It feels like I have not done one of these posts in ages and so I thought that it would be a wonderful way to end the week:
(bookish) Thinking —
I managed to print out not one, but two Summer Book Bingo cards. I know… what is wrong with me! But there is a method to my madness, I like the squares for the most part of both cards so I have been thinking about potential books that would work. The winning card will be the one that has the most books “pre-filled” before Memorial Day Weekend arrives! I have not felt any urgency to get this done because it barely feels like May outside… it feels more like March! But, I digress…one thing I think would be riotously fun is the idea that Mary suggested of “square swapping”! She asked me earlier in the week if I had my card printed out (I didn’t then, but I do now!) and I have been pondering what square I might like to swap with her. I am thinking that it might make sense to trade her my “Modern Mrs. Darcy” square from Card One… but I don’t know what she might like to get rid of. Mary!! I am hoping you will weigh in here and we can do a bit of swapping! If you want to swap a square with me… let me know what you are offering!
Card One
Card Two
(friendly) Goodwill —
Over the past couple of weeks, the kindness of “strangers” has really been the tide that is lifting my boat. Small things that were so unexpected and yet they made such an impact on me. A little book of poetry from Kym to thank me for participating in Poetry Month with her. I have been reading a poem or two a day with my morning meditation time and it has quickly become the bright spot of my morning! A little knitting “kit” from Jane (that she made!) really was the perfect thing… I had been contemplating getting something so when this arrived it just seemed like Jane had read my mind and put together exactly what I had been thinking about. A couple of weeks ago Vera was doing a bit of a “destash” of her amazing stitching patterns so imagine my surprise with the plethora that arrived this week! Plus some bits of lovely linen and threads! Ladies, your little gifts have truly wowed me! Your kindness and generosity are incredible and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Stitch-y inspiration!
Comfort for the soul and for my knitting bag!
That spinning wheel, tho...
(ducks) In a row —
My first step in sewing a few new pieces (from new patterns) for my wardrobe is to make muslins. But!! Before even that can happen I need to trace off the patterns onto tracing paper, and get everything ready to cut out the pieces. Recently, someone told me that tracing patterns was their least favorite thing, but I want to tell you all that it is the most important step of the entire process. Is it fun? Yes, I think so! It is the first place that I make alterations even before I start sewing. I can alter inseam length, rise, and sleeve length – things I know I always make adjustments on. Tracing patterns off also allows you to blend sizes! All those steps takes some time, but it also means a much better outcome (even for a lowly muslin!) So I hope to carve out some time today to begin the the tracing process. Hopefully I will get everything traced off so I can sit down and begin the “great cut out” later today. On a side note, I saw a color blocked version of this and I am also tossing the fabric stash to see if I have any fabrics that might coordinate together to try one!
(al) Fresco —
It has been such an incredibly shitty spring… cold (I mean we had frost three times this week, for crying out loud), rainy, cloudy… just really miserable weather. My furnace still is running in the mornings that is how cold it is has been! But today we are supposed to get almost to 70° and the sun is shining!! We are going to head out for a little outside dining on the lovely patio at our local brewery… pizza and beer for lunch sounds like the perfect way to begin the weekend! I might have to wear a sweater, but the sun is shining and there is not a single cloud in the sky!
(etc)
I am including this lovely little poem by Jack Ridl which comes from the book Kym sent – How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope. This little poem has migrated to my pocket – it is a lovely reminder to enjoy the simple things, which seems incredibly important this morning after yesterdays “freedom from masks” announcement. I have some “brain retraining” work to do before I feel comfortable with that whole idea, but I am reminding myself that I trust the science… especially the science of the effectiveness of the vaccines – even against the variants that are floating around.
After Spending the Morning Baking Bread
Our cat lies across the stove’s front burners,
right leg hanging over the oven door. He
is looking into the pantry where his bowl
sits full on the counter. His smaller dish,
the one for his splash of cream, sits empty.
Say yes to wanting to be this cat. Say
yes to wanting to lie across the leftover
warmth, letting it rise into your soft belly,
spreading into every twitch of whisker, twist
of fur and cell, through the Mobius strip
of your bloodstream. You won’t know
you will die. You won’t know the mice
do not exist for you. If a lap is empty and
warm, you will land on it, feel an unsteady
hand along your back, fingers scratching
behind your ear. You will purr.
That is all I have for this week! I hope you all have an amazing Friday and an even better weekend! I will see you all back here on Monday!
After 100 days of Hope I struggled a bit to figure out what to post today. So I decided to just empty my brain and write.
It was a week of ups and downs. On the upside…as my snowdrops faded, the forsythia started to bloom! On the down side COVID has struck close to home. And while it is not in my house (that I know of), it is just too darned close for comfort and any plans I had for the weekend have been reduced to just staying home.
I thought I had a plan for my Daytripper Cardigan but as I colored, it was nice, but just not exciting. So I colored more. And still more. But finally, I left the plan and tried something different. And then I tried something even more different and the excitement grew! There is some real magic in finding the correct gauge AND the best colors for a project! Now, I just need to make a new “color” chart and I can cast on!
Out with the dark grey and the beiges, in with purple, raspberry, and a spring green!
While I am not trying to make the months go faster, I am excited for April because April is National Poetry Month! And this April will be the 25th Anniversary! I am so ready! I have a stack of “new to me” poetry books! I am really looking forward to immersing myself in poetry all month long. I am late to the joy of poetry. I read some poetry in school, but just did not “get it” although I had a grandfather who had memorized poetry and shared it often. I liked listening to him recite poetry but I did not really fall in love with poetry until I read Kym’s blog as she shared poetry during National Poetry Month! This April, I am going to join her and Bonny as we each share poetry with you all!
I am so excited about all these books!
I had been really hoping to go get a hair cut soon-ish. However, the Close Encounter of the COVID kind plus this has put that on a back burner for the foreseeable future. However, I did do a little online therapy at Ulta and I can tell you that this is some awesome lip color! Also, these foot treatments and this hair treatment are the perfect things for a mini-spa day at home! (also, I have been watching Messy Bun tutorials on YouTube and while I am not 100% hair-styling proficient – I am trying to get better, but does it really matter in Pandemic Living?)
That is all I have for this week, I will be back on Monday to share an update on my word! Have a good weekend all!
It feels like I survived the wars this week, and came out standing!! Nothing takes your mind off the insanity of politics like a plumbing problem… however, I hope we are good on plumbing for the rest of the year! LOL
There were some lovely little bright spots this week, though…
I was excited to see a trailer for Between the World and Me, airing tomorrow on HBO (and HBOMax) at 8PM.
And, finally… I have a baby in knits! Winston has finally (sort of) grown into the vest and socks I made for him! I think it will fit him for at least for a little while. If I can’t hug him in person, it is nice to know he is snug in something I made him – each stitch filled with love, prayers, hope for his future, and joy in his being.
That is all I have for this week. I hope your weekend is full of good things! See you back here on Monday!
Every Friday, I like to high-five myself for getting through another week on little more than caffeine, willpower, and inappropriate humor. — Nanea Hoffman
Hello, Gentle Readers and Happy Friday!
I hope that none of you suffer from triskaidekaphobia and that today is simply the gateway to the weekend!
Here in the ‘Burgh, its been a week of all.the.weathers! We have had sunny, clear days with temps in the 70’s, we have had soggy, rainy days with loud claps of thunder for extra emphasis, and this morning… a hard frost greeted Sherman and I as we went out for his morning constitutional. This meant it was a very short trip, with lots of those “looks”… yes, his little toes were cold! lol
This week, I found some very good things to share with you all!
First up, contemplating Thanksgiving with a group of your family or friends? You might want to utilize the COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool. It also helped Steve determine the risk for everyone at his office (they have a 27% risk) and thus, lay the law down about mask wearing at all times…no exceptions.
Thanks to Andy Slavitt’s podcast this week, I discovered Livinguard masks and we ordered some! But I found especially useful the parts on grocery shopping, which I confess have become quite lax on the amount of time spent in the store… wandering, looking, dawdling. A wake up call for me…in Allegheny County (where I live) if there are 50 people in the store the risk jumps to 72% (yikes! and there are usually more than 50 people there, so yeah.)
Finally, Good Knitters, TODAY IS YOUR DAY! It is Cardigan Day! I mean… it is a day made for us, amirite?!? That this coincides with World Kindness Day is just the icing on the cake. Because the most famous Cardigan wearer in the world was also the kindest person ever. So get your cardigan on and spread some kindness today! However, you all have LOTS of work to do to beat Sarah! She wins Cardigan Day, hands down!
Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on. — Thurgood Marshall
Thinking About —
This from the NYTimes. The hardest thing for me is this…58% of white men and 55% of white women voted for Trump. How the eff?
I don’t know how to heal this, how to get over this, or how to fix it and that is the thing that most upsets me.
Grateful For —
Laughter. It is certainly necessary! I found this most brilliant, and yes…the internet remains undefeated!
Live look at the White House bunker where Trump is trying to stop the counting of ballots.
The tenacity of the Black community. Thank goodness, they did not give up! They truly saved this election! I am so proud of Philadelphia, whose wise and wonderful voters just gave Joe a lead of 5,587 votes in PA. (And let’s not forget Detroit either… their final results: Joe Biden, 93.51% and Donald Trump, 5.06%… oh hell yeah!)
BREAKING: Joe Biden has taken the lead in PA by 5,587 votes.
