by Kat | May 7, 2018 | General, In This Moment
Are for finishing touches!
And, my nana’s button stash has the perfect vintage buttons.
That’s right, the weekend ended with an Esme Tunic (dress for me) and a Pilvi Jacket. AND, I even figured out how to partially line the jacket (yes, even more repurposing of clothes that no longer fit!) And, I mean really super easy! I traced the patterns on Friday afternoon, cut out both patterns on Saturday and sewed the tunic and most of the jacket on Saturday afternoon. I finished the facings on the jacket and the hemming on Sunday afternoon. (To see a bigger image, just click!)
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A hidden repurposed pocket
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Lotta Jansdotter’s patterns are well written, despite finding the pattern pieces on the somewhat confusing pattern sheets! AND! The cap sleeve tunic is easy to alter post sewing. It just a simple side seam construction!
And, the sleeveless Uniform top with pockets also turned out wonderfully and will easily become a wardrobe staple. But, I really need a sweater or something with it – I am never warm inside when the A/C is running. So, I will more than likely make another Pilvi jacket.
I have one more dress that might have enough fabric to deconstruct into another tunic/dress, and maybe I will get to it this week!
How does your Monday look?
by Kat | May 1, 2018 | General, In This Moment
Because Poetry Month should be longer than a month, I am going to keep it going here at Casa del KatKnits and share with you all another poem from Derek Walcott.
The Rainy Season
For Stephanos and Heather
It is coming with the first drops mottling the hot cement,
the patters budding in the pool, with a horizon
as wide and refreshing as the rain-veiled Georgics,
with the upward swoop of the dove, with the heron
quickening its gawky stride; watch a sail
hide her face in the mist and the barred sun shrivel
into gathering cumuli, those huge clouds
trawling gauze skirts of rain as camera-flashes
of lightning record the rattling thunder
and the lances of drizzle start marching
But nothing can equal
the surge of another’s presence, the separately beloved
whose reign is the rain’s, whose weather is the fragrant darkness
of the parlor, in the kitchen, the lightning’s cutlery.
But O
when the bursting storm rattles the sky’s ceiling
and her body draws closer as a vessel warping
into you, her port, her aisle, and she gently rocks,
her ribs brushing yours, O, on your wedding day
may the worried banners of cirrus fade as the storm moves away.
P.S. Apparently, Apple thinks poetry is pretty great too: “Poetry Is Magic: Poems make your day better. Here’s proof.” Yes, I downloaded a poetry app or two!
by Kat | Apr 30, 2018 | General, In This Moment
When I am in a rut, the best thing to get out of that rut is to find a new perspective! Welcome to that new perspective!
Instead of focusing on what has passed, I am instead focusing on what lies ahead.
With joy…
And excitement…
And, just maybe I will find myself more focused and productive for the week!
With that frame of mind – a better breakfast has been a topic I have been contemplating for some weeks now and last week I tried something new: overnight oats…And, guess what? I really loved this little change in my morning routine! They are simply delicious and so quick and easy to make! This week I am trying some new variations! It seems the possibilities for overnight oats are endless…
I am also spending some time this week thoughtfully reviewing my volunteer time – without even really noticing, it has crept into a much larger slice of my week than I originally intended. There is a solution in this tangle, I just need to find the wherewithal to say no…sans guilt. And for me, the best thinking time comes while I am making and this week I hope to have a Uniform tunic or two completed along with a solution to my problem!
There you have my plan, or at least some of the plan for my week. What does your Monday hold in store?
by Kat | Apr 24, 2018 | General, In This Moment
As National Poetry Month draws to a close, I thought I would share a poem from a newly discovered poet (Thanks, Kym!).
After reading a poem by Derek Walcott on Kym’s blog earlier this month, I check out an anthology of Derek’s poetry from the library and have been reading a poem or two a day during the month. I have enjoyed his works tremendously. He has given me a different perspective to look at things, which is always a very good thing.
Forty Acres
by Derek Walcott
to Barack Obama
Out of the turmoil emerges one emblem, an engraving –
a young Negro at dawn in straw hat and overalls,
an emblem of impossible prophecy: a crowd
dividing like the furrow which a mule has plowed,
parting for their president; a field of snow-flecked cotton
forty acres wide, of crows with predictable omens
that the young plowman ignores for his unforgotten
cotton-haired ancestors, while lined on one branch are a tense
court of bespectacled owls and, on the field’s receding rim
is a gesticulating scarecrow stamping with rage at him
while the small plow continues on this lined page
beyond the moaning ground, the lynching tree, the tornado’s black vengeance,
and the young plowman feels the change in his veins, heart, muscles, tendons,
till the field lies open like a flag as dawn’s sure
light streaks the field and furrows wait for the sower.
by Kat | Apr 23, 2018 | General, In This Moment
I spent the weekend contemplating how best to photograph my Lunar Phases shawl. I am not sure I got it right…it is HUGE and not at all easy to photograph! And, I did not block it aggressively at all. I just gently blocked each of the phases to their original dimensions and then gently stretched out clue four that joined the clues together. For all its size, it is not at all heavy but rather it is incredibly light – it is easily a wrap for cool summer nights!
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Backwards?
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Forwards?
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Backwards?
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The joins…
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Oh, the joins!
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Clue Two
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All her glory!
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The clues joined
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Clues 3 and 1
This morning the 2018 Women’s Prize shortlist was announced and I am trying to comprehend how The Idiot and Sing, Unburied, Sing can even be on the same list, much less a shortlist!
Knitting ennui continues, but I think I might be turning the corner. I pulled out some insanely deep stash late last week and did some swatching with a modicum of success! I started a new sweater on Friday and I also have made some progress on knitting mates for single socks! I also found some yarn that will work beautifully for a new Vodka Lemonade (this one, sadly, no longer fits.)
And, because Laundry is Life… the mountain awaits me! I hope your Monday is painless and over quickly!
by Kat | Apr 17, 2018 | General, In This Moment
I can guarantee it is snowing. These fragile blossoms that bobbed gently in the winds, today bravely hold snow. Winter and Spring continue to battle, and Spring’s weekend victory has been usurped by a wintry blast.
But, perhaps the best balm is a bit of poetry:
Spring Snow
By Richard Greene
Wet snow coats
twig, branch and bud.
Against the still black street
the waning season
limns its last words
in bold calligraphy.
Today I am profoundly thankful for hot coffee, wooly sweaters, and no pressing need to leave the house.
