by Kat | Sep 2, 2025 | General, Welcome
September showed up right on schedule, and lasted a whole month.
— Jenny Wingfield
Hello September… right on time again!
I am old enough to remember when September was my least favorite month. Sad endings and beginnings… The end of summer reading and the beginning of school… sigh. It is almost comical how having children changes ones point of view… back to school might not such a bad thing after all! I am thankful to say that my children enjoyed the return to school… for the most part and we were a reading household… no one ever complained in my house if someone was reading!
I have come to love September for its incredible light… the days of long shadows are delightful. And though we have had a spate of crisp, chilly mornings… I know that there will be plenty of warm sunny days to be outdoors appreciating those long shadows!
I don’t have a long list of things I want to accomplish this month… or perhaps it is better described as a not very varied list because there is a good amount of knitting! I figured out the key twist to success for those first and last sheep… and I am so happy with the results (more on that tomorrow!) But here is my list:
- Knit two more sheep-y baby sweaters!
- Begin the last blanket (I am not foolish enough to imagine it will be knit this month!)
- Learn about Ladderback Jacquard knitting!
- Finish Heidi’s counted cross stitch!
And there you have my hopes for September! What about you… what do you hope September holds for you?
I will see you all back here tomorrow!
by Kat | Jun 2, 2025 | General, Welcome
What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade. — Gertrude Jekyll
This is such a perfect explanation of June… fresh, green, and yes… young. The green of June is not the green of July or August … and it is a good invitation to immerse yourself into it!
When I look back to May (there was no welcome post) and think about how May began… re-entry to a deep refrigerator/freezer clean out thanks to a days long power outage. Being thankful that we just lost so little when so many others lost so much more. And all the May rain (we got nearly six inches of rain in May in the south hills of Pittsburgh!) And cold! Friends, I have not put away my winter coat yet and yes, I am wearing it more than I’d likel! All those cold rainy days made the end of May seem endless but here we are welcoming June… finally! (and dare I even hope for a bit of warmth? I do… but I am sure that will come back to bite me… I need to remind myself of this wish for warmer days when it is 90°F and the AC is running non-stop! Ha!)
But all aside… I am focusing on June and this month, I want to spend as much time as I can immersed in the “fresh young beauty” of June!
I need to find a good rhythm with Pilates… honestly, it is not the first thing on my mind most days and suddenly it is late afternoon and I have yet to even look at my mat! My hope is that this practice will become as special as my daily stitching is…
Happily, hand stitching is certain to remain a focus… I traced June onto my whole cloth and have begun. I also have a delightful plan for my stitched scroll and I am so excited about how this will all play out! And I took the Natalie Chanin class that MDK offered last week… it included a good sized pieces of fabric (stenciled and plain) and her new stitch book. Oh. My. Gosh!
Let me say it again… OH. MY. GOSH!!!!
It was a class with all sorts of lightbulbs going off left and right! The book included with the class, The Geometry of Hand-Sewing, has disbursed the cloud of mystery around some of the more mystifying stitches. Because maths… well, geometry really… and these insanely genius grids and it suddenly all clicked for me. I have rewatched the class recording a number of times and I have been working away on my sample swatch… and when I am not working on it, I am thinking about the next stitches I will try! This might be the best Rabbit Hole of the summer!
And I added one more thing to my list late last week when Krista Tippet shared that she is beginning a summer reflection on Hope, Imagination, and Remaking the World through a series of podcasts with accompanying journal prompts. If you’d like to join me, I would welcome the company!
What about you? What do you hope June holds?
Header photo by Efrem Efre
by Kat | Dec 2, 2024 | General, Welcome
It is December, and nobody asked if I was ready. — Sarah Kay
Hello December,
How are you here already?! I mean, I swear it was just July! I know that I might have silently wished for a cool December breeze on one of the many hot July afternoons… but really, it was just a passing thought!
And I for sure was not ready for you to come roaring in like a much colder and incredibly windier version of a March Lion!
I asked all my kids for “lists” … or ideas… early in November. I am still list-less on all fronts so I think a bit of Nagging Mother needs to be released into the Text-World.
Also… of course I did not get all my bulbs in during the mild November days. I still have 50 varied hyacinths to plant. I am hoping for a bit of a warm up this week, but I think nature has other plans for me because our forecast is full of bitterly cold, well below freezing days. Sigh.
Franklin gets his final puppy shots this morning… and I am hoping to get his “snip” surgery scheduled for January. I have also reached the point of really hoping for him to be done having to go out in the middle of the night. Things I did not consider before beginning this Puppy Adventure: Steve’s unwillingness to get up *even on the weekends* with Franklin. I am feeling very depleted…
This December will be the first in my life that I have not put up the Christmas tree. But I really did not want another task to tackle by myself and I think that in this rambunctious stage of puppy life, putting a tree up is inviting disaster. However, we purchased two small birch trees for the mantle that I hope to get “spread out” and incorporated with the fairy lights before this week is over.
AND… the first day without a single digit windchill, I will take Frankie out with me to get the outside lights up!
The ONLY other things on my December list are to savor the joy of Gnome Knitting as Gnana’s story unfolds. And, perhaps more pressing, I do have a bit of “homework” to accomplish before Felix’s BuJo class on the 6th… I need to ask myself the following question: “What DID I do in January?!” The answer is what I need to “get myself started”… I am hoping for a bit of time this week to look back and think about it!
And that is about all the brain bandwidth I have for things I want to accomplish this month. What about you? What do you hope this month holds?
I will be back on Wednesday and I hope you will too!
Header photo by Luna Lovegood
by Kat | Nov 4, 2024 | General, Welcome
The thinnest yellow light of November is more warming and exhilarating than any wine they tell of. The mite which November contributes becomes equal in value to the bounty of July. — Henry David Thoreau
I love November light especially in the early mornings at sunrise, which have been so lovely recently, I just love the glow the sun gives to the trees that still have leaves!
I also enjoy all that November holds in her days: Election Day – tomorrow (if you haven’t voted, please go vote), Veterans Day – next week, and Thanksgiving Day – later this month! These are some of the best parts of November and I will also celebrate a beloved son-in-law’s birthday this month as well.
Those things aside, I do have some things I need to accomplish this month! It is a short list, but that does not mean it will be simple to accomplish!
Lotsa bulbs… oy.
- Plant this box of bulbs. The daffodils and alliums will be the easiest things to get done… but I have 50 grape hyacinth bulbs, which are supposed to bloom over several months, that I want to plant in a “challenging” area in my yard. My hope is that this plethora of hyacinths will fill a dull area with some color once the snowdrops are done!
- Figure out how to get back to my daily painting practice. I have not picked up a brush since Franklin arrived and I miss it terribly.
- Catch up my Autumn Pages… I am woefully behind. Stitching + Franklin might be the greatest challenge of the month, but I know what I want to do! I just need to pull the fabrics and get them cut out and stitched down. My last pages turned out wonderfully but they are still not done!! I need to add some leaves to the “moon tree” and the date and time. Small bits, but I need to figure out a way to work this into the schedule!
October 17th sunset and moonrise were at 6:34PM in Erie, PA
And there you have my November intentions! Wish me luck fulfilling them!
What about you? What do you hope your November holds?
Header photo by Anton Atanasov
by Kat | Oct 4, 2024 | General, Welcome
In October, a maple tree before your window lights up your room like a great lamp. Even on cloudy days, its presence helps to dispel the gloom. — John Burroughs
It is the month I eagerly anticipate all year… my most favorite of all!
Although, it feels very off to be delighting in these days as my neighbors to the south are struggling mightily. But we sent off a donation or two… it seems so inadequate to just send off money but I know that all these donations will make a big difference. And despite the enormity of this disaster, there are bright spots that shine brighter than the trees will… stories of people helping each other. That gives me hope… and I hope it brings hope to those affected as well.
My October List of things is short this month:
- We head to Erie next week (and I am so very ready for it!)
- Then… once our Erie Time has finished, we will go pick up our new puppy!
Perhaps that is exactly how it should be to allow for maximum reveling in October days because just 4 days in and I have been doing LOTS of reveling!! The weather has turned nicely this week. We got some rain (we could use more, but I am not complaining!) and the past couple of mornings have been quite chilly! Yesterday morning, I watched the fog roll in (literally, I could watch it roll down the hills behind our house!) and it was incredible to watch! I have pulled out a couple of lopapeysa’s to wear… and they are the perfect woolly layer! Might a Mr. Heater have been nice? Yes… it would. But I have not “done” anything about making that a reality. (Done, as in tell Steve to order something! Ha!)
After taking August and September off from baking sour dough bread, I feared my starter (which, for those wondering, is nameless) would be dead. Not at all! It just needed a bit of “reviving” and 36 hours later was raring to go so I baked bread yesterday and was happy to have a fresh loaf of bread to go with the tomato soup I made!
Now I am off to do a bit of garden clean up on this amazingly gorgeous morning! Happy October everyone!
See you all back here on Monday!
