by Kat | Jan 6, 2017 | General
When winter arrives in Pittsburgh, it arrives with a vengeance. I was greeted this morning with the stellar temperature of 8 whole degrees. (although they are forecasting for it to be well into the 50’s by next Thursday so this cold will be short-lived – which is just insanely crazy and if I was not already coming down with something, you know I would by this time next week!)
But, when it gets this cold – I am so thankful for wool! And, as my slippers from last year have a hole in one heel and I have not tried to darn/mend it yet – I cast on a new pair of my “go to” slipper yesterday. I have one done and am onto the second – it should be done shortly and my feet will be so happy.
Once that slipper is done, I will be working on swatching for a sweater. I have some incredible CVM yarn from Sheepspot and this will be something work related (I mean really, how great is it having a job that requires you to knit!!) Anyways, I have two sweater ideas that I think might work for this yarn – the first is a simple cardigan from Yellowcosmo and the second is Kathleen Dames latest knit along sweater – Basic Cable. I will be swatching for both this afternoon and we will see which swatch wins! Either way, you will find an article about my swatching journey later this month on the Sheepspot blog.
Last month, Caffeine Girl Creates asked me about the size of my Peace Cowl and I wanted to share with all of you my thoughts on how the finished cowl wears. My cowl ended up 8″ x 68″ – so it is BIG! I went up a needle size because my handspun was a bit thicker than fingering weight and I did not want a dense, heavy fabric. Would I want this cowl this big if I were knitting it out of a worsted spun yarn? No, I do not think I would, so I might reduce it a few inches, however in my woolen spun Columbia, I simply LOVE it! It is light but so incredibly warm! I put it on yesterday morning and I wore it all day long. For not having a project in mind when I spun the fiber up, I’d say this was an excellent match of yarn and pattern!
I have some Dorset Down handspun that I was trying to use in another project which has been languishing on the needles as it is not a good match for a couple of reasons – my spinning was not very uniform and I am not sure I have enough yardage to complete the project. However, I think it might work well in the Peace Cowl pattern, so you can look for that to be repurposed in the coming month as well.
Now how about some links?
Tomorrow is Saint Distaff’s Day! So, if you have not used your spinning wheel in the New Year (or in a while…) this is the perfect opportunity to do so!
I am completely smitten with Selbu Norway. (And Selbu Mittens too!)
The OA and The Oa – I love them both!
Field Guide No. 2 is coming!
Water
Alien Trail
If 2017 is your year to try double knitting the Om Shanti Cowl is the perfect little project!
I love these Night Creatures Mittens!
That is all I have for this first week in January – I am off to have a bit of hot tea and to finish those slippers! See you back here on Monday!
by Kat | Jan 5, 2017 | General, Words
This week’s prompt for Think Write Thursday is to write a post called “Hello, January”.
There are two seasonal diversions that can ease the bite of any winter. One is the January thaw. The other is the seed catalogues. – Hal Borland
Winter has been iffy in my corner of the world with temperature swings from the 60’s one day to the 20’s the next. And, the rain – my back yard is one giant spongy mess.
However, I know that there is no avoiding the bitter cold that will soon be upon us. January is good at bring the cold – but, the one thing that January also brings is the slowly lengthening days. Each day there is just a bit more daylight than the day before, which is a very good thing!
I have not completely given up on growing things either, despite my Amaryllis failure – I have orchids that are blooming and then there are those Paperwhites… I am completely smitten with their ethereal blossoms balanced precariously on a slender stalk. There is hope blooming during the winter and it makes my mind turn to gardening!
That is right – garden planning will be happening this month. Where will we expand this year? What will we work on? What will we grow? It is perhaps the best time of all – the time when you can dream big! Mr. Borland is right seed catalogues simply are the best diversion for January and I am hoping my Baker Heirloom Seed Catalogue will be here sooner than later!
I am sorry Dear January if it feels like I am cheating on you by wishing it was May but garden planning is the best way to get through you!
If you would like to join Carole and I on this writing journey, we would love to have you! You can sign up here!
by Kat | Jan 4, 2017 | General, Making
- New Year Ö
- New Project Ö
- New Book Ö
Knitting progresses on Rob Roy. It is slow going right now, as I have not found a flow to the cables yet – nor have I memorised the symbols! Plus I ran into a bit of a conundrum with the chart on round three but Mary came to the rescue and it has flowed smoothly since.
I love the texture these cowls have!
I ended 2016 with 2 additional projects completed – Project Peace and Singing Beach. And, 2017 has it’s first item in the completion column – my first PussyHat is complete. I will be casting on another to share and I think I am going to give Laura Nelkin’s mods a go!
New book underway – Moonglow A Novel by Michael Chabon.
And, in its first few days the New Year is perking along nicely!
What are you reading and knitting in the New Year?
Joining Ginny and her Yarn Along.
by Kat | Jan 3, 2017 | General, In This Moment
Tuesday…
Can you hear me drumming my fingers on the desk? Yes…it is annoying!
How about a bit of a rambling post today?
We only have 399 hours remaining of intelligence, grace, and dignity in the White House before the circus comes to town.
I am in the Resistance Camp and I have been girding my loins, as it were. Kym has been sharing weekly ideas that are awesome! The Wall of Us had some great ideas this week. Easy things. Really. Go sign up!
In the same resistance vein, I cannot stress how vital supporting news media has become. I signed up for a digital subscription of the Washington Post and it made me insanely happy to read that they had recently hired more than five dozen journalists. I have been struggling to find a news balance in the sea of media that seems to be okay with giving time to person who believes lies are the truth. It makes me feel like my little support is helping in the fight!
How many of you know about Give Your Amazon Box New Life? Me either, but this could come in very handy for my organization resolution! (Additional partners can be found here)
Finally, and on a brighter note – my Paperwhites have started blooming! Just one slender stalk, but there are buds of promise on the fellow bulbs!
Happy Re-entry Tuesday, everyone!
by Kat | Jan 2, 2017 | General, In This Moment
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something. – Neil Gaiman
When I look back on my goals for 2016, I had some winners and I also had some losers:
My goal to stitch daily fell by the wayside and a large part of why it did was because I did not give myself permission to make mistakes. I wanted my stitching to be perfect without acknowledging that this is a new craft and as with all new things – there is a learning curve, and making mistakes is part of that process. It is certainly true that I am my own worst enemy with my inner drive for perfection – and if it can’t be perfect, then I won’t do it. But, this year I am going to work on that and give myself permission to make mistakes, to learn, to make new things, to push myself, and GROW! I will also move beyond my desire to only present what is perfect and share the process – mistakes and all.
Thanks to Honoré, I spent some time at the end of 2016 rethinking my daily schedule/routine. I have reworked it allowing for a few moments each day to learn something new about stitching and to implement what I have learned. As the year progresses, I will have a collage of stitches that will reflect a daily snapshot similar to Bonnie Sennott’s journey and by this time next year, I will have completed a grand stitching journey where, I am hoping, there is visible growth and immense pride in my mistakes and accomplishments!
Organization also got left behind in the dust of “doing other things” – I blocked out Marie Kondo’s calls to focus and I am paying for that in spades as 2017 starts. Again, Neil Gaiman gives a gentle invitation to live, to push myself, and to change myself – and this is an invite I am going to embrace wholeheartedly!
2017 will be my year for being more organized in so many things. But, one main organization task will be to give some semblance of order to my digital and physical photos. This is something I have procrastinated about far too long and I am ready to get to work on this!
I want to continue in my desire to weigh less and to move more! I did well in 2016, but I still have a long journey to go – and after basking in Holiday Cheer for a good portion of December – this month I will focus on getting back on track.
I also want to use more of my handspun yarn, so this will mean doing more intentional spinning. I look forward to spending time sampling and planning for projects rather than just spinning with no plan in mind!
Finally, I set a challenging reading goal for this year and I look forward to working through my “want to read list” as I hope to exceed my goal!
Here is to a year of pushing myself, changing myself, changing my world, and doing things!
Happy New Year, everyone!
by Kat | Dec 30, 2016 | General, Words
“It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.” – David Steindl-Rast, Benedictine Monk
I worked through 2016 with a focus on gratitude – and though it took some effort, I really feel like I am ending the year with a better understanding of gratitude. This includes gratitude in my everyday life. From the simplest things to the most complex – I feel like gratitude is part of my being now.
Which brings me to 2017 – where do I go from here. I have been contemplating several words to focus on in 2017 and my mind kept circling around joy and then when I got an email on Saturday from Churchmouse Yarn and Tea with the above quote – the word seemed to leap out of the email.
It is so true, gratitude does make me joyful.
It is not complicated, nor does it indicate that I am adopting a Pollyanna-like view of life – but really, a simple joy stemming from gratitude in all things – even the difficult things.
In 2017, I hope you will come along with me as I celebrate finding joy in the journey.
Happy New Year to all of you!
