by Kat | Feb 7, 2019 | General, In This Moment
I am joining Carole for Three on Thursday today! And this week, my brain has been full of dreams… garden dreams!! Which have been aptly inspired by the Baker Seed Catalog!
Thing One:
Even though they have an incredibly short bloom time, I have a crazy love for poppies. And, these poppies are filling my dreams!
Thing Two:
In the “Neighbor Garden Wars” my neighbor has been killing it with the array of sunflowers that he plants, however, I think these might help me win BIG this summer!
Thing Three:
Although, it is usually All Tomatoes in our the garden – I am enamored of this celery and this spinach so I am contemplating how to maximize our minimal space to include these!
What is filling your thoughts?
by Kat | Feb 4, 2019 | General, In This Moment
After last week’s bitter cold ended on Saturday! While the morning started with icy crystals they soon vanished with the sunshine and temps for the weekend hung out in the upper 50’s! And this week looks like more “spring” weather is queued up for the week!
Yeah. It was just glorious! No coats, no hats, no mittens, and yes… no socks!
I know this won’t last long, but boy is it a treat!
We made pizza and caught up on True Detective on Saturday night and this season is really very good!
We also made these wings on Sunday for the game and honestly? Way.too.salty! I was very disappointed. And, speaking of disappointment! I thought the game and the halftime show were a huge snore fest!!
But!! I did have a couple of favorite commercials… first: this gem and Alexa Fails… lol. Sherman wants that collar – yesterday!
A bit of morning contemplation on Me and White Supremacy while I sip my coffee and then its off to the normal Monday Routine with some urgency so that I can include some extra time outside to soak up the sun and warmth of this brief, but very welcome, winter respite!
How was your weekend?
P.S. Thank you, Sprite for inspiring a stop at Trader Joe’s for some sunny daffodils!
by Kat | Feb 1, 2019 | General, In This Moment
“Why is equality so assiduously avoided? Why does white America delude itself, and how does it rationalize the evil it retains? – Martin Luther King Jr.
Hello, Friday and Welcome February! The January that seemed to go on forever has finally ended and a new month is upon us! Add to that each day there are a few more minutes of daylight are such a good thing! It is sometimes surprising how quickly those minutes add up!
Thinking about – Black History Month and today, I begin the 28-day journey with Layla F. Saad and her Me and White Supremacy workbook. I have been thinking about this with some trepidation – I don’t think any of us are happy to learn unpleasant things about ourselves but, I think that is the only way to truly change – seeing clearly and altering your course. I have also spent some time thinking about Dr. King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. I do not want to be a “white moderate” that is a grave disappointment.
Grateful for – All the wool clothing and a nice warm house this week and although next week looks like quite a warming trend is heading our way – it was nice to have so many wool sweaters to wear to help me stay warm! I am also grateful that despite The Great Fall my Amaryllis took this week, it continues to bloom! Note to self…find something to be grateful about in all situations and be more like the Amaryllis – keep blooming despite great calamity!
Inspired to – begin again! Daily photos, one second videos, and daily stitching had fallen off my radar and a new month gives me a new opportunity to correct that! The stitching project that I finished this week is waiting for the next step – a little bath and then framing. The little bird is coming together nicely, and I am going to join Christina the next 60-some-days and focus on peace. While I won’t be knitting any birds, I plan to stitch a few more!
Fun, fun, fun – This weekend is the Super Bowl – which seems a bit anti-climactic since the Steeler’s are not one of the teams playing. I think Steve is more excited about the “football food” than he is about watching the game however, he has several squares in the work football pool so we will watch at least part of the game! And, a football game always makes for excellent knitting time! Ha!
That is all I have for this week! Have a great weekend and stay warm everyone!
by Kat | Jan 27, 2019 | General, In This Moment
The weekend seemed a bit anti-climactic after last weekend’s weather drama, but a quiet winter weekend was truly a lovely thing. There was some snow, some cold, and glory of glories there was even some sunshine!! All this added up to another quiet, stay at home weekend and while I don’t have any finished projects to share, I did do lots of different things!
I spent quite a bit of time laying out the pattern pieces for Thea Rachelle – lots of pages and lots of tape but I am now ready to cut out my flannel muslin. I will sit and do this tomorrow morning with a nice cup of coffee and Marilla of Green Gables to keep me company!
I spent a little time knitting this weekend and happily, my “second choice” yarn for Ysolda’s Follow Your Arrow 2 shawl will be perfect! I am almost done with “clue 2” and can I just say I really appreciate Ysolda not changing the pattern format which is still in clues! I love printing out a clue and working on it – it somehow seems more manageable. The yarn is a heavy laceweight single that I got some years ago at the Michigan Fiber Festival – sorry I do not know the dyer, but I believe the yarn is a non-super wash merino and I love the spring green color – it will be a lovely addition to my wardrobe!
I finished spinning and plying my fourth skein (only two more to go!!) for Brenshevia Boone’s Spin/Knit Along – it needs a good relaxing soak but here is the unfinished skein. I am very happy with my “barber-pole” planning on these skeins. Nightshift was originally knit with Spincycle Yarns which have the loveliest barber-poling effects with subtle color shifts – so when I picked fiber to spin, I looked for fibers that had no more than 3 colors and I looked for fiber that had some similarity in color or hue. I have been dividing each bump of fiber into thirds and just spinning and so far, my “random” method is working out nicely. And, I am managing to spin each fiber to a consistent “worsted-weight” 3-ply yarn which is not the easiest of tasks for me! I started on the fifth bump of fiber today and hope to have the spinning done in the next two weeks and then I will be ready to knit!
I also did some stitching this weekend! The wings of my little bird are done, and I am quite happy with the result. I have to whip-stitch them together yet, but I think my little “red winged blackbird” will be adorable! Suggestions for any of you who have plans to make your own little flock of birds – next time I would trace the pattern onto the fabric and complete the stitching of the wings and tail pieces before I cut them out. This will allow you to use an embroidery hoop which will make for more even stitches.
In all my recent reorganizing, I found a bag containing a cross-stitch pattern, fabric, and floss. I have not cross-stitched in probably more than 20 years, but I got started on it while watching the end of Season 4 of Dr. Who (okay, not really season 4 but that is how it is listed on Amazon Prime.) This is a project that will require lots of daylight to work on because I think the linen fabric is 26-count or something insane like that! I hope to share an “in-progress” photo later this week!
There were also gardening conversations, visit to Michigan conversations, and what next to tackle on the house conversations.
All in all, it was a wonderful weekend! How was your weekend?
by Kat | Jan 25, 2019 | General, In This Moment
No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. – Hal Borland
This week marked a visible increase in daylight arriving earlier and lingering well after 5PM so this quote seemed most appropriate for today. And then I saw something that made me really smile! Only 35 57 days until spring!! (Thanks, Karen for bursting my bubble! LOL)
You are welcome.
Thinking About – Insomnia and how many of us struggle with it. There is a part of me that wonders if men suffered from this same issue for the same reasons (I am looking at you, menopause – in all your various stages) you know there would be some amazing solutions that actually would work.
Grateful For – Welcoming in the last weekend of January!! It has been a long month but by this time next week the brighter and much shorter February will be upon us! Oh, and yes there only 35 57 days until spring!!
Inspired To – Do more sewing this weekend – specifically I am going to work on a Thea Rachelle Raglan. I have been looking at images that some very creative people have made, and I think I have the direction I want to go in my mind – I especially like the idea of a shirt that I can layer under and over things! Now, I just need to get the pattern cut out and marked so that the sewing can begin!
Fascinated By – My red Amaryllis – two stalks of blooms – one with 4 buds, one with 5 buds! And, that color!!
That’s all I have for this week! Have a good weekend every and Happy Friday!
by Kat | Jan 24, 2019 | General, In This Moment
Joining up with Carole today to share a few things about me!
Thing One:
I have for quite some time in my life experienced long bouts of insomnia. And by long, I mean weeks at a time until exhaustion overtakes the insomnia and I get a couple of nights of sleep. I am in one of those bouts and I have been really trying to examine ways to break this cycle. This week I have been trying some new things – well, old things at new times. I have been a prayerful meditator for quite some time, but I have been trying some breathing meditations at the end of the day to try to calm my mind and body. While I think it is too soon to tell if this is helping in the few days, I have been doing it, at least I am less stressed about sleeping when I lay down. Last night I also made myself a nice tea latte to sip before bed – hot herbal tea, a bit of honey, and steamed frothy milk were a nice treat. I am not sure the tea helped me sleep, but it felt good to “take care of me”.
Thing Two:
Why is your hair entirely manageable (and even fairly attractive) one week and the next it is a freaking disaster? (also, why does one side have some nice waves but the other entirely straight… really – I.kid.you.not.) Really… is this a thing for everyone? I am in the “freaking disaster” stage and I don’t have a hair appointment until next month (which I realize is not that far away, but…freaking disaster, people… I am telling you… FREAKING DISASTER!!) All this disaster hair has me pondering “new do’s” which means I am trolling the Hair Style Pinterest pages like a crazy person. While I simply adore Mary’s bravado with her darling Audrey Hepburn do… I must be entirely honest with myself – I only like to visit the salon every 7-8 weeks and a short cut requires much more maintenance than I am willing to do. But I am thinking that maybe a good “trim” of 3-4 inches will help this issue? Yeah… thinking is always a good thing when it comes to hair – those rash hair cuts have always resulted in ‘what the hell did I do that for’?!?
Thing Three:
I have been thinking long and hard about my wardrobe – specifically what I wear and what I don’t wear. It turns out that my “don’t wear” things are taking up a LARGE VOLUME OF PRIME CLOSET REAL ESTATE. So… I think I see a little Kon-Mari-Be-More-With-Less action coming to a closet near me!
There you have it… three things for today!
