by Kat | Aug 22, 2016 | General, In This Moment
Hullo, Monday… nice of you to bring the cooler weather. Too bad you did not bring some organization with you because I am feeling decidedly unorganized today!
Friday Happy Hour was an inside affair, but it was good. And, that Tomato Jam is to die for! Couple that with some icy cold Martini’s and a bit of music and you have the makings for a perfect weekend!
We did a little retail therapy over the weekend and did some walking of the indoor type (thank goodness the mall is air conditioned!) And, then there was some Olympic viewing, which was a pleasant way to spend some quality knitting time!
I would like to say that the remainder of the weekend was wildly exciting, however, it wasn’t, and that was fine with me!
However, I did finish Jen Lucas Mystery Shawl (2013). I did need to break into the second skein but I only used a few yards. Blocking will commence shortly as the weather is perfect blocking weather. My Autumnal Pincha will be joining in on the Soak wash and a light blocking as well!
I did some reading as well. I am only about halfway through Knitlandia because I got derailed on Friday with the delivery of my friend, Jillian Moreno’s new book – Yarnitecture.
Last week, Kay and Ann talked about having a little Wash-Along that I am going to be joining in on this week. The humidity has departed, so things should dry fairly quickly. I am also going to be doing a bit of Knitting Kon-Mari. (Thanks, Vicki for this fantastic idea!) There are so many knitted things that I no longer wear (or never wore, if I am perfectly honest). These things need to either find a new home or discover a new life by either repurposing the item or repurposing the yarn!
This weekend was the Michigan Fiber Festival, which was kind of melancholy for me because Blogless Karen and I always went together. However, she came up with a fantastic idea – we are going to knit the shawl that Ann Hanson has in the latest Interweave Knits! It will be a little fall knit along we do and we are knitting it with the same yarn! Twinning in separate states is so much fun! Thanks, Karen for helping me feel like I was there, without being there!
How was your weekend?
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by Kat | Aug 15, 2016 | General, In This Moment
The weather seems to be in a holding pattern – hot, humid, with intermittent and at times heavy rain showers. There was not much time outdoors this weekend. This remains the forecast for the week, and though I am not thrilled to admit it – I am really ready for a change in the weather. Cooler would be nice, less humid even better! And, it would make it enjoyable to sit outdoors…just sayin’.
A quiet Friday night to usher in the weekend seemed like the perfect plan. It was indoors – the air-conditioned indoors!
There was Olympics monitoring, coupled with some knitting and some spinning (also indoors).
There was some reading – I am about halfway through To Kill A Mockingbird. And I started a new audiobook – The Secrets of Mary Bowser by Lois Leveen, and it is so GOOD!
We have also arrived at the Season of Tomatoes. All things tomatoes. All the time tomatoes. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner tomatoes.
It is also that time of the year when the garden beds and the lawn are both looking a little tired and worn out. However, these photos from a couple of weeks ago are going to tide me over in January, February, and March when there is no color and it is bitterly cold out. The best thing ever was this little bag of seeds we planted this year. They have provided an almost non-stop, 4′ tall, wall of color and I am so happy to report that we have seen hundreds of bees this year. There is nothing better than watching them move from flower to flower to flower. I have only seen one monarch this year, which is horribly sad – however, there have been a variety of other butterflies on the Butterfly Bush as well as some very large bees!
There you have the Cliff Notes of my weekend, Gentle Reader. How was your weekend?
by Kat | Aug 8, 2016 | General, In This Moment
Why is Monday always in such a rush to get here and close the door on the weekend?! The weekend was so good; I would really just like to squeeze a bit more out of it!
Friday’s are always so nice, because well – Happy Hour! Icy cold martinis and good food makes unwinding from the week an easy task. Bonus treats included homemade ricotta, homegrown tomatoes, and smoked salmon!
There was LOTS of reading this weekend!! Which means I have a Bingo or three to tell you about! The books in italics are the ones I finished this weekend!
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First Bingo Across:
- White Nights by Ann Cleeves
- My Kitchen Year by Ruth Reichl
- Emma, Vol. 01 by Kaoru Mori
- Shear Spirit by Joan Tapper & Gale Zucker
- Still Life by Louise Penny
Second Bingo Across:
- Blue Lightning by Ann Cleeves
- Written in My Heart’s Own Blood by Diana Gabaldon
- My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman
- Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
- A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Third Bingo Down:
- Emma
- Grandmother
- It Itches by Franklin Habit
- Doc by Mary Doria Russell
- Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda
My Thoughts on the recently finished books:
My Grandmother… While this was not nearly as good as A Man Called Ove, it was still a lovely read. It caused me to think deeply about the relationships with the people around us – both family and friends – and the impact they have on our lives. And, every child should have a superhero! And there is indeed something incredibly special about a grandmother’s house. You truly never forget how it smells.
Emma…this is not a genre that I would have ever picked to read had “Manga” not been a bingo square. Thank you Margene for steering me to this book. It was a quick read.
Shear Spirit…Having to select a book from the top shelf of one of my bookcases and a blog post last week really spurred me to get this book down and read it. The book details 10 different fiber farms; all new to me and one of which was right in my back yard! I also found a project or two that I might have to queue up to knit! The photography and stories are just beautiful!
It Itches…I really just wanted a quick little read to fill that free square, as I have a good bit of reading to do to get a “cover all”. This is light, humorous and true (especially the stash story!!)
Finally, there was knitting and Olympics and an EPIC bind off. Now I just need to block the brown blob and get some glamor shots! Plus, I may have cast on something new…
How was your weekend?
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by Kat | Aug 5, 2016 | General
A couple of years ago, I knit this sample. It turned out beautifully and I really wanted to knit one to keep. But, as with many things – time passes and I forgot about it.
Until this, since Gale posted her fantastic version of this I have been unable to get Cladonia out of my head!
I looked at yarns online. Lots of yarn online. Nothing really struck me…don’t get me wrong, there were volumes of gorgeous yarns, but nothing that really said to me – I need to be your Cladonia.
Then I remembered this Debbie Bliss Fine Donegal I had in my stash. I have three skeins of it, but I really did not want to make it one color. I played with other yarns in stash, but nothing was really the right color.
It did not take much effort to convince a friend to head out to Sewickley to visit their yarn shop and I am happy to report that I had great success finding the perfect yarn to match. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and for me it is true. Gale, I simply adore your Cladonia – my version will be a tribute to you!
I am holding off on casting on until I have the big brown blob finished – which, with some Olympic Assistance, I hope will be today!
I did get the first half of the Sheepspot Perendale plied up – I ended up with about 160 yds of 3-ply fingering weight yarn and I hope to get similar yardage out of the second half of the fiber. That will give me about 320 yds for a pair of socks, so here’s what I want to know from you, Gentle Reader, what is your go to toe up sock pattern? This is not my usual method of knitting socks, but I want to maximize the yardage!
Now for the Friday Links (and they are amazing this week!):
Svetlana has been busy again
And so has Thea
I laughed at this, but really – perhaps every little girl needs one!
It has been years since Interweave Knits has had anything that I even remotely wanted to knit, however their Fall edition has some really yummy things. Like this. And this. And this.
There was an update to Sight is Life
Grellow gets me every single time.
This does not Vex me at all.
Diabolique
That is all I have for today, have a fantastic weekend and see you all back here on Monday!
by Kat | Aug 1, 2016 | General, In This Moment
It was a full weekend here. Very full.
There was a lovely ushering in of the weekend on Friday, including the new edition to the Happiness Hour – the “Pig Out” Pig plate.
But, the best part of the weekend was the excitement and wonder of seeing Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine on Saturday when they made a campaign stop in Pittsburgh. While it was a LONG day. We got down to the Convention Center just before noon on Saturday and waited in line for about 2 hours before the doors opened so we could stand in another line. In all we waited, standing, for about 6 hours along with about 5000 others (and almost 2000 outside who did not get in). Wall to wall people and everyone was pleasant, polite, and cheerful. The.Entire.Time. It was nice seeing so many young people there, and even nicer to hear some of these young people speak! There was a nice “pre-game” show for Hillary – I got to hear some of the local politicians. And, Mark Cuban was there to announce his support for Hillary – he got the honor of introducing her to us.
It was so incredible to see her, and to be lucky enough to be about 15′ away from the podium so we could get some great photos.
It was a long day, but hearing her speak was worth every single minute of waiting.
Sunday was a bit quieter, I taught a friend how to knit a heel flap and gusset on her first pair of socks! (Thanks, Carole for your fantastic pattern which makes it so simple to teach! I just needed to do a bit of math to adjust to the number of stitches she cast on.) I hope a new sock knitter has been born. She is not a very confident knitter, and I am not quite sure how to foster this in her. She has knit a few top down sweaters (I know… how can she have no confidence??) but she struggles with many aspects of knitting. Anyway, I am hoping that she will gain some confidence in this project.
And, before I knew it, Sunday was over and with it the month of July. I am left wanting to put the brakes on summer and savor the days that seem to be racing by!
How was your weekend?
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