Stitch 'n Dish

Tag: creativity

  • A follow-up

    A follow-up

    I was so tickled with the mini-project that I featured in my previous post, THEN I took it to work and it added it to the top of a bookshelf in my office. The scent is subtle (I have a private office with a door that closes), pleasant for that sized space, and it seems…

  • A mini craft

    A mini craft

    Sometimes being “crafty” can be short, sweet and simple. Tonight I was running a few errands after work and stopped by the local “dollar” store to see if I could find a small bottle for an idea I had earlier in the day: a DIY reed scent diffuser. The reason I chose a DIY option…

  • Technology: friend or foe?

    Technology: friend or foe?

    To a person, we all have way more fabric/yarn and patterns than we will EVER make in our lifetimes, regardless of how old we are today. If we limit ourselves to only “wanting” patterns that we will actually sit down and make, there’s no reason – ZERO – we can’t afford the handful of dollars…

  • Summer odds & ends

    Summer odds & ends

    Change can be a challenge to navigate, and I am always grateful to the examples set by my grandmother and great-grandmothers on how to keep moving forward when life gets messy. I think it was their generations’ version of meditation, which tracks with so much of the research today around how crocheting, knitting and other…

  • Finding joy

    Finding joy

    The truest forms of joy do not come from BIG, EXPENSIVE things. It most often shows up in the faces of those we love, but it also sneaks into our lives in the form of silly little projects that capture our fancy for a moment. I call that “joy finding” – and have come to…

  • Reflections

    Reflections

    The last time I shopped in a Joann store was more than three months ago, right before their final closures. I said goodbye to the employees I knew, wishing them well, and as I walked across that parking lot one last time, I knew I was saying goodbye to an era in my life. As…

  • Short & sweet

    Short & sweet

    The journey of stepping back from the extremes of consumerism is an individual, slow, and steady one. It feels especially appropriate for me as I am approaching retirement and the changes that next phase of my life will bring. In the meantime, these “short & sweet” projects align perfectly with the energy of less instead…

  • Therapeutic whimsy

    Therapeutic whimsy

    In my previous blog post I wrote about the funk I’ve been experiencing, and am happy to report that the dark cloud is starting to lift. I’ve found some joy watching tutorial videos by the popular crochet and knitting folks on YouTube, but have still not had much interest in crocheting or knitting myself. In…

  • That was fast!

    That was fast!

    My hope for assistance in avoiding mindless fabric and yarn shopping was short-lived. In fact, it didn’t even last a week! On May 31, 2025 the remaining Joann stores closed for good, and today – only 5 days later – the media was filled with announcements about Michaels acquiring Joann’s Intellectual Property (IP) and private…

  • Simple gifts

    Simple gifts

    My youngest granddaughter is blessed with plenty, in many ways, which sometimes makes gift giving a challenge (for me, anyway). Therefore, I rely on hints – a “wishlist” of her latest favorites – from which I am able to choose an appropriate gift. A couple years ago, I decided to combine wishlist gifts with something…