While trying to figure out when and how — and even, if — I would haul myself back into a regular blogging practice, I have also been re-prioritizing my interior life, purging all kinds of stuff that is no longer of use. The great thing about decluttering is that fresh space appears. A predictable scenario, but thrilling,…
Category: 2013
One Thing I Know for Sure
Thursdays are the new Saturday
Lately I am drawn to Julia Cameron‘s facebook posts, single-line emissions dense with wisdom, as if they hold the The Ultimate Solution. Of course, every single one is fodder for reflection, a catalyst for assessing and reframing, but it was Wendy Thomas’s post about a recent Writers’ Retreat at a Buddhist center that really rocked…
Thank you, Live to Write – Write to Live
I am honored to be a guest blogger today, over on Live to Write – Write to Live. Wendy Thomas and I first met at the annual Friends of the Nashua Public Library book sale, or maybe it was one of our Beyond the Book author soirees. In any case, she was covering the event…
Knitting Adventure with Stephen West’s Rockefeller Shawl
You know my love for geometric, modular, architectural-like knitting, right? We were in the middle of an early summer heat wave when I swooned over the dramatic-looking shawl project on several pairs of needles at my local yarn shop. Thus my introduction to knitwear designer Stephen West and, before I’d taken another breath, I’d committed to knitting…
How to Create a Modern Crafting Bee
I haven’t read the Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House on the Prairie books in decades, but a happy memory that lives on is the image of women crafting, their hands busy with making things both beautiful and useful. The women are seated around a table, enjoying a break from regular routines as they engage in…
When the cheerful need cheering
It was one of those lunch dates that, once the day arrived, I really felt as though I shouldn’t leave my desk. My mind was busy with voices saying fingers should stay on the keyboard, be productive not social, etc. But this was to be an unusual celebration: a friend from one facet of my…
Mitered Crosses Blanket, finished!
I am savoring the satisfaction of checking off an unfinished object from the list, reveling in the sense of completion. I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love the British drama import “Call the Midwife.” I catch up on back episodes on my laptop while chopping mountains of vegetables, now that I’ve re-embraced a…
Playing Dress-Up with DIY Ombre
Welcome to my new bathroom! Thanks to the straightforward DIY instructions in a recent West Elm catalog, walls that were once a neutral beige are no longer. Hello, fun factor! Here’s the how to do it yourself from West Elm: 1. Pick your palette. Choose three shades of one color. (I chose the two lightest…
When in doubt, Knit
Knitter/Designer Kristin Nicholas’s post today captures my thoughts exactly. In response to her question, nothing soothes me faster than making something with my hands. This week, the solution was knitting, which also means I am charging forward towards a finish (remember my 2013 commitment?!) on the Mitered Cross Blanket in Noro’s Silk Garden wool/mohair/silk yarn. Interestingly, this…