April marks the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Month and today is Poem-In-Your-Pocket-Day!
To celebrate, I am sharing The Enkindled Spring by D.H. Lawrence. I hope you enjoy!
Thanks to Kym for the lovely reminder’s she has shared all month-long!
As you can see, my backyard is a bursting bonfire of green (and purple and yellow!) How I love the rejuvenation that is spring!
Wednesdays are for knitting – okay maybe every day is for knitting, but it is also the day that Ginny hosts the Yarn Along!
And, I have been infected with a case of startitis which I am totally attributing to the awesome weather we are having. Although there was not lots of knitting completed amidst all the yard and garden work over the last several days, there was some.
I am almost done with sock one – and I think that I can find the motivation to finish it today. Hopefully sock two goes along as easily. But, I was so enamored of Karen’s Pincha and I had this lovely vintage skein of BMFA Rare Gems it seemed obvious to me that I needed to knit this so I cast on! I have completed 3 pattern repeats and I will keep knitting until I am out of yarn. There might be more of these in my future – I have a good bit of Lorna’s Laces sock yarn in my stash that is never destined to become socks. Why? Well, at the gauge I knit it pools – which I really don’t like at all – so I think it would be perfect for this pattern! This could be my summer knitting carry along knitting. I have a couple of other things in the casting on process and some swatching that is happening. If any of those get past the first few rows, I will be sure to share them here!
I am meandering through The Bat by Jo Nesbo and I am enjoying it tremendously. I am just about half way through however, I really want to get it finished because I have this waiting in the wings. I am not starting it until I am finished. Really. I.am.not!
It is supposed to be another gorgeous day here today; I know – they are so hard to take! I will be heading outside to do some knitting and reading (and maybe a bit of carding to finish up!) before the rain they have forecast for tomorrow and Friday keeps me indoors. I have some sewing lined up to do if and when that happens.
Have a great Wednesday and please tell me what are you doing to enjoy this amazing weather?
One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain. – Bob Marley
Carole has perhaps picked the best topic ever for this 10 on Tuesday, she wants to know:
10 Albums You Love. As in, you love the entire album, not just a few select songs
Wow, how do you even start with this topic – better yet, WHERE do you start?! Who gets the number one spot? How do you pick just ten? So, in no particular order (okay, alphabetical because there has to be some logic, right?) here you go, the 10 albums I love – in their entirety!
So, when I first did this list there were 19 albums on it and, sadly, this is not 19 on Tuesday! So, in thinning this out a bit I tried to pick albums that might not be on everyone’s list. Maybe I will be surprised and find that there are many duplicates! However, I thought it important note that it goes without saying that there is so much good music available today. But, more importantly is that even though a musician might be gone from this world – their music lives on (and in a way they do too) every time we listen.
If you do not see an artist on my list, it does not necessarily mean I do not love them and they are not ENTIRE ALBUM WORTHY – they are. (Hello Adele, James Taylor, Brandi Carlile, Aaron Neville, Tony Bennett, the band, Fleetwood Mac, fun., Mussorgsky, Gillian Welch, Joan Baez, Le Vent du Nord, The Lumineers, Mat Kearney, Michael Bublé, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Avett Brothers, Pearl Django, Patsy Cline, Sam Cooke, Sarah Vaughn, and Warren Zevon – I am looking at all of you!) Picking 10 was just such a difficult decision, truly!
I hope you see something new on my list, something or someone you maybe did not know, and they become something you love! Because, really, I hope the music never ends!
I don’t know about you, but it seemed like the weekend sped past.
And, there was no carding completed.
I know.
But, there was so much other stuff that got done, I am almost not upset.
Almost.
There was also no laundry getting done over the weekend so this morning I was greeted by Mount Kilimanjaro – the laundry version.
But, there were days of Al Fresco dining, cocktails, and lots of yard work – even a little bit of sunburn was obtained!
I hope your weekend was wonderful and that your Monday is not harsh!
P.S. Rhubarb experts… do I cut the flower out now, or wait? Help!!
One thing to take into account when trying to match a commercial yarn is the density of the yarn. I think that the Briar Rose yarn may be a worsted preparation. In fact I am certain it is. So, my Shetland in a woolen preparation is a much lighter, fluffier thing!
Before finishing the yarn
And, while I have matched the diameter, the twist angle, and the WPI of the Briar Rose yarn. My yarn feels much different. Some of you even noted the difference from earlier this week! As I was swatching – the yarn seemed much too light – and it almost seemed like I had more stitches because there were these ripples in the white fabric that really concerned me. I really did not want to spin this Shetland in a worsted preparation and I was brainstorming in my head about a fix, and my first thought was to go down a needle size. Size 3 needles were found and I kept swatching until I had a good bit more of the fabric.
After finishing the yarn
Before soaking and laying it out to dry, I thought the smaller needle would be the answer, but after giving the swatch a nice bath and letting it dry overnight – I think the fabric on the same needle will be just perfect.
The washed swatch
The Rolag Production Train is again underway, I hope to have them done shortly (Monday at the absolute latest!) and then spinning can begin.
In case you are not a spinner, but you are Jonesing for a new project, Ravelry has had a plethora of new patterns that are really making me itch to cast on one or ten:
Carol Sunday might have the perfect accompaniment for a Dress #2
The perfect sweatshirt sweater with lovely details – thank you Ysolda
If socks are your fancy, these are so cute!
And, I have been spending lots of time thinking about Spice Market, Torquata, and Miss Babs.
And the details on this little sweater really shine!
There you go, Gentle Readers, have a great day and an even better weekend. See you back here on Monday!!
If you Google “planners” you will get about a zillion results almost instantly. (Actually, I got 139,000,000 in .39 seconds) There is so much information available from Pinterest boards, to blog posts, to YouTube videos all with volumes of information on what people think is successful.
Perhaps the reason that there is so much information is that there is not one perfect system for everyone and this is absolutely true for me!
So, what I have done is taken parts of things from a variety of “planning styles” to create a system that works very well for me. This took a bit of work, because when I worked in the corporate world – Outlook worked perfectly for my needs. I combined that with some other online programs and my work life was well-organized.
However, now that I am self-employed and I work from home a digital planning system did not work as well. I am not sure why – perhaps the fact that I am a team of one, and what I am doing does not need to be accessible to others.
Now, I do use some excellent online resources for my work, Trello, Slack, and Harvest are wonderful resources for working on projects – and they make working remotely seem less remote! But, for my daily, weekly, and monthly goals – I really like a paper planner.
Last year I moved to the Midori Traveler Planner. It has become the best thing I have ever used. I did a bit of modification to it (thanks to Bradley at Stuff & Things) and now it is just perfect for me. I am not an “art” planner person. You won’t find stickers, washi tape, or collages of stuff on my pages – just simple planning – daily, weekly, and monthly/yearly. I use this insert for my planner. It helps me “stay in the week” and focus on the tasks that I need to complete. It helps me know where I need to focus my hours and how many hours I am spending on a project.
I borrow a few things from the Bullet Journal System – not many, just a few.
Sometimes, I have a task that cannot be completed in a week – a little arrow shows me I need to move it to the next week. In the new week, it gets an arrow to tell me this was a carryover project. Sometimes it gets cancelled entirely. I can easily look back to see how my week’s went and can keep clear records of the work I did. I think this will make tax time next year infinitely better.
I also have a journal insert for my Midori, which I use daily for my creative writing. This year, I have been trying to work on my creative writing so I am using Spunky Eclectic’s monthly journal prompts. I look forward to expanding my writing as the year continues.
The last insert I have in my notebook is just a simple graph paper insert. I use it to keep track of inks I like, of projects I would like to make, recipe ideas, Breed School notes, and just plain doodling.
Not in my planner – my monthly calendar – this sits on my desk open and visible. I use this to remember birthdays, anniversaries, personal appointments, etc. Things that are not work related, but I need to remember.
There you have my planning style in a very portable planner. Tell me – what is your “Planner Style”?
