by Kat | Jul 18, 2022 | General, In This Moment
…brings rain! And that, my friends, is a very, very good thing!
My focus is still on keeping things simple this week, despite an incredibly unsimple event that might occur this week… Jury Duty. I got the summons a couple of months ago and this is the week when I *might* be called up to serve. Err, rather I need to “log-in” Wednesday night to see if I have to report on Thursday.
What makes this unsimple event a bit more troublesome… I got a notification from the Colonoscopy Office… if I get COVID between *now and the date of my colonoscopy* I cannot get the procedure…because of course, right? I am not exactly stressing… I will of course wear a mask if I have to report for Jury Duty but I don’t want to delay my colonscopy… at all. I am sort of hoping that my reporting group will not have to report.
To keep my mind occupied and not dwelling on a situation that I have no control over, I am going to continue in with my sewing theme. Okay, maybe not actual sewing, but rather the cutting out bits. I *thought* a lot about that part last week but did not do one second of the *doing* of the pinning out. That is the ONLY thing on my Start List this week.
And with that, I am off to begin my week! Happy Monday all, I will be back on Wednesday with a rather Whimsical Unraveled post!
by Kat | Jul 11, 2022 | General, In This Moment
One of the things that I am focusing on this month is to fill my days with simple things… which is not as easy as it sounds. Life is complicated… hard… painful… and these days, it seems that there is a daily new calamity to keep me anchored in that space.
Yet this month, I want my focus to be on ending the month by discovering what being full of the simple feels like… and gosh, it seems like complicated life just does not want to let go… amirite?
So this is my inspiration for the month:
Simple things bring infinite pleasure. Yet, it takes us a while to realize that. But once simple is in, complex is out – forever. — Joan Marques
And so I am going to use the remaining Monday’s in July to keep myself focused on the simple… a reminder for the week that will hopefully set me on the simplest path.
I wanted to give you an idea of what simple things are filling my days this month so here is a short list of my simple focus right now!
- Hand washing dishes. Yep, you read that correctly. This is a bit of necessity since the automatic dishwasher is not functioning currently, thankfully… the manual one never fails. lol But rather than complaining about having to wash the dishes, I am using the time to do a little meditation… I am freeing my mind of all the outside noise, and just being in the quiet – and yes – very simple moment of washing dishes. Honestly, I am loving it… but don’t tell Steve that, I also like the simplicity of loading the dishwasher and then heading off to do something else!
- The constant simplicity that the weeds provide me. Really, if they did not grow, would I spend as much time in my garden? Can anything be simpler than pulling weeds? I don’t think so… and it gives me a bit of a work out (those thistles can be a challenge to pull out!)
- Sewing. Especially the bits I don’t like… cutting out the pattern. However, there is a simplicity to that task… it is one that has not changed much, if at all, since my nana taught me to sew. I can hear my Home Economics teacher, Mrs Larr, talk about this being the most important part of making…and she was so right. So I am going to focus on the importance of this task and savor it… or at least I am going to try!
So there you have it! My simple focus right now.
I hope your Monday is full of good things… and maybe even some simple ones as well! See you all back here on Wednesday!
by Kat | Jun 13, 2022 | General, In This Moment
Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy. To do nothing and have it count for something. To lie in the grass and count the stars. To sit on a branch and study the clouds. — Regina Brett
Summer solstice officially arrives tomorrow and though it felt like we did not have any kind of spring, I am hoping that these next few months slow down so I can savor these long days.
One thing I am going to be entirely lazy on this week are blog posts and though I won’t be sitting on any branches… I will do a good bit of porch sitting where I can watch the summer sky!
Yep, I am taking a bit of a break here… I will be back soon!
by Kat | May 16, 2022 | General, In This Moment
A bit of a random brain dump this morning… sorry about that.
This morning I am a bit “foggy” because I got another COVID booster shot yesterday. I had thought to wait till the fall but COVID numbers have been on a sharp incline here in Allegheny County so I went and got boosted. This morning I am having a lovely little immune response as the vaccine wakes up my t-cells and my plan is to queue up some PBS shows and sit on my new sofa. (yes… the sofa parts were delivered on Thursday! Woot!)
I wore my Tegna all weekend…. and it is too big. The fabric in the sweater is not behaving like the fabric in my swatch. Sigh. I am contemplating what to do. I do NOT want to unravel the entire thing, but maybe half way and shorten it a bit. On my list for this week… knit a couple of swatches that I can seam together and see how that holds up.
I started the Mystery Gnome this weekend… and clue two is out today! (stay tuned for a bigger update on Wednesday!)
I also started Sam’s sock… cuff as swatch told me that my gauge was a bit off so I did some Knitty Maths and cast on again yesterday. I have almost 3″ done (again) and I am using Wise Hilda’s Basic Ribbed sock pattern. (Ravelry Link)
Finally, I have been playing with the (pseudo) macro function on my iPhone.
Indoor lighting…sigh…
The colors in one leaf… I love it!
Freshly “unfurled”
That is all I have for this Monday. See you all back here on Wednesday!
by Kat | Mar 7, 2022 | General, In This Moment
It was not my intention to skip my post on Friday, but with the news in the world… it just seemed frivolous to post about trivial things. And I am sitting here this morning with much the same feelings… how does one talk about the triviality of “normal life” when for far too many normal life is trying to stay alive.
But there are slivers of humanity rising up to help… (I really can’t use the word hope right now because it seems a sentiment for fools)
I am sure by now you have heard about the amazing new use for Airbnb’s in Ukraine (and you can now donate to help Ukrainian refugees as well), but in case you didn’t… now you have.
Last week, Carol Sulcoski provided a blog post with some Ukrainian designers… and Vicki updated us all that Ravelry is now making it easier to find more Ukrainian designers as well. I am not in need of new things to knit, but I think purchasing a pattern is something everyone can do… so go buy a pattern or two!
I will be back on Wednesday.
