Wow. Here I am. I’m doing it. I haven’t blogged since Feb. 2022 and even then I was seriously fizzling. Here’s the thing, I don’t have the time or the energy to go into all the reasons why I fell off of blogging. The short version is that I totally blame social media - specifically Instagram - for the demise of the blog. But things are shifting. As they always are. Ever since short form content took over from longer form I’ve felt a pang. Actually, maybe a pang isn’t quite right, it’s less acute, more of a general malaise. A longing? A lacking? A sense of drifting? I think that for me, writing this blog has been a sort of therapy over the years. It’s my journal. I don’t keep a paper journal, with texts taking over from emails I write less and less long rambling thoughts and I miss it. I’ve known that I’ve missed it since I stopped doing it but somehow blogging felt like a waste of time since it really didn’t feel like anyone was reading it anymore. So if you are reading this, Hi! Leave me a comment so I don’t feel so useless! But even if no one reads this, I’m doing it for me. I love writing down a complete thought. I know. Groundbreaking, right? It helps me to organize my thoughts and makes me feel better. So here I am. I’m going to try to keep this up for myself.
What better was to jump back in than with a 2023 year in review!? My plan is to go through my photo stream and pick a handful of photos from each month that remind me of what we did and what feels relevant. I won’t detail every single thing I knit. I’ve done a pretty decent job of updating my Ravelry project page with all of that so this is a bit of knitting but mostly life stuff. Let’s do it.
January:
In January I started a super fun and colourful project. A crocheted blanket using only scraps and it brought me so much JOY! It was pure dopamine from start to finish. I highly recommend a project like this to start the year off right. In January I also embroidered a “boring” sweater that I had gifted my daughter for Christmas but she hated because it was beige (duh) but with the addition of those sweet roses it became one of her favourites and she has gotten a ton of wear out of it. Note to self: You LOVE doing things like this! Customize more ready to wear clothing! In January we also finally hung my Liberty Of London swatches that truly make our house feel like home. They add so much warmth to the space. I’m pretty sure that this is also the month that we painted all of our interior doors a gorgeous shade of teal.
February:
Oooh February was pretty. We tackled more home projects! I organized the basement and we did a cheap and cheerful basement bathroom refresh which involved mixing up a bunch of leftover paints to paint the vanity and hanging up lots of pretty blue art. I launched my first pattern of the year - the Flair Isle Socks - and my son modelled them expertly. I painted portraits of my children! (started in January) Aw. I love these portraits so much and so do they. I had hoped that the painting bug was going to stick around much longer and that I would incorporate it into my life more but it didn’t stick. I think that these are the only real paintings I did all of last year. Happy that I did them, sad that I didn’t do more. February was also the month I launched Paul Klee kits! They occupied a substantial part of my free time that month and they were so worth it. Such a stunning make. I do hope to do them again this year, it’s just A LOT. I also sewed 2 dresses for my daughter this month and they were the only things that I sewed all year.
March:
In March I launched my Terranova sweater pattern, my biggest hit of the year. It also made Chartreuse our most popular colourway of Luxe Yak Silk DK by a long shot, and with good reason! It’s a stunning colour. We visited family in Toronto last March, the temperatures starting warming up, we got out the bikes. Judging by my photo stream it was a quieter month but hey! Look at those sparkly bell bottoms paired with the dress I sewed. Fashion!
April:
In April we had an ice storm which knocked out our power for 5 days! It was an adventure for sure. My son got a badminton set for his birthday and I published my Flip Side Tee pattern and launched striped t-shirt kits. I love a striped knit. They just make me happy. I got a sweet new bike for my birthday. Literally the bicycle of my dreams. And my family became obsessed with fishing (have yet to catch a fish).
May:
In May I got a new robe that you will have to pry from my cold, dead, hands. Actually, I intend to be buried in it. I live in it and absolutely adore it. I also continued to bake sourdough on the regular. Started just before the pandemic and just can’t quit it! I collaborated with my bestie Julie at Knitted Bliss Stitching to create these TFA star Stick and Stitch packs and then I proceeded to embroider stars on all of my things. I got into gardening in a big way out of necessity but then realized that I actually kinda love it! I went to Knit City Montreal and my kids met Julie’s kids and they totally hit it off and that was so much fun. I became obsessed with Jessie Maed Designs Totally Tank Top and knit one and my obsession continues. It’s still perfect.
June:
In June we did a pretty big back yarn makeover which completely changed the way we use the space. We had always used the space a lot but it was sad. After completing a full interior renovation in 2021-2022 we were finally ready to tackle some of the outdoor spaces. Budget was key, we did it all ourselves and tried to be savvy about how we spent our money. We are thrilled with the results. I am so excited to see how my perennial gardens come to life this spring. I published my Quayside Tee pattern, Chris and I celebrated our 13 year wedding anniversary and Chris bleached his hair and we all loved it. He’s so hot.
July:
This July we stayed home in Montreal for longer than usual before heading out East to our cottage in Nova Scotia. We spent time with family, we swam a ton, we bought a pizza oven and made fabulous pizza’s with chanterelle’s that a friend foraged. I started my summer sweater project. July is always fun.
August:
August is always a month that is heavy on family fun, low on much else. I picked up some gorgeous handspun yarn at a local market, I knit a headband. We took countless walks on the beach collecting treasures. We did flower crowns. We ate more pizza. We went to Fort Beausejour. We returned to Montreal to a veritable jungle! Chris had scattered some grass seed over a dusty part of lawn and boy did it take. We started back at school, not once but twice! because mom and dad had the date of the first day of school wrong! Wow!
September:
In September I did a lot of spinning. So much handspun yarn and I love it! I haven’t knit with much (any?) but I’m happy to have it. I started meal planning (sort of) and making huge batches of stuff for the freezer once in a while. Such a good habit. I taught the kids to weave! Chris and I visited our friends Jeff and Jenna at their farm for a special event and it was amazing. I started working out and it has had nothing but positive affects on my life. Pretty chuffed to have found something that I love to do. I walk a lot and do Move With Nicole pilates videos on youtube. It’s my jam. The summer always marks a slowing down for me in terms of knitting. I spend a lot of time out and about in the summer, I’m way more social and I knit a lot less. This is completely normal for me and I’m used to it, and though it usually takes me a bit of time to get back into things in September I’ve definitely noticed that this year it took me even longer. I read a lot more, did more real life things like exercise, cooking, kids activities… even now my knitting time/mojo has not returned to what it once was but my life feels more diverse and I’m ok with it.
October:
Honestly this fall has been difficult in terms of the business since I have finally achieved a bit more balance in terms of my interests and what I spend my time doing - something that I have been striving towards for years - but with that comes the realization that my business is built on my enthusiasm for knitting and the yarns that we make. I still have the enthusiasm, but if I’m knitting less, if I’m sharing less knitting and if I’m creating less yarn - if I’m just generally less inspired - the business drags. In order to combat that feeling I tried to focus on what gets me the most excited and in October it was OOAK yarns and colourways. We focused on that and it was very invigorating for me creatively. In October I made Tiramisu for the first time, which happens to be Chris’ favourite desert, and it was such a hit. I’m thrilled to have mastered it. I also got a fabulous statement coat (it’s basically my robe in an acceptable outdoor garment). I dyed roving with each of the kids and then spun their roving into yarn for them. I decided to do our first ever Advent and thoroughly enjoyed the entire process. I spent a weekend away with my girlfriends and it was heaven (of course I didn’t take a single photo). And of course, it was Halloween. My least favourite holiday of the year. Hooray!
November:
In November I found my perfect red lip (in the colour Cherry Moon). I also found the best funky readers while shopping for Christmas gifts for my kids. I finished knitting what might be my all time favourite sweater and then agonized over buying the perfect blue eyeshadow to go with it because it was more expensive than I wanted it to be. It was worth it. I also finally got pattern shots of my daughter and I in a new pattern that I’ve been working on for ages. By November I start switching gears and thinking about the holiday rush / Christmas and it really shows. I had both of the sweater patterns above finished in November but by then I was already putting a pin in things to come to in the new year.
December:
Ah crazy December. It went by in a blur! In December I launched a new cowl pattern, my Ultraviolette Cowl - I am famously not a cowl person and yet I do love this one and wear it. Cowls are fun to design and to knit even though in my heart I am a scarf/shawl girl. I put together an absolutely knock out palette for the ladies at Tin Can Knits for an upcoming project and now am obsessed with bright, saturated rainbows again. September it was OOAK’s, right now it’s tonal rainbows… if I’m being honest it’s always a bit of both. Despite the obvious big December things that happen every year, this year our December was marked by one big thing. Actually, make that two tiny things… in December we got kittens and our life changed for the better in every possible way! Me, not a cat person, turns out to be the biggest cat person ever. I love these cats with all of my heart. They bring the whole family so much joy I can barely stand it. They were the best idea I ever had. The grey cat is Chanterelle and the black cat is Minuit. They love each other, they love us, we love them. I mean. It’s literally heaven.
We also did about 11 puzzles the week between Christmas and New Years so it felt important to document that here. Even though December was mostly cats. LOL.
So, there you have it! A very rough year in review. I love it. I’m so happy that I did this. A few things really stick out to me: 1) we did more home projects than I thought we did and we did them all in the first half of the year. Interesting. 2) I need to seriously give myself a kick in the pants and get those two sweater patterns published. I love them both and have been wearing them a ton, they need to get out into the world!
I feel like this goes without saying but if you’ve made it this far you won’t mind that I’m adding this “year in review caveat” at the very end instead of the very beginning, but this year also included some sickness, a birth, a life changing diagnosis, growth, loss, heartache… you know, it was an entire year lived by a human who is sharing her life with other humans. It’s not all knitting, colour and cats. But it sometimes is, and that feels like it’s worth documenting too.