by Kat | Apr 3, 2025 | General, Poetry
Welcome to National Poetry Month!
And once again, I am joining with Kym, Bonny, Sarah, and sending a huge welcome to Vera who is joining us this year! We will all be sharing some poetry on Thursday’s this month!
This week our focus is on poems that bring hope (because we all could use an extra ration of hope these day, right?)
My choice to share today comes from a Pennsylvanian poet, Barbara Crooker. Lots of her poems are filled with hope, but the one I have chosen is Promise. It was especially meaning for me this week as those first little dandelions began to bloom in my backyard!
Promise
by Barbara Crooker
This day is an open road
stretching out before you.
Roll down the windows.
Step into your life, as if it were a fast car.
Even in industrial parks,
trees are covered with white blossoms,
festive as brides, and the air is soft
as a well-washed shirt on your arms.
The grass has turned implausibly green.
Tomorrow, the world will begin again,
another fresh start. The blue sky stretches,
shakes out its tent of light. Even dandelions glitter
in the lawn, a handful of golden change.
Promise © 2005 Barbara Crooker.
You can read more about Barbara here on her website.
Make sure you visit Bonny today to find a bit more hope for your day!
And that is it for me this week! I will be back on Monday!
Header photo by photokip.com
by Kat | Apr 2, 2025 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unravelers and Happy April to you all!
I hope that you are not sick of hearing from me because I will be back tomorrow with another post this week! I know… we live in crazy times if I am blogging for four days in a row! But April brings National Poetry Month and I am so happy to have a month where the focus is all about poetry! It is the constant in my days that is as necessary as breathing for me!
My new favorite knit!
I promised you last week that I would share my finished vest… and so I am, albeit not in the manner in which I had hoped. What I can tell you is that this vest fits magnificently (even though the armholes are a bit big.) There is a reason behind those bigger armholes… it is because my row gauge was not the same as the designer. I knew this would be an issue, but I needed to knit the garment to know where to make changes to get a more tidy armhole. However, this looser armhole works beautifully with a fuller sleeved shirt underneath! I have been wearing the heck out of this vest and I absolutely love it! And yes, I have swatched for another one but won’t be casting on until I finish my current under construction vest.
I love everything about this vest…the relaxed shoulders, the tidy neckline, and the absolute perfect length!
As you can see, I have made the tiniest bit of headway on the color work vest! I am on to my third repeat with just one more row of swirls to go before the “great divide” and the challenge of “flat fair isle” begins. I am not looking forward to that portion, just saying.
By next week, I hope to have all my stitching caught up and will be able to share March and the latest pages for my 100 day project.
The reading this week though has been spectacular!! I finished Daryl Gregory’s When We Were Real and I really liked it! It takes place some time in the future… after we have been told that we are living in a simulation and we are all just a series of 1’s and 0’s… but this book is really just one wild ride! There is mystery. There is action! And there were surprises I did NOT see coming! The story is compelling and the last half I really had trouble putting it down! It ended a bit curiously… which makes me wonder if there is another book coming? (Dare I hope?) This was a very solid 4-star book! (My only issue with it was the beginning and the onslaught of characters to remember!)
I also finished listening to the third installment in the Marlow Murder Club series by Robert Thorogood: The Queen of Poison’s. It was fantastic! This series has gotten better with each book but the character development really took off in The Queen of Poison’s. I laughed out loud more than once (I absolutely LOVE Judith!!) And the twists at the end were awesome! A solid 5-star read and I can hardly wait for the next book!
I also finished Ilya Kaminsky’s Deaf Republic. Oh my heavens. The poems are brilliant… they are interconnected… they tell a story… and they are so timely for right now! I read through the book not once, not twice, but three times and, honestly, I could sit down right now and read it again! I have put Deaf Republic on my “if you need to get me a gift this year” list!
Now, thanks to a bit of a shipping error by those lovely folks at MDK, I have an extra copy of the latest Field Guide (No. 29: Mosaic) The patterns are just stunning and timeless! If you would like the extra copy, I would be happy to send it on to you! Just let me know! (and if more than one of you want it, I will put your names in a “hat” and pick a winner!)
That’s it for me… I need to get stitching! What has percolated to the top of your making list?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Apr 1, 2025 | General, Welcome
Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil.
– Bishop Reginald Heber
Hello dear April and welcome!
What a glorious month April is… one that ushers in the return of many things and new beginnings of others! Yes, it is a month where the outdoors beckons with days of milder weather as we transition from the “not much is growing” phase to “everything, everywhere all at once”! And I love it!
This month my “to do” list is entirely empty… as I “vaguely” talked about yesterday… I am having some health issues…specifically stomach issues and I got the phone call from the next doctor’s scheduler (yes, this is the third doctor I am seeing for this!) Yay for getting that call, but I cannot have the test until mid-August. But at least that means that we can go to Erie later this month… I figured that we would have to take a pass on that trip so maybe that is a bit of a silver lining in all this. Of course, my swallowing issue has not improved… sigh.
What I really need to focus on is catching my stitching up at a time when my brain is very unfocused. But, I sat quietly through Suzan Colón’s MedKNITation class on Friday… and while I did not learn anything new, I was reminded of many things as I sat listening to her guide us through some meditation. Her voice is the most calming, soothing voice ever… and for that hour and a half I was able to allow my mind to just focus on her voice. I am going to open the Calm app and listen to some meditations as I catch up my stitching. And once March is done, I will get April traced onto my cloth and get going on it!
The other thing that needs a tiny bit of focus is some errant weeding in my garden beds… which if I do soon, will be over and done with in short order! Then I can schedule a mulch delivery!!
So, dear April, I am hoping you do not race by like March did and that you take your time before giving way to May!
I will be back again tomorrow with some Unraveling!
Header photo by Christina & Peter
by Kat | Mar 31, 2025 | General, Words
I would like to welcome you all to the monthly check in with our words! And I am hoping that you all had the best month with your word! At the end of this post you will find the link up to share your post!
Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge. — Eckhart Tolle
This quote very much sums up my month with Yutori. It has been a month of changes… and so many questions. From simple questions like: Why can’t I keep my desk clean? to more difficult questions like: Why am I experiencing health issues?
Most definitely “my plans” for the month were tossed out the window early and “life’s plans” took over and dragged me along for the ride (and yes, sometimes that included me kicking and screaming!)
It has been a month where each step finds a new hurdle… and I am not a very good “jumper” of hurdles. I am more the go around the hurdle in the avoidance method but these are ones that cannot be ignored. Sigh.
Somewhere last week, I lost entirely all my “making mojo” and as such I am severely behind on my days of stitching and the 100 Day Stitch Book. I have not picked up my knitting in the same amount of time… I just don’t have the brain-bandwidth right now to focus. So I pulled out an old project… the mitered square ‘blanket’ and surprisingly… and it felt exactly right for me in this moment. The simple knitting of a small square block, building on the blocks before it is reminding me that this knitting… like life… progresses in much the same way… one bit built on all the other bits. The perfect reminder of how my new hurdles need to be addressed… one bit at a time.
One block after another… comfort knitting, FTW!
In the chaos of this month, I also revisited my dear friend, Rilke. I needed his assurance to “live the onslaught of questions” and in reading Rilke, I found some new tidbits that have been easing my days:
“Let life happen to you. Believe me: life is in the right, always.”
and
“The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens.”
And so I am reminded that navigating hurdles, exasperation at messy desks, and the loss of making mojo are the stuff of life. And that stuff of life … and the things to come… are already taking up their spaces, both physical and mental and what I need to do is simply believe in the process. And perhaps allow myself more space to sit quietly and just be with myself.
Header photo by Akil Mazumder
If you wrote a post about how your word showed up for you this month, please leave your link below. It will be open until next Sunday, April 6 to accommodate you for whenever you want to post about your word!
by Kat | Mar 26, 2025 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unravelers,
This post finds us at the last Wednesday of March… and I am wondering where did the month go? It does not seem possible that the month is almost over but the calendar tells me that next week is April!
I do indeed have a finished vest that I have worn A Lot! However, I don’t have any pictures to share… yet. Maybe next week… but I can share that it fits beautifully and I will absolutely knitting this pattern again. It is well written and beautifully constructed! I have plans for a “summer” vest out of Holst Coast, and I hope to get swatching soon-ish.
In the mean time, I did cast on for this vest. It has been too long since I have done any color work so I am having a bit of fun knitting these swirls!
My main excitement this week was the return of Mark Rylance and Wolf Hall on PBS! I am ignoring the fact that all the episodes are available via Passport on the PBS app and will ration them one a week to prolong my delight!
The reading has been so interesting as well, I am listening to Elizabeth DeLozier’s Eleanor of Avignon. I am immersed in the 1300’s and enjoying it… well, if one could say they are enjoying the plague! On my Kindle app, I am reading an advanced read copy of Daryl Gregory’s When We Were Real. I am about halfway through and I am not sure that I like the book, but it is certainly original! Oh, and there is a bit of a mystery… which is the thing keeping me reading! Ha! And, I am slowly savoring Robert Macfarlane’s The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot. It is the best escape book… meandering along with Robert as he walks about England… not a bad way to spend one’s time!
That is all I have for this week… what are you having fun making this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Mar 24, 2025 | General, In This Moment
When a reader enters the pages of a book of poetry, he or she enters a world where dreams transform the past into knowledge made applicable to the present, and where visions shape the present into extraordinary possibilities for the future.
― Aberjhani, Collected Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black
I went to The Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall on Saturday for their World Poetry Day event. Carnegie, PA is quite the melting pot of cultures, but I did not realize it was even more diverse than I knew! Every person who participated in the World Poetry Day event now lives in Carnegie!
I listened to members of the Carnegie community read poems in their native languages and in English. I learned about Arabic, Urdu, Tamil, Ukrainian, and Bengali poets… and it was fascinating! I also listened to students from the local school read their original poems. They were brilliant and so inspiring! Hearing each reader speak about why poetry is so important to their lives… a good reminder that poetry is the common denominator in all cultures… the thread that draws us together! It was certainly true on Saturday as we listened, learned, and enjoyed poems from all over the world!
On Sunday, I spent some a lot of time Googling the international poets to find more about them…talk about rabbit holes! I have a bit of a list of books to try and find. I am hoping that the library will have some but I have not looked yet.
I also finished my little series of watercolors on Sunday. This was so much fun! Of course, I like some better than others… but even in those I felt I could have done better… there are still elements in those paintings that I like! A small scrap of paper, three water colors, and my imagination… a very fun combination and there will absolutely be more of this as the year goes on!
2/8 is going to make putting these someplace permanent challenging! Note to self: decide on an orientation and stick to it!
I would say that my favorite thing right now are painting rocks, but I surprised myself with the jar of daffodils on my desk!
Now for the reminder… Next Monday, March 31st, will be our Word Check In for March! I will have my post up bright and early next Monday and the link up will be open through the following Sunday, so if Monday’s are not your usual blog day you can join us on your schedule during the week! I hope your month with your word has provided some surprises and I can’t wait to read about what you learned and/or did with your word this month!
See you all back here on Wednesday!
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