by Kat | Nov 3, 2025 | General, Welcome
Wear gratitude like a cloak, and it will feed every corner of your life. — Rumi
November… whew. This year is flying, isn’t it? Too darned fast, if you ask me… though if I focus on headlines, the news, and all that chaos, it makes it feel like one long-ass year.
I am beyond privileged that I do not have to even give headlines, news, and chaos one scintilla of my attention. I know… I am so, so fortunate. So I consume what news I seek out, I am trying not to worry about things I cannot control, but rather… give attention (and resources as I am able) to causes that inspire me.
So I thought that this November, I would turn my attention to finding gratitude in my days… gratitudes that I will be sharing with you occasionally. Since about mid-July, I have been journaling about gratitude… and while I am not steadily writing daily about gratitude… it has become a focus in my mind. What started as a “task” has become something more like a meditation to the day. A very good thing!
This morning, I am going to share three very good things from last week (it was an exceptionally amazing week!!)
Gratitude One: I was truly worried about Heidi being induced… but that was wasted worry because on Tuesday, October 28, she and Christian welcomed a new baby to their family! Odette Elizabeth arrived late Tuesday night. She is perfect in every way! Yes, Odette arrived before her sweater was done! But… it is so close to the finish, I expect it will be in the mail to Heidi soon!
Gratitude Two: After a LONG summers nap, I pulled out my sourdough starter from the refrigerator. It was last given any attention way back in May! And after just a couple of days feedings it was back and raring to go! I baked bread on Friday morning and it was such a delight to have that fresh baked bread smell in the house again with the added boon of a delicious loaf of sourdough bread to eat!!
Gratitude Three: Time change… I know… I know! Even though no one else in my house was happy about the time change it was so nice to walk in the light on an early Sunday morning! I won’t need my headlamp, at least for a few more weeks, and that makes me happy! The other curious benefit to time change was the deliciously “slow” Sunday morning. The neighborhood was quiet, the house was quiet… ahhh!
So welcome, November… I am looking forward to your gratitude focus this month!
Header photo by Brett Sayles
by Kat | Oct 29, 2025 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unraveler’s!
We have arrived at the final Wednesday of October… sigh. Is it just me or does it feel like this month was set to warp speed? And before I know it, it will be the end of December… yikes!
Another really good way that I have to note the passing of time is another finished baby blanket!! Woot! I cast on this blanket on September 24 and cast off on October 22 and I really am very happy with it. I did wash it in the machine and I then tossed it in the dryer! I ignored my inner voice screaming Danger, Will Robinson!! at me and walked away from the dryer. I am relieved that washing and drying worked! (And that will be a boon for my daughter’s busy days!) But, I confess I was a bit disappointed in the amount of pilling that the yarn did (A reminder, it is Daily Wool from Purl Soho) This might be okay for a blanket, but if you are contemplating a sweater for an adult person… I think it will wear poorly. However, for a sweater for a small person who won’t be “a size” for long… I think it will be okay, but it might need a visit from a de-piller on the regular! The yarn was a delight to knit with… it is multiple plies but it was not at all “splity.” I did have to make sure I did not leave it laying on the sofa because Frankie loved it. If it was out, he was lying on it! So I am counting this blanket with having “double the love” in the making! Ha!
One freshly washed (and dried) baby blanket!
The last Welcome to the Flock sweater is underway… I had a bit of a detour because I really wanted to get caught up on my October Stitching. BUT!! The sleeves underway and almost done! A phone conversation with my daughter on Monday lit a fire under me for speeding up the baby knitting… her doctor is not letting her go until her due date, which is November 8… if nothing has started this week they will induce her this weekend. The doctor foolishly thought Friday would be a great day but she does not think having a Halloween baby is in the plans!)
On the reading front, it was a bit of a slow week for me! I finished the incredibly poignant story by Sam Wachman, The Sunflower Boys. It was so incredibly moving and, at times, heartbreaking and I loved it! It is a bit of a coming of age book, but really it is about how life was and is no longer for the people of Ukraine. I fell in love with Artem and Yuri… and I will be thinking about this story for a very, very long time.
I also picked up a book from the library last weekend and I have been snatching moments here and there to read it and, so far, I am really enjoying it!
And there you have my making and reading this week. What about you? How are you feeling about these final days of October?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Oct 27, 2025 | General, Words
Greetings and Happy October Word Update Day to all my fellow “Worder’s”!
How was October? By now I hope you have settled into a “zone” with your word, but despite being very comfortable with the direction of your year… I hope you still are finding something new and exciting to learn! If you are sharing the October Update, you will find the link up at the bottom of this post! Welcome and thank you for participating!
Enjoy these last moments, here, now, as much as you can.
― A.D. Aliwat, In Limbo
Yes, yes, and yes! I confess, I am very much enjoying Yutori Days… weeks… months! And to spend my favorite month of the year with a very Yutori focus… well it does not get better than this!
It is truly amazing how one’s perspective changes with simple act of slowing down. This month, particularly, a changed perspective has saved my sanity more than once! (It has been A. Month! has it not?)
I have also put Yutori to good use when doing tasks I particularly don’t care for and while I don’t like washing floors or vacuuming or doing the dishes any more than I did before… there is something almost meditative about the activities. I allow my mind to wander where it wants to go and I am surprised by the creative paths it journeys down! (My most recent Yutori Thinking Spells have included how my next year of stitching will evolve!) I did not have Yutori = more creativity on my radar when I began this journey!
The other thing that has surprised me this year is how my “slowed down” reading has been this year! Even without paging through the book notes portion of my journal, I remember far more about the books I have read this year than previous years! I simply take a moment or two after finishing a book to jot down some thoughts about the book. An extra moment or two to linger with a book is a very good thing. I will absolutely be carrying this with me… it is a practice that is serving me well!
Finally, last Saturday was Frankie’s Gotcha Day! I confess, the blur of those first puppy days and all the interrupted sleep of last November and December feels like a distant memory that happened in another life. But, this month especially, Frankie and I have found a bit of a Yutori pace for our days together. Or perhaps it is that Frankie has settled in with my routine but it makes me feel very good to say that I am very much Frankie’s Person. Yutori Days with a pet are the best thing ever!
Who’s the best boy ever?
And there you have my October update!
If you wrote a post to share this month, please leave your link below! I am most eager to read it and I thank you so much for participating!
by Kat | Oct 22, 2025 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings gentle Unraveler’s and Happy Wednesday!
October is just racing past and I am honestly shocked that it is the 22nd already!
But… I am happy to report that I almost have another completed blanket and I really like this one! Simple garter stitch is just brilliant! It will need a wash and some ends woven in, but it will soon be on its way to Heidi in Michigan! I used a blanket kit from Purl Soho… and I will report back on how this yarn washes up. Yes, I am planning on washing it the machine and tumbling it in the dryer. I am trusting Purl Soho that the yarn is machine washable. Their Daily Wool is a delight to knit with and I will absolutely be using it again!
I will soon be casting on Flock Sweater #3…beginning with my least favorite bits… the sleeves. Ha!
I did… finally… get September stitching done! (please note… October is not yet started!!) I am happy with September and am delighted to have just 3 months to go. I am contemplating something entirely different for next year. Dear Clara shared something that has entirely consumed my thoughts so while being entirely overtaken by this new obsession, I ordered Tomomi Mimura’s book to do some studying of her fascinating mosaic embroidery (i.e. creatively placed darning stitches!) My plan is to do a bit of “practice” sampling as soon as all the baby knitting is completed (and not one second sooner!!) I will have to dig out an embroidery hoop and a scrap piece of linen (I have LOTS of linen scraps!) I want to practice with both Perle cotton (my usual stitching thread) as well as using some yarn bits and bobs. Her book gives amazing instructions (on both techniques and for creating these little stitched creatures!) It looks easy, but I think it is trickier than I imagine! If I can figure it out, I have an idea for some free form daily stitching for next year. A smaller (and perhaps more manageable size) project! Someone asked about the size of my stitching project this year… it is quite large! It is roughly 36″ square… big! But I really like how it is all one piece… nothing to join together but it is a lot of fabric to maneuver to stitch each day!
September’s stitching (mostly completed in October!)
The other question that was asked before vacation was what yarn was I using for Gudrun’s Hairst Hap Hood. I used Shetland Spindrift from Jamieson’s in the color way they created for her, Hairst (205).
Whew! That’s a lot of making and thinking about making!
Now for a little interlude of my art journaling from our trip!
There has been some reading as well (though not a great deal of it. A week with Steve is a week with practically no reading… sigh.)
I finished a book Netgalley book (it was published September 30th) and have not stopped thinking about it since I finished it. It is a compelling story about how abuse can define a person right down to the choice of going from one abusive situation to another. It shows how very hard it is to step away from the abusive situation… and it is also overflowing with hope. The hope of the support of friends and how impactful a friend can be. It takes place in Ireland, but I think it is a story that could be in any place in the world. If you read and enjoyed Roisin O’Donnel’s Nesting, I think you will enjoy Betsy Cornwall’s memoir, Ring of Salt.
I also finished Matthew Davis’ A Biography of a Mountain and I have very mixed emotions about it. You can read my review here. If you like history, you will probably enjoy it… but I recommend it with a bit of a warning… Davis is caught in a bit of a tug of war between the right of art and rights of Native Americans regarding Mount Rushmore. At times he seems for the art and others he seems to understand the rights of the Lakota but he is very back and forth about this. (To me it seems to be very clear… we did an irreparable harm to the Lakota but your thoughts might be different.) It will be published November 11, 2025.
And that is it for me this week. What about you? What’s consuming your creative thoughts this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Oct 20, 2025 | General, In This Moment
Hello, hello!
Yes, I am back from our trek to Erie and one thing a bit of time way does is make one appreciate home. I am happy to be back home… and although the time away was good, there is no place like home! We had practically perfect weather and Gudrun’s Hairst Hap Hood was perfect as well! I still need to add the i-cord edging around the hood but even without it, it is a most useful piece of woolen wear! I used it almost every day as we had some very brisk mornings! It was a fairly good break and Frankie did okay… he even managed a few walks in the park! (He does not like “new people” at all…but we were fortunate to have a few days with hardly any people on Presque Isle besides us!)
The fall colors were very “desaturated” thanks to the drought conditions PA has been having. It was sad to see most of the wetland areas bone dry and the lake is down a good bit as well. It was a rain-free week for us (which was nice for spending time outdoors but this week rain is in the forecast every day for Erie… and I really hope they get a good bit!)
We saw a plethora of wooly bear caterpillars, and lots of Great Blue Heron’s (this guy was very wary of us walking by but he did not budge) and Frankie finds being a “Murder Pug” exhausting… oy.
I have officially begun Baby Watch 2025! Heidi has roughly 3 weeks to go and a few weeks later (hopefully) Sam’s twins will be here! It is a very good thing that I managed to squeeze in some good knitting time while away! I have just ONE color to go on Heidi’s blanket!! The end is in sight and her “flock” sweater will begin as soon as the blanket is finished!
Now it is time for me to kick it in high gear and get some housework done… so I can get back to knitting! Ha!
And here is your reminder!! Next Monday, October 27th, will be the link up to share how you and your word did this month! Ten months down… hopefully, it was a good month! I look forward to your updates!
See you all back here on Wednesday!
