by Kat | Jan 22, 2024 | General, In This Moment
Is so random!
Here in the ‘Burgh we have had winter for a hot minute but all that changes this week as we are looking at temps soaring into the 50’s… sigh. That means all the snow we got will melt… we had some melting yesterday which turned the steps to get outside an icy danger zone… that was so delightful for my jaunts outside with Sherman… NOT! More ice chipping will be happening shortly to hack back last nights re-icing.
I have baked two higher hydration (85% hydration) sourdough loaves and the results have been delightful. Yes, higher hydration dough is stickier… but it is not unmanageable… especially when you dip your hand in water! Yes… dough won’t stick to a wet hand. It’s an ingenious trick for baking! The crust is thin and so crisp and the interior dough is soft! I think 85% is the “winter sweet spot” for baking… so I’d like it to remain winter for just a bit longer! LOL
Yum!! I wish you could hear it singing!
The other great thing about sourdough is having an ever-replenishing supply of sourdough discard… and last week I stumbled upon the PERFECT discard recipe. (Thank you, King Arthur Bakers!) I made Sourdough Crumpets twice last week and oh my gosh! So so so good! Added bonus… so so so so easy! You do need Crumpet Rings… or something similar. But really… all you sourdough bakers out there… you must try these!
I also want to share some incredible wisdom from a post that Ailbíona McLochlainn shared in her newsletter last week. I wish this was advice I had heard decades ago (long before I stopped worrying about “being in fashion” and just began dressing how I wanted… what I liked… how it made me feel…) but her words are so spot on. And… I think that adorable vest might be my next project once I have the Great Cabled Sweater finished.
Finally… I have a new project that I started last week, one I am doing in connection with my word this year. It is a 100-day project… which intrigued me when I stumbled upon it last year in the midst of the hundred days. I began last Thursday and the idea is that I will spend no more than 15 minutes a day stitching on my pages. Day One I spent a bit longer than 15 minutes (20-ish) because that appliqué “pot” was a bit of a challenge to get stitched down. Rather than just “free stitch” along with Ann, I signed up for her Stitch Club, which just might be the best part of all! As you can imagine, it is an international community of very creative makers who share, encourage, and inspire. I am enjoying the 15 minutes of additional stitching each day… and I am really enjoying the community!
It’s is amazing what one can do in fifteen simple minutes a day…
And with that, I bid you a very good Monday! I have ice to chip and laundry to wash… see you all back here on Wednesday!
by Kat | Jan 18, 2024 | General, Poetry
One of the best things in my week are the moments that I allow a poem to set the tone for my day. This year, I am reading through Phyllis Cole-Dai and Ruby R. Wilson’s Poetry of Presence II as my morning devotion.
And last week, a poem really jumped out to me… bits of it have been percolating up in my thoughts so many times since I first read it. I hope that this poem will be one that moves you as well.
It Could Be
by Julia M. Fehrenbacher
a smile or a poem. Or new day light
that finds you through and open
window. Or, perhaps, remembering
that tomorrow was never promised.
It could be the scent
of baking bread, the first chill
of autumn that has you reaching
for your favorite wool sweater. Or maybe
it’s the noticing of how easily
red maple becomes and lets go.
It could be taking today off
to be still, to un-know,
to notice. To practice loosening
your troubled grip
because grace can never
be gripped or grabbed.
It could be choosing
softness in a world grown hard
because you’re tired of hurting
and being hurt and mercy
is the best kind of medicine.
It could be an invitation to gather
around the listening table
where every color is beautiful, where
there is no blame,
no shame, no them—no other.
It could be any of these things
or no thing at all, that remind
you that, really, only a few
things matter—
Food. Trees. Words. Love. Mostly love.
It Could Be by Julia Fehrenbacher from She Will Not Be Quiet © 2017
Be sure to check in with Bonny and read a bit more poetry!
See you all back here next week!
by Kat | Jan 17, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings gentle Unravelers!
When I look at a weather map, almost the entire US looks plunged in cold… and knitters everywhere knit on with a bit of delight! Right? I know I did… Sock One is DONE! and Sock Two is moving right along. I shall have pink socks soon! Really, I don’t know who I am knitting socks this quickly!! It is the perfect “sit and knit” project for night time television viewing!
I have YET to heed my spinning “reminder”… despite pushing it forward to the next day… I have been on a bit of a “deep clean” tear. Yesterday was the kitchen’s “turn” … and the stove and the refrigerator each got a deep clean, and I scrubbed the floors and the baseboards.
I have not knit much on the Great Cabled Sweater but I am hoping that once I have this cleaning jag out of my system, I will be back to my regularly scheduled knitting!
The reading continues to breeze along… I had three finishes this week! (Audiobooks are a great deep cleaning companion!!) I listened to Richard Russo’s Somebody’s Fool and Katherine May’s Enchantment. Both of which I enjoyed so much! I also finished reading The Caretake by Ron Rash… I loved it. It was so good, it had so much food for thought, the writing was so perfect!
This week’s reading with my eyes is not quite as stellar… sigh. I am trying to settle in with The Cacophony of Bone by Kerri ní Dochartaigh. I have heard such great things about this book… and I am wondering what I am missing. I am just over 40% though… and I am not sure I will finish it.
What about you? What are you doing to stay warm on these wintry days!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below!
by Kat | Jan 15, 2024 | General, In This Moment
Brings answers!
Last week, a few of you asked me questions and I have answers!
Carolyn asked these burning questions:
“That photo, what a treat!!! With your phone? Or serious camera?”
I took that photo with my phone, which I think is a very serious camera! (Why? Because it is the camera I always have with me!!) I have the latest iPhone, which has a great camera. A “real” serious camera might have gotten a better image, but by the time I got it, the bird would have been gone. And I hope this provides encouragement to all of you who want to capture a photo of your backyard wildlife… your phone camera works!
Cathy had a stitching related question:
“I wondered what your back ground fabric was please?”
Though I did answer this in the comments from that post, I thought I could do a bit better. I use plain old linen from Joann’s Fabrics. I like how it holds stitches and you can find it (frequently) on sale. I do not pre-wash it, the bit of fabric sizing helps as you break the fabric down to the size you want to stitch on. And as you stitch it, it softens considerably. And for those of you wondering what I stitch with, I have an assortment of pearle cotton threads with the added bonus of an assortment of embroidery flosses from my temperature project!
Houston, we have a button band!
And finally… some thoughts on The Great Cabled Sweater! I *finally* finished the right front. Hindsight is never a friend… but I have some thoughts on how I could have done the fronts better. Knitting them both at the same time would have been ideal… sigh. I could have set them up on ONE needle and had less flipping of pages… and I would not have missed so many things. I discovered an error of my own making… from WAY back at the beginning of the fronts… the ribbing. I should have been slipping the selvedge stitch each right side row. I did not then… but I am now. I am absolutely NOT ripping back to “redo” the ribbing. I am calling it a design element. The knitted separately, but joined, button bands/collar is a curious… but I am going with it and I have completed a couple more button holes, which I thank my “before” self for making such good notes on how I did the first one (because my brain had NO memory of this! LOL)
That point where I realized what the edge was supposed to look like… sigh.
Happy MLK Jr Day to all in the US, and Happy Monday to the rest of you! See you back here on Wednesday!
by Kat | Jan 12, 2024 | General, In This Moment
It has been a relatively quiet week here… Steve was back to “regular” work hours (whew!) and I found the time to knit myself to “fresh” yarn (as Carole so brilliantly put it!) on the Great Cabled Cardigan!
And I have been having great fun “unpacking” my word for the year… with some surprises that have been so delightful!
Reveling (in poetry) —
Most timely was the return of Poetry Unbound this month. Pádraig opened perfectly on the 1st with Eugenia Leigh’s poem about a Dung Beetle. Dung Beetle wisdom? Yes, please! Coupled with Pádraig’s thoughts it was the perfect way to start the month! As you all know, last year I read through 50 Poems to Open Your World… it was a great way to “meditate” through the year! I am continuing the practice this year with Poetry of Presence II and I am reveling in the fact that I am not limited to one poem a week, but rather I can read one daily if I’d like! I am enjoying the “little conversation” these poems inspire with myself in my journal.
Inspired (by) —
Emergence Magazine. I discovered some incredibly timely surprises! First, I listened to some poems from the Song Dynasty that have been newly translated. (you can listen here) But these words struck me: “The world is but a passing guest of my mind. Alone I strum my zither and sing, forgetting what year it is, while time keeps passing through my body, so time lives.”
And then I listened to the conversation with slow journalist, Paul Salopek. (you can listen to the conversation here) Time just nudging me along this month in the most delightful of ways!
Fiddling (with) —
Sourdough Hydration. I mean, this is A. Thing. and I am here for it! Why? Well, higher hydration dough is airier, it leavens more, thus creating a more tender crumb (and a thinner crust.) Steve does not like dense, chewy bread with a chewier crust. So I am experimenting to see if I can find his Perfect Loaf. This weekend, I am going to give 85% hydration a go… wish me luck!
Finding (even more delight) —
In my backyard. I am loving how Margaret is leading me through these winter days. I am noticing more, perhaps with her guidance, or maybe just because I am spending more time outside! It has not been bitterly cold here (yet) and it has been so easy to spend time outside in the fresh air. I note how much the Mockingbird loves the spicy nut butter I put on the tree. He is a sassy little friend and I love his visits. I was even luck to have snapped a candid photo of him! (This weekend I am going to try my hand at “backyard drawing” inspired by Amy Tan!) This morning brilliant red skies greeted Sherman and I as we headed out for our morning walk. A walk that last month was in darkness… and I delighted in the returning light!
My fine and sassy friend!
And with that, I am off to finish my stitching! Have a great weekend everyone! See you all back here on Monday!
by Kat | Jan 10, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
It has been a week with a good bit of actual unraveling here… sigh. Yes, on the Great Cabled Sweater… because of course. This time it is 100% knitter error… I somehow** skipped an entire section of the “straight” portion and went right on to the decreases. (Somehow** = the pattern author was lazy and instead of writing out instructions for the “right front” {which is a mirror of the left front, in theory, correct?} she has you follow the left front sort of. So you are shuffling back and forth between the fronts. Sigh.) I somehow** missed 16 rows of a repeat. So I ripped back on Monday and have not had much time to get myself caught up. All the shuffling means that this is not a good “TV” project. But maybe this afternoon I can catch myself back up!
However, the sock knitting… well it is going gangbusters! No unraveling, just the joy of pure mindless knitting!!
ALSO!! I have a new year-long stitch project to share with you. I spent a good bit of time in December thinking about stitching in the New Year. I knew I wanted to stitch, but I did not want to have to pull together all the “parts” to do so, so a temperature project was out. Way back in 2018 I spent a year just stitching. I did a “sampler” each month. This was truly my favorite stitching ever… no pattern, no temperature tracking… just my own inspiration. I wanted to do something “like” that again… and I stumbled across Karen Turner on Pinterest and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to use her “starting point” for my inspiration. And so I began and I am loving it. I have one small space to fill each day and it is easy to get done with my morning coffee.
The reading is not going bad either, I have finished two (!!) books this year… Starter Villain and The Apology. And I am currently reading two more… I am listening to Somebody’s Fool (which I am loving despite not really caring for the second book in the trilogy) and on my Kindle I am reading The Caretaker.
What about you all? What are you making this month? What are you reading? Inquiring minds want to know!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
