In looking back at February, I am grateful it is not a longer month! However, I am appreciative of the lengthening days! In twenty-nine short days, we gained over an hour of daylight!
And, there was so much more sunshine this month than in January, but we also had a good bit of precipitation – both rain and snow.
I continued to track the temperature in my area which continues to shock me…we had 1 day in the 60’s, 7 days in the 50’s, 14 days in the 40’s, 8 days in the 30’s, and just 2 days in the 20’s. I wonder if all those knitting Tempestry Projects are feeling as I do (and if they have run out of warmer colors yet!)
The Best Part of the Month:
Flowers…inside and out! And, my wee little snow drops weathered February and are still hanging in there as March begins!
Something New:
There was a new thing this month… on the spur of the moment we decided to head to New Cumberland, WV to visit Mountaineer Casino. And, it was a productive trip in that left the casino with more than we came with! (And, we also visited the Fiesta Outlet and left some of our winnings there…as you can see on the 25th)
Best “Oh, Wow” Moments:
I had worried after losing our Knitting Leader in January that our little knitting group would fall apart. I have stepped in to the “leader” role (if you can call it leader – I actually just send out the text message reminding everyone that it’s Knit Night Day and ask who is joining me!) However, I have grown our little group by one and I am working on recruiting some more to join us. I have also become the “fixer of dropped stitches” and the “finder of free patterns.” And honestly? Any time I spend in my local library makes me so happy. It is a place I truly love.
What I did Well and What I can do Better:
In February I made a concerted effort to “love myself.” And, I did so with my “public ready” (read with makeup!) face as well as my “private” (read no makeup!) face. To start the month, it was not easy at all, but it did get easier as the month moved along. I can stand here today and tell you than I am worth the effort it took!
However, the days of moping are over and so are the days of not moving my body. Yes… I did not walk or do any Pilates for the entire month. So, while I worked on loving myself, I did not engage my physical self at all. In hindsight, moving my body might have helped me love my emotional self more easily.
And there you have my February, over in the blink of an eye! What was your best February Moment?
There is always in February some one day, at least, when one smells the yet distant, but surely coming, summer. — Gertrude Jekyll
That day came this week in western Pennsylvania, because on Tuesday I surely smelled a hint of summer. And as I came home from Ash Wednesday services, I saw that glorious faint green glow of the start of leaves in some protected areas! Those hints will help me get through the return of winter weather and I hope that this cold spell does not settle in for long. It is hard going back to wintry days after having a taste of spring!
It’s Lent and Steve had seriously asked me make a spread sheet for the area Friday Fish Fry locations…really, a spread sheet… Thank goodness that I found about a million sites for the Fish-Fry-Extravaganza (and even maps!!) that began on Wednesday here in the ‘Burgh! It seems Friday Cocktail Hour will be overtaken by 40-days-of-fried-fish ::sigh::
I stumbled across a moving piece in The New Yorker Magazine yesterday and I was reminded of something Bonny said yesterday: “Sometimes we just have to search a bit harder and pay special attention to the delight.” Look no further, this piece is full of delight and, yes, bread pudding.
And, speaking of delight…this tweet caught my attention this week:
50 years ago this week, Ernie’s Rubber Duckie made its Sesame Street debut ❤️
I have been having the “great inner debate” over Romi’s Mystery Shawl: Should I? One color versus two? What color? But in the midst of the great debate, Larissa Brown’s Lunar Fade MKAL appeared on the horizon. Stash busting, anyone? I can tell you that I simply love my Lunar Phase wrap (and I even bought some denim material to make a Uniform Dress to wear with it… ok, maybe not just that wrap…but yeah. I really love it!!)
Anyways, I am thinking I will wait to see how Romi’s Mystery unfolds and then answer my questions and in the mean time I might have given my stash a good toss and found some yarns that just might work for a Lunar Fade!
Finally, Vera is always inspiring and yesterday was no exception! (And just in time because my socks are finished…in 12 days!! What???) So I have an empty set of sock needles…St. Paddy’s Day Socks anyone? I bet Vera never imagined that she’d be the reason for a little sock knit along! But, the pattern she picked is so cute… AND SPRINGY…and FREE!! So, grab some green yarn and join me knitting some Miss Lime Socks with her! And these are moving right along, when I set my knitting aside last night I was finished with 3 pattern repeats!
Grinch-y Green is not quite an Irish color, but I like this start!
That’s all that I have today! Have a great Friday and an even better weekend!
March brings so many good things, but best of all is Mason Dixon’s March Mayhem! I will be seriously contemplating all the “sock” entries! I know that yesterday I talked about planned making and socks are absolutely on that list! I am here this week with just over 1.5 pairs of newly knit socks!
Things to note… on the completed pair of socks: Yarn is Knitterly Things Vesper Sock yarn in colorway Happy Accident. There was a bit of time between sock one and sock two. I think I did a change to the stitch count in the heel in sock one, but I did not note that in the pattern, of course… So, one heel has a couple more rows than the other. However, I love this pattern for striping yarns because the heel! I think next time I make this I will use a contrasting color for the bottom of the heel so that the stripes can remain contiguous on the foot.
On the In Process Sock: Oh boy. Where do I begin with knitter errors (as in mine not Sarah’s!) First, I thought I was knitting with a size one needle, nope – I had a zero and my fabric was not at all even close to the gauge. I had to unravel it and reknit on size ones (and there was some serious unraveling because I finished the heel flap!) Once I was using the correct needle the sock does move right along! Then came the start of sock two… when I did not listen to the inner knitter shouting, “Hey… that is not matching up at all with the cuff!” I tried to explain to myself that flowing ribbing did not matter – but once I got the first “twist patterning” done I had to agree with my inner knitter and so I ripped back and adjusted to have the ribbing and the patterning line up correctly. I am positive this was a counting error on my part and as you can see sock two is now farther along than it was on Monday and part of it was reknit!
The reading had highs and lows this week…I know many of you loved Tell Me More, but oh boy. I did not like it at all as you can see below. However, I am suffering from some significant book hang over so perhaps that might be part of my issue.
This book! What beautiful writing, what beautiful characters, what an incredible story. But Simonopio and his beloved bees stole my heart! The writing paints a vivid picture of life in Mexico with the sights and the sounds and the life described wonderfully! I did not want this book to end and the ending was emotional, including lots of tears. I highly recommend this book!
Things you should never write about: kids not flushing the toilet and the dog eating it. This was an absolutely unnecessary bit of information which gave nothing to the book, only detracted! I wanted to like it, but it all seemed so very fake to me. Or perhaps the author telling me that her reality is better than mine was the biggest put off. Read at your own risk.
Scandinavian Noir at its finest! The first book in the Vik/Stubo series and it was a wild ride. I originally rated the book 3-stars, because I found an incident in the story felt, well… not right towards the books end. While this “thing” (no spoilers here!) did not make sense and still not make sense now in recounting it, it is just a small blip in the book which was excellent! A great plot that had me wondering all along who did it, and how it all came together as the mystery is solved is brilliant.
That is all I have for this week, but what about you? What are you making this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below and thank you!
Live with Intention. Walk to the edge. Listen Hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is. – Mary Anne Radmacher
It turns out that January’s fumbled start was just what I needed to stop and consider what intention can mean for my life. And February brought lots of thoughts and even some ideas and before I knew it, being intentional slowly began to take root in my days.
One thing I wanted to be more intentional about this year was my reading. I really needed to give myself permission to slow down and savor a story versus being a perpetual participant in the Reading Race. And wow, this has been a surprisingly delightful thing. Part of that slowing down and savoring process has included writing brief reviews/thoughts on the books I have finished. I am taking time from when I finish a book to when I write the review – time in which I am processing the story, thinking about what I liked, what stayed with me, and what about this book makes me want to tell someone they need to read it (or not as the case might be).
The other part of my intentional reading includes reading more poetry. I know very little about poetry outside a few poems that my grandpa eagerly shared with me. He loved poetry and had so many poems memorized and it was amazing to hear him talk about them. But my poetry knowledge leaves much to be desired so this year my goal is to read a book of poetry each month. I never realized what I was missing by not reading poetry, but the journey thus far has been both eye and mind-opening!
The other facet of my life is making, and it is clear to me that I need to be be intentional in my making (as well as my reading!) I spent some time going through “in process” projects and a good number of them were unraveled. It felt so good to reclaim those needles and my “yes, I really want to make this” list is now manageable. I realized that making is not a race – I love the process of knitting. But, honestly…how many more sweaters, scarves, hats, etc. do I need?
I have been slowly going through my wardrobe with some intention as well and as a result I have more things that will be leaving which makes it easier to see “holes” that need to be plugged. Once I have completed this “clean out” I will have a list of things that I will work on making as the year progresses. Intentional making is a very good thing!
One thing I have been truly been missing is some kind of daily stitching – but again, I don’t really need or want to do twelve more months of stitching projects. However, a somewhat planned 100 Day Project might be just the thing and I have begun sketching out some ideas of what/where/how I’d like to create this textile. I’d like this to fall somewhere in between “play with abandon” and “continue to learn” or perhaps both!
I am joining Honoré and friends as we explore our words together! Stop by and see how everyone did!
Any time, any time while I was a slave, if one minute’s freedom had been offered to me, and I had been told I must die at the end of that minute, I would have taken it. Just to stand one minute on god’s earth a free woman. I would. — Elizabeth Freeman (MumBet)
Black history month is flying by, and sadly with little notice on my part. But this week I watched a documentary produced by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after hearing about it on NPR. I learned so much, but these words by Elizabeth Freeman have made me truly stop and think. Those weighty words remind me that the ease in which I ignore the significance of this month should not happen. I can and should do better.
Vera shared this link this week and it is most worthy of being shared again! It is true that everything old is new again! Timeless knitting is timeless indeed! I absolutely love every single knitted item! And, those knitting machine images… how the heck??? Wouldn’t that be something interesting to learn!
There were a couple of things that caught my eye on Ravelry this week: Ooodles of love for Isabel Kraemer’s Night Groove and especially the short-sleeved version! And Romi’s Mystery Shawl… if I can get my Cladonia figured out, I think I want to knit this! First clue comes April 3 – so the lure of spring colors is calling me!
That is all I have for this week! Have a great weekend everyone!
The making this week included a wee bit of sewing… one more flannel Esme Tunic, although with the weather we’ve been having a flannel tunic seems rather silly! However, it is my “go to wear” these days and having one more in the rotation is a good thing. I did a bit of a different sleeve finish (a modification of a modification?) with this one and I like it! I have plans to make a denim tunic with these sleeves as well – I figure that will carry me through spring and into the start of summer!
The reading this week was incredible with two 5-star books. I cannot stop thinking about The Living Fire or A Long Petal of the Sea. I almost want to stay in the place that each book brought me and not leave for awhile.
First, I never, ever imagined that insomnia could be brilliant. Hirsch had taken a misery and made it genius. This collection of poems was brought to my attention one morning while listening to The Writer’s Almanac. That tiny preview, while brilliant, did not even begin to hint at the poems I found in The Living Fire. A few of my favorites: Incandescence at Dusk, Four A.M., The Reader, Earthly Light, I am Going to Start Living Like a Mystic, The Widening Sky, and After a Long Insomniac Night.
This is a book I need to add to my library so I can return to these words again and again. I highly recommend!
My life has been a series of journeys. I’ve traveled from one side of the world to the other. I’ve been a foreigner without realizing I had deep roots…My spirit has sailed as well. [the] most important events, the ones that determine our fate, are almost always completely beyond our control. But do you know what I’m most grateful for? Love. That has marked me more than anything else.
This book grabbed me from the very first pages as Victor was treating the wounded in the Spanish Civil War. The lives of Victor and Roser took me on an emotional journey – one that was at times painful to read. I could not put this book down and I loved that each chapter started with the words of Pablo Neruda. I knew nothing at all of Neruda’s work to save thousands of refugees. I highly recommend this incredible story!
We are the books we read and the things we love. Cal is the ocean and the letters he left. Our ghosts hide in the things we leave behind.
I really wanted to love this story, but it fell flat for me, perhaps because of the genre. However, the writing is poignant and if this book inspires YA to read some of the books quoted within the pages – that would be a very good thing.
If you wrote a post to share today, please leave your link below and thank you!
Is still the weekend, at least for some of us… I find it curious that Steve does not have MLK Day off but he does President’s Day…
Anyway, it was a good weekend, one with tulips for Valentine’s Day and, thanks to Sarah’s Saturday release, a new sock was started (and holy cow, look how much I knit on said sock on a size ONE needle!!) This yarn has been marinating in my stash for more than a decade, but I think it was waiting for these socks! It is perfect!
A frosty start, but we have blue skies!
Today, more sock knitting as I watch something on Netflix that my son, Sam, told me is MUST WATCH TV (which is rare for him, so I am starting today!)
February brings the rain, Thaws the frozen lake again. – Sara Coleridge
Rain. Rain mixed with snow. Snow. Snow mixed with rain. And now bitter cold. Yet, lengthening days and increasing birdsong hold the promise that spring is coming, even if it does not feel like it this morning!
Add in my shawl to this sad mess. I got to the point in my knitty math to add in the gold and what had been the most soothing knit suddenly became one filled with angst. A few rows in and that angst did not go away, so I listened to that voice telling me this was not working and stopped. I ripped back and now I am in a holding pattern while I ponder what to do. My inner voice is telling me this needs a cool color rather than the warm gold. I don’t think I have anything in my stash that might work, but I have not looked that closely. Fortunately, I am not a “solo project knitter” so my Pheasant Pullover got some attention instead!
However, despite the miserable weather and shawl angst, there were plenty of things to love this week, starting with Mr. Rogers. NPR shared some amazing photos of Fred Rogers here. The images are brilliant, and the words that accompany them are perfect! Just like he was!
I listened to a really smart podcast this week, Stay Tuned with Preet! He interviewed Dan Goldman, the conversation was fascinating and so informative!
I want to thank Mary for telling me about Poetry Unbound! Today was a special treat when Pádraig read one of Ocean Vuong’s poems from Night Sky With Exit Wounds. I love hearing what someone else thinks about a poem – a new perspective adds a new dimension to a poem.
Finally a bit of poetry by Edward Hirsch to close out the week:
I’m Going to Start Living Like a Mysticby Edward Hirsch:
Today I am pulling on a green wool sweater and walking across the park in a dusky snowfall.
The trees stand like twenty-seven prophets in a field, each a station in a pilgrimage—silent, pondering.
Blue flakes of light falling across their bodies are the ciphers of a secret, an occultation.
I will examine their leaves as pages in a text and consider the bookish pigeons, students of winter.
I will kneel on the track of a vanquished squirrel and stare into a blank pond for the figure of Sophia.
I shall begin scouring the sky for signs as if my whole future were constellated upon it.
I will walk home alone with the deep alone, a disciple of shadows, in praise of the mysteries.
Have a great, long weekend everyone. See you all back here next week!
Socks, hat pompoms, and increases every fourth row described my knitting this week! No actual finishes, but lots of progress none the less!
I went with a friend to see Knives Out! last Wednesday and I managed to get the leg of my second sock done. And, a few bits of time here and there since then have seen the heel done and I am now working “down” the foot to the toe!
Just ten stripes to the toe decreases!
I went to JoAnn’s on Saturday and found the perfect pompom for my new hat and I got lots of bonus points because it was super on sale and only cost me a whopping $2! It is not quite as convenient as the “snap on” version that my daughter’s hat got, but I managed to do a nice work around with a button and at that price I am not complaining!
Hat and hair matching is a thing, right?
Finally, as you can see above, I spent some time every evening being faithful to my recently found Cladonia! And, I am almost to the point where I will add in the second color!
I knew nothing of Haiti, outside knowing of “Baby Doc” Duvalier. But, Allende starts this book in Haiti and she took me on a fascinating journey into the rich setting of Haiti and life there and on to life in New Orleans. I loved Zarité, or Tété, from the beginning when she is just a young child. The topics discussed are thought provoking and this story will stay with me for a long time.
I am really not sure what to rate this book, and about half way through when it started to drag a bit for me through to the end – I felt this is a solid 2.5 to 3-star book. But, then I read the authors note and was shocked to find this is a true story…and now I am toying with increasing a star. However, that fact does not change that the story dragged along a bit. This story is also very religious, almost too much for me. While I liked how the White Rose Society and the Red Orchestra were woven in, I felt this could have been done much better.
A small book packed with lots of ideas. Not that I needed any reinforcement, but I love how Newport stressed how important making things are! And, book clubs! I think the biggest thing I got from this little book, was to stay in the world, not in my phone.
That is all I have for this week, what about you? Do you have a project that is all-consuming?
If you wrote a post to share today, please leave your link below and thank you!
