lately

I put up the Halloween lights in our house a couple weeks ago and was just starting to enjoy fall when our entire family* got hit hard with The Sick. Commence fevers, coughing, congestion, night sweats, lots of negative COVID tests and copious amounts of tea. Hugo is finally back at school today after TWO WEEKS SICK AT HOME, so I am simultaneously typing this paragraph and sending Prayers Up To Heaven that he a) makes it through the entire day and b) that his fever doesn’t return. I only feel a little bit like garbage today so I’m really hoping we’re nearing the end of it. (Sidenote: Please don’t @ me with medical advice. I am fully set in that department, thank yoooou!)

Being ill is horrible. Here are a few things that have been bringing me a small level of comfort:

stitching: a little piece of embroidery using perle cotton, linen, and a pattern from the book Simply Stitched with Appliqué by Yumiko Higuchi. I printed the pattern onto Sulky Stick N’ Stitch, which is a stabilizer that you just stick right onto your fabric before embroidering. I’ll try to document a bit more of the process in a post if I can.

reading: This amazing piece/interview about the fascinating slash vomit-inducing world of the (IG) “mamasphere” by Anne Helen Peterson from her Substack newsletter Culture Study, which I’ve been maniacally emailing to my friends all week (while also simultaneously wondering the extent to which I or other sewing bloggers/IG’ers participate(d) in/contribute(d) to aspects of this culture??? ugh). I am an avid devotee of Anne Helens’ newsletter, highly recommend signing up. Also: the essay on letterboards that she links to in that piece is also great (the title alone: “Letterboards: Why?” is hilarious).

watching: Plowed through Season 2 of Never Have I Ever. Came for the great characters and high school drama/hilarity, stayed for Davi’s AMAZING SWEATER COLLECTION OMG.

planning: Still trying to decide what to knit out of the beautiful Farmer’s Daughter DK yarn I got for my birthday from Fancy Tiger. The colorway was a limited edition anniversary collab with Farmer’s Daughter.

attending: Soulcraft Festival. I think the best way to describe this is it’s an online set of presentations and interviews that explore the meaning behind craft and making, run by Australian-blogger Felicia Semple of the Craft Sessions (the name of her blog but also an in-person craft gathering that she organized in the before-times in Australia). I’ve watched (or rather…listened? Most of the presentations are zoom interviews, so I’ve found it easier to just listen to the audio while I’m hand-stitching or knitting) most of the first two weeks of presentations, and you have access to them all until March 2022 so if you’re interested it’s not too late to sign up and join in the discussions, etc. More info here.

knitting: I finished my minty cable socks. This was my first time knitting cables and it was so very enjoyable. I would have been happy just to have simply completed a pair of cable socks, so bonus that they are cosy and warm and actually fit. YAY.

Wishing you all the healthiest, loveliest weekend.

xo,

Rae

*except for Clementine, who continues to maintain that she is “not stuffed up.”