by Kat | Nov 12, 2025 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unravelers!
I am struggling with how fast the days are racing past… and they are racing by at warp speed! I am certainly not ready for this year to race to a close!
One thing I am happy about is the buttons I found in my beloved Nana’s button box… they are perfect for Odette’s Welcome to the Flock sweater! I am happy with how this little sweater turned out… and I think Heidi will like it as well! When my nana gifted me with her button box, I never imagined that I would be using her buttons for sweaters for her great-great-granddaughters!
I really love the grey sheep and it is as if the buttons were made for it!
This week, I have focused on slowing down and even though the days are not cooperating… my making is the best kind of slow! Some months ago I began the ethereal wrap from the last MDK Field Guide, Mosaic. This project is the best meditation to knitting… ever. The simple rhythm of the slipped stitches interspersed with knits is a wonder. The day just sort of melts away when I sit down with this cloud in my lap. I have reached the longest repeat section and I am delighted by it. I can just slip into a bit of auto-pilot knitting (the pattern is perfectly intuitive) and I wanted to share a bit of a wonder that I discovered on Netflix this week.
The OutfitThe Outfit with the brilliant Mark Ryland! Oh. My. Gosh! The movie is just so good and Mark Ryland perfection! I think if you have Netflix you should queue this up one evening, grab some “auto-pilot” knitting and settle in for a smart story. My love for Mark Ryland is deep and wide… as is his masterful acting in anything I have ever seen him in!
I did finish what will be one of the best books I will read all year (if not THE best!) Kevin Wilson’s latest, Run for the Hills. It was moving, it was funny, it has a PT Cruiser!! It is a story about loss, about family, about love, and about the unexpected! I think this is the best Kevin Wilson novel to date and you should stop everything you are doing and go find this book and read it! It is just that good! I listened and the narration by Marin Ireland is wonderful. It is a book I will be thinking about for a long time! And really… READ THIS BOOK!
That is all from me today! What are you excited about this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you so much for joining us!
by Kat | Nov 10, 2025 | General, In This Moment
Good morning, gentle friends.
I had a plethora of phone calls with my kids over the weekend. The frantic pace of their lives on full display. However, it was Sam who hit the nostalgia buttons… he and his wife were frantically working on decorating for Christmas over the weekend because they now have a deadline. As Sam usually does, he asked about some decorative item… this one the Mr Christmas Santa’s Ski Slope (that stunningly is still for sale!!) was his item of query. He wondered what happened to it… (sadly, it was the victim of a flooded basement) and we talked about his memories of this item.
A brief aside… Sam’s memories were far different than mine… as I recall this contraption, it had “trouble” staying level enough to work effectively… but for Sam this was, apparently, a highlight of his toddlerhood! I had a bit of sticker shock when my son sent a link to it because I am certain I did not pay anywhere near that amount!!
This conversation morphed into other Christmas decorations and I think it might be time to divide up some of the family decorations and ship them off to the kids.
And yes… next week Tuesday is T-Day… i.e. Twin Day!
Happy Monday everyone! I will see you all back here on Wednesday for a bit of Unraveling!
by Kat | Nov 5, 2025 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dearest Unravelers and Happy Wednesday!
Some days, the gratitudes come easy and others… well, I am here to tell you that the struggle is very real those days! Thankfully, today is not one of those days!
One thing I am always grateful for is my daily stitching. Now, I don’t always stitch daily (because life, right?) but this is a project that offers no recriminations about missed days. The last week of October was one of those “missed days” weeks… I knew I wanted to stitch something special to commemorate the day my Heidi had her baby… fortunately, I did not need to wait long! Ha! And after a couple of evenings, I had that last week all stitched in. (It took me a couple of ‘stitch sessions’ to stem stitch Odette… I am a much faster not following the lines stitcher! Ha!) I truly appreciated that Heidi (and Odette) were so accommodating to utilize a “long rectangle” day!
October Stitching… done and dusted!
As you can see, I did fiddle around a bit on the first day of the month with some mosaic embroidery! Oh man! It is fun but that one space took me a long, long time! I absolutely know for 2026 that one “darning” spot per day is the right amount of time… it took me about 15ish minutes to do one color with Perle cotton. I will be testing a bit more with fingering weight yarn to see how that goes.
The other thing that I am profoundly grateful for is knitting. It has saved my sanity more than once since I taught myself to knit almost 40 years ago! I have so close to another finished Welcome to the Flock cardigan! At this writing it is just neck ribbing, front button bands, and buttons away from a finish! Then all that remains will be to give it a bit of a wash and get it in the mail to Heidi and Odette!
Perhaps my deepest and most profound gratitude is the fact that I count myself a reader! (living with someone who is not a reader at all, has shown me just how fortunate I am!) I read every day and I cannot imagine a day without reading. I don’t have any finishes to share with you this week, but I have been immersed in John Boyne’s latest novel, The Elements. Boyne is an incredible writer… and the proof is in this book of four curiously interconnected stories. I am reading the “final element” and am about halfway through. One thing… these four stories have moved me profoundly and this novel will stay with me for a long time!
What about you? What are you making and reading this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
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!
