Maybe best know for my sewing? Maybe my photos, flatlays, collections or is it my chalklegs/amanda esthetics? I was once told by someone they can always spot which photos are mine without even looking for my name. A compliment for sure, right? I’m meticulous by nature and do love a quirky but cohesive look. Also I have been thinking would it be weird to be known as my actual name in these online realms and not chalklegs? Do people even know my name? Yeah it’s on every photo, but do ya know, would ya know, would I even want that?
Ok, most known for my bags? My charms, my cute stuffs? I sewed this tote bin for sitting on my dedicated project shelf, it’s perfect for lugging around. Both sides have a simple outter pocket while the inside has a more custom pocket layout with spaces for patterns, pens, pencils and all my notions. It’s roughly H=8″ x W=9½” x D=6″.
(Feeling microscopic ❤ but still trying to be human.)
Not at all known for blue, except maybe this grey/blue or possibly a dull navy.
Am I known having all the crochet hooks? Yes.
Shawls? Well yeah. Made another no pattern granny, only this time using 1400 yds worth of lace weight tencel and that E/3.5mm matte onyx hook.
Known for pickles, all sorts. Side note: I used to make homemade pickles, and at the time, when we brought them places or gave them as gifts, no one believed they were homemade simply because they were crinkle cut. But friends, I’ve had a industrial mandolin since before it was cool.
This dresser is one of our top 3 things to decorate. A real Christmas wish would be for those Avon wax carolers to magically still smell like cinnamon.
P.S. I basically have to become a vampire to not be in the shot.
I originally made this way back in 2009, when I first taught myself to crochet. 16 years later (stumbling across the old crumply printed pattern while organizing my new craft space) it became my December 2025 favorite thing to make. I think I crocheted over a dozen!
Next year, every cane on the tree will have a frilly little sleeve to live in and I’m so excited, they are just so sweet. They are giving off that 1990’s version of victorian inspired crochet, and we love that. The pattern has a copyright of 1997, so yeah makes sense.
I added a top loop for easy displaying/hanging, skip the loop and they can of course still be hung like regular candycanes. I also slipped them under ribbon tied packages and they became the most adorable gift toppers ever.
I’ve had so many people tell me that their grandmas used to make something similar using strips of eyelet lace and weaving the candycanes through the openings. I love grandmas and semi-sad holiday nostalgia stories shared through teary eyes.
Christmas 1987 I got a keyboard and it came with the song “Just The Way You Are” by Billy Joel preprogrammed on it. Turns out I was never going to be in a synth band, and it’s the only song (intro) I ever kinda learned to play. I also remember thinking what a weird song to have loaded on there.
It was a far more advanced keyboard than I was looking for, when all 12 year old me really wanted was to be able to record my voice and playback harmonic swears set to chopsticks.
I also became proficient at the knuckle song all thanks demo Billy Joel.
We recently came across that old keyboard in a closet during the great clear out/room move and it still worked!
I took 2025 slower than most years, not intentionally and in reality the time passed as quickly as it always had, this year it was me, I was slower. Less making, less buying, less stuff, less going, less here, less there, less interest in things that were once interesting enough. I might be entering the most chill/unchill point that I’ve ever been at in my entire life. Just ask around.
🤍
About to kiss 2026 on the cheek, may it be exactly what you want/need it to be.
November, Midwestern Late Fall Edition. If I were to measure time in cozy meals, we’re 2 soups and 1 hotdish in. I haven’t changed out the light bedding for the heavier yet but there have been a few nights where I’m thankful that old furnace passed inspection.
Reorganizing and shuffling through all my stuff (literally hands on everything) has me back in love with forgotten old favorites (mostly cracker related). I’m getting so organized, it’s sick. I now have a drawer just for my project bags and a drawer just for all the cute shit I like to pin, hang and stick all over them and of course a shelf dedicated to works in progress where all those adorable bags I make can neatly sit. I mean granted, I’m still mostly a monogamous maker, so the shelf/bag situation is really manageable (I have 2 wips), but I did just start a new doughy cast on!
I kept all my clay materials just in case the stitch marker mood hits again (it’s a cider doughnut, if you didn’t know).
This parking lot tree has bewitched me, so sadly romantic.
It’s not that I’m particularly obsessed with nature, I do take a lot of pictures of it though. It’s that could be anywhere landscape, the withered up bit, those clinging last wisps, being both new and old/there and not there that feels really relatable. Those clouds could be yours or mine, we can even share them if you’d like.
I’m making a creamy Aito (Ravelry link) out of woolly old stash, cute. Now that all my upstairs supplies and downstairs supplies are finally merged together in one tiny dream space, I can relax and do as I please.
Well almost, only three things still need a home..
#1 My full size ironing board – it was my grandmas and my mom didn’t iron or sew, so I took it when I moved out. It’s an adorable 1950s yellow and metallic blue Proctor Silex. If you’ve been a reader here for a long time, you’ll know I’ve talked about this ironing board in the past and yes, it’s still missing one big rubber leg cap. You’ll also remember, I popped off one of the remaining caps and carried in my bag for over a year just in case while out thrifting I magically came across its sister or maybe found something similar enough from another old ironing board to work.. yeah I would’ve bought a whole ass ironing board just for a cap, I’m ridiculous like that.
#2 My loom – which I want to hang on the wall, I just need to figure out the best way to do that.
#3 My serger – it lived its entire life in a closet, and probably will again.
That’s it friends, we’re basically done. We donated a lot, we sent some precious (but unwanted) things to auction, we all really took the clean out seriously. The only thing I miss is having a personal hidden dump hole (aka unaccountable craft closet) that could store all the ugly necessities of a crafty bitch like bulk batting, good deals bought in bulk, bulky fabrics that don’t fold nice, you know all the BULK.
Speaking of bulk (4lbs of organic animal crackers) it’s a full time job eating the broken ones first.
Also, you know the rules, if more land face up than face down, you’re gonna have a good day. 💫
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