Stitch 'n Dish

Category: Self-Care

  • A birthday day out

    A birthday day out

    This week was my birthday, and I decided to take the day off and just do things I wanted to do with no time pressure or deadlines. I started the day out to breakfast with my parents, which is always nice. It was a rainy day around here so a day spent traveling to stores…

  • A twist on an old favorite

    A twist on an old favorite

    The great irony I find in all of this is that people often engage in fiber arts for comfort and creative expression. Winding up in a group or space that treats a wonky granny square like a moral failing isn’t what most of those folks were likely seeking.

  • Remembering Joann (and feeling nostalgic)

    Remembering Joann (and feeling nostalgic)

    Last week I found myself wandering aimlessly in a local Michaels store. It is the store in my area that has a pretty decent fabric inventory and sewing support, but I found myself uninspired, unmotivated, and frankly – unhappy. A couple days later I was feeling some sort of “inspiration” (urge?) to craft-shop and thought…

  • Fiber “spice”

    Fiber “spice”

    Today I am taking on the issue of the (sadly, not rare) ANGRY and nasty commenters on social media platforms, specific to fiber arts sites. Part of my shock when I encounter this is likely due to the warm connection I have to crocheting and knitting because my grandmother was the one who got me…

  • A new pause

    A new pause

    I continue to work on managing impulses to shop for entertainment or to alleviate boredom. It’s not easy. I sometimes find myself in a store with an armful of things and then have to stop and ask myself what I’m doing, and why. The good news is that since working on being more intentional, I…

  • Analog knitting

    Analog knitting

    After a marathon of crocheting the granny stitch bags, including a couple mini ones pictured below, I decided to do some knitting. I had picked up 2 skeins of Wonderland Yarn, in blue. It’s a silk blend and a sock/finger weight that I picked up in McWalker Yarns final week. I decided to make a…

  • I built a light box

    I built a light box

    Sometimes, we discount experiences, places, and even people, because of how they look at first glance. We sometimes judge things as “less than” because of that first impression, but we should take care to remember that beautiful end results can come from some pretty humble beginnings.

  • Colorful distractions

    Colorful distractions

    The news cycle sure is crazy right now, and my favorite way to engage in “avoidance behavior” is to crochet, knit or sew, while binging something (unrelated to the news, of course) on TV. Lately I’ve been watching old Columbo episodes. It’s somewhat funny, since the start of that TV series coincided with the Arab…

  • Life’s simple pleasures

    Life’s simple pleasures

    I periodically go off on a tangent as it relates to a craft – especially knitting or crocheting projects. I recently came across an item from one of these “projects” as I was cleaning out and organizing some space. The piece I found tonight, a crocheted drawstring bag (pictured below) was empty and I was…

  • My fiber refuge

    My fiber refuge

    The news cycle lately isn’t very comforting to anyone, but I am feeling a particularly angst-ridden as a Veteran, because I can feel – in the depths of my being – the great terror being experienced by families across this country (USA) who are impacted by the reality of a troop deployment into a war…