by Kat | Jun 14, 2019 | General, In This Moment, Words
Happy Flag Day! I think today is the first time I ever read George Washington’s words and they have special impact this year. They are a good reminder of who and what we are.
Thinking About –
Friday mornings have had a new twist this month, thanks to Michelle’s Tiny Bit of Quiet series! I am truly enjoying her thoughts. Her words provoke lots of thinking in my morning meditation time. This week it seemed the world was in step with last week’s Friday quiet thoughts when yesterday these words reminded me how important those pauses are.
Getting Ready –
I passed the halfway point in my Screen Door yesterday and I will spend some time today memorizing the decreasing rows so that I can get this knit off my needles! I am eager to start a new sweater for fall. I hope to get this sweater cast on over the weekend, that is if I can get Screen Door done! I am also very happy to not be pressured to finish this in 4-days but hope to have it done by Marie’s July 4 kick off in her FB group and I will be happily cheering along the participants.
IN Focus –
I have been thinking about my word (focus) and Macro Monday’s and I have been contemplating how challenging it is to “be in focus.” My life, just like my lens, sometimes focuses on things that are not important – this process has given me much to contemplate as I learn and grow this summer.
Fun, fun, fun –
Finally, it is Friday! Steve told me last night that he wanted Pizza and Wings for happy hour tonight – so we are doing something different and ordering them from a local restaurant. I am going to try and still my inner voice and “be okay” with whatever presentation this takes tonight. Try…. such a little word that can be so hard! Stay tuned to my IG feed to see how well I do with all of that! And, while there might be some dish and lay-out compromising happening, I am not giving in on Happy Hour Outside and there might even be a bonus tonight – I think we will be able to utilize the patio heater because today is not supposed to be warm at all.
That is all I have for this week and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! See you back here on Monday!
Photo by Tim Mossholder from Pexels
by Kat | Jun 7, 2019 | General, In This Moment
Spring being a tough act to follow, God created June. – Al Bernstein
June days are simply magical. The light gently wakes me, inviting me to greet the new day. The birds fill the air with their melodies and the low buzzing of the bees join to make the loveliest of harmonies. The lavender is full of velvety purple wands that dance in the breeze. The morning in the garden is my favorite time of the day. And, this morning I was greeted by the first Stella d’Oro daylily – a bittersweet sight because it means the deer will soon be here to snack on the blooms. But that first bloom was a glorious to see!
Triumphing!
Yesterday afternoon I finished the last sleeve of my Marsa Alam and this morning it is enjoying a Spa Treatment and will soon be laying out to dry. Pearl buttons will be sewn on this weekend (thank you all for your input!) Pre-blocking this is perhaps the best fitting sweater I have ever knit! The sleeve/shoulder fit is incredible – and can I just gush about Holst Coast yarn a minute? It might be my favorite yarn ever! The stitches are beautifully even, the ribbing looks nice, the hand of the sweater is incredibly inviting, and it is next-to-skin-soft. And, lets talk about value – I purchased a 500 g/3800 yd cone for about $24. Shipping from Denmark is not bad, and it only added about $10 to the cost of the yarn – and you get the most wonderful updates from Holst and PostNord. (Also, PostNord got the yarn to the USA in less than 24 hours, but it took the USPS more than a week to deliver it to my door…) My Marsa Alam used 324g of yarn – so yes, I have more than enough left-over yarn to use to make a Screen Door, which I cast on last night and flew through 8 repeats of the easy to memorize pattern! Knitting wins are such a good feeling!
Getting Ready!
I have a stack of fabrics that have been patiently waiting for me to begin cutting and assembling them into this quilt. Why that quilt? Genevieve is turning 4 next month and my plan is to make that for her birthday! With my new sewing set up, I think that I can manage to do the machine quilting myself. And while I love the overall stippling effect on the linked quilt, I think that will be a bit beyond my very-beginner abilities. However, I think that concentric circles might be lovely… sort of like the stitching I did for this piece:
Inspired by…
Something I saw on Pinterest last night, which made me go to see the original post on IG. Oh.my.gosh. I have the tamrack pattern – I picked it up in Grainline’s pattern sale earlier this year but had not been inspired to make one, thinking it would be a good fall project. And then I saw the magic that cjoy2 did with her tamrack (also her artwork…) WOW!! It is not bulky, I love the length, and it is incredibly creative – yet simple! She hand-stitched around the butterflies in the most wonderful way! And, her binding around the edges… it is brilliant!
Flattened!
I absolutely LOVE the MBR’s Rose Pants. They are wonderfully easy to make and to wear. I want to make a pair from a light denim – but denim and pleats or gathers seemed, well – bulky in an area I don’t need any extra bulk! So I had been wondering how hard it would be to remove the pleats/gathers from the front… well, wonder no more thanks to this post, which led me to this post. I have enough fabric to make a muslin trial run pair of shorts with a flattened front! Wish me luck!
And, that is all I have to share with you all for this first Friday in June! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!
by Kat | May 31, 2019 | All in the Family, General, Looking Back
May has felt unbelievably long to me – at times it has felt like it has been on pause with the days running into one another. While I know and am trying to remind myself that there have been plenty of very good May days they seem to have been drowned out by the very challenging days of unexpected expenses, arguments, and upsets.
As this month closes, it feels like it has been ages since I was in Michigan – so, I am sending May out the door with a pictorial reminder of just how wonderfully it started:
Have a great weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!
P.S. A dear reader shared the most wonderful link with me this week which is perfectly timed to help us start PRIDE month. I did not know that 73% of the LGBTQ community have been harassed online due to their sexual orientation/gender identity. If you want to share this link with friends, please feel free to do so! No one should feel at risk or harassed ever.
by Kat | May 24, 2019 | General, In This Moment
The weather forecast seems to be attempting to put the kibosh on a glorious welcome to summer:
But I am not going to let the weather stop me from having a good weekend!
In the plus column – I did indeed get my Charity Shawl completed and blocked! Which means I can ease back into my regularly scheduled knitting – which includes my Marsa Alam and a pair of toe-up socks! I have never knit a pair of socks toe-up so this is an entirely new experience for me. I am not sure how I feel about the process compared to my usual sock knitting method, but I will have a better idea once I have gotten to the heel. I am also a bit concerned about the cast off, but hopefully my typical stretchy bind-off will not fail me!
Thinking about:
Sewing! I finished my Rose muslin yesterday. I had made some alterations to the pattern – I shortened the length and I knew I would need to shorten the rise but I was unsure exactly how much to shorten it. And even though I did not quite shorten it enough, it is still a wearable muslin! I used some fabric I got at IKEA a couple of years ago. My original plan was to sew a cushion for the window seat at the top of our stairs, but that never happened and so I thought it would work well for a muslin and it did! The pattern directions are well written and very clear. I tried the pleat option and it was surprisingly easy! I think the gathered front looks nice as well so I will get some fabric this weekend to make another pair. I think these would work with fun prints, linen, and even a lightweight denim! AND!! They are super comfortable and I predict these will be the Pants of the Summer!
Gearing up for:
The start of Summer Book Bingo! That’s right – any book finishes beginning tomorrow can count for a square! I am ON the “Made into a TV series” square with the first book of Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley series – A Great Deliverance. I have high hopes for this book as the reviews on Goodreads are stellar! I started it Wednesday night and should easily have it finished this weekend! It is not to late for you to join in as well! Book Bingo makes summer so much more fun!
Inspired by:
PatternScout! I love this idea of remaking things and giving them a new life. Also, I really love her pattern suggestions – especially the Burda Knot Front Blouse! And, I truly love her “Monologue” especially this: “This hobby has given me so much confidence…creatively and about my body.” YES, so much yes!!
Fun, fun, fun:
I am going to harvest some rhubarb today and have plans to make a batch of Rhubarb-Thyme Syrup. This will come in handy as an addition to some beginning-of-summer-inspired cocktails this weekend – I am thinking about something new with gin. Stay tuned – I will share the recipe next week!
That’s all I have for this week – have an amazing Memorial Day Weekend and I will see you all back here next week!
by Kat | May 17, 2019 | General, In This Moment
Ahhh! This week, despite its disasters, was one of getting back to normal. Steve was back to work on Monday and I spent the week easing back into my daily routine and I am very ready for a normal weekend so let’s get this started!
Thinking About –
Women’s rights. I confess that for the first time in my life I am genuinely concerned about things I have taken for granted for almost my entire life. And the things happening recently in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Ohio are scary – so scary. But, honestly, for me it all comes down to this – no one should ever tell a woman what she can or cannot do with her body. And, in case you think this is all about the “sanctity” of human life – realize this: not one of the people voting for these laws gives a rat’s ass about children in cages, or about helping single mothers on WIC, or about the thousands of children in the foster care system. This is all about men controlling women and it makes me insanely angry.
Gardening –
Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day here in Pittsburgh – so I took advantage of that fact and spent some more time trying to finish up the vegetable gardens. Thankfully, gardening is the perfect outlet to direct some of my anger from this week’s news! And I even planted a few things! Steve added Moo-nure to the big beds yesterday and I hope to get the rest of the little plants in today. All this gardening has really done a number on my hands though, especially my poor nails. Oh boy. They are such a sad mess and I don’t think a manicure is going to fix them! But those garden beds are looking awesome, so it is a worthwhile trade off or at least that’s what I am telling myself! lol
Inspired by –
The latest Pom Pom Quarterly! Bravo to them for the beautifully varied body sizes! And, there are so many “I want to knit that” items! Like this, and this, and this, and this!
Focus –
My focus entirely slipped off the radar at the beginning of the month. Vacation time is not at all conducive to having any morning quiet time to get my inner self ready for the day! I missed it so much and I learned how important this time is for my focus! So, despite having a couple of days with a plethora of work men around, for the most part I was able to start my day with a focus – quiet and alone (except for Sherman who fortunately is not chatty in any way at all, lol). I did not realize how much I crave quiet in the morning nor did I realize how important that quiet is to my mental well-being.
That is all I have for today. I hope that your week was full of good things and that your weekend will be full of weekending! See you back here on Monday!
