Rayen

Last week my guy and I went to walk Daytona Beach, which was mostly (and eerily) deserted. This is what our beaches used to look like when I was a kid. It was a beautiful day, cold and breezy but calm. It feels like 2026 is getting off to the right start.

On New Year's Day I finished making a big beautiful basket out of scrap variegated yarn ( video tutorial here ) so I could stow some thrifted skeins of Mandala Ombre and other yarns I want to work with this month. I also got started on my calendar tote bag project by deconstructing a black canvas tote, pressing it and lining it with batting. I'm waiting on one last lot of yarn I won last year to be delivered; it seems to be bouncing all over the country. When it finally lands I'll show you the skeins and figure out the value. In the day job department, my editor approved my initial pitch for this year's big series project, so now I'm working on getting my new delivery schedule approved and thinking about how I want to write up the outlines. I detail all the things I work on in a project before I start it so I know everything in advance. My editor is also super about pointing out any flaws or logic problems, and helping me refine the ideas. 2...

Last year I picked up this pretty furoshiki in case I needed to wrap any holiday gifts. As it turned out I only gave physical gifts to my guy, and none of them quite fit the furoshiki. So now I need to use it, and I think I'll make it the center of an improv quilt. Here's one of the quilts I made for a friend. The design is my own, and the first time I tried building a quilt around a furoshiki. I think it's one of the prettiest quilts I've ever made. Here's another furoshiki-inspired quilt I made a few years ago. With two completed quilts I feel confident that I can make this latest acquisition into something fun -- maybe in dark blue, black, gold and white colors. Stay tuned to see my design and the fabrics I choose for the project.

We just picked a bumper crop of Meyer lemons from our tree, enough to share with neighbors and still have all the chicken piccata and lemonade we want. :) I will be juicing and grating the peel from most of what I keep to freeze for cooking and baking the next few months. Since lemons are now about a dollar a piece at the market there is much satisfaction in growing and harvesting our own. I think I've also banished all the hateful, lingering demons of depression over 2025's troubles and stresses. It was a terrible year, but I did get through it, and it's over now. I expect there will be more of the same in 2026, but how well I manage them depends on my attitude. The lemons of the new year need to be made into something. To start off on the right note I've created a new blog devoted to my thrifting and crocheting here . Writing about two things I'm passsionate about is fun, and gives me more room to express myself rather than brood over my diminishing ab...

The first yarn lot arrived last week, let's see what sort of mess I'll be sorting out. Not as much of a mess as I thought from the auction site pics. This was someone's stash of scraps with 25 brand-new or barely-used skeins of worsted, fingering weight, ribbon and cotton thread thrown in. These orange bulky weight skeins are from a discontinued line of organic merino cotton blend yarn, and run anywhere from $8 to $25 retail. Four give me enough to make a nice size project. I found very few mentions of Elann sock weight yarn online, but no one had a price, and the manuacturer's web site is unreachable, so my guess is that they're also discontinued. Based on the fiber quality and beautiful texture I'd price these at $20.00 per skein retail. Here's the messy bits. They're mostly scraps that need rewinding, and that's good physical therapy for my fingers. Although six of them are worth a lot more, I'm going to put a resa...

For the first month in my 2026 calendar tote project I drew inspiration from an adorable sterling silver garnet and marcasite brooch I thrifted. My grandmother's birthday was in January, and she left me a garnet ring I cherish very much. She was also a very tall, elegant woman with a lot of style. I went rummaging through my bags bin and decided to use a black canvas tote for this one. It will serve as the base for my quilting and beading. I then started collecting fabric and beads that I want to use for the crazy quilting. Since I don't often use dark colors I tried to go with what I thought my grandmother would like, and of course the colors from the brooch. I also raided my scraps bin for some red, gray and black fabrics to use. I'll revisit the bin each month this year for the project, too. I don't really have a plan for how I'm going to put the tote together. I think being spontaneous and allowing the materials I choose to guide me is ...