new year, new project

Celebrated this evening with a new year’s cast on. I did end up binding off my striped sweater last night - happy to have won yarn chicken on new year’s eve - but I don’t like the way the neckline turned out so I need to consider my options before that will be done. Bummer, but I’m not going to let it get me down. Instead I treated myself to the next project, one I’ve had in my mental queue for a bit. This will be the third time I’ve knitted this particular hat pattern, so I know it will turn out great. I’m really enjoying the color and the quick progress. What a lovely treat!

goodbye, 2025

I was pleased to have felt the creative spirit more consistently this year, and I enjoyed returning to this space somewhat regularly to share what I’ve been up to with my future self and others. It’s been healing to look back and catalog the projects I worked on during my writing hiatus, too, and realize that I had only just set down my voice. My hands kept going, albeit at a slower pace than usual. 

A quick glance back through 2025 made me realize just how much of my time was spent hand stitching more than anything else - embroidery, hand quilting, and a LOT of knitting. Those quiet, slow moments have been a nice balance with the more energetic and full aspects of my life in music, horsemanship, and work. I am feeling the pull back to my sewing machine and fabric stash as well, and I expect I will be leaning into the quilting and fabric play with which I started this year. May we continue to seek balance in all things moving ahead into the days to come. 

yarn chicken

It's the waning days of the year, the time warp post Christmas where days run together and vacation vibes are at their greatest. I'm spending a lot of time knitting on my couch playing yarn chicken. 

This was the second sweater I cast on this fall and it has come back to my hands now that the mossy green Rift is done. The body is done up to the sleeves and it's time to get the sleeves made and attached so I can get back to the relaxing stockinette in the round on my circulars instead of fussing with the DPNs. I knew when I bought the yarn that I bought less than I used the last time (and much less than the pattern called for for the size I am making) but it's only 80 yards less and that sweater ended up a bit big on me because I used the wrong needles (4 mm - US 6 instead of US 4 oooops). I continue to hope both that diving head first into this sweater without swatching is going to turn out ok in terms of size and that I will have enough of the dark blue yarn to make it up to the neck using the correct needle size this time. Doing ok so far, and still really enjoying the stripes. 

seed packets and pouches

It is Christmas Eve, and in true procrastination style (or: I had a sweater to finish before the 17th) I am a little late on getting friend gifts put together. I have been saving seeds from my garden all year and am going to share them with folks that I know are fellow green thumbs. They all also happen to be horse people - I wonder if the two are connected. 

I had my box of labels, bags, and bows out already so I took out the winter scrapbook paper deck I keep in there (for the occasional tag) and worked out how to make some seed packets using folding and a few pieces of scotch tape. I was pretty impressed with myself! 

I also decided they should be delivered in pretty fabric pouches. I used an easy drawstring bag tutorial and some larger fabric leftovers. In the future I will have to remember that a 5-inch wide piece of fabric ends up being kind of a pain to sew around the opening on my sewing machine. The purple print was 6-inches wide to start and much nicer to work with than the other three. Still, it was all improvising and scrap play so little snags are to be expected. 

In the end, each pouch held the seed packets just fine which is the most important part. The seeds included Chocolate Cherry Sunflowers, Grandpa Ott Morning Glory, Yellow Giant Sunflowers, and Black Knight Pincushion Flowers. It's great to be able to pass on seeds from my own garden, and I'm looking forward to seeing them thrive elsewhere. 

i didn’t even know i needed this

Check these out. Aren't they so useful? And fun? I didn't even know I needed this in my life. In fact, I can remember the first time I watched the tutorial I used on YouTube (Pin Cut Sew... she's a favorite) I thought it was kind of odd. I stand corrected. It's cool. 

In my quest for more small gifts this year, I reconsidered my opinion. I got a new phone case this year and it came with a rather sturdy plastic stand for holding the phone - it has been so useful for evening video conversations when I want to be doing something else with my hands. This is one step cuter, and I love that it's personalizable with different fabrics. I made both of these with some red mushroom flannel I had in my stash from when Joann's closed (so much of this fabric, more projects to come) because both the recipient and I enjoy some mushroom whimsy and I loved the first one so much I had to make myself one. I'm going to keep it by my sewing machine for watching tutorials as I sew. 

They are partially filled with the same little plastic pellets I use at the bottom of my gnomes and then topped off with fiberfil making them satisfyingly like beanbags. The pattern I followed called these "kindle plops" which is an apt name for their behavior when lofted onto a surface. I like the way my phone behaves in it - haven't tried a kindle yet - so I highly recommend this as a fun gee whiz kind of gift. Perfect for a stocking. 

blue improv

I've been feeling a draw towards making small things rather than quilts which is quite unusual for me. It took me a while to get back to the sewing machine though because I knew that the "next thing" I wanted to make was the Firefly Tote and I was intimidated by the pattern! But now that I've gotten over that mental block and made an amazing first one, more holiday gifting presented the perfect opportunity for more small, quick makes. Enter coasters. While I often have trouble deciding what my sister in law will like, we've had success gifting each other things that we would like to receive. I think fabric coasters are so cute and she is a tea drinker so they are likely to be appreciated. 

This improv and scrap play was really fun. Quite a while ago I organized my scraps and trimmed many down into pre-cut square sizes. That stash was SO satisfying to pull from. Even the batting was from scraps trimmed off of quilts! My sister in law is a fan of blue, and I had some favorite prints still floating around. I used an ikat print for the "back" (these could indeed be reversible) and sort of intuited my way through the front making mistakes into design features. I was originally trying to do just one large half square triangle with two quarter square triangles but ask me about my cutting math.... In the end they turned out looking even better than intended. 

I could have just tied these up with a ribbon, but why not take the opportunity to make another cute small thing. I found a tiny basket tutorial (Fabric Mutt's Pixie Basket) and thought I'd use some wintery prints to give the whole thing some holiday flair. The outer fabric is a heavy canvas and the inner fabric is a flannel, so it's a bit more substantial than as written, and a bit of a pain to sew if I'm honest. That was totally down to the fabric choices though, not the pattern. If I were to make one again I wouldn't use such a heavy outer - it also made it weird to get the lining fabric to fold down inside over the bulky seam, so I just left it as is. It's cute to see it peek over the edge anyway - another happy accident!

To round out the theme of "enjoy a cup of cozy tea" I added a few bags of some of my favorite teas from Trader Joe's - Winter Warmup, Orange Rooibos, and Well Rested. This all got boxed up and wrapped, and shipped off just in time! Phew, I'm really cutting things close this year. 

rift sweater, finished

It is done! I am cutting it oh so close to the shipping deadline for pre-Christmas arrival, but I made it. And I think it turned out really great. I found these funny leather tags in my stash and put one in the neckline - I am sure my dad will get a chuckle out of it. (it's a little bulky, but I told mom that if it's distracting she can just snip it out) 

Pretty much everything about this project looks quite polished. The neckline is simple, the ribbing up the side and under the arms looks complex (but wasn't), and the sea of stockinette on the body blocked out so well. The color is difficult to photograph, but it's a really lovely green. I'd say the shades in the first and last photos are most accurate while the second and third photos are emphasizing the interesting mix of yellow and blues that are also in the yarn. So pretty. Would use again. 

This detail at the shoulder is what drew me to suggest this pattern in the first place (Rift by Jared Flood). It's a neat looking texture that gives the piece some interest while also, I suspect, helping with the fit/drape of the shoulders. I was quite intimidated by the seaming here and around the arms, but I decided to let go of the expectation of exactness and it all turned out ok in the end. 

I have not made many sweaters before (two?) and never one for someone else, so this is a pretty big knitting milestone for me. It was not without its adventures - ripping out the body more than halfway up was especially frustrating - but I will file them away as lessons learned for next time. I have also learned that I love the tubular bind on for a tidy ribbing edge and will try to use it whenever I can. 

According to my Ravelry notes, I cast on September 2, so about 3.5 months from start to finish. That's not quick, but considering I knit quite a lot of it twice I'll call that pretty good! Speed is not the point, after all. Unless you're trying to meet a deadline. Which means I have to go pack this up and get to the post office. I love that I am sending my parents a box of hand knit gifts for the holiday.