Weekly-ish notes on navigating big change

adventures

The Adventures

Every week is an Adventure..and this is round-up of the view, the links and the inspiration that made it special. You can see all the adventures here.

The View

Reason to love this town #324: this is the view. Everywhere. #nofilter
The lovely Johnson City
Finished!
The finished tree
Spinning this month's Yarn Mail by Christmas tree-light.
Yarn Mail by Christmas-tree-light
This is happening. (Both get on back of couch behind me) #snorgling
Back-of-the-couch snorgling
Everything is better by Christmas tree light. #quiltsbychristmas
Sewing by Christmas tree light
Love the reactions to this hat. #amusementorpity
This hat gets the best reactions…because it's a Happy Hat!

The Finds

  • “Yarnover Truck is your local yarn store on wheels, implementing the food truck business model and applying it to a mobile yarn store.” How cool is that? Support these clever entrepreneurs right here.

 

  • It's official. We're a total trend. This morning NPR did a story about what we're doing here: young (ish) entrepreneurs with no outside funding, who are succeeding thanks to….the internet! Read or listen here.

 

 

 

  • Planning your New Year in your creative business? Tammie has a list of 10 things people + spaces that can help you with that!

 

 What were your adventures this week?

2 years ago: Sabbatical 
3 years ago: My real-life yarn shop
4 years ago: Seattle recap

 

The Adventures

Every week is an Adventure..and this is round-up of the view, the links and the inspiration that made it special. You can see all the adventures here.

The view

Running downtown. #c25k
Running downtown.

Brunch with my honey. The perfect post-Thanksgiving recovery.
Brunch.

Grateful for yarn subscribers who love color as much as I do. #thirtydaysofthanksgiving #instagratitude
Yarn Mail spinning.

Fabric for Quilt #2: washed & ironed. (That's a towel on my kitchen table for an extra-big ironing board.) #quiltsbyChristmas
Secret project.

Grateful for…

This week has just been so full of love and support. From blog posts to tweets, there are so many sweet people I'm thankful for. Here are just a few:

The lovely Xiane, one of the first crafty businesses I met in person, said some lovely things about my work and my new site. Thank you!

Hanna, my favorite art journaler (and she does so much more!), wrote a lovely review of my book. She's giving away a copy right here.

I loved IdeaStorming with Garnet, of Karina Dresses, so I was utterly delighted when he wanted to share the experience with their community.

 

This week I opened the Starship, and I'm so grateful for the feedback:

 

 

How was your week? What are you grateful for?

 

 

 

The Adventures

Every week is an adventure…and this week was Sandy, Holiday Sanity and CraftLit.  Past adventures can be explored here. 

 The View
Beau is better than any personal trainer. Here he's saying: steps! We love steps!

Andre finds the sewing machine a warm snuggler.Too many cups of coffee later: the Digital Kit is done! Formatted, uploaded, buttoned. And $5 to Red Cross Disaster Relief. #sigh

 

The Delights

Making it about more than us.
This week was completely swallowed by Holiday Sanity. And feeling…conflicted about talking about the holidays when so many people are struggling to put their houses (and lives) in order. So I asked myself: What's worth talking about right now?  And the answer is clear: When Holiday Sanity is more than just me and you…when it makes a difference for people who don't even know us. And so, $5 from every Kit goes right to the Red Cross. Or donate directly.

Heather
I got to talk to Heather today, about crafting a season full of meaning, while ditching the culturally-imposed stress. It's the highlight of my day because Heather gets it. And she's got the best voice ever. AND she's reading Jane Eyre on her podcast, so you can “read” my favorite classic while knitting, painting or packaging up orders. Subscribe to her podcast right here.

Steph
I had video funtimes (aka, an Exploration) with Steph this week and yeah, she's exactly as awesome as you'd guess from her work.  She threw a Rockstar Geek Wedding and she's humble, hilarious, and on my must-stalk list. Get to know her on Twitter and then buy your nephew (or me!) a Kirby, mkay?

 

The Finds

How was your week? What were the delights?

The Adventures

Every week is an adventure…and this week was hot air balloons, quiet words, and stacks of books.  Past adventures can be explored here. 

The View

Epic game of Risk. #fallbreak
And then: the waterfalls.
And now, hiking the Appalachian. #fallbreak
Simpson's Clue. #fallbreak
Andre finds books snugglable

The Delights

  • I've been totally surprised by my very quite introduction of this. Just one tiny tweet (to a half-written page…it's still not finished!) and the response has been…delightful. If you're into it, jump on it.
  • Fitocracy. I'm not sure I can say anything more about this, but suddenly everything that seemed so un-Tara feels do-able + interesting. I blame it all on Lolly.
  • I could not be more excited about (and obsessed with getting everything just right for) the upcoming Holiday Sanity Kit (coming next week! Sign up here to make sure you don't miss it – there'll be a limited number) It's my first ever real-mail business-y goodness, and I'm having so much fun with it.
  • Quilting. Still. Spoonflower is having a Buy 1, Get 1 sale, so I'm finally going to order my first self-designed fabric!
  • I love hearing that I'm not the only one who procrastinates in order to savor an exciting project!
  • Too busy this holiday season with ORDERS to spend time marketing? Here's how to make it last, on Rena Tom for makers, and one for retailers on Vianza.

 

What was your week like? What were your adventures?

Two years ago (exactly!): Planning for non-planners
Three years ago: My photos – in a book!
Four years ago: Slowing

The Adventures

Each week is an adventure. And each week I take a minute to acknowledge it, right here.

Let's try something new this week, inspired by Ali.

This week, I am…

Trucks of pumpkins = my new favorite thing.

Delighting over pumpkin trucks.

Still thinking about last night's dinner: roasted tomatoes & garlic, blended up into pasta sauce. Simple+perfect.
Roasting tomatoes and garlic for the easiest pasta sauce (blend up with a bit of salt and fresh basil.)

3 hours in & nearly all my list is marked off! #reasonstotakeeveryFridayoff

Marking things off my list.

Just realized I have a date with my favorite new mama tomorrow...and I didn't have any baked goods. Pumpkinish Spice Cupcakes to the rescue.

Perfecting a Pumpkin Spice cupcake.

On either side of me. Time for bed?

Snuggling Andre + Beau.

After a year of near-veganism, I think I finally figured it out. (the secret: buy way more veggies than you think, or else you'll order a pizza on Wed night)

Reveling in the farmer's market bounty.

My first cup from new pour over (also, first cup made at home in years)

Sipping coffee from my new  pour-over coffeemaker. Pumpkin Spice Lattes at home? Yes!

And…
Anticipating Gone Girl (it finally came in at the library, I'm waiting for the weekend)

Sending this to everyone. ( #14 is our mantra.)

Winding endless skeins (625 yards each!) of hemp laceweight for a wholesale order (in Norway!)

Collecting success stories from Starship Captains. It is amazing what people have done in even 3 months inside. It's really making my week, every week.

Connecting in new and interesting ways. From videos with Kim to planning with Cairene to editing with Diane. It feels good to get out of my own head + notebook and see the world with someone else.

Exploring a new way of working. As I let go of old projects, I get to explore how I want it to be, with how I want to feel, and what I want to create. Every project, old and new, is up for renewal. It's both terrifying and thrilling.

 

 

 

What adventures did you have this week?

Share them here: comments.

 

The Adventures

Welcome to a new little weekly thing, wherein I bring together the scattered pieces of a digital life. Each Friday I share pictures (from Instagram), my favorite links (I usually tweet them), and whatever else I think you’ll like. This is totally inspired by Colleen and Elise. See all the Adventures here.

The View

My kinda beans #pink #nofilter

The colors of my morning.
Seeing Singing In The Rain. On the big screen. #bestdateever
Pink beans :: picking the right belt for my Seattle workshop :: making this hummus :: colorful morning :: seeing Singing in the Rain, in the theater!

The Places

  •  The most important thing I did all week was admit that you're dangerous…and I like it.
  • “Every project you do broadcasts your intention.” I was looking for something else, and found this, about working for free.
  • I'm totally biased, because I'm Kelly's Idea Partner (yeah, we made that up), but I'd love her Bear + Bunny videos (secretly about writing for your business) no matter what.
  • Another person I'm biased towards (because she's just that great): Cairene. And she's got an ANTHOLOGY. Read it. Now!

The Finds

  • Thanks by WS Merwin is the poem that won't leave me. We are saying thank you…
  • “Practise makes permanent. The more you practise the wrong things, the more you lay on the hard drive and the harder it is to get rid of it.”  It's about archery, but it's true about everything, don't you think? 
  • A Dr. Who inspired shawl? I'm all over it. Cast on this week!
  • If this week had a song, it'd be Brand New Key, by Mad Tea Party.
Next week I'll be adventuring on the West Coast. Do you have any suggestions (coffee, yarn, fabric, food) for Brookings, OR or Seattle? 

 

The Adventures

Welcome to a new little weekly thing, wherein I bring together the scattered pieces of a digital life. Each Friday I share pictures (from Instagram), my favorite links (I usually tweet them), and whatever else I think you’ll like. This is totally inspired by Colleen and Elise. See all the Adventures here.

The View

Anniversary dinnerIs there anything better than getting real mail, so sweet and handwritten you tear up? Thanks, @lindsaydrake, for cheering up my afternoon!

Farmer's market haul (we found a local grower of chile peppers) :: Quilting with The Doctor :: Roasting :: Anniversary dinner :: Thanks

The Places

  • Monday I started a Grand Experiment and asked you to join me. Have you?
  • After the Experiment started, the scaring-myself just didn't stop, with thoughts on commitments and crickets.
  • I've been using the Translation Guide on my client's work for years, but I finally shared how to make it work on your own, right here on Rena Tom's lovely site.

The Finds

  • I'm probably the last person in the world to discover the joy that is Dr. Who. My extended family has been into it since the 70s, and of course the whole knitting world has been laughing at the inside jokes since forever…but Kyla's claim that it really is that good finally flipped the switch. And it flipped hard. After just one week we're on Season 2 and going around saying “Exterminate!” in screechy scary voices. I might even be having dreams about it.
  • My new favorite thing is Literary Jukebox. A song paired with a quote. This is my favorite. But this one too. Just listen to them all, ok?
  • I found this great handmade bag, thanks to Twitter. But I still can't decide between it or this one.
  • A good chunk of this week was fixing up the email adventures I send out. Now you can get all the blog goodness in your inbox. Clickety Clack.

The Adventures

This week was full of real-life adventures (I traveled solo) and internal adventures (family) and crafty adventures (quilting).

The view

Starting a four-day solo adventure. #selftimer The new shoes are a perfect match for my kindergartener-appropriate outfit
My week is full of meeting babies. Today: Flash the lamb.
3 days with mom = 2 quilts. Of course.
No one looks cool singing aloud on the car
Finished top, ready for quilting.

Farmer's Market score :: vegan smore's :: driving :: new shoes :: lamb! :: quilting :: singing along to FUN! :: finished quilt top

The finds

This week I was almost entirely offline. My short time online (1 hour every morning) was spent entirely inside my new class. Even so, I managed to stumble across a few internet wonders:

If you're at Stitches Midwest, stop by booth 631 and say hello to my publisher! And get some lovely yarn from Starshipper Riin in booth 327.

 

What adventures did you have this week?

Good Shtuff: Boats + Treasure Edition

Good Shtuff is a weekly(ish) snippet of the stuff I’m reading, listening to or watching.

This week, it’s all about the adventures, boats and treasures.

Adventure Prep

In preparation for upcoming adventuring I've been listening this song (Adventures, Be Your Own Pet) over and over.

And shopping or new knee highs, like the ones I'm wearing today:
IMAG0810.jpg

You know, the important stuff.

Adventuring

I'm going to NYC next week!
On my list of must-sees: BabyCakes (gluten-free cupcakes), Purl (yarn!), MOMA (free on Friday night) and of course, the Maker Faire (where I'll be selling my yarn). Top of the list: YOU! Wanna hang out? Lemme know here + I'll plan a meet-up!
It's @babycakesNYC and I'm @blondechicken.

Boats

I've been admiring Bridget's boat-pregnancy and have loved reading about how she's making this dream happen. My very favorite is this post about sailing, which is mostly about fear, in a really beautiful way.
She's @intuitivebridge.

Treasures

I wanted to get in on the Treasure Project the last time my friend Lisa B held it. And now! She's doing it again! I love that she's using drawing (or photography, or whatever you prefer), she's using creativity to bring mindfulness to her surroundings. It's so easy to get wrapped up in my head, in my creativity and forget all about looking around me.
She's @zenatplay.

What have you read or listened to this week that you loved?

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