happy new year!!! oh my, what a year that was. there has been much chaos and unpleasantness in the world, but i am focusing on the positive and wanted to share some of the things i was proud of, excited about or that just plain made me happy in 2018.
it was definitely my biggest teaching year yet! i taught in 8 states: New York, California (twice! Northern and Southern), Maine, New Hampshire, Colorado, Virginia, Massachusetts and Vermont. it’s so much fun getting to meet new people all over the country and teach them how to draft patterns and sew their own clothes! stay tuned to my teaching page and subscribe to my newsletter to see if i’m coming to your state this year…
i had a crochet pattern published in Knitty. yes, you read that right! i never thought i would see the day…
i also had two more patterns published in Making magazine, the Boxet Bag and the Studio Apron.
i continued on my lifelong quest to clothe the entire world in linen smock dresses, and induct them into my cult.
i participated in the first-ever (to my knowledge anyway?) Mystery Crochet-a-Long for the Skimming Stones shawl, hosted by The Crochet Project. such fun! they have a new one going on right now too, the Echo Chamber Shawl.
a really lovely highlight of my year was getting to take a doll-making class with Ann Wood. we’ve been friends for a long time, but this was my first opportunity to take one of her classes and i jumped on it. the photo above is from the quick opening exercise we did at the start of class to get us into a playful zone. can you guess which one is mine?
it was a crazy mushroom year! it was such a moist Summer and Fall, and there were new forms and colors of mushrooms popping up all around us like we’ve never seen before…
i may have finally been satisfied with the number of sunflowers in my garden in 2018. i would still accept more this Summer, but the showing last year was pretty impressive.
one of the happiest experiences of the year was watching our new butterfly bush, planted in 2017 (thanks estyn!) grow and flourish and attract so many butterflies! we planted it right in front of our screened porch, where we eat breakfast and lunch and do most computer work all Summer, so we could watch the action.
even though i was away from home more than ever, i did enjoy some awesome local events, like this magical concert series that happened practically in our back yard.
and, though we are long overdue for a *real* vacation, we did get away for a few days in Vermont with Pip. we stayed in the cutest tiny house and swam in lakes, and ate lots of yummy food at dog-friendly restaurants.
all in all, there was plenty of good in 2018. now i’m ready for the year ahead!
