by Kat | Jun 24, 2026 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unraveler’s!
I am stunned to type this, but it is the last Wednesday in June… it feels like June was just beginning and quite impossible that the month is almost over.
Making this month has been so delightful! I am making my way down the second half of my Alabama Chanin scarf. I have had fun sampling new stitches! This week finds me stitching a new “wheel” in the morning and I yesterday I found my groove. I stitched yesterday’s wheel much quicker than the previous two days attempts. My new bestie in this stitch-a-thon is a Sewline pencil. I think most people use it to transfer Sashiko stitch patterns but it is perfect for transferring the ingenious dots from the Stitch Cards to this black fabric. Curiously, as I stitch circles this ear worm plays in my mind… which is absolutely not a bad thing at all.
I love stitching buttonhole circles with beads!
As you can see in the header photo, I am was racing along on another Ranunculus… sadly, I hit a speed bump and I found myself having to unravel a bit. Pro-tip… no matter how perfectly hand dyed skeins of yarn look in the hank… you need to remember to do a bit of alternating for several rounds to blend them together. I did not give myself enough space and had to unravel a half a dozen or so rounds to allow the skeins some space to settle in. In the plus column: the yarn unravels slowly. In the minus column: the yarn unravels slowly.
The reading this week… oh my! I finished Cecile Pin’s new novel, Celestial Lights. I loved every bit of this book. Every bit. It happens over the course of a couple of time lines concurrently and it is brilliantly done! It is the story of Oliver Ines, who was born at the exact moment the Challenger shuttle disaster. And what happens from that moment in Oliver’s life is nothing short of wondrous. In a story inspired by Odysseus, it is a story about a great journey… and one I will be thinking about for a very, very long time. I highly recommend it!
And to keep me grounded (as it were) I am listening to Patrick Radden Keefe’s latest, London Falling. I was a bit iffy on this one, but I am so glad I ignored inner me trying to quash reading it. He is a masterful storyteller and manages to pull together all the strings of something that happened and lay them out concisely for the reader. If you enjoyed his previous works, you will enjoy London Falling. I have about three hours to go in the audiobook!
And there you have my making and reading this week. What about you? Are you, like me, stunned at the pace which June is racing by?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Jun 22, 2026 | General, In This Moment
Between the dusk of a summer night
And the dawn of a summer day,
We caught at a mood as it passed in flight,
And we bade it stoop and stay.
(From Praeludium, XXII by W. E. Henley)
Yesterday brought the arrival of summer… days you’d really hope to pause, inhale deeply, and linger. However, if you know me… then you know summer is my least favorite time… and really, what I hate is AC. I much prefer having the windows open perhaps with a fan running. I am going to try and spend less time in the AC and more time out-of-doors. (And for those moments that I absolutely have to be inside… well, my Ranunculus is just flying! Sleeves have been divided off and I am racing down the body… AND I AM STILL ON THE FIRST SKEIN OF YARN… WHAT?!? Photo coming Wednesday!)
I am also still on the “high” of last week’s amazing opening of The Obama Presidential Center. (Michelle Norris had the most amazing special Friday night: Hope Comes Home.) Anyways, it is a place I want need to see and it has gone on my list of places to visit soon!
And so here we are on the first Monday of summer and my big plans for the day? To “win the war” with the squirrels who have decided that it’s their job to “unplant” the pots on the patio.
See you all back here on Wednesday!
P.S. For those who wanted to join in on the NYTimes Summer Challenge… sorry I missed last week! This week you get a two-fer! Last week’s Better Sleep Tips as well as this week’s 90’s Style Hangout (sans phones!) And for those wondering… yes, I am leaving my phone behind on walks. It has been incredibly delightful!
Header photo by Chris Abney on Unsplash
by Kat | Jun 17, 2026 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings gentle Unraveler’s and happy Wednesday to you all!
I am quite enamored of the current weather pattern enveloping Pittsburgh… the heat has abated, the humidity has waned, and the skies have been cloud free and stunningly blue! Yes, that means I have the windows flung wide, the AC is off, and the time of perfect summer sleeping has arrived.
Monday after dinner the Great Swatch-a-thon began… because yes, my yarn for a new Ranunculus has arrived and I feel some urgency to get it done… hopefully before the next AC Deep Freeze installment arrives!
Swatch One, while lovely, was not a gauge winner…
I began swatching with Farmers Daughter Fiber’s Oh, Dang! (a Suri Alpaca and Silk blend… oh my!) held with Foxy Lady a SW Merino/Silk single. The Suri Alpaca/Silk has a bit more grist than a mohair/silk blend and while I was knitting the swatch with them held double I wondered what the Oh, Dang! would do held by itself so I made two swatches (and for the inquiring minds… it was the color way name that got me: Anne of Green Gables…) Tuesday morning I gave the swatches a good soak and gently laid them to dry. No pinning, no stretching… I just laid them on a towel to dry. Once the swatches dried I knew I had my answer… Oh, Dang! all by itself! First, I got gauge… and the fabric is amazing. The swatch with the yarns held double did not even get close to gauge. Sigh. But I cast on and am in the bit of short row shaping and enjoying knitting with the Suri Alpaca tremendously and I am wondering just how quickly this might knit up! (The bit I have knit was completed in a single episode of Grantchester!)
Swatch two… the winner!
I finished Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose and thought it was okay. It did drag a bit for me at times, but other parts were absolutely fascinating. Of course, there is a lot of religion, it takes place in a Benedictine Monastery after all! The year is 1327 and, of course, there are rumors of heresy. Brother William is dispatched to determine the heretical culprit(s) and suddenly the monks are dropping dead in the most bizarre ways! Despite it dragging a bit in parts and one very, very weird dream Brother William had… I enjoyed it!
I began my Summer with Toni Morrison with the Bluest Eye, which I began on Monday (and should finish later today!)
How is your June making going?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Jun 10, 2026 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
I have a case of cast-on-itis and it seems that everywhere I look I see something that whispers… come on, knit me… you know you want to! I am doing my best to ignore it and have a bit of “knitting rotation” going to stay focused. So several projects got some attention this week:
Marling is never boring… and this sock just needs to get done!
- I am done with the decreases and am moving down the foot on the long ignored socks – yes, this is still Sock #1… sigh.
- I have made some headway on the Kinu Marled Scarf.
- And I finished another section on Wriley… which puts me at the 16% completion point… hilarious, truly!
I like this rotation very much and it is working because I have not cast anything on! However, the abrupt arrival of summer heat and humidity means the AC has been running full tilt. Sigh. During the week when Steve is at work I turn the AC way up… however, when he is home it is like living in a blast freezer. I need a sweater and this issue points out the gap in my summer wardrobe. Years ago I had knit a couple of linen Ranunculus sweaters but the linen (Quince & Co Kestrel) did not wear well at all. Sadly, both sweaters have gone beyond the “repair” stage and are unwearable. But the fabric of the Ranunculus is really the perfect summer layer. One would think with a stash the size of my stash I would be able to find something that would work but I just don’t have enough of anything. I remedied that and ordered some yarn and am waiting for it to arrive. Thankfully, it is a really quick knit!
The other things that have been knocking around my brain is this vest and this vest… and I do have enough yarn to cast this on the striped vest but I am holding off until I can get those socks done! And for Mercedes, I have some yarn in my stash that might work… I just need to do some swatching to see if it actually will work! I have never knit a CocoKnits pattern but I have looked at the instructions and they are quite detailed instructions plus there are videos for several bits. (PLUS there is a row by row worksheet you fill in for the size you are knitting which seems really genius!)
Twenty days in and the first half is almost done. I just have some embellishment to add to the bottom herringbone stitches!
AC Stitching is continuing to delight… I have been reading and contemplating the stitch patterns laid out in The Geometry of Hand Stitching. So many ideas… good thing I have more stripes to experiment on! I am not making each side a mirror image but rather using both sides as a true AC Sampler… trying out a plethora of stitch combinations!
The reading is penultimate summer reading… I have departed for Mystery Land and it is perfection! I am currently reading Ann Cleeves latest in the DI Matthew Venn series, The Dying Light. And I picked up a copy of Anthony Horowitz’ A Deadly Episode when I was in Erie in May. I have been reading a chapter or two with lunch each afternoon. It is the thing that is most reminding me of past summer reading… lost in a book while eating a meal. And, if that was not enough, I am listening to Umberto Uno’s The Name of the Rose… a mystery that takes place in a monastery! All so good! Anyways it is fun to be working to solve mysteries again!
What about you? Are you itching to cast on something new? Is there a pattern that caught your eye recently? And what about your reading… what summer reading are you doing?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Jun 8, 2026 | General, In This Moment
Hello dear friends and Happy Monday!
Today I am sharing three things that have lifted my spirits recently and lord knows… we all could use a LOT more of that!
Lift Number One:
Entirely by chance, I discovered a new podcast recently… which has led me down the rabbit hole of Toni Morrison! I have read very little one of Ms. Morrison’s works but this podcast has spurred me on to read more of what she has written. I think making this summer the Summer with Toni Morrison could be a very good idea! I have a few things I am currently reading to finish up and then I am clearing the decks to read some of her work. Perhaps you have read Toni Morrison… I think you will find the podcast discussions fascinating. Or maybe, like me, you have very little knowledge of how amazing a writer Morrison was… the podcast is a great starting point to Morrison’s writing! (And I am on the waitlist for Serpell’s new book, On Morrison!)
Lift Number Two:
The NYTimes has a bit of a Summer Challenge going over the next four weeks and I will be sharing each week’s update with you all here. Week One: Get Outdoors! I really love this bit: put your phone down and just go outside for 20 minutes each day! I go outside frequently but rarely do I head out without my phone but I will be doing that at least once on my treks outside. I hope you will join me in putting down the technology and just being in the out of doors… even if (or especially since) summer decided to arrive with all the heat and humidity in full force over the weekend.
Lift Number Three:
I don’t know about you, but I have been entirely dreading any thoughts of celebrating July 4th… My thoughts have been focused on this: What on earth is there to celebrate? Leave it to Heather Cox Richardson for bringing a tiny celebration… yes, one that you need technology for but the celebrations are short and sweet! (I have been queuing them up to play once a week as a companion while I wash dishes… I listen versus watch!) Week One in 250 to 250 is here and Week Two is here. (these are all on YouTube if that is easier for you) I like the idea of highlighting the people that have made this nation what it is versus the nation itself. (I find the nation entirely flawed right now… perhaps it always has been… I don’t know but that is a conversation for another post!) Anyways, I have been enjoying these tiny bites into the people, places, and animals… (yes, there is a bit on Man O’ War) who make up the fabric of America!
And there you have it, gentle friends… some “things” to give your week a lift! See you all back here on Wednesday!
