Tag: inspire

It’s Not the Pattern Designer’s Fault, It’s Your Lack of Curiosity

I think that one of the best things to come out of the internet is thoughtful discussion, albeit few and far between, but those rogue moments of principle sure are great. I experienced this over the weekend, when in a bit of a mood, I decided to pick up a fiber art project and queue up a Mark Vogel video. I love his content, he is as wordy as my grandma, with the love of music to boot. He has this way of challenging without being confrontational, and inspiring me to want to keep improving on fiber arts and interpersonal communication, just like she did.

This video though, challenged me in a way I did not see coming, and helped me synthesize some petty feeling I was carrying, that were rather useless. A few years ago, when I began this blog, hot takes were still a bit of a novelty, but now it feels like hot takes are the way we communicate in 2026, with common sense and self-control the delicacy appreciated by a few. How did a few years take something we all grew up knowing how to do, having common sense and self-control, and turn the behavior on its head to be an acquired taste?

That is why, I don’t share all the opinions I have anymore, some of my takes are straight up dumb and I don’t want to make a fool of myself. I did this in the beginning of my blogging, and now I cringe to think of the catharsis out there on the internet, which is why some of my posts have been changed to private. Anyways, writing is a journey. But, one thing I have shared, at least I think I have, is my indifference to PetiteKnit patterns. Not that I have purchased one to know if they are good or not, just that the ubiquitous PetiteKnit patterns have cluttered my feed and have become odious to me by how many people are making them. Yes, that is a very petty opinion, and I say, yes I agree with you. I don’t think I am correct, but it’s how I feel.

When I first discovered knitting Youtube and knitting podcasts, I was inundated with PetiteKnit this and PetiteKnit that.

This was around the time of the Cumulus O-neck blouse, the Sophie scarf, the Frankie, the Olga, the Ivy, the Maggie Cardigan, etc. The Sophie scarf in all its iterations and the Frankie are the two trigger points for me where I began to have negative feels towards the name PetiteKnit, I could feel myself tuning out or rolling my eyes when I heard someone talk about the next cast on being Sophie or Frankie. But I never sat with myself to figure out why had this reaction.

I think deep down I was concerned it was jealousy from her success, and I mean envy for the incredible careers Mette Wendelbroe Okkels has had would be reasonable. A doctor and the biggest pattern designer of this decade? Yeah, that is intimidating!

I think there is a lot of confusion too about where then name comes from. You see this very thin, white woman, from Sweden in these picture perfect places and it feels like another rich influence flaunting their privilege and a possible fascist ideology in this post-2024 US election landscape. But that’s not where the name comes from, she began designing baby patterns. Petite referring to small humans. She is not a Taylor Swift, she is just really good at what she does and the 2020 lockdown boosted sales.

So if it’s not jealousy, than what is my gripe? Well, when Mark Vogel was musing on an odd comment he received about his stockinette project. Specifically, that if it’s “stockinette” no one needs an update, he shared some thoughts that convicted me and clarified for me where my PetiteKnit burnout was coming from.

(For context, a lot of PetiteKnit patterns have stockinette, it’s a timeless finish and something I like in my own projects. Especially since I am not yet versed in cabling. Stockinette is common, but not boring, as the commenter supposed. Most store bought “professional” knits utilize stockinette.)

There is a trend in particular with knitters who share their work on the internet to be focused on “store-bought” looking knits. Which is not why I knit, I knit to create things I can’t find at the store. But for a lot of 2026 knitters, they want it to look store bought, and they want to make things that are trendy. This has created a boom of projects from just a few pattern designers flooding my feed, and everyone’s knitting feed realistically, with a repetition of names:

  • The Lakes Pullover by Ozetta
  • My Favorite Things Knitwear
  • PetiteKnit Frankie or PetiteKnit Olga
  • Andrea Mowry
  • Ranunculus Sweater by Midori Hirose
  • Kutovakika by Veronika Lindberg
  • Sari Nordland
  • Caitlin Hunter

The popularity is not the fault of the designers, it is their success for their hard work, what is actually bugging me is the sheeple nature of humans. When I hear one of these designs being mentioned it is usually with the intention of making it exactly as the designer did for their sample, like down to the color, the yarn brand, an exact replica. Over and over, and over again, as the algorithm spreads these trends, and we see the same project replicated ad nauseum, until our minds snark at the mention of these designs and their creators.

I’m not the only one who feels this way, a lot of the snark you see online about these designs echoes this sentiment, particularly when it comes to Rhinebeck, a sea of the same sweater, but instead of approaching this feeling with thoughtful contemplation, the snark is turned into vicious critiques of the creatives who made the patterns. We as humans are so good at tearing each other down, and getting upset at the pattern designers instead of being frustrated at the knitting influencers and overly-online knitting culture that is algorithmically flattening the creativity of the craft, is misguided and wrong. Like most good things, internet trends and virality, followed with this longing to be apart of something is making us make the same things.

That’s what I have caught myself doing. I am so bored and resentful, I don’t want to see the same thing over and over again. I want to see some original thought! Try a new yarn, or color! Experiment instead of copy and pasting the crumbs of the sample until there is no flavor left to behold. Be creative! The pattern was supposed to be a tool for that, not an AI prompt for you to shut your brain off and steal someone else’s work.

Quiet Luxury and store bought quality knit patterns, now merging with the need for basics in a recession is influencing the sad beige knitting trend we snark about, not PetiteKnit. I’m not afraid to say I had it all wrong. I’m glad there are positive and respectful creators out there like Mark, who encourage us to think deeper and respect one another. So let’s be kind knitters, and stop snarking on PetiteKnit from a reformed snarker, who has grown. Because you know what I learned while researching this post? PetiteKnit has a ton of interesting patterns that I’ve never heard of before! There is personality and variety, that social media drowned out and that’s a shame, so go forth curious my friend to make something new!

Costuming an Enigma: River Tam

How does one tell the story of a one who is difficult to understand? An unknown, yet is a crucial piece of Firefly. That is River Tam. Alliance fugitive, genius, and younger sister of Simon Tam. Also, she is a young adult woman who is still finding her way. She is a talented dancer and that elegance and beauty brings tension to the reality that she is no longer just a girl, she can kill you with her brain and carries trauma, more vast than her years in the ‘verse.

Upon my first watches of the Firefly series, I thought River’s style was based on convenience, an amalgam of hand-me-downs from Kaylee, Inara, and Zoey. But with a more recent re-watch, I don’t think this is the case. River has clear vision for what she wants, and yes the first few days may have been hand-me-downs, but with a show tasked with telling so much is such a small window, everything is intentional. The costume designer, Trpcic, had a fantastic canvas to do what the story needed – tell us who River is without spoiling what she would become in her story arc. She is a girl who loves dresses, the freedom of comfort, flowy silhouette, and the protection of big combat boots.

Her clothes dance with her, gliding and twirling in those rare moments where River can soak in the simple pleasures of being free to exist as a human and not a weapon. You can see all that she craved from her time as an imprisoned experiment of the Alliance – color, nature, warmth, dreaming. Bohemian clothing is associated with a romanticism and idealism of the world free to exist in peace, love, and harmony. All things River has been deprived of by her captors. But when she is aboard the Serenity, she is given another chance at life. She is alive again. She is healing. Pink is an optimistic color, flowers a symbol of new hope. In the movie, when she can no longer ignore her trauma, and must confront it, River changes to darker colors. Her silhouettes stay romantic and delicate but in deeper colors. They communicate a maturity, she has passed from the arrested development state we find River in at the beginning of the story, to the woman who is accepting her new reality but choosing her path through it.

I’m not a huge fan of dresses, even though I have tried to like them in my twenties, they’re not for me. So if I consider incorporating her looks into my style, I have a bit of a road block when I see the over sized, pink dresses. What I do appreciate about River’s style is the Bohemian flair, knit and crochet details, and excellent taste in boots. I also like how she wears her hair. It’s how I’ve worn my hair for most of my life. I am inspired to knit pieces that she would wear and have incorporated sheer layering tops into my wardrobe this fall as well as a pair of Doc Marten look a-likes. I would like to dress like her, because I feel a kinship with River. Sometimes being neurodivergent, feels like you are stuck in your head, in a place no one can reach you. She is one of my favorite female characters for her realness. She is a strong female who is sometimes complete paralyzed by her struggles, she needs her community to bring her back from the brink, that’s real life. We are not lone wolves, lone wolves don’t survive. We need our pack.

The Style of Kaylee Frye

There are many fashion icons from the Y2K era, many that have mentioned on the blog like Lizzie McGuire, Lorelai Gilmore, Phoebe Buffay, Zenon Girl of the 21st Century, etc. They are known for their wacky combos and closet staples that continue to appear in fashion trend look books. One character though, that typifies the 2000’s style for me in both past nostalgia ephemera and present sewing plans, is Kaywinnet Lee Frye of 2002’s Firefly.

Now, if you think this is crazy, I think you are overlooking the details of this style that mixes utilitarian work wear with pattern, floral embroidery, all while layering pieces in a fashion that keeps this style futurist and retro at the same time. Costume Designer, Shawna Trpcic, had a lovely eye for detail when crafting the style of Kaylee. She is an accomplished ship-mechanic, but she is also young, from a rural planet, and has a love of nature even though she spends most days in space travelling the ‘verse.

For most characters who would be styled this way from the 2000s, they would be the typical “not-like-other-girls” archetype, but Kaylee is not. She is a girls girl. She wishes to be as lavishly adorned as Inara, and as wonderfully adored by a partner as Zoey is by Wash. She is strong and delicate, gentle and brave. She is ying and yang, a great nod to the the mix of east and west in the show, as well as space and western. There is a pleasant tension that weaves this story together. She is nurturing to River, spunky to Jayne, unwavering in her standards when Mal or Simon talk out of turn, and respectful of Book.

By making Kaylee a multi-dimensional character, Trpcic had a lot of ground to cover, to explore these sides of Kaylee in 14 episodes and a movie. How did she make such a dent? I believe it is in the details. Kaylee wears a version of coveralls throughout the story. Sometimes these are long sleeved, or more of a vest style. These earthtone greens and browns, have a warmth to them, like Kaylee. In the show, Kaylee is always wearing a warm color palette. Pinks, creams, aqua, etc. It is later on in Serenity, where she wears cooler tone pinks, dark gray-green, and cool tone brown. In the show, Kaylee wears earth-toned accessories, delicate necklace, funky print tops, brown belts, coral flip flops, sheer pink gloves. There is lightness in what she wears, even if it is a twill coverall or an exaggerated poofy dress. Even her floral dress with embroidery from the flashback, has lightness, with the voluminous sleeves. You can see a common thread throughout every look.

Her style grounds the show in reality, there is a world beyond the ship, among all these planets. It is bohemian, and she is a free spirit. If the show had focused too much on the space-futurism, Kaylee would not belong in this world. Her love of strawberries would be untethered from reality. Her hammock in the engine room, brings that carefree spirit of a ship on the water, or a beach somewhere out there in the ‘verse, away from the alliance. Her parasol carries history, of a time before planet hopping and Alliance subjugation, before Reavers. She embodies that peace we feel surrounded by nature, even though most of the nature she sees, is floating by the windows of Serenity. The darkness of space never changes her, like Sandy Cheeks from Spongebob, she is thriving in an abnormal environment.

What I love the most is how femme the style is, even though her job is supposed to be masculine, the gender is removed and the person shines. I like that she is herself with grease on her face or a frilly cupcake dress at the Shindig. I wish we had more time with her to learn more about her background, and see her shine in her effortless looks. Fourteen episodes was not enough! I hope the animated reboot will carry the same spirit forward for Kaylee, with even more looks I want to recreate.

My favorite look is the green coverall, with the aqua silk coat, brightly patterned top, parasol, and flip flops. This combo has staying power. It feels like a combo you could buy today from the bohemian, Free People, and was something that fit in the 1990’s/2000’s. Work wear is timeless, which is why I have been slowly adding overalls to my wardrobe, store bought for now as I figure out what style is best for my body type, but I have plans to clone my favorite additions, and hopefully sew my dream garment – these sleeveless green coverall with the teddy bear patch. I have the fabric, now I need the motivation to cut the pattern out.

Now what about shoes? As I mentioned there are flip flops, but other than that, she mostly wears boots. Which grounds the look even more into reality. She is climbing stairs to get from the bridge, to the hold, to the engine room, kitchen or her bunk. They walk when they are docked on planets. She also plays basketball with the others when traveling from port to port, on board the ship. The boots, although a bit heavy for that, remain a wise choice for this woman on the go. In some ways, her wardrobe is not as much mechanic as nomad. She is ready for the next place, a uniform for whatever crazy adventure Mal signs them up for next. She collects souvenirs along the way, like the patches, the jacket, parasol, and embroidered tops. An actual curated bohemian gal, that slowly created this style over time. It is why she feels so authentic.

Time to Switch My Clothes Around

Every Spring and every Autumn, I would hear this phrase, from my mom, and my grandparents. It would follow with a flurry of activity. Sweaters unpacked from the “chifferobe” and piled onto the bed. Shorts and short sleeve shirts, carried from the drawers, to their cold weather slumber. Uno reverse, and the opposite dance began when the breezy warmth breathed life back through the open windows. As a kid, I enjoyed seeing all the clothes out of their drawers where I could look with curiosity at their clothes so different from my own. I didn’t understand the practicality, honesty, until this year, many, many years later.

Since we moved to Georgia almost a decade ago, we have been without proper dressers which sounds insane, I know. We’ve lived in some places with nice closets, that made storage simple. But we have lived in others where the closets were downright unusable. We’ve used moving totes, fabric dressers from Amazon, cube storage, and zipper totes for comforters. It’s an imperfect system, requiring a lot of digging through bins to find what you are looking for.

I think I have been so pre-occupied with simply organizing these bins, I didn’t think about moving my clothes around seasonally. That was until we bought our house and faced another closet that was challenging. I had hoped our house would have good storage, but that is something, I am learning, that you have to customize to your taste. This place has okay storage in the bedroom, but the problem remains that we need needed more storage like those proper dressers. Of course those are expensive and time consuming to make, the closet being bigger would have let us kick the can farther down the road, instead, God provided a really neat solution.

Our neighbors offered us a chest, a large cabinet really that can either be upright or laid down longways like a trunk. It’s an older piece, that with the dark stain patina, I think looks like a vampire coffin. This chest fits six of these large quilt storage totes! Which means I finally have my “chifferobe” storage piece. The chifferobe name makes me smile because this was not a wardrobe, this was a long trunk that sat at the foot of my grandparents bed, now it lives in my old bedroom at the foot of the bed I sleep in. My mom and grandparents also used trunks to do this. Steamer trunks to be specific, that my great, great grandparents used to immigrate from Ireland to America. Restored to the former glory and it such a convenient way to store clothing for the season.

On the left and in the featured image are the steamer trunks, and to the right, blocked by a suitcase is the cedar chest at the foot of the bed, that Kyle is using as a desk.

Maybe you don’t need to declutter so often, as often as influencers do. Perhaps, you just need a organizing system that makes your closet smaller and manageable for the season you are in, either in a four season climate, or in a state of mind. Putting things into a longer term storage, sort of like moving items out of your backpack in Stardew Valley, into a chest, takes those items out of your daily mental load, without getting rid of them. It’s very clever. Do you store things seasonally? Would you give this a try?

The Lizzie Halter Top

Happy October! I think this is the best time of the year. From August and beyond to December, it feels like a dance to the finish line. I’ve been busy, working to get my sewjo and knitjo back this year. One way I did that this spring and summer was to use new materials and techniques. This top I dubbed the Lizzie Halter Top, for my love of Lizzie McGuire, was an exploration of past muses.

The 2000s nostalgia is calling to me, as I have mentioned before, but there has been a pull for authenticity in these throwbacks. It’s becoming more than a trend for me, instead a way to explore style muses of the past, that felt like they passed me by as a kid, that with fiber arts. Making takes us out of that loop, if you like the thing, you can make it and then wear it. No fomo. No trends to chase. You’re free. This top is one of those throwback pieces for me.

I knit the front panel using 3.5 mm (US 4) needles using two new materials for me. And the best part? They were both purchased at local to me yarn stores. I had never used Knitting for Olive before, although the brand is quite popular. I hope they stay this way moving forward because I loved working with their Pure Silk. This Pure Silk is in the color Blood Orange. I used one skein for this top, which equals 273 yards of fingering weight yarn for 12 USD, which I think is fantastic value for silk yarn. To pad out this top, I used leftover Uneek Sock Yarn from Urth Yarn, another fingering weight yarn that is a mix of super wash merino and nylon.

Although, I was excited to work with such a bright color, I don’t wear a lot of orange though, so as I sat with this yarn, I began to worry that I made too bold of a choice. But there is something about the self-striping Uneek in the contrasting cool tones that balanced all my concerns. When I pair this piece with a cool tone tank underneath, this effect grows stronger.

My second concern, although wool is recommended for its breath-ablity, was the wool in this project. Was it insane to include wool in a summer top? To counteract any breath-ability issues in the finished fabric, I chose to crochet the back panel and chain the halter straps. I was very comfortable this summer, even on hot days, wearing this piece. With wool! It’s wild to me but it works. The silk does the heavy lifting though. I like working with cotton, but silk may be my new favorite warm weather fiber.

Lessons from Tailoring: The Shoulder

Over the summer, I went through my cool weather clothes and pulled pieces that I didn’t like to alter into garments I would wear more often. Two of these garments I chose to upcycle were a pair of men’s henley raglan long sleeve shirts from Bass Pro Shops. These were from a Black Friday sale last fall, to bring more henley style shirts and raglan baseball tees into my closet. They are great shirts. Soft and sturdy fabric, comfortable, but not the right fit for my body or style. Since this shirt was designed for masculine style, it was not as cute on as I hoped. The button placket is set higher on the chest, near the collar bone, instead of lower near the chest in feminine styles. The second issue was the shoulder, it had room for even broader shoulders than I have, accentuating my shoulders in all the wrong ways. Now, I could have re-homed these pieces but I’d like to keep the baseball tee shirts and enjoy wearing them. I bought them with the intention of keeping the a long time.

The neckline had to be fixed. That high collar was the biggest obstacle to styling the shirt for me, but how does one change a neckline from a from a crew neck button placket to a v-neck or scoop? I first removed the ribbed collar, and focused my efforts on the shape my open neckline would create. From previous alterations and pattern cutting, I knew that v-neck and scoop necklines can get you quick. The open shape can quickly shift from good to gaping, to sliding constantly off the shoulders. Once it is cut, you can’t go back – so you better have a plan.

I did have a plan this time. I would continue my cut in a key shape. I followed the line of the button placket, in a narrow scoop down until the end of the buttons. With those pieces removed it was time to taper and shape the final cuts. I matched each side for a tapered scoop, paying attention to the depth and at the bottom of the curve. Too low, and this shirt would be too revealing for casual wear. Too wide as we work our way up to the shoulder, and would slip off. I kept my line narrow, remembering to account for the rolled hem, that would eat up some width. I tried this on and was pleased with the scoop so I moved this project forward to hemming.

This is where my upcycling hit a snag. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to fitting garments, and my green tailoring skills showed when it came to finish the neckline. The neckline had excess at the bottom of the scoop, more gaping than I wanted, which left me with a fork in the road. Do I gather it? Do I add darts? Do I cut more? I decided to gather it at the bottom and live with it for a bit. I put it back in my closet and let it be until the cool weather returned.

Fast forward to this past weekend, and the first cool days of September. I wore the golden tan version with the gathered scoop, and it was not it. The shirt was close but no cigar, and I found myself tugging and adjusting this odd neckline. What I noticed as the day went on, is that the shoulder was fitting strange too. There was a bunching of fabric at the top of the neckline and back, not what I was looking for. Finally, last night I stood before my mirror and started adjusting. I tried the shirt on backwards, normal and off the shoulder. I folded the bottom hem to see if I needed to crop it. I thought about changing the neckline. Would a binding the neck opening in a collar solve the bunching? I took out the gathers and tried it on again, how do I make this sit flat?

The shoulders. I needed to take in the shoulders. I tried raising the neckline in the mirror by gathering some excess in the scoop, but then I pinched some fabric with my fingers at the shoulder and huzzah! We found our solution. (I also removed the cuffs to shorten the sleeve for a better fit for my arm length.)

My purpose in buying these shirts, was to bring a style back into my wardrobe that I used to own in college. My Gas Monkey Garage spark plug baseball tee and a v-neck baseball tee from Victoria’s Secret. I wore those pieces to death in the early 2010’s. By pinching away the excess at the shoulder line, the scoop rested flat and there was no bunching at the arm’s eye. It continues to amaze me how the most random parts of a garment change the entire fit.

Who knew a loose shoulder can make the neckline wonky? This novice tailor sure didn’t. I hope this little story of tailoring can help you if your stuck fitting a shirt. Or maybe this will inspire to take the plunge on a alteration in your closet.

After Thought Heel Socks

A special thanks to the pattern writing of Weichien Chan from Saskie & Co and Jamie Lomax from Pacific Knit Co, for explaining this process with such clarity, that I leveled up from a sock knitting dreamer to a sock knitter. Check out their patterns! I’m glad I did. 😃

The Sock Saga

How? And, why? Those were the questions burning at the back of mind as the sock process eluded me, again and again. For years, I couldn’t wrap my mind around the heel of the sock patterns I acquired. I tried a toe up approach. I tried to mess around with short rows. I even bought a sock pattern book from a used book store, for a bit of sock heritage. Heel flap, confused me. The mechanics of double pointed needles, challenged my hand eye coordination. Magic Loop tested my patience and exposed my tight tension, from my cluttered mind. But the Addi Sockenwunder 9″ cable in 3.5mm became the key to unlock knitting mechanics I was lacking.

If you’re familiar with this blog, you know my frustrations with knitting in the round. This came to a head in February, during the Melt the ICE hat knit along. I seriously messed up my tension, and initial attempt by twisting my work. My joined stitches became a helix, coiling around the cable. I frogged my work, and started again, this time waiting a few rows before joining. (I found this wisdom thanks to the advice of Reddit, I think? To the past comment thread that helped me, know that I am eternally grateful.) This time around, I was determined to keep my hands loose and my mind relaxed, and it worked. I did not feel the hand fatigue, I normally experience when knitting in the round. The short cable length of the Sockenwunder needles was the key, the stitches slid easily around in the exact space of a sock circumference. This is why Magic Loop and I, did not form a lasting relationship, the shifting of stitches was a hurdle I disliked. Same with DPNs, I don’t want to keep track of stitches on needles, I want to be in a flow state of stitching. That is the best part of knitting in the round, in my opinion, you just go and knit. It is incredibly relaxing, like crocheting a simple stitch across a project, you and the stitching implement become one with the yarn, looping and creating a fabric with a relaxed mind.

For this reason, the Sockenwunder socks came together quickly, despite the new techniques I was employing in this project. My first sock, I began at the end of the day on a Thursday, knit the body of the sock on Friday, and finished the toe and heel on Saturday. My second sock was began on Sunday, knit Monday, and wrapped up on Tuesday. Quick and easy, compared to a sweater! It’s what I want out of this knitting practice, something quick and relaxing, that is a pleasure to replicate over and over again. In the short term for my own feet for this coming winter, and in the long term for loved ones and beyond, hopefully charity knitting socks and possibly selling them at a market or online marketplace.

Sock Pattern

My sock pattern was loosely based on the patterns featured in the Arctic Knits book, which I will not go into detail for copyright reasons, but one thing I will talk about is my sizing mistake. I cast on an extra ten stitches from the Saskie & Co pattern, because of my usual tight tension knitting in the round. They fit a bit loose, and that’s okay. These first socks are a toile, for future socks, as I develop my preferences for socks. They are still usable, with a relaxed cabin socks fit for lounging around the house. I may layer other cotton socks underneath on cold days to pad the fit.

Another deviation from the sock patterns in the Arctic Knits book, was my choice to knit stripes, with scrap yarn from my Saskie Cardigan (another Saskie & Co project I will share soon). I didn’t know if these socks would turn out or be another failed attempt, so I used up my extras, in random stripes. This freed up my mind to concentrate on the mechanics of knitting the sock, and not the knitting charts. In the future, I plan to make the socks as written by Weichien Chan, they are stunning color work socks.

I used a combination of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, Knit Picks Stroll, and Kelbourne Woolens Germantown.

Now, what about that random raised row of brown yarn? That is the magic of the after thought sock! You make temporary arrangements for your heel and pick it up again after the sock body and toe are complete. This is where Pacific Knit Co’s tutorial had my back. Sometimes I need things rephrased, and many detailed pictures to make a new skill click. I’m a visual learner. Sometimes those patterns, although well written jumble in my mind. By using the combination of both pattern designers I successfully picked up the stitches above and below. I did this with a second set of circulars from Clover that were a bit longer, 16″ but the same gauge of 3.5 mm. The length difference was helpful during the knitting process, as the long needles hung down out of the way of my hands knitting on the Sockenwunder, and alleviated the stress of stitches falling off when unattended to.

Both Weichien and Jamie helped finally see the how and why of the heel shaping. With the heel flap techniques, I lost sight of the point. With the patterns that had me turn the heel while knitting the body, the complexity of this, overwhelmed me. But the after thought heel, eliminated both of these hiccups. I could see the sock body and the heel taking shape, it was intuitive. If you have experienced overwhelm by socks, I high recommend mixing up your tools and techniques. That is why we have so many to choose from, you must experiment to find the right fit like selecting a bowling ball.

Experimentation and repetition are my biggest takeaways from this multi-year sock saga. It’s not the finished project, as much as the process that defines the success. Knitting requires a patience and tenacity to frog and cast on again that has been hard for me, as a perfectionist with squirrel brain to stay the course with. Mistakes anger me. Frogging feels like a waste of time, but its not. Committing the skills to memory by practice is no different to volleyball practice drills or math homework. To be a skilled maker, you must put the time in, no short cuts. In this age of information and short cuts, it’s counter-cultural to slow down and fixate one skill until it is acquired, but it is the only way as humans we learn.

Why Not Fall Cleaning?

It’s that time of the year when I come alive the most, and that means I prepare like its a new year, before the frozen embrace of winter sets us in place. I feel a flurry of energy to take stock of my yarn and fabric, go through my wardrobe to declutter, up cycle, and repair. I organize, I dream, I plan home improvement projects for those slow, hunker down days. I don’t feel this way at all in the Spring, I feel worn down by the winter icy, and dry air. I feel the weight of the garden, on my shoulders, and the desire to be outside again and sketch on the porch. The last thing I want to do is re-organize my house and clean. So is it the cadence of the four seasons that brings this rhythm of preparation to fall? Is is our fixation on the academic calendar? I’m not sure. It has been a time tested fixture of human culture. Forever, we have been preparing for winter, harvesting, hunting, and making.

So why, is it called Spring Cleaning? Surely Fall Cleaning would make more sense. I found that it is an ancient and modern phenomenon. The earliest mentions of a “spring cleaning tradition” are found in two west Asian cultures – Persian and ancient Israel. Iranian culture celebrates Persian New Year, Nowruz, on the first day of Spring. To recognize the new year, Iranians prepare by “shaking the house” a thorough clean, or “redd up” as my Western Pennsylvania culture would say. This makes a ton of sense to me. Honestly, I wish our modern New Year wasn’t in January, for my climate dictates the New Year kicks off during the coldest month! Not a time to do anything really other than waiting for the snow storms and negative Fahrenheit temps to pass. It makes for quite a boring holiday. The latter should have been obvious to me, growing up in the church, but I did not connect the two that Passover preparation could be the origin. During Passover, all things made with leavening or fermentation were removed to remember the Israelite flight from Egypt.

For a more modern origin, coal based heating systems would prompt a cleaning ritual in North America, to open up the windows and clear the soot. Honestly, quite a lame origin story, but important. I think a house down the road is burning coal in an burner, and I absolutely despise the stench of it. The smoke is thick and dark, permeating the air in the cold pockets of January’s bitter wind.

My fall cleaning, I’d say has a lot more in common with Nowruz than Passover or cleaning away soot. I love the description of shaking the house, it reminds me of how my Papa would describe my Grandma’s penchant for order, “She’s mean on clean.” As a child, I had no appreciation of her passion for cleaning, now as adult with my own spaces to keep tidy, a good straight up of the house brings me joy. I’ve been tackling the ever-present chaos of my craft room. It began with a sort through of my inventory, organizing it all into banker boxes and a new drawer set from Amazon to keep the fabric folded and yarn skeins arranged by fiber and weight. I can actually find what I need, when I need it, for the first time in my sewing and knitting life! Who knew a few boxes could be life changing? Organizing my stuff the way my mind processes it, well it has cut down on distractions. My easily distracted Neurodivergent brain used to find everything in my tornado of a closet, but the project I was looking for. It made everything take longer than normal, a simple search, an odyssey of investigation and forgetfulness. I couldn’t take it anymore.

I rode this high into my closet, going through it all and organizing more, t-shirts by color family, mixing up my storage solutions from hangers, to zipper bins, to planning shelves to make there be a flow. Putting clothes away can turn into a series of doom piles, because the system was badly designed by me. I needed a way to keep the organization going, while I sorted and folded my clothes, yet again a bad plan led to me sorting through a random drawer for the third time that month, instead of putting the rest of the laundry away. It was a waste of time, leaving me frustrated once again at my squirrel brain. A flow to getting dressed, and a choreographed dance of freshly laundered clothes waltzing into their places once again. But why stop there? Less to organize would be ideal. Thus began a lovely fall purge of clothing into piles – donate, up cycle, repair, and trash/scraps. All the clothes, shoes too! I feel so empowered. I have struggled to part with anything since experiencing grief and trauma in the 2020’s, and it has been embarrassing. I will live with too much stuff, wanting to re-home it, yet being unable to part with it, in some guilt that I don’t understand. I think the burden of my mind is fading, with healthy clarity returning to my heart. I’m not saying goodbye, over and over again, I am being a good steward of things, and sometimes that means you have to let things go. Even my handmade items that may not serve me, but could make someone else happy.

With a clearer mind, I feel inspired to create. This comes ever fall, with a flurry of ideas for new sweaters, accessories, and clothing. This year is a special one as I have been making pants, from scratch and from up-cycled materials. I will be fine tuning my cold weather accessories too, with plans to make excellent hats, mittens, and socks. I’d also like to make a bag or two. My sweater plans are more focused this year. I understand how to make the thing now, so how can I make them better? I guess I shook the house of my creativity too, in this clean.

Do you feel motivated in fall to get things done? Are you a fall cleaner or a traditional spring cleaner?

NCT 127’s New Era

NCT blingy 7th album

On August 24, NCT 127 released their first album in 2 years, Blingy. After such a long time and a plethora of changes, I wondered if this band, whom I found at the beginning of introduction to KPop, would still feel the same?

I was introduced to NCT 127, one day listening to the KPop station of Sirius XM, while mowing the grass. This was back in the summer of 2022. The station served up Sticker and I was hooked. From that point, I fell down the rabbit hole that is the Neo Zone and became a NCT’zen. I experienced the 2 Baddies, 1 Porsche era, Baggy Jeans, and the beginning of their solo era to prepare for the military hiatus of their leader Taeyong. It was an interesting wave of music, and change ups.

But as life, the positive momentum turned into waves of chaos. NCT 127 gave me the first taste of a band managing  military service and staying active. It was weird, Taeyong and Jaehyun are two of my favorite performers in the band, the band without them felt a bit hollow, until I realized that new members fill in the void. One band, one sound. I began to notice the voices that had been the background all along – Yuta, Jungwoo, Haechan, Doyoung, and Johnny.

Another wave built beyond the breakers, waves of solo albums to pass the time with range beyond my expectation. Haechan’s melodies, Yuta’s J-Rock edge, and Taeyong’s vocal fry were the sounds I began to appreciate as colors of the NCT 127 rainbow. Neo’s got your back, even in the rain.

This band is resilient. Two scandals, two members down, and they seem sharper than ever. Even though they are still dancing the final number of the military hiatus shuffle, they are stronger than ever. For their 10th anniversary they have comeback and reclaimed their identity.

I really like Blingy. The album has range and fighting spirit. We even get a track of all seven members reunited for a moment (recorded before Jungwoo and Doyoung began their service). The five members who carry the rest of Blingy’s sound, have weathered the road blocks, with sophistication and range. Each voice shines, the melodies are cleaner, and the chaotic noise music style of this experiemental band has been fine tuned by these limitations. I don’t miss Mark or Taeil for a second.

This gives me hope as the Stray Kids military era could begin at any time now. BTS had such a messy military era and their return has been, odd and featured a strange display of values. It’s the Chris Brown of it all, and a pinch of personal schedules that feels disjointed from the pre-military service BTS. With all that NCT has gone through, it would be understandable for the band to be unrecognizable, instead they remain familiar, and feel stronger. Instead of the change subtracting from their sound, it has intensified the flavor. My hope is that however SKZ navigates this upcoming change, they will take a page from NCT.

L to R: Taeyong, Johnny, Yuta, Haechan, and Jaehyun

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