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: Crafts
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…
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…
Seasonal Shift
For weeks I have resisted relegating the gingerbread house to the trash. But with spring arriving today, it had lost its holiday shine and was starting to look like disorganized clutter on the dining room table. So late yesterday afternoon, with the day-before-spring snowflakes still falling, I put it outdoors as a wildlife donation, and…
A Crafting Theme for 2013
knitting – crochet – sewing – photography – writing These are the kinds of unfinished projects hanging around my place. The charm of a new project is almost irresistible, but the fact of the matter is that I simply cannot function amidst clutter. Too many incompletes distract me mentally, keep me from optimizing a new…
My Handmade Winter includes Vogue’s Knitting Live Event
I had a little help during the … … sixteen-hour knitting marathon involved to get this blocked and wrapped for Christmas. and thoroughly enjoyed the making and gifting this year. Now I’m off to Vogue’s Knitting Live Event in NYC. Yipp-ee-i-ay! This is one of those things that’s been on my “List of Things to…
Sing a Song of Gingerbread
There’s nothing like having company over to motivate me to organize piles of books, discarded mail that needs shredding, fabric-waiting-for-a-project, and at this time of year, holiday catalogs that I feel as though I must look through at least once for fear of missing that great something. On the first Saturday every December a group…
How to Reinvent a Life When You’re 84
I held her hand through the forty-five minute MRI scan of her brain and chest. We had not shared such extended proximity to one another in decades. That afternoon she had crumpled on the sidewalk outside the senior center. After refusing medical attention, she was eventually lured into the ambulance by my cousin, who lives…
My Interpretation of the Gypsy Rose Blanket
Remember this garden-inspired basket of yarn stash? The transformation into a very different kind of flower bed has begun — one that will keep me warm and cozy while snuggling on the sofa with a good book this winter. The Gypsy Rose Blanket made by British crafter Adaliza is constructed with crocheted squares, but I…