I have had a wonderful wintry season this year…. baby in arms, steady fires to keep us all warm; growing into family life, motherhood and my new self.  Amidst these humble blessings and all this growth, there has been a tremendous creative surge, as yes the perfect conditions for crafting.

The space for creating family

Ah yes, the seasons are shifting….  Snowing is falling, but on blooming daffodils…..I curl up by the fire, still knitting nightly, but as the planets shift around us I can feel them drawing me outwards, calling friends for play dates, replacing firewood for furniture on the porch, spending more time planning my garden and less time planning knitting projects.  Inside the seasons are changing too.   As my little guy starts to move, quickly, and eat EVERYTHING, I feel this luxury of time at home with a babe who doesn’t get into EVERYTHING quickly slipping away.  He is finding dropped pins and digesting yarn bits, time to deep clean and pack up a few of the craft supplies for a while.  I am so excited to get outside, chase my little boy into the dirt piles and tall grasses of summer, grow our food,  meet the mountains again and again and again, but I am also feeling the nostalgia of the closing of a season.

Knitting together is harder than it used to be

As we shift as a family, I am reminded of the great gift crafting has given me this year.  Quiet, internal time–knit by knit, stitch by stitch–the slow and rhythmic hum of making things, making milk, making life.  To be able to create things; spin clothes from sheep’s wool, old sheets and discarded fabrics, for my little family to wear, use, cherish and return again to the earth, while actually creating the family as well, makes our experience as well as our objects, so rich, so alive.  What a gift to develop these skills that conger things to life with my own imagination and hands.  In a world where we have become so disconnected from the arts and crafts of creating –making things, meeting our own needs, imbued with our attention, care and love, I feel so blessed to have been taught these rich and basic talents by my grandma, friends and yes even on line.  Our world is wrought with consumerism, flooded with cheap plastic stuff, overflowing with factory made, environmentally hazardous, and often highly costly items…and yet we barely blink when inviting them into our home, surrounding ourselves with things, things and more things.  AHHH, I will take a deep breath, slowly replace made in China for made by me.  As I pack away this bits of yarn and thread and cotton for this season, I simply give thanks for the glory handmade.  As so beautifully put by a season crafter and teacher-

“Today, more than ever, the crafts have the mission to reconnect the human being to the Earth and her substances,  bring healing to the senses and soul, and foster the creative capacities of the human being”  – Renate Hiller

And to give credit where credit is due—I thank you Old Recipe, Our Ash Grove, Ravelry, This Whole Family, The Purl Bee and so many others for your patterns, inspirations and creative capacities.

so I join you my friends and humbly share what these craftastic hands have made this year.


The Christmas Stocking and The Magic Cashmere Hat (wore everyday since it’s making!)


The Backup Cap


The snuggy shawl for both mama and baby

The Baby Boy Fair Isle (my first ever!!)


The Sleepy Chicken– Knit Chicken and Inside is sheeps wool and a Re-Purposed Red Flannel Heart with Hops, Artemisia and Lavender.–Intended to help baby sleep

The Waldorf Doll (my favorite new skill) Wearing yes, the Red Flannel sheet


The Red Flannel Sheet- This time a little something for mama!

The Cashmere cap made from the sleeve of this snuggy sweater I used to wear all the time

 

Bibs in Mexican Oil cloth, Flannel, Terry cloth, oh my!!

 


The diaper bag made from old fabric curtains in the kitchen

Jaengy’s birds–Yet to be completed mobile

Pants to match the Fair Isle

And the incomplete, yet fast and easy, sweater for me!!