Howdy folks! It's been a minute since I shared a personal update, so I wanted to recap our summer and what I have planned for the fall here at Handstitched Life
Knitting
This has been the summer of sweaters and socks. Well, one sweater and one sock. My purple Love Note sweater has traveled with me to staycations up north here in Michigan, across the continent to Vancouver for LTX (a tech expo put on by YouTuber Linus Tech Tips), and back across the east coast to Long Island where my husband presented at the Long Island Retro Gaming expo. I got to knit on it while sitting in the theatre listening to the mystery of the never-produced Nintendo Knitting Machine, presented by the Video Game History Foundation.
My Slight Socks have also been a constant companion. I've kept them in my purse in a yarn cozy to have on the go and am almost done with the first sock of the pair.
My Sip Stitch Knit meetups have been a lot of fun to schedule and host again. I started them back up late this spring here in my local community, and it's been so lifegiving to sit and knit/crochet with people who just get it, ya know?
Journaling
While knitting has kept my hands busy, journaling has helped keep my mind busy and creativity flowing. I've been working on creating a consistent habit of morning pages, inspired by Julia Cameron's book "The Artist's Way." I started in July, and have been more consistent with it as time goes on. There are some days where my morning pages become afternoon or evening ones, but putting pen to paper has been a good way to sort out my thoughts and get things out before going on with the rest of the day. I've particularly enjoyed sitting on our apartment balcony overlooking the field behind us, sipping on a coffee and watching the sunrise as I write.
Traveling
As mentioned above, we've done a lot of traveling this summer. To recap:
- The Bay Area for a friend's wedding
- Washington DC for work
- Minneapolis, MN for Games Done Quick
- Charlevoix, MI for a family vacation
- Frankenmuth, MI for a girl's weekend
- Vancouver, BC for LTX, where we got to take a SeaLife and landscape tour around the city (pictured above)
- Long Island, NY for Retro Gaming Convention. I got to sneak away the first day of our stay and head into Brooklyn for a stop at Yoseka Stationery!
I haven't been home for longer than a week at a time and I am feeling a bit burnt out from the constant go-go-go of it all. We had so much fun and I even got a few skeins of yarn as souvenirs!
What's Next
Now that I'm home with only a few short work trips on the schedule, I'm excited to turn my attention back to the shop and community here at HSL. I'm currently taking preorders for our third edition of the Halloween Countdown Calendar and boy has it been fun to find the perfect notions, beads, and charms for it! I'm waiting on a few deliveries from my bead and charm suppliers and have partnered with some other small businesses for the extra goodies I'll be including.
Revamping our listings and putting together new sets is also top of mind for me. I've focused on providing a variety of individual progress keepers, and while that's not going anywhere anytime soon, I'd like to focus on building themed sets so that you have more options and variety when you choose to grab something from my humble corner of the internet.
That being said, I've included a small sale to celebrate this upcoming season change into knitting weather! I've put a large majority of our stitch markers and some of our progress keepers on a 50% discount, no code needed. I hope it helps jump start your knitting this autumn 🍂
Happy Crafting,
Jenn