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!
by Kat | Oct 16, 2025 | General, Poetry
My absolute favorite thing is finding a poem that is so brilliant that it etches itself on my heart and this poem by Hannah Stephenson did exactly that. I first discovered it in the beginning of September but I have reread it dozens of times since.
I picked it for today because it is the perfect poem for me trekking around Presque Isle State Park. There are things that I absolutely love about the poem… you will note there is absolutely no punctuation. It is brilliant and makes me feel like it is actually the trees that have taken over the poem and are breathing it directly into my being.
Today (and every day since I have been here) I will be with the trees, and the water, and the birds… and loving every single moment. My wish for you is that this poem will breathe its way into your being… Happy Thursday, dear friends!
Ancient Language
by Hannah Stephenson
If you stand at the edge of the forest
and stare into it
every tree at the edge will blow a little extra
oxygen toward you
It has been proven
Leaves have admitted it
The pines I have known
have been especially candid
One said
that all breath in this world
is roped together
that breathing is
the most ancient language
Ancient Language by Hannah Stephenson. Copyright © 2016 by Hannah Stephenson.
You can learn more about Hanna Stephenson here.
A huge thanks to Bonny for gathering us all together! If you want to share a poem today, please join us!
Header photo by Rudolf Jakkel
by Kat | Oct 8, 2025 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
I am starting this post early Tuesday morning after Frankie and I have just watched the most spectacular sunrise! The clouds made for a stunning show! (too bad the power lines mar the scene!) Anyways… those clouds are supposed to be the harbinger of some good rains today… which is a very good thing. We need the rain desperately and despite some rains in September we are still well “below normal” for precipitation this year.
As Kym would say, “a beauty emergency”!!
I was so happy to welcome back two wintery bird friends – White-throated Sparrows and my beloved Juncos! I have been seeing both of them regularly at/around the feeders. So while the weather has definitely had a summer feel… the birds know that things are changing.
I have been trying to focus on finishing Gudrun’s Hairst Hap Hood for our Erie trek… I think it will come in very handy so I have been knitting on it urgently! The front and back sections worked up very quickly, but there is a LOT of knitting in the hood portion! I finally arrived at the beginning of the short row sections on Monday night. By the time you are reading this I will likely? hopefully?? be to the finishing bit… where I pick up all those lovely yarn overs I made at the beginning of each row to work a bit of Shetland lace on the edging. There is also a bit of I-cord to work but if that is not done by the time we leave on Friday, I won’t be too worried.
If you were hoping for a sewing update, sorry… it is still at the “in process” stage. I am only slightly perturbed with myself, but I reminded myself that there is a lot of sewing in a shirt that does not exist in sewing pants that I have made multiple times! (Hello facings, interfacings, plackets, and button bands!)
The only project I am bringing to Erie is Heidi’s baby blanket. It is a good “mindless” knit for watching movies or television! I should bring my stitching, but I am leaving it home and because I really prefer to spend the time doing some art journaling about what we saw that day!
The reading this week though… oh my…it was another stellar week! I finished three very good books. The first one is Ann Cleeves The Killing Stones, a new series with much loved Jimmy Perez and his partner, Willow Reeves. As you might remember, Jimmy has moved from Shetland and he and Willow are now living and working in the Orkney Islands. It is a twisty mystery that happens in the days before Christmas (and yes, the islands are very much a character in the story!) Ann, as usual, writes a fantastic mystery which left me guessing almost up to the end! (And I am really hoping this becomes a series for television as well… because she puts the Orkney’s in the spotlight!!)
I finished listening to Robert Thorogood’s next installment in the Marlow Mystery series, Murder on the Marlow Bell. I really enjoy Judith, Suzie, and Becks… they are a brilliant team. It took some work to get this one solved, but they did it (I worried there for a chapter or two!) and the ending… oh my! A bit of a cliff hanger… but a good one!
I also finished (sadly) Robert Macfarlane’s Is a River Alive? and I loved it! I swear Macfarlane just gets better and better with each book. Is a River Alive? is a book that I will be thinking about for a LONG time… and if I had the time (I did not, I had to return it to the library… sigh!) I would have read it again! I read it slowly… allowing myself time to digest as I read… it was the perfect way to read it! If you love Macfarlane… you think you will enjoy it, I certainly did!
Stunningly, I was almost immediately able to borrow Kamala Harris’ 107 Days. I am listening to her read it to me and I am so enjoying spending time with her. Her thoughts and insights are quite surprising, at least to me. (at this writing I have about 6 hours of listening time to go)
A bit of housekeeping… there won’t be an Unraveled post next Wednesday. Unraveled Wednesday will return October 22nd.
And there you have what I’ve been making and reading. How are you doing as we find ourselves a week into October?
As always, if you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below!
by Kat | Oct 6, 2025 | General, In This Moment
…brings answers to questions!
Last week, I had a very, very chatty “Currently” post and despite how chatty I was, I left some questions unanswered. They were good questions, so thank you Sprite!
She asked two questions:
“Inquiring minds want to know what Snippets Show Notes are? Thoughts on podcasts you’re listening to?”
Question one… Snippet’s Show Notes… yes, I do take notes during The Snippets Show. What is the Snippet’s Show? Well, I am so fortunate to be an inaugural member of the delightful MDK Society and once a month Kay and Ann spend an hour chatting with someone in the making community. It is really so much fun and I always learn something in that hour… sometimes it is a book I had not heard of, sometimes a thing… like Fibershed’s, (note, here is a link to the PA Fibershed, but if you Google Fibershed, you can find dozens of them across the nation!) and sometimes it is a new book, like Kate Atherly’s Math for Knitters… it is nice to have notes to refer back to about things I heard.
Question two… thoughts on podcasts I am listening to… Yes, I do listen to podcasts but I really balk at anything longer than 30 minutes. I always start my day with NPR’s Up First podcast… these days the 10-ish minutes of news is “just enough” to begin my day. To balance out that brief dip into the news, I also listen to a Monday – Friday podcast, The Slowdown (now hosted by Maggie Smith!) I love to listen to poetry, because I think that is the best way to read poetry… out loud! And I appreciate Maggie’s thoughts on the poem she reads each day. I have been a long time Slowdown listener… going back to Tracy K. Smith’s time (she was the inaugural host!) I also listen to Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American… I generally listen to these when I am doing the “dinner dishes” She is good company for cleaning up! (ha!)
And there you have answers for some very good questions!
Today is supposed to be our last “warm” day for a bit… I will be eagerly welcoming Sweater Weather! Happy Monday everyone!
by Kat | Oct 3, 2025 | Currently, General
Some Most days, the struggle is real in my effort to spark content here. And, confession time, there are many days that I more than consider that this blog has reached its conclusion. However, near as that may feel most days, I am not quite ready to pull the plug here… at least this week.
But, as a new season/new month begins… I thought I’d take a bit of a snapshot of what I am currently doing… and I will use currently in an acrostic style update. (And my thought is that I will update some of the actionable items below to help me stay on track!) So here we go!
Cozy-ing
I really love a scented candle burning but finding a candle that is subtly scented was a challenge. But I got a newsletter from a yarn dyer a couple of weeks ago who shared that she was appreciating the coziness of this season… a cup of tea and a lit candle from Wax & Wool were making her days! So I jumped in the Wax & Wool pool… and ordered a couple of scented candles! Flannel Blanket and Autumn Leaves arrived promptly (the service was fantastic!) and when I opened the candle jars I was pleasantly surprised at the subtlety of the fragrances! I have been burning Autumn Leaves every morning when I sit down to write in my journal and order my day. The fragrance from the burning candle is delightful. If you, too, want just a hint of fragrance… I very much recommend these two scents. Thank you, Wax & Wool for bringing a bit more cozy to my mornings!
Utilizing
All the notes of things that worked and did not work this year in my planner(s) and I have begun setting up my planner for next year (I still need to get a Leuchtturm1917) Things that worked very well for me this year… my weekly planning and my “book covers” for the year. This year, I added in a couple of things that I was not aware of when I began 2025 – Snippet’s Show Notes and “Just Now” Fridays (thank you so much for this inspiration, Carole!! It is becoming a highpoint of my week!) As you can see, I have marked off pages for these things in the back of my planner (It is a Hobonichi Techo Weeks MEGA) and it leaves me a very good amount of pages for daily journaling/joy/gratitude. (I will divide the remainder in half) I also laid out plans for the new Leuchtturm1917 journal. I will continue to record all my “making” in a third of the pages, one third will be the space for my “word” thoughts (yes, I am doing planning on spending a year with a focus around a word again!) and the final third will hold “book thoughts/notes.” I began doing that this year and have loved it! I like looking through the pages and it has helped improve my “book recall!”
Racing
Against the clock to get baby knits done and out the door! I have a blanket to finish, another sheep sweater to knit, as well as a trio of hats, and some socks in a variety of sizes. I would like the blanket and the last sheep sweater to get to Heidi soonish so that this baby (and my Heidi) don’t feel lost in the twin shuffle! (Note… this is an entirely me-imposed issue… I don’t think Heidi would mind at all when anything arrived!) Having babies coming as the weather gets colder makes the hat knitting high on the priority list as well. The variety of socks… well… socks for small feet are fun and somewhat quick knits! (and Heidi told me she has all the previously knit socks pulled out so she is ahead of Sam in the sock game!)
Reacquainting
Myself with the quilting process. At one time, I was quilting a lot! And it kind of got swept away with the busyness of growing kids and then I found knitting. But I have some “quilterly” things I’d like to queue up this fall. Yes, yes… I know I have a full queue of knitting to keep plugging away at, but I got some clearance sale priced charm squares and as well as a couple of jelly rolls. I would like to turn the charm squares into a curtain or two… AND!! Oh my gosh… AND!!! Did you see what Sew Liberated dropped this week? The Retazo Coat/Vest. Ummm, YES PLEASE! I have all kinds of scraps (also see above to the things needing repurposing from my wardrobe!!) so yes, I this pattern is absolutely on my radar!
Escaping
To Erie! Yes, next week we head to Erie for a bit of a break. I am looking forward to it and I think this will be the first time that we are going to be smart in what we pack. We always bring too much food and cart much of it back home again. This year we are not going to do that… they have grocery stores in Erie, for heavens sake! Ha! What I am taking will be my travel paints and I hope to get some little paintings done to capture special moments! I am also bringing Heidi’s blanket as my knitting project!
Navigating
Medicare supplement options! I have been doing all sorts of research and have a fairly good idea of what will best fit my needs. Now to just get signed up (although, I am going to wait until I have a discussion with a local agency that helps with the process!) Once I am through with all of this, it feels like I should be getting some kind of honorary degree or something! Ha!
Tackling
My closet… sigh. I am going to use the “change of seasons” to go through and get rid of clothes that I had “tucked away” because I might wear them…someday. Ha! (FYI… since putting them in the “save for someday” drawer, I have not looked at or thought about them once! I think that is my hint that they can move on to a new home!) I also need to do a good review of several wardrobe staples that are more than a bit worn. Are they worth mending? Some, yes! But others are not at all and they need to go into the rag bag or the scrap bag! I expect this process won’t be done in a day because I am going to be very thorough! Hopefully this will set me up for success for the remainder of the year and I will have a list of what needs to be replaced!
Laughing
Or at least trying to laugh more. I mean when you are living through “trying times” laughter is the thing that is helping to save my sanity. I confess… Governor Newsom is bringing all the laughter these days with his ALL CAP posts. Perhaps you all need a laugh or two as well… I highly recommend his X (i.e. Twitter) account!
Yarn-ing
(as in settle in… this is a good, long, interesting story!) I don’t know anyone who has done a better job explaining tariffs and the fiber industry than the lovely ladies at Kelbourne Woolens and they have explained the situation in three very clear and understandable blog posts… you will find them here, here, and here. You might not have time to read them today (I realize I have been pretty chatty here… sorry about that!) but save them and read them later. There is good information in the posts… very good information. And there are some ways that we can help the fiber community. It is a great beginning to what I hope will be a thoughtful conversation in the fiber community. We all need to help out to keep it going… so when all the chaos has ended… there will still be a fiber community to support!
That is all from me today (whew, right?) I am hoping you all have a fantastic weekend and I will be back on Monday (I think!)
Header Photo by Designecologist
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