I knit my swatches… yes plural. Oh my! They are gorgeous and my plan is to measure them today and (hopefully) cast on!
- Create a successful Sourdough Starter! I have a new “helper” and I started my starter yesterday! Send me all the good Sourdough Juju you can my way please!
- Knit more Gnoah’s! Yes, class on Friday was so fun (and I can knit a Gnoah in roughly 3 hours!) An army of Gnoah Ornaments will soon be emerging!
- Finally… get outside! Often! With L.M. Montgomery’s words in my head… and heart!
What about you? What are your hopes for November!
See you all back here on Wednesday with a Swatching Story!
by Kat | Nov 3, 2023 | General, In This Moment
It has been a very chilly week here in my corner of the Burgh… the frosts have come (as did one morning with a dusting of snow!) This weekend we are supposed to be a bit milder so I am hoping to get the remainder of my bulbs in. This is my first time planting any bulbs and confession time… I much prefer warmer weather to be in the garden!
I have just a few of things to share with you all this week.
First up, I saw this post on Threads and I think his idea of practicing getting up from the floor as a game is a good idea. I am adding this to my “November List” of things… maybe you should too!
Anne Lamott wrote a beautiful opinion piece on the idea of “borrowed time” in the WaPo this week. It has stayed with me all week and I wanted to share her (profound) words with you all as well so I am gifting you the article, you can read it here.
Yesterday, I saw bits of an interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates which spurred me to find the entire interview. You might want to find a bit of time to watch it as well… as always, Coates has a way about him that makes me stop and think.
Finally, MY YARN ARRIVED for The Sweater! I need to find a spot of time to begin the swatch-o-rama! (My yarn choice? I went with Peace Fleece in the same color that Emily used… I do not have anything in my wardrobe like it and I am so excited!)
One large ball of Peace Fleece and four little bits that will soon be a gnome!
I am eagerly awaiting my class today… I wound some yarns and am ready to go!
See you all back here on Monday! Have a great weekend!
by Kat | Nov 1, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Gentle Unravelers and Happy November!
If you are planning on any holiday gift knitting… the clock is ticking!
I have a tiny bit of gift knitting that I will kick off on Friday with a class with the Queen of Gnomery… the one and only Sarah Schira! I am excited to do a bit of Gnome Knitting with her. My plan for the lovely little bundle of skeins above is to make a few Gnome Ornaments to hang! I have not yet knit worsted weight gnomes, so I am looking forward to it!
Because I put the kibosh on starting any new projects last week, of course… I cast on something new! Ha! Yes, I began the tree for my Gnome Choir! This new project happened when I really looked at my socks and realized I have made a rather glaring error. Yes… the socks are two different lengths. Sigh. I am not unraveling the sock only to begin again… and currently I am debating to just wear them this way or do a little surgery and knit the missing repeats, the border, and the cuff… Sigh. Last week I was very much feeling like mosaic knitting was my nemesis and I was down for the count… so my wrap has been in a bit of time out while I find my Mosaic Mojo once again.
Each of these things is not like the other…
Thanks to those odious socks, I indulged in a bit of self-pity and ordered the yarn for this sweater… I am eagerly awaiting its arrival!
I also have gotten a couple more appliqué squares done… I found the meditation of hand stitching the perfect balm… bonus points for having better lighting at home so night time stitching could happen!
The reading this week has been so delightful! I finished The Running Grave… book 7 in the Cormoran Strike series. It was good… so good! And it did not feel like a 34+ hour listen… at all! So yeah… so good!
I also, thankfully, finished The Underground Library… no where near as good and I am glad to be done with it. It was not my worst book all year, but it is in the running!
My current reads though are making up for that… I am just over half way in Geraldine Brooks’ novel: Horse and I had forgotten what a delightful writer she is!
At night I am reading a new novel by Téa Obreht, The Morningside. It started out a bit slowly as I settled in, but once I did the reading has been so good! I am about halfway through this as well!
But, what about you? Are you on the Gift Knitting Bandwagon? If you are let me know so we can cheer ourselves on!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Oct 30, 2023 | General, Words
The start of this month again found me feeling like I am done with this word. And yesterday these thoughts were firmly in my head as I sat down to try and scrabble together a blog post… and surprise, surprise! Ten months in and I found I still have things to learn in my quest for authenticity.
At least that is what I discovered when I sat down and looked back over my journal writing this month… and the month before… and the month before that…and all the way back to January when I began this journey.
Pro tip… if you are feeling done… stuck… at the end… go back and read your journey… if you think you have learned nothing this will show you clearly just how much you have learned, how much you have put into practice, how much things have changed!
Gentle Readers… it seems that I have (finally!!) cultivated the habit of authenticity. A Will Durant quote sort of fit perfectly for this month… that is once I tweaked it a bit and it will be my mantra next month!
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence Authenticity, then, is not an act, but a habit.
Yes, I think this is the month that authenticity has become a habit! And that is such a very good thing. The biggest thing I noted was the absence of the “fake it until you make it” attitude with myself… i.e. those days when I am not authentic with myself.
Now, don’t get me wrong… I do not think there is anything wrong with “faking it until you make it”… it works for so many things! But there is something very wrong with it if my modus operandi is faking it to myself… I have found that being authentic does not have a negative effect on my attitude, but rather a profoundly positive impact. It means taking Rilke’s idea of living the question… and actually doing that. No fake answers… being okay with just authentically living… and maybe… just maybe I will discover, as Rilke did, that I will eventually live into the answers…uncertainty and all!
I would like to thank Carolyn for holding this space for us. Please stop by and see how everyone did this month!
I will see you all back here on Wednesday for some unraveling.
by Kat | Oct 27, 2023 | Finds, General
Gentle Readers,
October was A. Month… wasn’t it? My heart is heavy with All.The.Bad.News.
And then Lewiston, Maine and Allderice High School happened.
So today I am sharing some things that have helped me move forward this month. Things that have helped the hope within me increase. Hope that I have made a point of sharing.
It is my wish that you will find something that lifts you… perhaps even in these things I share:
First up… thank the gods for librarians, but most especially for Mychal (You should absolutely follow him… he is a highlight of every day!)l:
Next up is Levi... or perhaps my love is really for Levi’s dad… I don’t know, but gosh does Levi eat well!! If there is reincarnation, I would like to come back as a sibling of Levi please!
And… can it even be fall without some Stella! (or again, maybe it is Stella’s dad who is the winner here!)
Finally, I have tried chai numerous times in my life and it has always been just too sweet nor am I a person who “googles” tea… ever. So I found it funny that Chai Ads began showing up on the Meta™ platforms… One in particular kept showing up on the regular and it piqued my interest. So I broke down and bought some… and WOW! And I mean WOW! If you, like me, are not a chai fan but wondered what good chai might taste like… wonder no more. The Kolkata Chai Co delivers! It has all the amazing flavors and none of the über sweetness that other chais have. And it is so good with oat milk. It is my new afternoon cuppa…
My hope for you is that you find somethings this weekend that lifts you in unexpected ways. See you all back here on Monday with my word update.
