by Kat | Sep 28, 2018 | General, Words
Happy Friday, everyone! We made it through another week and while my list is not entirely finished this morning (I hope yours is!), I am confident that it will be done by the days end! And, so with that list in hand, I am doing a TGIF post today – sans links…and I am sorry if that is what you stop by for on Friday’s.
Thinking About: I continue to contemplate all I learned during the last three weeks of the Busy Boycott. There is so much to consider and “try on” and it will be an ongoing process as I figure out how to implement some of the things I learned about myself in the last few weeks. One thing I know for certain – that “just because I always have” is not a good reason for doing anything. I am excited to see where this leads me!
Grateful For: Time away! And, I mean really grateful! I am really looking forward to spending time away from media and electronics and being present in my life with my kids (and especially with Genevieve!!) The weather forecast is looking seriously wet, but I am not letting that ruin one second of my time in Michigan. **FYI there won’t be any regular blogging during the week – but I will have a post for Unraveled Wednesday for those who like to play along!
Inspired By: The arrival of autumn, a change in the weather, and yes – cooler weather meals! And, I have found some great inspiration on Pinterest for squash!
Fun, fun, fun: I have my list of “things” that I like to do when in Michigan from the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive (and walk!!) to the Empire Hops Festival to visiting some of the new breweries my son says have popped up in Traverse City. This year it includes a Fiber Festival in Leland and a stop at Wool and Honey in Cedar! While, I won’t be posting here every day, you can follow me on Instagram to catch all the fun! Who knows, I might even figure out how to do an Instagram story or two! Ha!
That is all I have for this week – I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
by Kat | Sep 27, 2018 | General, Words
Asking women why they didn’t report their sexual assault right away is akin to asking someone why they didn’t report their own kidnapping – Aparna Nancherla
Today, my thoughts are with Dr. Christine Basley Ford as she testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee and while I had hoped to never see a repeat of what happened to Dr. Anita Hill – I fear that is just what will be in store for her today and it makes me so very sad.
I am also thinking about Deborah Rodriguez and Julie Swetnick, too. Their bravery at speaking out is powerful!
I believe them all – entirely, completely, and without any reservation or hesitation.
And, while it seems the tide is turning – that the moral arc of the universe is bending towards justice – we still have a very, very long way to go.
**Photo by Lum3n.com from Pexels
by Kat | Sep 26, 2018 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
And, with that – September is practically over – and at warp speed, too!
My knitting this week has been focused on blanket layout and assembly. Holy pick up a million stitches, Knitters! Yeah…and then there will be the ends to weave in. I decided not to fuss around with the “no-ends” version and just bite the bullet and weave in the ends at each seaming point. But, so far so good, once I got the pick-up points down, that is! Today will be my first LONG seam! Keep your fingers crossed for me! Ha! Blanket one is likely to be at least all put together before I leave, but I am not certain about the i-cord edge being done.
Tegna is patiently awaiting our departure when I will begin knitting her again (maybe sooner if I can get this hat done!) Mary asked me what travel knitting I will take – and Tegna might just be the one and only knit project. I always over take and under knit! There are just too many other things to do in Michigan that my knitting kind of takes a back seat!
The reading however, was curious this week:
I finished The Song of Achilles, which I listened to and that might not have been the best idea – I had to go back multiple times to remember characters connections. I did enjoy the story though, it was a good Greek history refresher from a much more interesting perspective than I had in school! Ha! For me this was a 3-star book and I recommend reading it versus listening.
I also finished The Steps of Pittsburgh, which I found utterly fascinating. If you ever lived in Pittsburgh, this is a must read! Fun facts I learned: Pittsburgh has a total of 44,645 steps in the city housed in various neighborhoods. If you add up the rise of all these steps you have a total rise of 24,108 ft (or 4.5 miles). Most of the steps have “street names” and many have intersection points with other steps. The steps are a public right of way and are maintained by the city – including ice and snow removal.
I am almost finished with my second Donal Ryan book – The Spinning Heart. I have 2 chapters to go and will easily get this done today. My love for Donal’s writing has only grown with this book. He crafts beautiful characters and just when you say to yourself, how does any of this fit – a little light goes on and suddenly it all is so brilliant! There is a plethora of characters, so it took me a bit to keep them all straight, but the writing is simply GENIUS! (This will be getting 5 stars, easily!)
What are you making and reading this week? And, if you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below!
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by Kat | Sep 25, 2018 | General, In This Moment
Familiar stitches
Fascinating history
Make rain bearable
Happy Tuesday, everyone! If your corner of the world is rain-filled, stay dry!
by Kat | Sep 24, 2018 | General, In This Moment
Almost as if a switch was flipped, the temperature on Friday went from almost 90 to the 50’s overnight ushering in a most autumnal-like weekend. And, the weather man has said we won’t be seeing anymore 80-degree days until next year.
That means just one thing, Gentle Reader, SWEATER WEATHER has arrived! I rocked my Rock the Lobster all weekend long and I LOVE IT! (although I think it needs one more round of crochet at the neckline to snug it up just the tiniest bit more… or maybe I need to do what Lena did at the neckline of her amazing sweater dress)
Also, this weekend I finally reached the GREAT SLEEVE DIVIDE!! Unbelievably, I did not have the right amount of stitches and I am not quite sure how that happened, but my solution was to knit an extra round to decrease those odd thirteen stitches. Now, I hope that my “fix” works because ripping back miles and miles and miles of knitting to figure out where I made my error might mean that Tegna would die in the Frog Pond. I will continue working the back and see how it looks as I get further along.
The Great Blanket Layout is complete and Blanket Assembly has begun (stay tuned for photos later this week!!) I feel a bit like Sybil with the knitting rotation I have going on –Blanket Knitting by day and at night selfish knitting! And, I might be contemplating starting a Guernsey Tam to try to get done before Friday! I have an issue with this tam as written as I really dislike knitting garter in the round… I hate how clearly you can see the jogs between the knit and purl rounds so my solution will be to knit it flat and seam it when I am finished.
Finally, in the TMI category: this weekend saw me doing some of my least favorite shopping on earth – that’s right, the dreaded find a bra that fits and is comfortable expedition. In my weight loss journey – getting a well-fitting bra sort of fell off the list and I have been living the make do with a sports bra theory. It worked well for a while, or at least that is what I thought until I saw myself in some photos. Wow…sports bras really are about the most unflattering thing ever created! However, this weekend I was insanely lucky to find not 1 but 4 (yes… it is feast or famine apparently here!) good fitting (and uplifting!!) bras! They fit well, are quite comfortable, and they were all on the clearance rack for $8.40 each!! There’s a perky joke in here somewhere, but suffice it to say that I am now reconsidering dart placement in any new garments I make!
That is all I have for this first Monday of fall! Have an awesome day and may your list be short and completed early!
by Kat | Sep 21, 2018 | General, In This Moment
Why is it that approaching vacation time equals diminishing brain function? Or am I the only person experiencing this phenomenon? And, it seems all things are conspiring to remind me that vacation is coming! Airbnb sent a reminder this morning… just in case I was not already thinking about it!
But, there are some random thoughts rattling around my brain that I am just going to dump out here to close out the week!
First up, Kym posted about the abundance of fungi that are flourishing thanks to the recent rains. My back yard has become one such area… we have a fungi explosion here too, as you can see in my photo. I am not sure what kind of mushrooms these are, but they sure are interesting – they “open” like an umbrella!
Next, did you see that The Man Booker Shortlist is out? I am significantly disappointed that Warlight did not move from the longlist to the shortlist… boo!
One of the blogs that I really love is Tom of Holland – he never disappoints and almost always wows and there are lots of wows in this post. I simply love the idea of taking something that is unwearable and turning it into a true work of art.
Next week Friday, Issue 6 of Laine Magazine will be out. But!!! You can start planning your knits today as the images are up on Ravelry this morning! There are a number of things that I am entirely smitten with!
I have been most disappointed recently with Knitty, but the Astronomer’s Beret is really quite wonderful – and it combines knitting and embroidery in a very unique way!
Sally Melville’s All Ages Vest is fun… and easy install zippers FTW!
My friend, Sarah Jordan released a new hat pattern this week: Emblematic. I love that it began as a doodle!
Hats were definitely the winners this week and Berrit has a discount through Sunday!
And, that is all I have for this week! Have a wonderful weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!
by Kat | Sep 20, 2018 | General, Words
It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about? Henry David Thoreau
This week it is all about redefining busy.
Thing One:
Thanks to Kym, I am focusing on looking at the busyness in my life and I am well into week two of The Busy Boycott. I have been focusing on redefining and protecting my time. This week’s challenge is “do less” and in total honesty I am struggling with this one! Greatly!!
Thing Two:
In this effort to redefine busy in my life, I have been looking at this blog… Are Monday – Friday posts necessary? Do I have something significant to share? Steve had an interesting idea and I am thinking about how to make that work. Lots of things are rambling about my brain and change is coming, but what that change will be I am not exactly sure!
Thing Three:
The final thing I am looking at is Knit Night. While I enjoy getting out and the camaraderie of being with other knitters some weeks Tuesday’s just feel so rushed. So, I am pondering a bi-weekly schedule to see if that will alleviate some of the rushed and harried Tuesday’s.
This exercise in busy has truly been eye opening for me. Are you doing The Busy Boycott? If so, how are you feeling?
Want to see more lists? Head on over to Carole’s!
by Kat | Sep 19, 2018 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
The knitting this week is slow and easy but sadly, I am not at all closer to that 15″ mark on Tegna (which, in light of Lene unknitting and then finishing her sweater dress, I think I should be highly embarrassed by this fact!) However, I pinned out the 15″ length on the dress dummy and it appears I have 4-ish inches to go and since I don’t have too much yarn wiggle room but knowing that the lacework will block out a bit – I think this will be okay. However, as I said… it has been slow going. I had hoped to have this done to wear during our trip to Michigan, but it looks like that is unlikely to happen. But, round and round and round knitting is great for a long car ride… right?
The reading has likewise been slow, easy, and so wonderful!
I finished Louise Erdrich’s The Master Butcher’s Singing Club. I started out reading this on my iPad, which means end of the day reading so I did not get very far, and I could not renew it from the library. But to my surprise the audio version was available, so I switched over to listening to the author read me this lovely story. Erdrich’s writing is so beautiful and the story revolves around German immigrants post WWI and life on the Nebraska plains. The ending lines of the book will stay with me a very long time: Step-and-a-Half hummed in her sleep and sank deeper into her own tune, a Junker’s pile of tattered courting verse and hunter’s wisdom and the utterances of itinerants or words that sprang from a bit of grass or a scrap of cloud or a prophetic pig’s knuckle in a world where butchers sing like angels. 5-stars and I highly recommend this beautiful tale!
I also finished listening to Forty Autumns which I also loved. It is the tale of post WWII Germany and the division of East and West Germany and the struggles of one family to survive on both sides of the wall. The story is told extremely well and this look into East German life is compelling. I gave this book 4-stars.
But, what are you knitting and reading this week? If you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below!
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by Kat | Sep 18, 2018 | General, Words
I have been trying to up my poetry reading this year and this month brings me to the poetry of Michael Longley – a very prolific poet and I am fortunate that my library has a collection of his works. It has been fascinating to read bits and pieces of his work each morning as part of my morning meditations. Longley’s works provide the loveliest way to start the day and I thought I’d share one of the poems I read this week with you.
Northern Lights
by Michael Longley
When you woke me up and showed me through the window
Curtains of silk, luminous smoke, ghost fires,
A convergence of rays above the Black Mountain,
The northern lights became our own magnetic field –
Your hand on my shoulder, your tobacco-y breath
And the solar wind that ruffled your thinning hair.
Happy Tuesday everyone!
by Kat | Sep 17, 2018 | General, In This Moment
The Sedum is just gorgeous this year and I caught this lovely little bee in my photos last week. Summer was full on again over the weekend, which I will count as a blessing especially with the rain we are having today. But, for all the summer weather it was a weekend of thinking, list making, and planning and, yes, my list for this week is long!
This Instagram post made me laugh. 50-60 pairs of mittens??? What??? Maybe I need to up my mitten game…but, all those mittens are surpassed by the airing of the socks…I just love knitters!
There was a bit of sewing and, I even finally got the binding done on Rock the Lobster! I could find no ribbon that inspired me for the sweater, so instead I made bias tape in just the right width to cover the zipper and the steeked edges. I am just thrilled with how this turned out. As for the sewing, I made another Esme tunic – this time with a bit more of a scooped neck from some repurposed blue chambray. It needs some adjustments at the neckline and at the armscyes, but once those are done I think I will be ready to sew a flannel version!
Now, I am off to tackle that list – have an amazing Monday everyone!
