by Kat | Mar 29, 2024 | Currently, General
It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade. ― Charles Dickens
Dickens surely got the days of March right in my neighborhood this year! We have had a month of all.the.weathers. in abundance! So as I close the door on March 2024… I thought a TGIF post was very in order.
Thinking (about) —
Poetry… in fact, right now it is all poetry, all the time in my house! I picked up a stack of poetry books from the library and have immersed myself in it! Why? Well… April is the best month ever!! It is National Poetry Month! And Kym, Bonny, Sarah, and I have a fun month of Thursday’s filled with poetry planned for you, dear reader! Beginning April 4 and ending on April 25… four fabulous Thursday’s with some poetry for you! I hope you all are as eager for National Poetry Month as we are! (and if not, I hope that our month of poetry will show you just how fun poetry can be!)
Gliding (along) —
I have just 6 “pages” to go in my 100 day project… which translates to 29 days of planning, thinking, plotting, and yes…29 days of stitching left! This might be the best 100 day project I have ever done (and I have done a few!) I really feel like I have hit the “sweet spot” of this project… ideas are bubbling like a fountain in my brain and I have to curb them a bit in order to keep within the 15 minutes per day guidelines! This is a very good problem to have! Ideas for how to continue this inspired stitching past 100 days have been marinating as well and I am excited to start some new things once my book is completed!
(seeking) Inspiration Instruction —
Way back in February, I had put on my “list” the need for a bit of a haircut for myself… but as I still have not made that appointment my hair is, of course, a bit longer. And I got this wild idea that my hair might be long enough for me to try something other than a “messy bun” (which, honestly, requires zero hair “doing” talent, lol) Yes, I am that person with zero hair “doing” ability. My poor girls were lucky to get a couple of pigtails or a ponytail… and the art of French braiding was well beyond my woeful abilities. However, I have been noodling around Pinterest and I am going to try and teach myself some “alternative” hair options! If you have any helpful hair tips, tricks, or ideas… I am open to any and all ideas (short of shaving my head that is! lol)
Feeling (celebratory) —
18 years ago tomorrow, As Kat Knits was born! And I had absolutely no idea then where a blog would take me! At first, the writing was really lacking and I did not even know enough to give my first post a title and I think it took me some time to figure out how the importance of a photo! But over the years I have found my voice and a community that I love, respect, and feel blessed by… you all are what keeps me here sharing the thoughts that spill out onto this site. I have been thinking about the “posts of the past” like Carole’s Ten on Tuesday’s, the many NaBloPoMo’s I did, Carole’s Three on Thursday’s, and the collaboration that Carole and I had with Think, Write, Thursday’s! If you see a very Carole-centric theme here about my blogging, you’d be very right. Carole is one of the most generous bloggers who welcomed me to this community and I think she has helped me be a better blogger over the years! The “posts of the present” provide a steadiness to my week with Unraveled Wednesday’s each week – it gives me some accountability, loads of inspiration, and a steady stream of TBR books! I also love the poetry collaboration I participate in with Bonny and Kym! (Again, blogging that brings voices together in community is the best!) But I am always thinking about ways to spark myself here weekly… yes, I do think about “posts of the future” and where this blog might go and where it might not go! There have been numerous times that I have contemplated the end of As Kat Knits but somehow, I still find that I have things to say and I have some ideas for the future that I keep tumbling around. So Happy Blogiversary to As Kat Knits… and a huge thanks to all of you who are part of this community!
Happy Friday, everyone! See you all back here on Monday!
by Kat | Mar 21, 2024 | General, Poetry
Welcome to the March Gathering of Poetry… the day when Bonny holds a space for us to share our love of poetry.
I have nurtured the habit of reading some poetry every day. I have been doing this now for a couple of years and the impact that opening a book of poetry, noting the date, and reading a poem or two is dramatic. The space I hold for poetry almost feels sacred… it is intimate… just me and the words of the poet. It is just a few moments, but they are the most impactful moments of the day.
The poem I am sharing today is one I read some time ago… but it is a poem that has stayed with me and every spring I think of it again. Barbara Crooker is the poet… and I think she is brilliant. You can find more about her here and find some of her poetry here. I found this poem in The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy.
Forsythia
by Barbara Crooker
What must it feel like
after months of existing
as bare brown sticks,
all reasonable hope
of blossoming lost,
to suddenly, one warm
April morning, burst
into wild yellow song,
hundreds of tiny prayer
flags rippling in the still−
cold wind, the only flash
of color in the dull yard,
these small scraps of light,
something we might
hold on to.
Forsythia by Barbara Crooker in More in Time: A Tribute to Ted Kooser, University of Nebraska Press, 2021.
Image used courtesy of Borabelle *
by Kat | Feb 15, 2024 | General, Poetry
As a person who finds a great deal of silliness with Valentine’s Day and the whole idea that surrounds it… love poems are not my favorite.
That is until I read José A. Alcántara’s poem in Poetry of Presence II. (I mean a former construction worker, baker, commercial fisherman, math teacher, and studio photographer turned poet… seems brilliant, no?)
And really… who does not have a love affair with silence?
Love Note to Silence
by José A. Alcántara
It’s impossible to stay in bed when you’re around.
I love our morning tea, our walks in the woods,
listening to all your crazy stories.
I’m sorry that I don’t contribute much,
that I mostly just nod and smile,
and sometimes scratch the back of my head.
But listening to you is like the shore listening to the ocean.
I’m swept clean of my detritus, my rotting organic matter,
everything tossed there by the rude and the ugly.
Here, let me grab my pen and notebook, my binoculars. Let me slip
on my coat and shoes. The handheld cranes are passing overhead.
Let’s go to the fields at the edge of town and make some noise.
“Love Note to Silence.” Copyright © José A. Alacántara.
A huge thanks to Bonny for hosting all us poetry lovers… Stop by and see what other poems you can gather today!
See you all back here next week Monday!
by Kat | Nov 16, 2023 | General, Poetry
I read poetry every day… often by random authors as I page through a poetry anthology. But lately, I have been focused on one spectacular poet, Naomi Shihab Nye. I am fortunate that my library has LOTS of her books!
Today, with no explanation… one amazing poem by Ms. Nye.
I Feel Sorry for Jesus
by Naomi Shihab Nye
People won’t leave Him alone.
I know He said, wherever two or more
are gathered in my name…
but I’ll bet some days He regrets it.
Cozily they tell you what He wants
and doesn’t want
as if they just got an email.
Remember “Telephone,” that pass-it-on game
where the message changed dramatically
by the time it rounded the circle?
Well.
People blame terrible pieties on Jesus.
They want to be his special pet.
Jesus deserves better.
I think He’s been exhausted
for a very long time.
He went into the desert, friends.
He didn’t go into the pomp.
He didn’t go into
the golden chandeliers.
and say, the truth tastes better here.
See? I’m talking like I know.
It’s dangerous talking for Jesus.
You get carried away almost immediately.
I stood in the spot where He was born.
I closed my eyes where He died and didn’t die.
Every twist of the Via Dolorosa
was written on my skin.
And that makes me feel like being silent
for Him, you know? A secret pouch
of listening. You won’t hear me
mention this again.
I Feel Sorry for Jesus from You & Yours, Poems by Naomi Shihab Nye © 2005 BOA Editions, Ltd.
Thanks to Bonny for linking us all together! Stop and see what poetry is being shared today!
See you all here on Monday!
by Kat | Oct 19, 2023 | General, Poetry
The poem I selected this month seems apropos since I am not home right now. I heard this poem read by Pádraig Ó Tuama some time ago and I think of it often (and I highly recommend listening to Pádraig read it… you won’t regret it!) I did not need to worry about anyone answering the door, we have the code to our Airbnb. But this poem evokes such imagery of being welcome, welcoming the stranger, and so much more.
I give you The Listeners by Walter de la Mare.
The Listeners
by Walter de la Mare
‘Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller,
Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champed the grasses
Of the forest’s ferny floor:
And a bird flew up out of the turret,
Above the Traveller’s head:
And he smote upon the door again a second time;
‘Is there anybody there?’ he said.
But no one descended to the Traveller;
No head from the leaf-fringed sill
Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes,
Where he stood perplexed and still.
But only a host of phantom listeners
That dwelt in the lone house then
Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight
To that voice from the world of men:
Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair,
That goes down to the empty hall,
Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken
By the lonely Traveller’s call.
And he felt in his heart their strangeness,
Their stillness answering his cry,
While his horse moved, cropping the dark turf,
’Neath the starred and leafy sky;
For he suddenly smote on the door, even
Louder, and lifted his head:—
‘Tell them I came, and no one answered,
That I kept my word,’ he said.
Never the least stir made the listeners,
Though every word he spake
Fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house
From the one man left awake:
Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup,
And the sound of iron on stone,
And how the silence surged softly backward,
When the plunging hoofs were gone.
This poem is in the public domain.
Bonny is gathering the poems today, so be sure you stop by and read some poetry… and better yet, share some! We’d love for you to join us!
See you all back here next week!
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