I had grand plans to post this yesterday with full details on what I want to work on for #MeMadeMay (starting tomorrow) but c’est la vie. It’s been a busier week than I expected.
The last time that I reorganized my office I made some dedicated space on these shelves for my mending piles. The mending that I do ranges from handmade garments that need modifications, ready to wear garments that need buttons re-sewn, thrifted garments that have been stained and need to be dipped in indigo, and everything in between. The piles are organized by what modifications need to happen, so when I’m feeling inspired to bring these pieces back into my wardrobe, I can knock out all of the buttons being reattached, or the seams that need to be sewn at once.
I’ll confess that I don’t get into these piles (hence, they’re piles and not one or two pieces) as often as I should. I find it to be much more creatively fulfilling to craft new pieces and can find it daunting to try to make good fixes to my clothes. So one of my goals for Me Made May is not only to sew a few new garments that I have picked out, but to make some progress in my mending as well.
How do you organize your mending projects, or do you knock them out as you need to?
I have a bit of a love affair with cookbooks. I love reading them like actual books - reading all of the forwards, intros, pantry suggestions, equipment ideas, and reading through each section like a textbook, methodically looking at each recipe and how it fits into and with the other recipes and ideas included in the book’s pages. I find it to be a really fun way to see food from a new perspective, and see how each author approaches cooking, and sharing, food. It’s a really fun way to get me out of my cooking comfort zone and try something new by stepping into someone else’s kitchen.
I checked out Amy Chaplin’s Whole Food Cooking Every Day at the end of February, and because of the pandemic, have not had to return it to the library yet (a very small silver lining). At first, it seemed really intimidating, but the more that I got into it the more I understood the philosophy behind each recipe and Amy’s method of cooking and now I LOVE it. Each section has a base recipe, whether that’s breakfast grain bowls, dressings, nut milks, breads, veggies, etc., and then many different variations on that central recipe. Some of it is certainly a bit aspirational (I can’t imagine not putting sugar or even honey in a hot chocolate mix, even if it is adaptogenic), but it’s also really gorgeous and has inspired me to try some new things in the kitchen. As it states on the cover, all of the recipes included in the book are gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian. We are none of those things in our household, but I really love focusing my meals on plant-based and whole foods as a former vegetarian.
The first big hit was her simple coconut butter, which was unbelievably easy and so so delicious. From there I was inspired to try making my own peanut butter, and we have literally been eating it by the spoonful this week. I’ve also made her Berry Chia Pudding which uses orange juice to lightly sweeten it and is unbelievably good, as well as her grain bowl for breakfast and a zucchini dressing. Everything I’ve tried has been great, and I think it is pretty easy to identify recipes in there that work with your current diet, and then work up to some more complicated recipes. I am excited to get into her veggies chapter, and experiment more with making my own flavored nut milks as well. I have made my own cashew milk in the past (I prefer it over almond milk) and some of the flavor combinations she suggests adding to them look so good. I also really appreciate that this cookbook does not focus on the health/nutrition aspects of its recipes, not listing the calories, fat, etc. I think this is fine some of the time, but I think it can be a dangerous and potentially obsessive path to go down in the pursuit of “healthy” (which I find often just means “skinny”).
Anyways, I love this cookbook and highly recommend it! When the pandemic is over and I have to return it to the library, I’ll definitely be purchasing my own copy.
I have had this sweater on my “to-make” list pretty much ever since it came out a few years ago. It’s the perfect combination of being cozy, but polished, and comfortable to wear. While some there are really amazing patterns coming out all of the time these days, I especially loved working on this one because I knew I had loved this pattern for a long time and would love wearing it for a long time, too. I prefer a narrow sleeve and love the combination of a boxy sweater with slimmer sleeves and this sweater really delivers. And unbelievably, it’s also my first sweater knit in BT Loft (it won’t be my last). This yarn is definitely an investment, and I actually just collected these skeins, in the Fossil colorway, over a couple of years. It was intended originally for a lacy shawl design also by Brooklyn Tweed, but when I realized that I was just one skein short of being able to knit this sweater, I went over to Hillsborough Yarn Shop, used some store credit I had saved, and cast on.
Despite this color looking very natural and undyed, it did actually have some color variation in the lots that I had collected, and so I alternated skeins while knitting in the body and no one would be able to tell. The honeycombs are created using this really clever technique that at first, looks a little floppy and weird but when blocked, becomes really striking.
I knit the size S because with the generous ease built into the body, I was in between sizes but my gauge was coming out a bit bigger than what the pattern calls for. I think it worked out, because it’s definitely still boxy but I don’t feel like I’m drowning in it either. The only modification I made otherwise was to lengthen the body by about an inch and literally used all but one yard of all five skeins (including ripping out the swatch to use as yarn in the sweater). There was some nerve-wracking yarn chicken at the end there! The body of this sweater would have been really excellent movie theatre knitting had we been able to go to the movies over the past month, as it’s just really long rows of knitting and purling.
You can see my full project page and the pattern on Ravelry here. 10/10 would recommend and I know I will be wearing this one so much when the weather cools down again (and also today, with the AC on).
Almost didn’t make today’s post happen, but I’m glad I did. I took another walk in the woods this weekend, and it was so good. I walked nearly four miles in the cool humidity (something I think only Southerners will understand), up and down hills, only stopping for particularly beautiful plants I needed to identify. There was a clearing in the middle with a large pond, and some ancient pipes held up by brick columns in the middle. There was also a golf course in there somewhere. All of the nicely wooded areas around where we live also seem to weirdly be near golf courses.
I saw a few ferns today amidst the beeches and oaks and maples, and it reminded me instantly of a hike I took by myself in October when we were visiting the Seattle area. I took our rental car outside of town by myself while B had an interview into the mountains and was completely captured by how different the forests were than the ones I was so familiar with here. The mountains seemed to rise up suddenly and out of nowhere on that highway and took your breath away. The trail was covered in pine needles and surrounded by squishy lichens and a few fall buds of flowers that were holding on despite the coming cold. It truly felt magical, even when I ran into other hikers on the trail. It was like another world.
Just like today, I wasn’t trying to prove anything to myself or to anyone else. I was just moving my body, in the woods, breathing the air and the smells of the forest, and yes, occasionally stopping to identify a particularly amazing plant. It was much cooler, I remember, and felt like maybe I hadn’t dressed warmly enough, but by the time I got into the hike it was perfect, even when I was panting to climb a particularly steep slope and feeling out of shape. It was where I wanted, and perhaps in the moment, needed, to be.
The waterfalls here are much smaller, more like little streams slowly trickling their way towards an unknown destination rather than majestic checkpoints along a steeply sloped path. In Seattle, there were no golf courses to be seen, only ferns on ferns and mosses and goodness. But the feeling was the same, and I am so grateful for the chance to get outside and do this the way that I am, particularly in a time such as this in the area where we live. (And I am grateful for the blog, to be able to process all these feeling this way on a weekend, too.)
This week I finally finished my Wool & Honey sweater (will be sharing early next week!).
This week I got a ton more practice with my new camera, and I am in love.
This week I tried really hard not to over-water my plants.
This week I was reminded that the more creativity you use, the more you have.
This week seven of my avocados turned ripe on the same day which meant I ate a lot of avocados on Wednesday and Thursday. And I looked up a lot of avocado recipes. This one and this one are at the top of my list.
This week I discovered that the Wiksten Shift is the perfect house dress and I want to make at least two more. (Maybe in double gauze? Dying to try this fabric.)
I am super excited to cast on some new projects this weekend now that my sweater is done, cook a big breakfast on Sunday, and deep clean our master bedroom. Hooray for the weekend.
A few weeks ago, my friend Mel surprised me by gifting me a tiny spider plant cutting from her “base” spider plant. To be honest, I had not ever thought to ask for it, or thought that I would have been into it, but y’all, it really sparked something in me. I would definitely not describe myself as an indoor house plants person before, oh, three weeks ago, preferring my plants to be productive and food focused, namely veggies and herbs. Maybe it’s the quarantine? Maybe it’s the daily activity looking out the window and looking for more green. Maybe it’s the desire for a puppy that’s manifesting in these little plants. Either way, I have fallen and fallen hard for my little plants!
My collection right now includes the aforementioned spider plant, which Nash has unfortunately tried to chew on three different times and is looking quite sad. I’m still holding out hope it will make a comeback but we’ll see. I also have a very sad aloe plant that with the right amount of water and some actual care is making a comeback! Pictured above are my three most recent additions: two varieties of elephant bush (those little tiny leaves with the thicker stems) and my beloved jade plant. I just think the jade is so pretty.
Because of the two cats and their intense interest on chewing on plants, these are all living in my office, but I’d love to find some hanging planters or window-mounted ledges to hang them off of for some additional light too, since the office is mostly northern facing and not the sunniest room all day long. I’m also trying the ice cube trick for watering them which I think is going pretty well. Will update later!
Today is the 50th celebration of Earth Day. It’s a reminder for all of us, every single one of us, that our job is to take care of the Earth, to keep it, conserve it, and steward it for future generations.
We only get one earth, and so many of the things I think about each day come back to it: Is this a sustainable action? Will this go on to stay in a landfill after I use it? What kind of world am I creating by purchasing this product, or choosing these materials to craft with, or picking this project? It’s all so important and complex and it can feel very overwhelming at times to think about being a maker, consumer, and person living on this earth and trying to keep it healthy.
One of my favorite things from the past few weeks of quarantine has been seeing how the earth is absolutely rebounding without the negative influence of human activity: smog is clearing in large cities, wildlife is returning to old habitats, waterways are no longer being actively polluted. This is all so good! While we need to be able to exist in the world, run businesses, interact with each other, and I, like so many, can’t wait for the world to continue to turn, there are lessons to be learned here, and I hope that many of us have the space here to reflect on those.
Fashion is a HUGE source of pollutants and carbon emissions globally, so when I take the time to knit a sweater or hat, sew a dress, or mend a pair of jeans, I am choosing sustainability, slow and mindful work, and to opt out of oppressive systems that affect people and the planet in ways we can’t begin to predict yet. There is so much hope in being able to make a choice for myself and for my family that is not only beneficial for us, but for our planet.
I have learned so much from other makers who are also working to make the world more beautiful with their creations and with the processes they use to create them. While choosing natural fibers over synthetics is a great way to make a more sustainable choice with crafting overall, here are a few of the companies and resources that I love who are doing wonderful work with crafts and sustainability.
Brooklyn Tweed’s American grown yarns, particularly their breed specific collections
Echoview Fiber Mill, who creates yarn and fiber from farms primarily in the Southeast and has the COOLEST recycled fiber yarn.
A Verb For Keeping Warm’s podcast, highlighting their process of creating yarns and working with designers rooted in sustainability. Their yarns are also absolutely incredible.
Mending resources by Katrina Rodabaugh to extend the life of our clothes and make our clothes into art
An oldie, but a goodie: the Woolful podcast. Also love the Local Wool podcast these days.
Gosh, this doesn’t even scratch the surface. I’m sure I will come back and add additional info here in the future, but for today, I invite you to peruse these awesome businesses, authors, and farms, and to take JOY in the earth! When we live in harmony with the earth, there is so much joy to be found.
