Make em laugh

I think I want to be a comedian. Seriously though. Can I do it? I mean, I'm 34 and have done a lot of performing and almost always find a way to be funny. There's got to be a perfect hybrid of feminist-modern dance-comedian/ performance art for me right? I shall make it up and steal tips from these guys...

Dream it. DO it.

Owning a yarn store, do you know how many times a day, or week I hear people say...

"I just need to work through the yarn I have first..."

"I can't start a new project now, I need to finish the project I'm already working on..."

??? Do you? Do you???

SO many times. My response is usually the same, some polite combo of how we all have a stash of yarn, but every now and then, you need a little inspiration...wink, wink.  I want to push [shove] people to start new things because, let's face it,  I kinda need to sell yarn. (You know, so that the shelves of yarn you drool over stand a chance at being refilled.)  Mostly though, I want to encourage people to listen to their creative energy because it's an awesome way to live life.  Sometimes that means setting something down, a horrid book you hate, an epic shawl you want to punch, taxes. Ok, maybe not taxes, but in my opinion it's so invigorating to start something new. If you do that... more often than not, you'll get faster at finishing projects (ironically) because get this... you'll be happier doing them. Duh.

Seriously people. If you're sick of it, put it down. Some day you won't be and you can finish it then. Start something new, especially when you get excited about a yarn, pattern, what have you. That is the bubbling energy moment to listen to. If you ignore those moments too much, your body will stop telling you to get excited and it'll be harder and harder and HARDER to start/finish anything! And we don't want that now, do we??

Quiet

Quiet. It isn't and then it is. 

You know, those brief few moments when you realize you haven't been thinking of anything and you've just been sitting quietly on the couch, knitting your rows. Huh. What time is it? Am I late? Did I just enter a time warp? How do I still have an hour before work and I'm still having all this peaceful fun? By my self.

For some reason this tired body woke up early today. Not the bad kind of early - 4am when you get up to do things because it's better than laying awake in bead for two hours, but the good kind of early- the 7am, fully rested, I can go get a coffee and knit a few rows before anything else is needed of me, early. The quiet in my house, early.

I liked it. 

And so did my parched little soul, who was in desperate need of some refreshment. 

Then I realized that I had made a mistake and needed to rip out the entire thing and start over.

A few minutes later, it was all gone. 

 

Why is why.

Here is a perfect example of why I started a blog and called it "Inspired Living." It's this pickle plate.

 

I've been working on creating a dinner menu at work and really wanted to have a pickle plate. Whenever I'm out I usually order one if it's on the menu. Plus, I love making pickles and wanted an excuse to buy these cute little cedar boards for serving. Inspired moment #1. The presentation.

Then I made the pickles. I didn't think about it toooooo much. The fun of a pickle plate, after all, is to be playful and resourceful. I once made really yummy curried cauliflower, so that was my first pick. (no pun intended.) Last Fall I experimented with Juniper berries and settled on Jicima as a good pairing. The last was a carrot/ginger/scallion slaw. Hey, it's great raw, so why not pickled? Mostly, I just wanted to cut 1,000 match-stick sized carrots and ginger. (NO, really. I did.) I work in odd numbers as a rule in design/presentation, so three pickles it was. Inspired moment #2. A pretty trio of things. 

At some point mid-week, I flipped through a cook book and mulled over a gorgeous photo of a hard cooked egg. Rustically sprinkled with salt and spices, it enticed me to add it to my pickle plate. I taste tested my own spice blend with my co-worker and friend Sarah... figuring it out just an hour before service! The blend of paprika, smoked salt, coarse black pepper, coriander and celery seed is not only tasty, but pretty to look at. Inspired moment #3. Inventing your own thing and having it work out.

 

Here is the thing... dinner service is new to us, so the general energy of night time, plus the excitement of plating new dishes for the first time is probably Inspired moment #4. But then, in the hustle and bustle of the first wave customers, I plated my first two pickle plates and noticed what a beautiful thing had happened. Not only did my spiced egg and pickles match in color perfectly... the pickles, in a way, became this deconstructed color story of the egg. So white jicima is the egg white, juniper like giant peppercorns. The orange carrot reflects the paprika, the scallion the slight green of the celery seed. Finally, the bright curry color of the cauliflower matches the yolk. I stopped to observe this phenomenon, appreciate and document it. I couldn't have planned it, which makes me believe some things are meant to be. Even if it just stands as a reminder of the little things... that become big things... to keep us fueled for the journey...

 

Patience

 

I have it and I don't have it. 


I don't know how I can sit for 10 hours doing one thing and be mad when somene  is 10 minutes late. I'm usually fine waiting in lines, but I can't stand chatting with the clerk. I can have patience teaching someone for the first time... but not if I've showed them already. 

 

I've decided blankets are a good tool to practice patience.

 

This blanket got me through a long, cold, dark and lonely winter of living alone. I loved it and I love it. 
I used soooooooooo much scrap yarns for this so who knows how many skeins total. I started last winter watching all of the available Downton Abbey episodes, which ran out waaay before my knitting did!
Projects like these are so great for passing time. I looked forward to banging out a few squares each night and paring up fresh colors each time. No two are the same... but I'm sure someday a child will prove me wrong.
I took the time to sew as I went, trying to get rid of all the ends and make strips so the final "sewing up" wouldn't be so daunting. It was still pretty daunting, but it just took a dreary winter day (the following year) to get re-inspired to finish. (Or more likely, bored with all my other endeavors.)
When I started, I had NO bleeeeeping clue I'd have my own yarn store in which to find the perfect border yarn: Manos del Uruguay's Maxima in the color acid. Yeah. It's the best. I also made a sweater out of it. It's probably not the last thing either,  I love the color so hard.
I don't know who will be the recipient of this blanket... a future child maybe? That's what I was thinking when I started. Hopefully it'll be my child, should I be so lucky, but who knows? It's kind of a strange size, bigger than a crib but not quite a twin or lap blanket. Well... it fits my extra long lap perfectly as long as no one wants to share... which is fine, because there's another long, cold, dark and lonely winter of living alone ahead and I need something to cover me for a bit until this winters blanket gets a little bigger.
I'll show you that one next year.

 

 

 

Hot Toddy.

I am whiskey's girl, but we're not exclusive... yet.  I keep an icy gin on hand, for hot summer nights and fancy dressed nights on the town. Red wine comes over for girls night (every night) and we knit and watch movies in our yoga pants. Then there's the list of beers (aka guy friends) I play darts with, sit at the bar with, cram into the canoe, watch sports with. But oh whiskey! He is the dreamboat with the handlebar mustache you can't put down.  It might be twenty below, but that inch of amber fluid will keep you warm well into the evening.  There's Rye, who, let's face , will probably stand you up for band practice, but always makes a damn good cocktail if he shows up. There's Scotch, the salt and peppered bachelor, who has managed to distill smoky campfire memories into each drop and proclaims his groomsman will all wear kilts should he decide to settle down. He won't, so don't get too excited about the kilts. Then there's my man, Bourbon. He makes the bed. He smells like Uncle Karl's vanilla infused pipe tobacco and wears the same three plaid shirts in rotation (you don't care because it what's underneath that you focus on). You'll feel sexy just by holding the glass.

He makes the ultimate Hot Toddy... you could almost call it love.

 


 

 

Hot Toddy

makes four-six servings

I make the main liquid and then store to re-heat as desired adding honey, fresh lemon juice and whiskey to each glass. 

 

8 cups water

3 lemons

3 cinnamon sticks

1 vanilla bean, split

Fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped. (about 1T)

Honey

Bourbon

 

Instructions

Zest 1 lemon. Cut 1/2 of zested lemon into thin slices, removing seeds. 

Place water, chopped ginger, cinnamon sticks, lemon zest, lemon slices and vanilla bean in a pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for twenty minutes. Turn off heat, cover and let steep for desired length. (I waited about an hour or so)

Strain liquid into a jar, if saving, or into cups if serving.

To each cup add: a generous amount of yummy honey, the perfect amount of bourbon and juice of 1/2 lemon.

 

 

Winter. Wonder. Wander.

 

 

Wander, please.

Let me tame you not. 

 

Feed your restless soles

before moss takes root

in your fertile heart.

 

Go to the mountain.

Chase icy drops off ledges.

 

Trickles to stream,

stream to river,

then tides

that lift your being on swells of gratitude

 

to learn

 

why we go

 

is to return

New Knitting Patterns on Ravelry!!

Yeah!

I'm back in the swing of writing patterns, well, sort of. I've been selling finished harfs (harves?) for years, but have just now gotten around to writing up a pattern for it. It's about time huh? Considering that I don't have time to knit them for sale anymore, I think the timing is perfect. I've gotten to see several customers knit & wear them already and my hope is that Main Street will soon be crawling with them!

Click here to purchase online!

 

And this is a NEW pattern called Erma as in Erma-gerd, that's so cute!! Both patterns are for sale on Ravelry, check it out! 

 

Click photo to purchase pattern!

New Life, Sort of...

I mean, it's not that new, I've had it for nearly 33 years afterall. What I mean is that my life is pretty different than when I started this blog ages ago. Then I was a Brooklyn hipster, freelancing it up by desgining knitting patterns, caring for children, dancing and finding as many reasons to go out to coffee/brunch as possible. Despite feeling inspired by and in love with the city, I spent a lot of time thinking and wishing for a very different future life with gardens, chickens, children and community. So, I moved. 

Four years later I find myself plugged into the very life I once imagined (but somehow couldn't imagine at the same time) right here in my hometown. It took time to build it of course, and it's still in process... but here it is. The amazing thing to me is how little, if ever, I think about a "future life". That's not to say I don't wish for a real house instead of an apartment, or worry that I still don't have health insurance, I still think about that future. I'm talking about that nagging "what are you going to do next" voice in my head that was constantly judging me and wanting me to do something cool and important and impressive. I don't know, maybe that's a New York thing? Or a Twenty-Something thing? Or a trying-to-belong-to-a-place-that-sort-of-feels-like-home-but-not-really kind of thing? Whatever it was, it's not there anymore. Woo, hoo!


What I do now is multi-layered (and rarely includes folding laundry) and I'm busier than I ever thought I was in Brooklyn. And, I love it.

This is my town. It's called Norway. It's in Maine.  Our Main Street is adorable and I'm proud to be doing business here.

Doing what? Well, I manage and make food at Cafe Nomad. I also have a shop called Fiber & Vine. We sell yarn and wine. Both of these jobs infinitely fulfill my creative urges... they also pose many challenges that inspire my inner entrepreneur. I've always thought of myself better off working alone, but then again, you can accomplish more with a team. I can't begin to explain the ups and downs of this introvert navigating "team work" in general, let alone needing to be the leader of it... but we're getting there. I'm extremely proud of our work and it's ability to bring great food, fun and creativity to my new favorite home. 

I barely have any free time, but I've decided I need to take time to reflect on this work, take photos, post recipes, show projects and take pleasure in it before I just work all the time away!

 


Malabrigo!


Finding fun labels...

What I do most of the time...

 So I'm hoping to grab moments to blog more. Even if it means loosing a few rows of knitting, or staying up later paying bills... or blogging.

New in ETSY

It's been ages since I've posted here, I've almost forgotten how to blog. No, seriously. How do I post a photo and a link? Here it goes...

I really just wanted to show what I've been making. Mostly napkins and aprons. Click on the photo to be taken to Etsy to purchase!

Reversible, Mix Match Napkins

www.auntwilma.etsy.com

Canning Jar "Grab Bags"

Ruffle Apron

New Spud and Chloë Patterns!

I'm so excited for the new batch of patterns from Spud & Chloë and not just because a couple of them are mine. The Spud colors/textures are so great and I can vouch that the yarns are seriously superb to work with. I love the photos for this season too! All I want to do right now is go bowling at this place, in these sweaters.

I'm going to start with my favorite, Garth's Vest:

 

I designed this vest years ago (in my brain) for my dear pal Garth. I'm super psyched that it now exists in the flesh. It's a simple knit, mostly stockinette, with lovely ribbed side gussets for a snug fit. The blue diamond is shaped intarsia and the hot pink lines, perfect for Garth, are created with duplicate stitch. It's for a modern and daring guy, yet it still has classic appeal. It would look great in many color combinations, but I highly suggest going bold for the stripes. Click here for the Ravelry link.

My next pattern for Spud this season is called the Heartgyle vest:

I replaced the traditional argyle diamond with a heart and voila... instant cuteness! This bulky yarn, Spud & Chloë Outer, knits up in a flash. I bet you could finish this in a day if you wanted. No joke.  Ravelry link here.

Now, isn't this next pattern is awe inspiring? I would love, love, LOVE to make this. I wish I was stranded on an island with the yarn and hook to make this. First I would crochet a hammock to sleep in and then lounge all day in that hammock, crocheting granny squares in perfect color combinations. Once I was done, I'd think about coming back to the real world... or then again, maybe not.

 

Read more about Spud & Chloë here!

 

 

Relax...

Knit eye pillowMy April projects for Yarnplay

 

Aromatherapy Eye Pillows

Two very simple patterns, one knit, one crochet. Fill with flax and lavender. Click the photos for the FREE pattern and helpful how to photo instructions!

Photography by Emily Delamater

 

 

 

 

Cashmere neck pillow filled with buckwheat. Majorly comfy as you can see!

 

Techno!

Techno is an awesome new yarn from Blue Sky Alpacas ! I was lucky to get to design a project with skeins hot of the presses, ah, I mean spinners! You can read more about the yarn here in Blue Sky's first bluesletter(aka blog). I really loved knitting with it. It's unique construction, baby alpaca shot through a silk mesh... yeah, techno... makes it super soft, bulky (read: quick) and light! Bulky and light rarely go together, right? Finally, a way to knit a sweater fast... that's wearable, warm, hip and not heavy. I just want to keep knitting with it! 

To celebrate Technos launch, Blue Sky will be giving away a pattern and yarn to 10 people! Go to this blog post and make a comment to enter the contest! 

My design for the collection is below.

Happy knitting and good luck!