by Kat | 1 day ago | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Dear Unraveler’s!!
December is flowing along… whether I want it to or not! BUT! I have all but one package “en route” to their respective destinations. That one lingering package waiting to be packed up but I have to finish my daughter and son-in-law’s anniversary card! My goal is for this to all be completed and ready for the postman WELL before Friday!
As of Monday night, I was caught up on Gnome Knitting I have not begun the clue we got yesterday but I did begin a hat with MDK’s new yarn, Jane. My initial thoughts are that it is really quite lovely! The color depth, the twist, the hand… all makes this yarn so knit-able! I have cast on said hat and loving how it is knitting up!
I tried to get the true color of this yarn and failed. It is more blue than it looks here…much more blue.
Monday night, I sat down and reviewed my reading thus far this year. It has been a very good year for reading but I was noticing something significant as I looked back on the earlier months. So many books I do not remember at all… so many! Sigh. I have been contemplating this since Monday night… so stay tuned.
Last night, I began the review of my making. I had some pretty spectacular failures on the making front this year… one specifically that has made me a bit “knit shy” about starting a sweater. Problematic since I have a sweater’s quantity of yarn waiting…
But, regardless of forgotten books and knitting failures… reviewing… looking back and really contemplating what I read and made showed me a way I used my time that I think I overlooked! Last night, I was very much feeling like I had found all sorts of time that I did not even think about! Time spent doing things that I love… things that are a balm for my spirit… things that make me feel accomplished, creative, and not at all a Waster of Timel!
This week… I finally (!!) finished the latest in the Department Q mysteries… Locked In. It is a Netgally read that has taken me FOREVER! (This is entirely Frankie’s fault… I have not read before bed since he came to live with us. Sleep is a precious commodity right now.) I did not enjoy this as much as I enjoyed the previous Department Q mysteries, but it did tie up some loose ends from prior stories. I gave it a solid 3.5 rounded up to 4… although, ymmv.
I am also listening to Louise Penny’s latest Gamache mystery, The Grey Wolf. Warning… there is a new narrator and I am struggling with him… mightily. I like listening to the Gamache stories because of the pronunciations… but this will likely be the last that I listen to, I am sorry to say. I have roughly 4 hours of listening time to go… and the story is so good! (even if the narration sucks)
That is it for me this week, I think! I would like to get back to posting on Friday’s… but right now it is just not working.
But, what I am really wanting to know is what is working for you this week!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | 3 days ago | General, In This Moment
Brings a reprieve!
That’s right… temps the next few days are heading into the mild 50’s! And that means that I can get all my hyacinth bulbs tucked away for the winter AND I can get the holiday lights up outside! It is even raining, so those bulbs will get a nice drink for their long winter nap!
It was a delightful weekend… I have all kinds of inspiration from Felix Ford’s BuJo Class on Friday! I am energized about pulling together all the information to begin my 2025 journal with a 2024 recap… successes, struggles, books read… especially books I loved! I had been feeling like 2024 was kind of a meh year… but in looking back, it was not.
Added to my weekend joy was the Rilke discussion last night. My heart is full to bursting… and with Rilke I will lean into the grieving that held space in 2024. I also have a few new Rilke titles I want to purchase for my library.
And for all you who asked for more of a certain Franklin Delano Pug on the blog… I wanted to start your Monday off with an influx of Frankie-ness!
Why, yes… I do actually need all the toys at once!
Being a very good boy is such hard work!
And with that… Let Monday Begin! See you all back here on Wednesday!
by Kat | Dec 4, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world.
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God
Greetings dearest Unravelers and Happy Rilke’s Birthday! That’s right, 149 years ago my beloved Rilke was born! His wisdom and poetry have stood well to time. I find him so very relevant to my life… he reminds me that in the bad times… keep going, because they won’t last forever. I have been reading Rilke a lot recently and of all of the “quotes” I have written down or underlined and saved… this quote is my favorite. And it works so well for today for all of us Unravelers! I feel like this corner of the internet has reached out to the best parts of the world. I am so very glad that our circles have touched as we share what we are making, what books we are reading, and perhaps even the tiniest glimpse into our lives.
I have begun the slow making of December and it makes me happy. Yesterday, after Franklin’s shot, I was able to get my yarn wound and I even could get cast on and knit a few rows! I don’t think I have given anything away with my knitting either… but I have roughly 20 more rows to go to finish the first clue.
The other thing I must do this month is to do a bit of catch up on stitching. I have November’s stitching to finish as well as my Autumn stitch book. I began re-watching Wolf Hall Monday night in preparation for The Mirror and The Light coming next March! I will use this time to sit and stitch. After dinner Frankie is more than ready for bed… so he loves to curl up next to me on the sofa and sleep… completely uninterested in anything I am doing. The perfect catch up stitch time! Ha!
I managed to finish two books since we last spoke! I listened to Richard Osman’s new novel, We Solve Murders. It is read by Nicola Walker… and she is magnificent! The book was not bad either! I liked how the mystery unfolded (who is Francois Lubet?? And all my guesses were wrong!) and I really like the new mystery solving duo… Steve and Amy Wheeler! I am eagerly awaiting more books in this series! It is fun… there are some very current things utilized in this mystery!
I also finished The Serviceberry… the extended version… by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I had first listened to the serviceberry essay on Emergence Magazine. I loved this extended version and RWK pokes at the “consumer society” in good ways. (I really feel like I need to watch “Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy” on Netflix… it feels like it would be a good companion to what RWK is trying to tell us in The Serviceberry.) I listened to RWK read it and I highly recommend consuming it that way!
That is my sum total since we last met! What about you? What are you working on… or trying to work on?!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
Two post scripts for you:
- There is a Rilke talk this Sunday, December 8, online. Hosted by Mark S. Burrows with Pádraig Ó Tuama and Krista Tippet. You can find all the details here. (and it is free!)
- And… three weeks from today is Christmas. You are welcome.
by Kat | Dec 2, 2024 | General, Welcome
It is December, and nobody asked if I was ready. — Sarah Kay
Hello December,
How are you here already?! I mean, I swear it was just July! I know that I might have silently wished for a cool December breeze on one of the many hot July afternoons… but really, it was just a passing thought!
And I for sure was not ready for you to come roaring in like a much colder and incredibly windier version of a March Lion!
I asked all my kids for “lists” … or ideas… early in November. I am still list-less on all fronts so I think a bit of Nagging Mother needs to be released into the Text-World.
Also… of course I did not get all my bulbs in during the mild November days. I still have 50 varied hyacinths to plant. I am hoping for a bit of a warm up this week, but I think nature has other plans for me because our forecast is full of bitterly cold, well below freezing days. Sigh.
Franklin gets his final puppy shots this morning… and I am hoping to get his “snip” surgery scheduled for January. I have also reached the point of really hoping for him to be done having to go out in the middle of the night. Things I did not consider before beginning this Puppy Adventure: Steve’s unwillingness to get up *even on the weekends* with Franklin. I am feeling very depleted…
This December will be the first in my life that I have not put up the Christmas tree. But I really did not want another task to tackle by myself and I think that in this rambunctious stage of puppy life, putting a tree up is inviting disaster. However, we purchased two small birch trees for the mantle that I hope to get “spread out” and incorporated with the fairy lights before this week is over.
AND… the first day without a single digit windchill, I will take Frankie out with me to get the outside lights up!
The ONLY other things on my December list are to savor the joy of Gnome Knitting as Gnana’s story unfolds. And, perhaps more pressing, I do have a bit of “homework” to accomplish before Felix’s BuJo class on the 6th… I need to ask myself the following question: “What DID I do in January?!” The answer is what I need to “get myself started”… I am hoping for a bit of time this week to look back and think about it!
And that is about all the brain bandwidth I have for things I want to accomplish this month. What about you? What do you hope this month holds?
I will be back on Wednesday and I hope you will too!
Header photo by Luna Lovegood
by Kat | Nov 29, 2024 | General
Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. — Gloria Steinem
Amen, dear Gloria, AMEN!
I have used the same planner for over 10 years. It is a system that has served me well, I have added to it as I entertained new ideas… some worked, some not-so-much. But live and learn.
One thing that has worked for me this year was my second foray into keeping a Word Journal for my word. Now this is not some scrap-book-y, artistic venture… but rather a way to keep track of important moments, things I want to remember, and quotes that really hit home for me. I include a photo of myself each month. This journal quickly became too bulky to reside with the other planners. In addition, I wanted to spend time this year being thankful… so I added a journal just for that… I am not sure how I will incorporate that next year, but I am thinking about it.
But one can get to the point of having “too many journals” to be practical… I am verging on that point as I am out of “space” in my already modified leather Traveler’s cover.
So before next year begins and I continue on the same path, one that has lost the “excitement of possibilities” and feels very stale. So I decided I needed to shake things up a bit. I am not one who needs to reinvent the wheel… but I have tried to “change things up” before with no success. So I sat down and contemplated what might I change, learn, reimagine next year. I made a list of things I wished a planner to do/have and what I like about my current system.
Once I gathered that information, my choice became easy… at least until a slight hiccup happened, but more on that later.
My first thought was that I really like the slim profile of the standard size (4.33″ x 8.25″) but I wanted something that had both monthly calendar plus a weekly break down and if it could have pages so I can keep track of lists… books I want to read, things I want to knit, wardrobe replacement items, etc. To my delighted surprise, there is a “planner” that has all those things… the Hobonichi Weeks MEGA… so I ordered one! It arrived and I was shocked to see how small it is… and it is really small!! (3.75″ x 7.5″) I am going to have to practice MUCH smaller penmanship in the new year! But, size aside, this planner will be taking the place of almost all the inserts in my current Traveler’s system. (save the Thankful Journal… I still have LOTS of pages to fill in the current journal)
Now enters the hiccup… earlier this month Kay and Ann shared some information about a class with Felix Ford on journaling and the price was reasonable… so I signed up. In the past, I have tried and failed using the BuJo system but what if I can glean some new ideas. And what if some of those BuJo tips and tricks work well in my new calendar?! I am very eager to listen to Ms. Ford!
And finally… I am committed to continuing the journey I began last December with Margaret Renkl in reading/thinking/writing about my backyard. So yes… another book and I will use it in tandem with her essays in The Comfort of Crows (and yes, this will be my third time reading it… I think that is the measure of how much I love her writing! Also, if you have not read Comfort of Crows… it starts on the first day of Winter… you have time to get a copy and begin!)
And that is where I am as we wind down 2024 and get ready for 2025! My hope is that I will have a new appreciation for my planner… and maybe I will even learn a few new things to make my journaling even better!
See you all back here on Monday!
Links on everything I talked about:
Key to the planners in the Header Photo:
1 and 2, obviously Margaret Renkl’s books.
3. Traveler’s cover that holds my calendar, my Thankful Journal, and two almost full “list/plans journals”
4. My new Hobonichi Weeks MEGA planner
5. Time journal in a Galen Leather cover.
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