There’s something special about January. Not because of the new year full of possibilities, but because of the slow pace our lives take after the whirlwind of holidays and all that they entail. I don’t know about you, but I love this transition. I am perfectly content to hide away at home with some winter comfort food, some books or knitting, and just… breathe. December was an insanely stressful month for me. The end of the semester on my classes left me exhausted, burnt out, and depressed. There was an outright meltdown the weekend before finals where I just broke down and lost it – it was all too much.…

This cardigan and I have had a year-long adventure together, quite literally. I started it last year on my annual knitting weekend, not realizing how much brain power it would take me to knit from two different charts (one for the collar, one for the back). We would go in fits in starts, this cardigan and I. I’d knit a few rows here and there, then it would be abandoned for weeks on end because I just couldn’t find the energy to focus on it. It only got worse once I started back to college, and the project sat for months waiting for me to come back to it. Once…

My favorite time of year came and went – my annual knitting weekend away with my bestest knitting friends. This time, rather than our usual Hocking Hills, we headed north near Perrysburg. There, we enjoyed this AH-MAZING view of the river from the deck/sunroom, talked, laughed, watched movies, ate food, and, of course, KNIT. So much knitting.  The trees were perfect, the weather was cold but not overly so, and the whole weekend is exactly what my soul needed. Because we were in the area, we made a trip to Yarn Cravin’ for yarn shopping, and then headed – by recommendation of the lovely girls at the yarn shop – to…

Saturday we went to a friend’s house out of town to go trick-or-treating and, if you can’t tell, Peter Rabbit had a blast. Being an only child at home, he LOVES being around bigger kids and feeling like he’s older than he really is. I had a few moments of panic because he was trying too hard to keep up with the bigger boys which, also, meant a few attempts at running across the street without looking. Not to mention that with so many people out and about I was worried he’d get too far separated. I tried hard to not be that helicopter mom that I hate, but this…

Yesterday we ventured to Mohican State Park with some friends for a hiking adventure and discovered it was apparently peak mushroom season because the whole place was covered in fungi! I don’t think I have ever seen so many of them growing! Declan, upon seeing a clearing full of them, declared “IT’S A WHOLE MUSHROOM KINGDOM!” which made me giggle imagining little fairies and sprites and whatnot living under all those mushroom houses. I’m sure the area is well-traveled for those who actually hunt down mushrooms for eating – I don’t know enough about them to even attempt to look (and Declan would probably turn his nose up at them,…

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have already seen the above photo. It’s a Fen Dress muslin to try out the sizing. Because, see, I have this daydream where I basically live in handmade clothes. I wander my imaginary farm in perfectly sewn frocks while collecting chicken eggs and tree ripened apples, and then sit on the porch wrapped in a wool sweater and knit while I wait for a pie (from scratch, of course) to finish baking. Or maybe sitting in front of a wood burning stove while also sipping on a cup of tea while spinning yarn up from the fleece of my pet sheep named…

I have been absolutely TERRIBLE about writing here. Truth be told, I miss it – I miss having stories to tell and photos to share that aren’t just brief social media snippets of my life. For several years I’ve kept two separate blogs, one here with my name on it, another with a fake name. It always felt weird to me to have people I know in real life read my blog and then later mention something I posted, and I fought that aspect for a long time. But life is busy, and I realized it really isn’t all that different from me posting useless stuff on Facebook for everyone…

I always love it when people post up their projects in a collage, showing how their fiber came, how it spun, and then how it plied. I love seeing the change, and how something that might not be colors you love or expect ends up into this gorgeous yarn. My favorite scarf, to this day, is made out of some fiber I picked up at a festival that was busy and overly colorful and I wasn’t at all sure I would truly love it until I finished spinning it and all those colors blended and melded together to make the most gorgeous yarn I’ve ever made. This fiber is Tapestry…

Pattern: Elaine’s Blouse, modified to have ribbing on the bottom and not at the waist. I finished this back in November on my knitting weekend away, but just now got around to getting it photographed. The snow is so lovely this weekend, and it seemed like a perfect situation for some proper photographs. I had a hard time not shaking from the cold – the wind on that end of the porch was awful – but a few deep breaths to just tolerate it, knowing I’d be back in warmth in a few minutes, and it would be over. Modeling is hard, ya’ll.

Quilt blocks finished: 9/48 Hats: 1/3 Socks: 1 Ornaments made: 0 But, hey, I nailed my ginger macarons today. Little things, yes? And my holiday cards are printed, addressed, and ready for the mail. I actually went out last night for a bit of mommy time to shop at TJMaxx, and came home with a few gifts purchased since it has become apparent that I will never get the time needed to finish all these projects with a kid fighting for my attention. Knitting is actually easier with him, to be honest, because he has this habit lately of snuggling up mid afternoon to watch a movie and then he…