Sewing for organization.

I have a complex relationship with stuff. I tend to accumulate lots of it, and simultaneously get rid of bags of it at a time. I think a lot about how and why we collect things, and how to simplify our relationship to our things. All of this thinking led me to my craft area, which is my most poorly organized, but most used, space; supplies overflow from boxes, topple over on desks, and live in duplicate in different storage containers. As I sorted through everything, I realized that my knitting needles and crochet hooks were in complete disarray.

I spent some time one evening after work rounding up as many of my double-pointed needles as I could. I pulled them from project bags, from the basket in which some live on my desk, and from the plastic and paper cases in which they were sold. This messy craft space is very well-stocked, so I was able to quickly stitch up a solution to consolidate all of my needles into one easy-to-locate container. I pulled some mid-weight canvas and a half-yard of fabric from the shelf and got to work.

Less than an hour later, I had a finished (mistakes and all! don’t inspect my quick and dirty stitching) holder for my DPNs. I made sure to leave pockets on the outside to hold printed patterns and a small notebook, for taking notes on my stitching or jotting down ideas. The whole things closes up into a neat and tidy little case, and I’m pondering whether or not I want to add a closure of some sort. As it is, nothing falls out of the case, but I think the structure of a little button tab or suede strap would be a nice aesthetic touch.

When I threw this together, I couldn’t find a desirable tutorial or pattern, so I drafted one using a calculator and piece of graph paper. It’s the first time I’ve taken the design of something into my own hands and it was very satisfying. I need to make an additional case for crochet hooks, so I’m hoping to put up the tutorials for both in this space soon – adding my voice to the choir of effective ways to store your needles and organize the abundance of stuff we all seem to have.

If only I could find such a simple solution to storing my yarn and fabric. Any ideas?

The beginning of a new craze.

There are a few things about which I am fanatical: donning pajamas the moment I get home from work; making lots of tea throughout the day; reading each new issue of Martha Stewart Living from cover to cover when it arrives in the mail; and harping on a pattern once I’ve made it up successfully.  I become smitten once it works out, whether it’s knit, crocheted, or sewn, and make it a million times (like the Christmas when I made nine Lined Drawstring Bags). This is that pattern right now – the open wide zippered pouch from Noodlehead.

As soon as I saw the pattern, I couldn’t help but see the infinite possibilities: a single-fabric version, the contrast bottom, the opportunity for a pieced pouch. It’s a perfect scrap- or stash-buster, and if you have a well-stocked craft supply, you should have everything you need on hand. I made the medium size, using less than a fat quarter of this lovely tonal batik and a light chambray weave. It took no time to sew, and the pattern makes for a very impressive, clean-lined finished product.

It doesn’t hurt, of course, that the bag is large enough to hold a knitting project in progress. I just started Norie in some stashed Rowan Felted Tweed, and am loving the ability to tote it around in such a chic project pouch.

I’ve cut the fabric for another six or so of these. I don’t know when I’ll get around to sewing them all, but you’ll be seeing a lot of them in this space!

Fancies – Valentine’s Edition {His}

Scott is very averse to shopping. He’s notoriously hard to buy for because he wants so little – and when he does want something, he saves up and buys it on his own. He’s also very specific about what kinds of things he buys, and has two mottos: Buy local. And have a few good things, well maintained. So in this spirit, a few good things to care for – all made in the U.S.A.

Clockwise, from upper left corner: Pendleton Tribute #3 Blanket; Swedish Dream Sea Salt Soap; a subscription to a magazine full of wonder: National Geographic; cozy Ragg Socks; and sachets to guard his handknits.

Scott and I are very similar, in that we prefer being bundled up and cozy over most things. We like pulling on thick socks and huddling beneath a blanket together reading. We like to dream about travel together. We share a love of the fragrance of cedar and want to build chests with it, line our wardrobes with the woodsy smell. We washed with the sea salt soap the evening after our wedding, and I love the power of scent memories, how you can evoke a moment in a whiff.

This year, I’ll be getting a root canal on our anniversary; he’ll be visiting his dentist two days later on Valentine’s Day. We won’t eat sweet treats this year, but will enjoy the comfort of our home, sitting together beneath a blanket, likely watching movies and falling asleep on the couch. I can’t imagine it any other way.

Fancies – Valentine’s edition

I know that Valentine’s Day is a week away. And I’ve never celebrated it before. But two days prior to the commercial holiday, Scott and I will celebrate our seven year anniversary. We’ve never bought each other gifts to mark either occasion, typically opting to splurge on decadent ingredients at the grocery store to make a big, fancy meal. This year, however, things feel more worth celebrating. We’re married now! We’re saving for a house! We’ve earned a little bit of indulgence to commemorate our bond, our goals, and our shared life together.

Clockwise from upper left corner: a flower CSA from new local Wild Folk Studio, in the ‘Humble’ offering; enough Quince & Co. Chickadee in Peacock to knit a Sebella; some Mast Brothers chocolate, locally procured from the Formaggio; a subscription to Wilder Quarterly; handmade Crescent moon hoops from Laurel Hill; and White Sage and Wild Mint tea from Juniper Ridge.

As we tighten our purse strings this year, I can’t imagine anything more extravagant than the constant presence of fresh flowers beside my bed. Sipping on fragrant tea while knitting a cozy sweater out of a favorite yarn. Dangling something shiny from my ears. Savoring little bits of chocolate while curled up with a good read.

These are the things that I fancy right now, during tight times, with love and coziness on the brain. While we’re imagining with pretend money, maybe I’ll round up a list of what I would get for Scott. It would definitely be a fun little list!

Lately.

My semester has just started, heralding a season of hurried meals, late nights spent hunched over my laptop, and the compression of all of the various things I need to do over the course of the week into a very small slice of time. To make matters more complicated, I’ve signed up to teach some classes at my local knitting and fabric shop. With my free time visibly shrinking from the calendar pages, I thought I’d pause and reflect on a few things that have brought happiness to my home lately.

Finishing things. This crochet ripple blanket has sat nearly-finished in my WIP-basket since early summer. I pulled it out over the weekend and it only took minutes to weave in the ends. I’m always shocked by how quick finishing can be, and apalled at my propensity for letting things languish. It has started a good trend in my craft room!

Warm orzo salad with beets and feta. I don’t think I can sing enough praises for Food52. Whenever I’m in a food rut or wondering what to make for dinner, they bail me out with their simple, perfect recipes. We’ve eaten this salad sprinkled generously with feta; I top mine with a hit of oregano, and Scott with red onion. It’s a perfect work lunch, eaten hot or cold!

Framing things. Maybe you’re familiar with this scenario: see a cool print on Etsy or Society 6. Mull over its purchase for a few days. Decide that you simply can’t live without it. Receive it, and immediately stick in a drawer, closet, or keep in its wrapper leaned up against the wall. I decided to break the cycle and start framing some of these prints, and not only does it validate the purchase – now it’s being used and enjoyed! – but makes our rented apartment feel more like a home. 3M hooks and craft store frames are the best!

Trying to celebrate the simple things. How do you juggle work, life, and/or school? And, more importantly, what do you choose to savor the moments in between the busy?

Cross-country hedgehogs.

I’m very lucky to have good friends. Scott and I share a set of best friends, a couple with whom we went to college and who stayed on in Boston longer than any of our other friends had. Over the years we grew increasingly close, a friendship born out of the intimacy of living with one another and nurtured by hikes, camping trips, and many, many meals cooked and enjoyed together. Katie was my maid of honor and is a constant inspiration to me: she is an incredibly successful and motivated chemist who made a bold career change; she is dedicated to fitness and attends multi-weekly krav maga lessons; she is an amazing cook who shares my passion for desserts; and she picked up her life and moved across the country to pursue her goals.

That last bit has been tough. A friendship sustained by weekly visits and evenings shared laughing and growing together has evolved into late-night Skype sessions and rambling emails. We don’t see each other as often as we’d like, but we try and visit when we can (we just booked our trip to California for February!) and seem to pick up just where we left off each time. When Katie visited Colorado recently, she mailed me a package of fabrics from a local shop. It contained those lime stripes pictured above along with a gray and white chevron – perfectly packaging up our shared taste in clean, graphic prints. Armed with fat quarters of each, I knew I had to make something for her, so that her time milling about the store for something to send her friend wouldn’t have been in vain. I paired them with some of Lizzy House’s adorable hedgehogs from my stash, knowing that Katie, an animal lover, will find them charming.

I stitched lots of love into this bag, chanting “please move back, please move back” the whole time, hoping that the little hedgies would convince her of everything she misses from back east. But I know that her life is one of adventure and beauty right now, and that, more selfishly, her time across the country is temporary. The bag was the perfect small piece on which to work while watching Downton Abbey Sunday evening, a comfortable ease into the week ahead – and the promise that more crafting would happen over the course of the week (I stil have to stitch up the drawstrings, after all). And the Toast wrap? I’ve got about 50 stitches left to graft before giving it a good block.

The crafting urge is strong these days; I’m trying to squeeze as much as I can in before my semester starts in a few weeks!

Working on…

I’ve been chugging away on a Toast wrap since the beginning of December. It’s part of my commitment to use what I have, digging deep into the stash for some balls of Knitpicks Stroll — unoriginally, in the exact colors used in the pattern photos (but why mess with a good thing?).  Here’s hoping I can finish this one up this weekend. It’s foggy and cool in Boston, the kind of hazy weather that encourages stretches of time spent with knitting in lap, a cup of tea by your side.

What are you working on?

Our wedding: the handmade details.

As a crafter, it embarrasses me to report that I contributed very little in the way of handmade projects to my wedding. I long dreamt of the handknit shawl I would wear over my dress, or the handkerchief I would embroider for Scott, but as I’ve mentioned, it was a busy, busy year. The planning of the wedding sped by and, thankfully, resources like Etsy exist to help round out the little details (I’m also very lucky to know resourceful, crafty people who can whip things up in a pinch!). These bits helped us cut costs on decor, but also lent a special, personal touch to the atmosphere. I hope that sharing might provide some inspiration or allow someone else to benefit from what we found along the way. Pictures and details after the jump!

2012 in review, again.

The first picture that I took with an actual camera in 2012 was in July, when my family traveled to New Hampshire to celebrate my birthday and Independence Day. We climbed a relatively small mountain, but the trek was so steep that we questioned many times whether we would make it to the top. We were rewarded with breathtaking views of the surrounding region, and got to watch the beginnings of a magnificent rainstorm. It was a perfect escape from school, work, and wedding planning, and was so restorative. More stories about 2012, after the jump.

A year in Instagram.

2012 kicked off a year of big Sunday breakfasts.

I managed to sew one bag.

We spent a lot of time looking up.

I spent lunch breaks in the spring walking at work.

Our neighbors brought us plein-air lunches.

We ate on the porch a lot, in 2012.

We met the Smuttynose guy at a beer festival!

We celebrated the success of Scott’s Ph.D. qualifying exams.

We traveled to New Hampshire for a week of respite.

Grew another year older in Boston.

Hiked the Blue Hills for this guy’s birthday.

Watched an incredible storm while a friend became captain of a ship.

Prepared to get married!

Attended a good friend’s wedding.

Settled back in to routines after our own wedding.

Visited Cape Cod in the fall.

Admired the city from high perches.

Tucked into winter with pancakes.

Watched the first snow.

Closed the year with friends under the watch of NYC.

Oh, Instagram. How you’ve allowed me to document the minutiae of my life for the last year. These pictures may not mean much to you, but they’re the shining moments from a very busy year – reminders that amidst chaos, I got to experience incredible moments.

I don’t follow many people on Instagram, but would love to have more crafty pictures cropping up in my feed. Leave your IG username in the comments if you’d like to share! I’m ephie_jg.