One of the hardest things about chronic illness is the isolation.First of all, there's the emotional isolation. This comes in all flavors. The feeling like doctors and other medical professionals don't believe you when you try to communicate your symptoms, the constant implication that this is all psychosomatic at best or an attention grab at… Continue reading Isolationist, against my will
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UPDATE: Chemical Warfare
A few weeks ago, I shared a post about some Regia yarn that won't quit bleeding. At the time of this post, I was quite put-out with Regia's customer service on this issue. I contacted them through the contact us link on their website on January 10, 2017. At the time of this posting, I haven't gotten… Continue reading UPDATE: Chemical Warfare
What was old is made new again
This fall, I (finally) made time to wash, block, and de-pill all of my sweaters. It took a few weeks to accomplish, between contact time and drying time. This was long overdue and was well worth it! It made me excited to wear my sweaters again... except one. I made this shrug back in 2010,… Continue reading What was old is made new again
Donita 2017: Maintain My Groovy Self
I had a beloved professor in undergrad who regularly told her students to "Maintain your groovy selves!" or, once we knew her lingo, just "Maintain!" Just picturing her technicolor post-its and marker notes on assignments now makes me smile. When I sat down to think about goals for this coming year and what theme to… Continue reading Donita 2017: Maintain My Groovy Self
Donita 2016: Crafty recap
You know what's awesome? When you are reevaluating basically how you do life, and your doctor/therapist/alternative medicine professional all ask you what you do to bring joy to your life and you tell them about your small obsession with fiber arts and they unanimously agree that you should definitely embrace that and do as much… Continue reading Donita 2016: Crafty recap
Donita 2016: Self-Care for the win!
The theme for Donita 2016 was Self-Care. We made radical changes to our household during 2016 to allow me to prioritize truly taking care of myself for the first time in a long time, maybe ever. That's not to say I never did things for myself, but I made a conscious effort to say 'no'… Continue reading Donita 2016: Self-Care for the win!
Give me clean rinse water or give me death!
After all the hours spent attempting to citric acid fix the dye on this yarn, and without any response from Regia on the matter 4 days later, I decided I had nothing to lose - and I was curious just how much synthrapol it would take to get this water to run clear. Using hot… Continue reading Give me clean rinse water or give me death!
Chemical Warfare
A few years ago, I grabbed a few balls of this delightfully bright Regia Active 6-ply. I had thought it would make great socks with contrasting toes and heels, and originally bought some gray as for that purpose. But DK weight socks are so thick, it can be hard to wear with shoes... So these… Continue reading Chemical Warfare
The journey of a million stitches starts with a single swatch
I was taken in, transfixed by this beautiful gray laceweight yarn from Daizie Knits.It was a lovely, soft, merino/silk blend and nearly 3000 yards in a single skein. If you're wondering, yes, that's crazy good yardage for one skein. It took a REALLY long time to wind this tidy hank into a ball. And maxed… Continue reading The journey of a million stitches starts with a single swatch
Hat Binge!
2016 seems to be the year of the hat for me. Hats are straight forward. They are quick to make (relatively), they are very portable, and satisfying. They are great for single skeins of yarn (which we all have too many of) and can be very soothing. The year of hats started with a hat… Continue reading Hat Binge!
Donita Westman 