by Kat | 5 days ago | General, Unraveled Wednesday
I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world.
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God
Greetings dearest Unravelers and Happy Rilke’s Birthday! That’s right, 149 years ago my beloved Rilke was born! His wisdom and poetry have stood well to time. I find him so very relevant to my life… he reminds me that in the bad times… keep going, because they won’t last forever. I have been reading Rilke a lot recently and of all of the “quotes” I have written down or underlined and saved… this quote is my favorite. And it works so well for today for all of us Unravelers! I feel like this corner of the internet has reached out to the best parts of the world. I am so very glad that our circles have touched as we share what we are making, what books we are reading, and perhaps even the tiniest glimpse into our lives.
I have begun the slow making of December and it makes me happy. Yesterday, after Franklin’s shot, I was able to get my yarn wound and I even could get cast on and knit a few rows! I don’t think I have given anything away with my knitting either… but I have roughly 20 more rows to go to finish the first clue.
The other thing I must do this month is to do a bit of catch up on stitching. I have November’s stitching to finish as well as my Autumn stitch book. I began re-watching Wolf Hall Monday night in preparation for The Mirror and The Light coming next March! I will use this time to sit and stitch. After dinner Frankie is more than ready for bed… so he loves to curl up next to me on the sofa and sleep… completely uninterested in anything I am doing. The perfect catch up stitch time! Ha!
I managed to finish two books since we last spoke! I listened to Richard Osman’s new novel, We Solve Murders. It is read by Nicola Walker… and she is magnificent! The book was not bad either! I liked how the mystery unfolded (who is Francois Lubet?? And all my guesses were wrong!) and I really like the new mystery solving duo… Steve and Amy Wheeler! I am eagerly awaiting more books in this series! It is fun… there are some very current things utilized in this mystery!
I also finished The Serviceberry… the extended version… by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I had first listened to the serviceberry essay on Emergence Magazine. I loved this extended version and RWK pokes at the “consumer society” in good ways. (I really feel like I need to watch “Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy” on Netflix… it feels like it would be a good companion to what RWK is trying to tell us in The Serviceberry.) I listened to RWK read it and I highly recommend consuming it that way!
That is my sum total since we last met! What about you? What are you working on… or trying to work on?!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
Two post scripts for you:
- There is a Rilke talk this Sunday, December 8, online. Hosted by Mark S. Burrows with Pádraig Ó Tuama and Krista Tippet. You can find all the details here. (and it is free!)
- And… three weeks from today is Christmas. You are welcome.
by Kat | Nov 27, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unravelers!
In a week when most of the making is likely happening in the kitchen… I do have a spot of actual knitting content to share!
With a blast of wintry weather heading our way, I knew that wee Franklin would need a bigger sweater to stay warm! He is still growing in his winter coat and has a long way to go. I pulled out some handspun yarn and cast on. I used this pattern but I modified it significantly. I wanted this sweater to have some “room to grow” and I think I achieved that! The problem with knitting a sweater “bigger than the pup” is that they don’t stay on as well but I think my “neck work around” works well, it is nice and snuggly and does not slide down his shoulders! I knit 6 rounds of ribbing, knit a “fold” purl row, and then 6 more ribbing rounds. I then joined the live stitches to the cast on edge (yay 3-needle join!) and then started the chest increases. AND!! While doing that, I worked in an opening for his harness so the sweater can go over the harness! (another brilliant way to help a sweater that is a bit big to fit!) I matched the “legs” to the neckline… giving them a nice double layer of fabric to cozy up his bare little armpits! It was absolutely not as quick as that first sweater, but I think this one will get him through some months and as you can see… he has room to grow!
One woolly sweater for a not yet furry boy!
This week I also felt that I had enough “brain bandwidth” to follow a Gnome Pattern… yes, I started the marled gnome! As you can see, I have the hat done and the body is underway.
I reached the halfway point in my Color Changing Marled Scarf, but it does not look much different from last week, so I have no photo.
I have been mostly listening to books again this week but I happily stumbled upon some things to watch and wanted to share them with you all.
First, FX (although, I watched it on Hulu) has a series on Patrick Redden Keefe’s Say Nothing. I thought the book was very good and this series equals that. It is brilliantly done and I very much recommend it.
The other book-to-television series was found on Amazon Prime… yes, there is a BBC series on Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life. Now this is one of the best books I have ever read. It is a book I *still* think about and I was skeptical about how one could translate the brilliance of the story to a series to be streamed. Well, the BBC did it brilliantly and if you are looking for something to watch over the holiday weekend, I highly recommend it!
Now, I have a pumpkin pie to bake! I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and I will see you all back here on Friday.
If you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Nov 20, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Gentle Unraveler’s and Happy Wednesday!
First, I apologize for the low light photo… it was a rainy day with little to no light here. But we desperately need the rain, so I am not complaining.
There has been a bit of making this week… thank goodness! As you can see, I have made some progress on the Marling Scarf and with each slight color change, I am loving it even more. My motivation is the wonder at what the next color will bring… and so I press on with these methodical knits and purls. I have shifted away from my first “constant” color as I meander my way back through the micro-swatches and the delight of never changing more than one color is just magical to me. One color can be a dramatic change… or the subtlest. I have roughly nine color changes to go to completion… which is still a lot of knitting!
I also took one afternoon when you know who was napping and set up my calendar pages through the end of the year. It feels good to at least have my calendar set up… even if not much is getting done.
Mornings are an especially rough time for Frankie… he has all the pent up energy from having slept (most of) the night. So my morning time has been non-existent… although I am trying to write this post while keeping him occupied with an array of toys. The “teething” bone is the winner most days but even with that he has a short attention span. So forgive me if this post seems a bit disconnected!
I did manage to finish some books this week! AND!! I also caught myself up with book reviews… I am such a slacker! I am currently listening to Louise Erdrich’s latest novel, The Mighty Red and loving it! At night I can’t seem to keep my eyes open past a sentence or two but hopefully these middle of the night trips outside will be over soon!
What about you? What are you focused on this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Nov 13, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Gentle Unraveler’s and Happy (??) Wednesday.
This is our time to gather to share our making and reading. This week the thing that is most unraveled is me… and I am in the process of rewinding myself. This week is slightly better than last week when I really felt like a giant pile of “kinked” yarn all over the floor. I have begun the slow process of picking myself up and slowly winding so that I can carry on.
Local life has not helped my unraveled feelings. This nonsense happened on Veteran’s Day… and, sadly, several schools in our area have had students who were the recipients of racist text messages. I am working on resetting my thought process about the differences between being “in community” versus living in a community. One is a good thing, the other can be a freaking nightmare. I am also very stuck on the 53%… that damned 53%.
Franklin, on his way home from the vet… he is 15 weeks and 10 lbs and is a very healthy boy!
The thing that is helping me the most (after Wee Franklin, that is) is some very mindful things… like a brilliant sequence of knits and purls. I have added in the 5th color change and I am delightfully happy that this project has been patiently waiting for me. It is just enough thinking – I have to pay attention to knit and purl patterns – but no pattern to read or think about. It is so meditative… especially with Franklin curled up sleeping next to me.
Simple knitting is exactly what I need right now.
The other thing that has garnered my attention is Imagined Landscape’s “November Gnome” pseudo knit along. So over the course of a week, I have sat down after dinner and wound a skein of yarn. The pattern had a “marled” suggestion… and that just really made sense to me. Holding two yarns together will also make a bit of a bigger gnome… which also fit well. I have been looking at poor Gnock sitting alone on the mantel… I hear whispers of him wishing for a quiet companion. I am not sure I am quite ready to cast on… but the yarn is all wound and ready to go… now to just get my brain to the point of being ready to read a pattern!
Hand winding yarn is the most calming exercise…
And so… reading this week has been sparse. I am struggling to focus on the words on the page. For bits of time each morning though, I have sat with Jane Cooper as she regales me with her Lost Flock. It almost feels like I am sitting across from her as she shares about life on Orkney with her Boreray sheep. The book is truly a slice of perfection… and as a lover of all things wool… I really want to get some yarn from St. Kilda and knit something with it!
And there you have my very unraveled thoughts this week. My big question is this… how are you all doing?
As always, if you managed to string your thoughts together this week please leave a link to your post below and thank you!
I will try and be back again on Friday.
by Kat | Nov 6, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unraveler’s and what the actual eff…
I had a very different beginning that I changed at roughly 1:30AM. I confess to being more than a bit dumbfounded and truly disgusted at what looks like the outcome yesterday. I will post this but honestly everything I wrote below rings hollow to me.
Read on or don’t…but please take care of yourselves and your loved ones in the coming days.
So how about I try and distract you all with my minute making this week…I have managed a few rounds on October Sock One and surprised myself with getting the heel completed!
Yes. My knitting has absolutely taken a back seat right now and I have come to the realization that I will not get two more pairs of socks done this year… and I am very okay with that because the battle of knitting vs. Franklin is not even a contest! I am entirely in love with him and he brings the perfect hilarity to my days. He has learned that he gets a treat after he goes potty outside. It is hilarious… and he now thinks he can fool me into giving him a treat for a random trip outside with no “productivity!” Sorry, Frankie… no potty, no treat!
I do have some hope of future knitting… I ordered a yarn kit for the December Mystery Gnome and I am very excited for that pace. A spot of knitting here, a bit of delight there, and I love how Sarah gradually unfolds the Mystery Gnome’s story… the exact pace I need right now..
I also did a bit of “BandWagon Jumping with The Thing that Ann and Kay unveiled last week. And because I am trying a “new-to-me” journal this year (I am giving the Hobonichi Weeks MEGA a try) I thought it might be a good idea to sign up for Felix Ford’s Bullet Journaling class. The idea that I might learn something new and helpful is exciting to me!
The reading remains slow as well, I finished Sandwich, which I know many of you loved, but I did not like it much… and that is okay because I started Ta-Nehisi Coates The Message and wow. His writing is just so… perfect. I am about halfway through and I am savoring it.
Now, I am hoping to be dazzled by all your making and reading!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Oct 30, 2024 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Gentle Unravelers!
It has been a week with not much making at all. I have not knit a stitch at all, despite putting knitting as a goal for this week, why? Because it provides a good mental health break!
I have managed to stitch a solitary leaf at the end of the day! Autumn book pages have gone by the wayside. I have yet to start this weeks page… I have an idea of what I want to do…time and Franklin are the deterrents to that! at all.
Franklin thinks he can walk himself! The sweater fits… now. His harness does not, but he is a growing boy so I’d better find some knitting time ASAP!
Pre-Franklin I did paint a pumpkin that I like very much.
This is going to be my inspiration for this week’s page…
Also, pre-Franklin, I made a couple of tweaks to Gnock. I started with arms as he sat, solitary, on the mantle. Soon after his cap got a great big tassel!! It occurred to me that he is the OG introvert. He prefers his own company and is an avid reader (cozy mysteries FTW!) I also considered he also likely does some kind of puzzle… and lo and behold, I discovered that Sudoku was originally called Gnumber Place! A gnome-ish activity for a shy gnome! I have yet to make a Gnumber Place book, but trust that one is coming! He needs a pencil stuck in his hat and I think he is a pipe smoker so I need to knit an acorn cap. Knitting right now though is not the top of my list… Franklin is very “yarn and needles obsessed.” But Gnock has a start… and he has a plan… and now I just need to have a bit of time open up in my day.
I have done some reading… thanks to audiobooks (which are great companions for dark o’clock trips outdoors!!) I finished John Boyne’s latest book, All the Broken Places. This book is a sort of continuation of The Boy in Striped Pajama’s (it is actually listed as Book 2) but it is a very beautiful look at two separate timelines for Gretel’s life. As always, Boyne’s writing is really so beautiful (and though he wrote this during the pandemic, it is not a pandemic book!!) It is really a story about forgiveness of self… which is never an easy thing to do. And it is about facing one’s past… a past that has very much impacted Gretel’s life even though she was not an active participant. I loved this book as much as I loved The Boy in Striped Pajama’s. If you like Boyne’s writing, you will enjoy this book!
I also finished Ali Smith’s soon-to-be-published Gliff. I loved it. Ali Smith is a master at making a person think and she has a way of looking at what is going on currently and working it into a story (Brave New World, if you are wondering) masterfully! Gliff is the first book of a two book series and I can’t wait for the next book to be out! (I still have to write the review of this, but I have not gotten around to that yet!)
I can say with all confidence that I won’t be back again this week. I hope to post on Monday and again next Wednesday.
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
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