by Kat | Jan 31, 2017 | General, Words
Month One of joy is almost over, so how is my Joy Meter doing? What sparked joy in January?
Well, there were so many things!
The joy started with “virtual cheers” shared with Honore´ (okay, maybe this happened for me before midnight, but I am counting it!)
Joy continued with Mary’s help on this bit of hat knitting.
Joy overflowed in the books I read this month I finished 6 books this month! Best of the bunch: The Nix, The Secret History, Moonglow, and The Cruelest Month.
There was joy in the unity of the Woman’s March on Pittsburgh.
There has been so much joy in daily stitching – I just must add today’s stitches and the first month is done! I am so happy with this new outlet for creativity!
And, there was all kinds of joy inspired by all of you. Joy from your comments – joy from your posts – and most importantly, joy from the community we share!
What brought you joy in January?
by Kat | Jan 25, 2017 | General, Making
“Escapism is survival to me. – Johnny Depp
Yes. Yes, it is. And, in these trying days – it is one thing that is helping keep my sanity (even if it is just hanging on by a thread)
Knitting on Rock the Lobster has resumed – I am into sleeve two decreases and it is moving along nicely. Escapism knitting FTW!
In the mindless – meditative knitting category – Deep Sea Jelly Fish Cowl is moving slightly less quickly. Meditation these days is a challenge – it is strangely easier to forget if I am focused on the pattern and counting. But those colors…
Reading is the best form of escapism that I know and I am about half way through The Secret History and while I am not certain this is the best escape – it is so well written and I really am loving this book. I have a list of things on hold at the library and I am in the ‘what if they all are available at the same time’ phase. Yeah, I hate when that happens!
That is all I have today – I am off to my little escapist world. Have a good Wednesday everyone!
Joining Ginny with her Yarn Along this week!
by Kat | Jan 18, 2017 | General, Making
Is it just me, or does this week seem to be moving along at warp speed?
This week I need an extra measure of calm and I was certain that if I tried to work on Rock the Lobster, there would be some ripping back…
So, I cast on A Pussy Hat by another name… and completed it the same day.
Then I wound, by hand, a skein of Miss Babs Deep Sea Jellyfish Yowza that I had been saving for a “rainy day” – it took a good bit of time.
But finally, I cast on another Honey cowl – this time using Kay Gardiner’s recipe for an extra 40 stitches (so I cast on 260 stitches rather than 220).
I started knitting and discovered that I had twisted the cast on row, so I had this Moebius thing going on. Yep, you guessed it – RRRIIIPPPPPP!
I cast on again – this time more successfully. On the fourth time of knitting a Honey Cowl – it is like sitting down with an old friend – comfortable, calming, and soothing. Just what I need this week!
On the reading front I finished The Nix yesterday and I loved it! I know it is too early to be saying anything about favorite books read this year, but I will tell you this – it is on the top ten list for favorite books ever. Yes. It is that good. It is chock full of so many good things – so many! And, I love how Nathan Hill tied all those things together! I highly recommend this book – really. It is a must read, imo.
I am still reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt – I really love her writing; however, I am still undecided about her slate of characters in this novel because they are decidedly unlikable. Now, that does not mean I am saying I do not like the story – because I do like it very much. Are you confused? I hope not, because it is very good and I am hoping that one of the characters manages to redeem themselves before the end of the story.
That is all I have for this Wednesday, where as usual I am joining Ginny in her Yarn Along.
What are you knitting or reading this week to get through?
A tiny post script on the conundrum of smelly vs. not smelly paper whites (or narcissus). Apparently there are indeed a couple of varieties that have low-smell or no-smell. More information can be found here and here. In other words, avoid the Ziva variety.
by Kat | Jan 4, 2017 | General, Making
- New Year Ö
- New Project Ö
- New Book Ö
Knitting progresses on Rob Roy. It is slow going right now, as I have not found a flow to the cables yet – nor have I memorised the symbols! Plus I ran into a bit of a conundrum with the chart on round three but Mary came to the rescue and it has flowed smoothly since.
I love the texture these cowls have!
I ended 2016 with 2 additional projects completed – Project Peace and Singing Beach. And, 2017 has it’s first item in the completion column – my first PussyHat is complete. I will be casting on another to share and I think I am going to give Laura Nelkin’s mods a go!
New book underway – Moonglow A Novel by Michael Chabon.
And, in its first few days the New Year is perking along nicely!
What are you reading and knitting in the New Year?
Joining Ginny and her Yarn Along.
by Kat | Jan 2, 2017 | General, In This Moment
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something. – Neil Gaiman
When I look back on my goals for 2016, I had some winners and I also had some losers:
My goal to stitch daily fell by the wayside and a large part of why it did was because I did not give myself permission to make mistakes. I wanted my stitching to be perfect without acknowledging that this is a new craft and as with all new things – there is a learning curve, and making mistakes is part of that process. It is certainly true that I am my own worst enemy with my inner drive for perfection – and if it can’t be perfect, then I won’t do it. But, this year I am going to work on that and give myself permission to make mistakes, to learn, to make new things, to push myself, and GROW! I will also move beyond my desire to only present what is perfect and share the process – mistakes and all.
Thanks to Honoré, I spent some time at the end of 2016 rethinking my daily schedule/routine. I have reworked it allowing for a few moments each day to learn something new about stitching and to implement what I have learned. As the year progresses, I will have a collage of stitches that will reflect a daily snapshot similar to Bonnie Sennott’s journey and by this time next year, I will have completed a grand stitching journey where, I am hoping, there is visible growth and immense pride in my mistakes and accomplishments!
Organization also got left behind in the dust of “doing other things” – I blocked out Marie Kondo’s calls to focus and I am paying for that in spades as 2017 starts. Again, Neil Gaiman gives a gentle invitation to live, to push myself, and to change myself – and this is an invite I am going to embrace wholeheartedly!
2017 will be my year for being more organized in so many things. But, one main organization task will be to give some semblance of order to my digital and physical photos. This is something I have procrastinated about far too long and I am ready to get to work on this!
I want to continue in my desire to weigh less and to move more! I did well in 2016, but I still have a long journey to go – and after basking in Holiday Cheer for a good portion of December – this month I will focus on getting back on track.
I also want to use more of my handspun yarn, so this will mean doing more intentional spinning. I look forward to spending time sampling and planning for projects rather than just spinning with no plan in mind!
Finally, I set a challenging reading goal for this year and I look forward to working through my “want to read list” as I hope to exceed my goal!
Here is to a year of pushing myself, changing myself, changing my world, and doing things!
Happy New Year, everyone!
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