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!
by Kat | Jun 1, 2026 | General, In This Moment
Brings a new month…
June is the time for being in the world in new ways, for throwing off the cold and dark spots of life. — Joan D. Chittister
As I tuck May away, I am mourning a bit because it was such an amazing month. But Joan Chittister’s idea on June is so enticing and as I checked this morning… yes, my life definitely has some dark spots… and thinking about the the idea of “being in the world in new ways”… Yes, I believe I am ready to step into June.
I have some new books to ease into the month with! A new poetry book: A Nature Poem for Every Summer Evening that begins today. And so I will shake up my day again… and that change is giving me something to look forward to… a bit of quiet as the day winds down… settling in with a poem. Which I am hopeful will mean some quiet porch time after the day’s busyness is over enjoying the delight that is an early summer evening.
And later this month I will begin Angela Harding’s Summer’s Hum. Her artwork coupled with her words is a delightful pause in a busy day. I will also continue with James Crews Breathing Room, which seems like the perfect analogy for what summer should be… a season of creating breathing room!
The month of May… in stitches.
Of course, stitching continues… five months are done and I am excited to begin June later today.
I love the contrast of the impromptu daily stitching versus this more precise stitching… and when you add in a bead or two, well… it is just the best thing!
And, I am thirteen days and five stripes in to an Alabama Chanin Variegated Stripe scarf. I am working on it as I participate in their 100 Days of Sewing. I am certain that I will have this done well before the 100 Day mark arrives but that is okay. I am having fun contemplating my next stripe! I am quite certain there is nothing that compares to the joy of sewing down a bead or two!
What about you? Are you also a little sad to turn the page on May? What are your plans for June?
I will be back on Wednesday! Happy Monday everyone!
by Kat | May 4, 2026 | General, In This Moment
Hello gentle readers.
I think I am back… at least for the time being. The time away was not empty time but Thinking About All the Things time. All the things… including blogging. And though many things have moved off my life list… somehow blogging made the cut (although, it is very near the bottom of the list.)
I feel I am very much at a crossroads in my life with two forks laying in front of me. Change is never easy and the indecision of which path to choose is weighing heavily on my shoulders as I contemplate them. And so… rather than forge ahead… I have put myself into a bit of a holding pattern for the time being as I contemplate the future.
Worry for my son and his wife has kicked back into high gear again as well. Grief is a miserable bastard and as we near Mother’s Day it seems even more so. I would be ever so grateful if you all could keep them in your thoughts this week.
And now I need to get my Monday moving… I will be back on Wednesday with some finished objects and a new project!
by Kat | Feb 9, 2026 | General, In This Moment
Whew, after a very mild start…we plunged into the deep end of winter. Yes, it has been cold and wintry here in the south hills of Pittsburgh! But as we inch past the half way point, I am finding some uplifting things to bolster my days! Daylight being the best and brightest of all the things!
My early outings with Frankie (not really walks as it has been much too cold to do that, but we do amble about a bit) have a sky that is now a deep indigo rather than being black as night! And this past week, the hints at the coming sunrise have been gorgeous despite the bitterly cold air temps. Now, these have not been wildly colorful sunrises, but beautiful pale pinks and oranges… almost like a watercolor painting in their translucence. And yet they are so fleeting… a moment there and the next gone. A good reminder that though this weather is here today… it too will soon be gone and so I am savoring these wintry days.
And yes, these bitterly cold days have been accompanied by loads of bright sunshine and I love every bit of that! The angle of the sun is perfection right now, it streams in the windows brightening every single room! It is the best thing about this time of year and I will take these cold sunny days over cloudy milder days.
My thoughts were filled this past week with all the bulbs that are tucked away beneath the snowy blanket. At this time last year… (and for most previous years as well) I had snowdrops blooming. We are supposed to have a big warm up this week and I have been thinking that it might be fun to have snowdrops sprouting up with a bit of snow still on the ground!
And speaking of the weather, I have had an idea rambling around in my head for a long time and I think this might be the year for it to step beyond the thinking stage and into reality. So I have been doing some “prep work” since January… charting temperature highs and lows and jotting a note or two about the days weather. A couple of years ago Jo Avery (who is all kinds of inspiring when it comes to temperature textiles) created a book of the temps and weather. I like the idea of making it really just as simple as she did… a small square reflecting the high temp, a circle reflecting the low temp and a few stitches to indicate the weather. Right now I am working on figuring out fabrics… unlike hers (which is measured in Celsius) I will need to have “ranges of temps” in the Fahrenheit scale. Believe me, I have contemplated using Celsius, which would make things much simpler however my expansive knowledge of temperatures on the Celsius scale is limited to 0°C and 100°C. Anyways, I am closer to gathering all the bits… and I hope to begin this shortly after I finish The Great February Bang Out a Sweater-a-thon! (I knit a lot over the weekend and still have miles to go before I get to the sleeve divide but more on that on Wednesday!)
Header photo by Ylanite Koppens and though it has been too cold for any snowman making in my neighborhood, I am hopeful that this week’s warm up will provide the requisite moisture for the snow to hold together and some snowpeople begin popping up!
by Kat | Dec 15, 2025 | General, In This Moment
It’s a bitterly cold winter wonderland out there this morning. (And I mean 3°F bitterly cold) However, the snow is lovely… it is the sparkly snow that shines in the darkness. (and that my friends, is the only positive thing about having to trek out in this bitter cold!)
All the big tasks for the month have mostly been completed… and so today, I will turn my focus to doing some prep work for my 2026 stitching project and the only other thing on my list today is to make a big pot of soup… it is absolutely soup weather today!
Over the weekend I cast on a new sock – not a grief sock but socks that will replenish the pair (or two) that have recently moved to the “unrepairable” bag. And maybe… just maybe… I will make it to the heel turn before Wednesday’s post is up.
I hope you are facing a Monday with a gentle list… see you all back here on Wednesday!
Page 1 of 1412345...10...»Last »
