Karen

About Karen

Posts by Karen Kaminski:

Oops, I Did It Again

By in sewing

Oops, I bought fabric for a statement coat again, even though I have a closet full of made ones and a shelf full of potentials. But just LOOK at it! It is deadstock poly twill, from the Italian print house Ratti, and it has the FIERCEST tigers on it:
(Can you see the house tiger on the left?)

What will I make? It’s listed as “trench coat fabric” but I don’t want to break up the pattern with a princess seamed, double breasted classic trench. I have my eye on this mackintosh from Daughter Judy Patterns, which has some elegant details:

It hasn’t rained here in…weeks? months? so I’m not sure how much use a rain coat/mac coat will get, but I will find excuses to wear those tigers.

Colors!

By in nature

We went up a different canyon yesterday (along with the rest of the valley) to get some time in the aspens, and they didn’t disappoint:

This was a short hike but had a lot of vertical gain and wow, I am out of condition–I’m still going to the gym but we’ve done a lot more “sitting by the river” than “climbing a mountain” lately.  Seeing the colors kicked my ass for the rest of the day!

Friday Links

By in Friday Unrelated Information 1 Comment

1. Let’s hear it for freelance life again: Yesterday I took a lampworked glass bead making class (!) in the middle of the day (!!) with my friends, at the jewelry studio here. I am not suuuuper comfortable with gas powered flames but this was a great way to get more so–and I made all these beads!

 

2.If you can’t go make beads in the middle of the work day, you can at least put your wax-wrapped cheese to good use:

 

3. And a reminder from Maybell Eequay, whatever your hobbies are:

“Buy My Stuff!”

By in hire me

It was beyond time for a better portfolio site, so I took some time the first few weeks of freelance and made one. I used Squarespace and it was astonishingly easy–cool templates, drag and drop design, mobile-ready, super simple to publish with a custom domain. (This is not an ad, I was just really impressed.)

Anyway, I have words on the internet about my work, so check it out if you need a freelance editor/writer/creative type: www.karen-kaminski.com. And no, I cannot think about selling things without thinking about the Precious Roy segment on the Sifly and Olly show from 1996:

“I’m Precious Roy! Buy my words!”

Wednesday Poem

By in poems

I almost typed “Thursday”–it’s really hard to tell what day it is this week, anyone else?–but this is a good (recent) one from Jane Hirshfieled.

 

My Species

even
a small purple artichoke
boiled
in its own bittered
and darkening
waters
grows tender,
grows tender and sweet

patience, I think,
my species

keep testing the spiny leaves

the spiny heart

Tuesday Project Roundup: Quilt In The Wild

By in sewing, Tuesday Project Roundup

Instagram has a whole hashtag of “quilts in the wild,” which is exactly what it sounds like: people showing off their finished quilt in a beautiful natural setting. So of course I dragged Doc up to the top of Millcreek after I finished hand sewing the binding on my little log cabin throw.

This is my first real quilt (not quilted coat) in over a decade and it was much more fun than I remember the last two being. I used 2.5″ strips to make log cabin blocks until I thought it was big enough and tried to not buy too much new fabric for it–I’d say it worked out to be 70% stash, 30% new. (I used leftover strips to piece the binding on the straight grain and an old sheet for the backing, too.)

This has been very thoroughly blogged so please enjoy more nearly-identical pictures of me holding up a quilt in the mountains (and Doc’s location sense):

OK bye! Until the next quilt!

Sassy Cat

By in Toby

Two out of the three of us had a quiet weekend: I was recovering from a COVID booster and Doc was doing prep for a colonoscopy/endoscopy (and hopefully the end of the Summer of Poop).

But Toby is feeling better–after six months!–and gave us an array of meows and trips upstairs and demands for food and Sassy Looks while we sat on the couch:

Friday Links

By in Friday Unrelated Information

…the links are mostly pictures today, but that’s ok too.

1. So accurate this month:

2. This gave me an instant serotonin boost:

3. The “Wow!” kills me:

Productivity With The Seasons

By in Uncategorized

Via an Austin Kleon newsletter, here is writer Matt Thomas talking about throwing away the idea of a daily routine for a seasonal one, and mapping out a year of habits and goals rather than just focusing on the day-to-day.

Fall is a time to write for me as well, but it also means welcoming—rather than fighting against—the shorter days, the football games, the decorative gourds…Come summer, I’ll feel less stress about stopping work early to go to a barbecue or movie because I know, come autumn, I’ll be hunkering down. More and more, I try to live in harmony with the seasons, not the clock. The result has been I’m able to prioritize better.

 

Freelance Life!

By in Uncategorized

This is why I quit my job: So that when friends are in town and we talk the day before about going to the hot springs on a Tuesday afternoon, I can…just go to the hot springs on a Tuesday!

I introduced a couple more people to Maple Grove and truly, fall is the best time for it–golden light, fall colors, the river not-too-cold, the hot springs not-too-hot.

Maybe every Tuesday afternoon should be an adventure day in my new freelance life!

«< 3 4 5 6 7 >»