friday files – three things we’re doing better at lately

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  1. We’re doing a better job with food efficiency. I have been a meal planner and a weekly shopper for forever – I think this goes hand in hand with my organizational and emotional well-being requirements as a working parent. I make a weekly meal plan, write it on our kitchen board, and do a shopping trip for that meal plan every Sunday. However, despite that organization, it always seemed as though we ended up with uneaten leftovers at the end of the week that had gotten lost behind the pickles. Brandon has a strong reluctance to throw food away, while I tend to believe that leftovers have a short shelf life and should be thrown away rather than gambled on in the big game of botulism roulette. He’d be as distressed to see me throw something away as I would be to see him eating something that I knew was SEVEN DAYS OLD. So gradually, instead of buying sandwich bread and cold cuts for us to take to our respective jobs for lunches, we’ve migrated to main meals that are leftover-friendly, stored properly and visible in our fridge, and packable in our lunch boxes the following day. We make sure there are things like fresh fruit, crackers, hummus, chips, cheese sticks and yogurt on hand to supplement for breakfasts and snacks, and it’s made a big impact on the efficiency and cost of our meal planning. Also – not as much of a cost saver but more as a fun addition- I got a stand mixer for Christmas and I’m baking a lot more on the weekends, too, working my way through 100 Cookies by Sarah Kieffer (everything has been good so far but the peanut butter cookies were a little salty?)
  2. Feeding and watering the wildlife. Whatever we may be saving on our food is probably going straight out the back door and into the bellies of the local animals. I say this in jest but I am not complaining a bit – feeding and watching birds is a huge joy for me in the wintertime (I don’t tend to feed in the summertime). I make sure I have ample stocks of black-oil sunflower seeds at all times and during the extreme cold snaps, I add more expensive bags of fruit and nut and songbird mixes. I cycle between unroasted, unsalted peanuts in the shell and a more cheap ‘critter mix’ for the furry residents. With all that, we attract titmice, a host of sparrows, finches, siskins, chickadees and juncos. We have several mated pairs of northern cardinals and bluejays (who love the peanuts and wait and watch for me to bring them out in the mornings) and no fewer than eight pairs of plump mourning doves, who flap and titter and flutter and settle on the heated birdbaths like it’s the backdrop for a ‘70’s swingers convention. We have several species of woodpeckers, including flickers, red-bellied, and downy. The seed and suet that falls on the ground attracts the neighborhood black, red, fox, and gray squirrels, and in the blue hour, our deer will come up to drink out of the birdbaths as well. Last week we had four young bucks, and in the mornings, the fresh snow also shows tracks of rabbit, possum, skunk, and the neighborhood red fox. I think we’re going to invest in a Ring camera for the backyard so we can start documenting our winter wildlife and once I upgrade to a zoom lens for the Canon I bought last fall (that lens is a hefty $2k price tag) I’ll hopefully have way better pictures to share.
  3. This last one is an improvement just for me, since Brandon has always been really good at it, but it’s staying off my phone more. I simply don’t have the capacity for doom scrolling with everything going on in the US right now and so I’ve gotten a lot better at putting my phone down in the evenings and being more present. The trend of ‘analog bags’ has been all over my Patreon and YouTube vlogs lately – these are just bags that you pack up with things that keep you off your phone. It’s fun to see what other people put in theirs – art and journaling supplies, needlepoint, books, markers and coloring books, puzzle books, etc. While I haven’t gone so far as to lean into that, mostly because I already have knitting bags strewn all over the den and don’t need another dust catching bag that will drive Brandon crazy, I do feel like the time I’ve saved by putting my phone down has resulted in a big uptick in knitting and reading productivity (I also joined a January ‘Pages’ challenge on Storygraph that helped motivate me to do more reading).

February is here and I hope to fill it with lots more birds and deer, gradual creeping light into the morning and evening skies, baking in my kitchen and crafting in my spare time. I’ll still light the candles in the evenings and keep the fire going, but it would be nice to be able to start running outside in cold clean air without worrying that I’ll slip on a patch of ice and break a bone. I hope wherever you are, you are well and safe, breathing in hopes and joys, and celebrating your wins, too, even if they seem small.

finished objects – melt the ICE hats, full & minis

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The Melt the ICE knitted hat pattern started making the rounds several weeks ago. A yarn store in Minneapolis, where ICE agents have wreaked so much misery, drafted the pattern and offered it for sale for $5. It’s based on a historical Norwegian knitted hat that was used to protest the Nazi occupation of Norway in the 1940s, and proceeds are being donated to Minneapolis immigration aid. The pattern has raised over $250k so far!

I used Cascade 220 worsted superwash merino and mine came together in about a week – the seven inches of 1×1 ribbing took the most time. It’s a fun and easy pattern, and now that I have the feel for it, I think I’m going to make a second one with a few modifications. I’d like a longer cuff (despite the distinctly unappealing concept of spending more time on an additional two inches of 1×1 ribbing). I’ve also seen some knitters making them longer and pointier and I’d love that aesthetic for my next one.

I also had a skein of red fingering yarn from West Yorkshire Spinners in my stash that was perfect for tiny ICE melter hats. This is a private pattern not on Ravelry that I saw on the Antifascist Knitting subreddit. (You can find it by searching for “A Pretti Good Hat Keychain” on Ravelry – the pattern drafter posted it as a project and provides the full pattern in their notes). They suggested making keychains out of them, although they also would be really cute just pinned to a coat or a bag. I made three, and they each took about a half hour of concentrated effort.

Knitting like this has been criticized as performative, but this pattern has raised real money for a community that has been under siege and desperately needs support. What is happening in our country is not acceptable. We are seeing the rapid increase of brutal authoritarianism and a masked, untrained, heavily armed police force that has no oversight. Despite being on camera taking struggling women into portajohns, beating and kidnapping men, women, teenagers and children (many of whom actually are American citizens), using children as bait, and outright murdering two protesters, the federal government has told us we can’t trust our own eyes. The Vice President has even stated that they have full immunity for anything they do. Which leads me to ask – what would any of us do if we saw an ICE agent raping a woman? Or harming a child?

We know what the administration will do. The men who murdered the protesters have been protected and taken to safe houses, rather than being immediately jailed and required to stand trial in accordance with our justice system. These are the actions of an authoritarian regime and untrained, violent vigilantes who have been armed and mobilized for shows of political retaliation, fear and force. The people they are terrorizing, racially profiling and targeting are not criminals or drug dealers (Trump has pardoned too many of those for anyone to believe that has anything to do with it) and the protesters are being demonized by the same administration that pardoned the violent offenders of the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. (Don’t even get me started on how this administration has tried to rewrite the history of that horrific event.)

Knitting, donating, calling my representatives, and speaking out – it feels woefully inadequate but at the moment it’s all I’ve got.

Melt the ICE hat Raveled here.

ICE melter minis Raveled here.

make 9 knitting board- 2026

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Make 9 boards haven’t worked for me in the past, but since I want to be more intentional and consistent with my knitting this year, a set plan might serve me well. My overall goals are to finish WIPs, whittle down the bin of yet-to-be started projects I’ve already purchased patterns and yarn for, and reduce stash. With a couple of fun things thrown in as well.

From the top left moving clockwise and ending in the center:

  1. Good Grandpa cardigan by Caidree – knit in bulky weight yarn, the pattern description from the website reads: ‘The Good Grandpa Cardigan with pockets is slightly cropped, drop shoulder, deep v neck that buttons up at the front. It is a classic design with a modern twist. It will keep you cozy and in style during any season. It is designed to sit slightly longer than your waist line in length, but it can easily be made longer because it is constructed from the top down.’ This isn’t technically a stash buster, but I do have quite a lot of bulky weight yarn, so I hope to use at least some of it in this knit, even if I have to purchase more to finish the pattern. I like the look of this cardigan and think it will be a good basic wardrobe staple – as someone who does not have any hand-knit garments that I’m comfortable wearing to work, it would be nice to change that and start adding some, gradually.
  2. Easy Peasy ribbed socks by Jen Yard – I am going to knit these up just as they’re shown, as scrappy socks, using leftovers from my 2024 Homespun House Advent calendar. I have lots leftover from my Wolop cowl. This pattern is available on Ravelry, or also as a kit on Folksy or Etsy.
  3. Bug Collection scarf by Yarnquarium – I blogged about this last week and it’s going to be a slow knit but I really want this to keep the kiddo’s neck warm during her first winter out of high school. Pattern is available on Ravelry or on Etsy.
  4. Sockhead slouch hat by Kelly McClure – Definitely a stashbuster. I have so many skeins of sock yarn and I could honestly make a few hats if I had the time (and if I like the pattern). This is available as a free pattern on Ravelry or on Wool & Co.
  5. Perfect Knit t-shirt by Kaitlin Barthold – This is a WIP that I’d like to finish for summer wear. It’s actually so close to being finished, but I need to bind off the neckline and rip out the hem and redo it – for the life of me I cannot figure out how to end the six stitch icord bindoff. I like the look of the finished product and actually bought yarn to make another one in a neutral cream color, thinking it would be a nice wardrobe staple. But gotta finish this one first.
  6. Cozy Comfort throw by A Homespun House – This is another WIP that I just want off the needles. I’m using minis from my 2021 Homespun House Advent calendar held double with Purl Soho Line Weight merino in Dove Gray. It’s resulting in a beautiful squishy warm blanket that’s taken FOREVER. I’ve promised the kiddo that she can take it to college in the fall so that’s good motivation. Garter stitch is good TV knitting.
  7. Basic Bulky Mittens for the family by Marci Richardson – I made this three times last year for the Mittens 4 Detroit initiative and I’m going to use the same pattern in the fall. It’s an easy bulky-weight knit that results in a nice looking, warm mitten with a variety of size options. Will I make three pairs again? I’d like to. I’d also like a pair for myself…I have a skein of deep ruby Malabrigo Chunky that I’ve earmarked but who knows.
  8. Easy Heel Colorblock Socks by Purl Soho – I’ve had this kit ready to go for at least three years. No excuses. This is the year they have to get done and clear that space.
  9. Wild card – Joker is wild! This is a space holder for a gift knit, a passion project, something that catches my eye that I just can’t plan for. After all, all work and no play.

ten years ago today

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Twenty-six

Let’s get into the Wayback Machine and enjoy this post from ten years ago – January 26, 2016. It was pre-Covid, and I was at Widget Central every day, at the very same desk in the very same office. I was still using the workout room at lunch regularly if not every weekday, and I can’t believe I actually cared what other people drove. I was still doing my nails, I don’t remember who that workout buddy was, and I have no recollection of who the ex-significant other was at that point in time. I hadn’t yet met Brandon so it wasn’t anyone important, anyway. Fascism and authoritarianism were still dark warnings on the horizon and all in all this entry feels like a very different person in a very different time.

meet the pets – sarge

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I’ve been blogging here for many years and there are a few family members that show up in my stories and photos repeatedly. I probably haven’t given them as much of an introduction as they deserve, however, so in this limited series, let’s meet the pets.

John Singer Sargent (aka Sarge, Sargepants, Biggsy, Biggseronivich, Big Meat)

Born: July 3, 2013

Siblings: Emmett

A few interesting facts about Sarge:

  • he has a Foghat fanzine that is run out of our basement.
  • he is obsessed with smoking bananas.
  • he calls everyone “brother”.
  • he is a singer / songwriter whose biggest hit was “pumpkin candles / at the mall / take your nose there / and smell them all.” He is constantly workshopping new material around the house.
  • despite being an inside kitty, he is a big fan of happy hour cocktails on the front porch in the summertime.
  • in the winter he likes to take a few steps out the back door, sniff the wind, come back inside, and insist that everyone call him “Shackleton” for the remainder of the day.
  • he was once director sportif for a low budget Tour cycling team named “Team Skyrizi”.

Sarge has a rich inner landscape, has lived many lives, and will no doubt continue to try on many different hats to find the one(s) that fit him the best.

Join us next time for “Meet the Pets” with Sarge’s brother Emmett.

finished object – wolop advent cowl, new cast on, and some preliminary 2026 knitting plans

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I’m trying to be more organized with my knitting in 2026 and that means clearing the needles of some lingering WIPs. I cast on the Wolop cowl last February with my 2024 Homespun House Advent minis and it’s just been soothing garter stitch in the round ever since. For almost a year. No one ever said I’m a fast crafter.

I finished it last week and had a couple of days of weaving in so.many.ends. I took it out into the world this weekend (specifically to the bookstore to look for more Japanese mysteries – I am reading a classic Japanese whodunnit by Seishi Yokomizo ‘The Inugami Curse’ and I’m hooked) and the kiddo helped me get a couple of pictures that didn’t make me want to put a paper sack over my head. (Raveled.)

I’ve also cast on what is likely the most challenging project of my knitting life to date. The kiddo saw the Yarnquarium Bug Collection scarf on TikTok and immediately sent it to me with several pleading emojis. The scarf is double knitting, which I’ve never done, and which results in a cool reversible pattern. However, it’s fairly complicated to get the hang of since you’re using two separate yarns to create the pattern on one side and in the reverse color on the other side, knitting in one color and purling in the other color. (The chart is over 500 rows.) So, with hubris and love for my only child, I waded in.

I hope she still wants it when she’s 35, which is approximately when I may finish it.

I’m trying to assemble my Make 9 board for 2026 which will mostly contain WIPs that need to be finished, projects that I’ve purchased the yarn and pattern for that have been sitting in a bin, and several stashbusters. There may be a few substitutions along the way but my goal for 2026 is really to try to get a handle on the overflow of yarn and projects that I have stowed away without purchasing new things. (This won’t include gift knits that may come up or charitable knitting, such as my Mittens 4 Detroit projects next fall, where I will probably have to buy the appropriate yarn.) More to come on that as I hope to have the Make 9 locked down within the next week or so.

(As an aside, knitting and reading are helping to save my mental health these days. I feel – and I’ve seen a lot of other makers express that they, too, feel – unsure about posting good things when so much of the US is suffering through a dystopian nightmare. The images and stories out of Minnesota are especially devastating. I guess the way I look at it is that without these refuges of calm and peace, making things with our hands and being able to escape for a little while in a book or a movie, many of us would just collapse under the weight of our unregulated nervous systems. One of my favorite knitters and YouTubers, Denise DeSantis / EarthtonesGirl, shared a reel on Instagram recently and she just simply said none of us know what’s okay now and it’s okay to not know. We all do what we can to keep showing up and being able to say ‘this is wrong‘, day after day.)

some pins to start january

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Hello and Happy New Year from our corner of Michigan. The holidays are over and I think we are all looking forward to getting back to a more regular schedule. The kiddo spent seven full days of her holiday break sick – it could have been the monster flu that’s been going around, or in retrospect, maybe even Covid – either way, not a fun Christmas for her. Luckily – knock wood – neither Brandon nor I have come down with it… fingers crossed. My home office aka Santa’s workshop aka the dumping ground- is an absolute wreck but since I went back to work on the 2nd at least my inbox isn’t too bad at this point.

I have my Hobonichi planners organized- my day planner for 2026 as well as a brand new 5-year journal, as I finished the last one and shelved it. I splashed out for a Galen leather cover for the 5-year since I didn’t think I could handle the cheap plastic cover that comes standard.

So with that I feel at least somewhat prepared to return to daily life, although I have no intent to have an aggressively productive month of diets or challenges. January is winter. It is short days, long nights, deep freeze, low biorhythms, near-hibernation and all I really want to do is lean into that.

It’s going to be a big year here – the year the kiddo graduates from high school and takes the first steps out of our nest, and other big things that I think are on the horizon but don’t want to talk about just yet. I don’t have “real” resolutions for 2026, but I do have some things that I’d like to do more of. In no particular order, I’d like to do more baking, and enjoy cooking more; I have pin boards full of recipes that I’ve never tried because I get into a weekly rut. I’d like to slow down even more – take my time with things, especially at work, and try to connect to the flow state that makes work feel gratifying. Be more measured and thoughtful in my responses and reactions – invest more in things that matter, especially my own peace. Drink more tea, wake up earlier, knit more, write more, care less about what people I don’t like are doing (particularly on social media).

So – yes to this.

I keep thinking about a new tattoo but I can’t decide on what it should be. I have foxes, owls, crows, and fish pinned on my Tattoo board and now this has struck my fancy.

I love this look, especially the wool socks with the sneakers, and the wool coat. Funny aside – before the kiddo got sick we had a day out shopping and lunching in a posh suburb. She wore her dark blue Adidas sneakers and tried on my grey cashmere coat and I thought she looked very hip. She, however, shed the coat in disgust, proclaiming, “It looks like I’m wearing a BLAZER.” …kids.

I *would* put ‘do my nails more often’ on my short list of New Year’s ‘things I’d like to do more of’ except I know myself and know that this would not be a success. I think I have to save nice nails for retirement. In the meantime, I have a pin board full of beautiful examples to yearn for.

Lastly, a bonus cat for sticking around to the end. Happy New Year!

the big 2025 reads post!

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The stats: I read 82 books / 27,420 pages. Items of note: I switched over to StoryGraph and after a little while of scratching around trying to get comfortable, I like it much better than what I used previously. I used Libby extensively, both for audio and e-books from my library.

These things helped make 2025 a great reading year for me, especially in the genres of horror, thriller, mystery, and suspense. I like things grim and foreboding, I like reading about the darker side: murder, kidnapping, suspense, police procedurals, vampires, ghosts, face-eating zombies and the unknown. But I also appreciate it when writers find new ways to approach these fairly well-worn topics and this year was a treasure trove. This year – Gothic horror of all types. Chainsaws! Hooks for hands, vampires next door in Southern subdivisions and taking vengeance for the historic genocide of their people. Cursed film reels and a missing friend returned after a two year absence and weirdly not the same. Final girls! A haunted house! A murder in Oxford! Oh, and Fort Sumter. (Hmm.)

I don’t tend to rate or review books except for the ones I find to be the most outstanding. This year, my highest rated book was Silver Nitrate, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. (I think she was also one of my top authors in 2024, for Mexican Gothic.) I read two of her other books in 2025 – The Bewitching and The Seventh Veil of Salome, and they were both very good as well. The Bewitching also makes my short list of outstanding reads for the year, although farther down on the list.

Slightly lower on the rung: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, by Stephen Graham Jones. I loved this book despite being a little let down by the ending. This book is not for everyone – it is graphic and very dark, but I could not put it down and ended up falling down a Stephen Graham Jones rabbit hole and reading his Indian Lake trilogy as well. The first novel in that trilogy, My Heart is a Chainsaw, also was a standout for me, possessing an unforgettable main character with an enthralling backstory and intermingling stream of conscious thesis on the horror film genre. (I learned a lot about horror movies and ended up watching a few that were mentioned here.)

Also in this ranking group was a late-year read, Guilty by Definition by Susie Dent. This was pure mystery, with main characters who work as lexicographers. I loved the way Dent worked in literary puzzles and clues as well as old words and language – a very novel and cerebral approach to an English mystery.

Other honorable mentions in the horror genre came from Grady Hendrix’s The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. Again, not for everyone due to very dark and graphic content and trigger warnings galore, but again, for me – I couldn’t put it down. Rachel Harrison contributed two titles to my list this year, both in the horror / suspense genre, with The Return and Play Nice (rated less highly than The Return but still a standout read). Content warning(s) – none of these are for the faint of heart.

And for something completely different, favorite nonfiction: The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson, which covered the onset of the Civil War.

I hope you read some fantastic books in 2025 and are looking forward to more in 2026.

Past Big Reads posts: 2024, 2023.

recent pins + the last one of 2025

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I’m off work now until January 2 and looking forward to time with my family and by myself, doing things that bring me joy and that I don’t usually have a lot of time for during the normal work weeks. I made a big pot of homemade vegetable soup over the weekend, dried some orange slices for a garland, finished a knitting project last week and am close to finishing another, finished a book… we have a jigsaw puzzle locked in, three gingerbread house kits, and I have crafting projects and books to last me until June if my free time allowed. 2025 has been a ride and I’m ready to lock the door and light the candles and shut the world out until I have to rejoin in 2026. With that said, here are a few recent pins to round out the year. Thank you for joining me in this humble space this year and God willing we will see each other on the other side.

This is my plan for my dried orange slices. I doubt it will look this neat.

I like this idea too.

I love this look. I have always wanted to be the kind of woman who could wear a little scarf around her neck like this and look natural but I’ve never been successful. This makes me want to try.

I have a pair of wingtips almost exactly like these but the grosgrain bows here are just *chefs kiss*.

My hairstylist gave me a bixie in October and it almost drove me insane. We had to have a big discussion before my cut last week because…

…I really want to get back to a sort of messy French bob.

And with that –

finished object – baby bear bonnet

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One of my colleagues and his wife are expecting their second child in early January and while I don’t usually feel confident enough to gift knit for many people, this was an exception. He is a young expat on assignment from our parent company, I really enjoy working with him, and I have been wanting to make this pattern for awhile so all the forces converged.

Pattern: Baby Bear Bonnet by Pernille Larsen for Knitting for Olive

Yarn: Knitting for Olive Merino / Knitting for Olive Soft Silk Mohair held together (both in Pearl Gray)

This was one of the most fun knits I’ve ever done. It was challenging and I had to rip back and restart three times and find tutorials for the German short rows which shape the back and the neck as well as for the i-cord bindoff on the neck. However, those challenges made it all the more enjoyable and it was a true pleasure to see it come together. It’s definitely not a perfect knit but I’m not embarrassed to gift it (the pattern is so well drafted and truly adorable). I would definitely knit this again, even just to have one in my stash to gift for a future as yet unidentified arrival.

Raveled.