AlissaMakes

She Knits, She Sews, She Gardens, She Grows

  • Personal Weblog: 01-01-2026

    Happy New Year!

    We spent New Year’s Eve watching Four Rooms. I made mediocre cheese fondue. We ate the last mince pie. Fell asleep in bed watching Freaks of Nature, which we were enjoying. Woke briefly to hear the neighbors firing their guns at midnight.

    This morning I am reading lovely, contemplative new years posts. I want to post something lovely and contemplative, too. I have decided to occasionally post a personal log. I am going to need a new lovely and contemplative title, though.

    I am reading many had a rough 2025. My 2025 was pretty good, minus the dark cloud of authoritarianism hanging over everything. Work was steady. Health was stable. I went to the Fiber Witch Festival with friends. I went to FrankenCon with two kids. We built a greenhouse! I went to Oklahoma to visit my mom and sister. I went to Scotland with Bob.

    I went back to therapy. I went back to the gym. I healed my gut with diet, which I have to keep up.

    I ended up back on Instagram. I left Blue Sky and joined Threads. I started and closed a business, and renamed my blog a couple of times. The usual.

    I will be 59 this year. I am slowing down. I have to. My body will not tolerate much stress. Travel is stressful. I don’t have too many travel plans this year: go to Oklahoma, and maybe Cape Breton, to see family.

    Most of my goals this year are financial: pay off debt, save, invest. Make a will.

    I feel compelled to live quietly. I like routine more and more. I am aware I need to put good rituals in place and establish a rhythm to my life.

    I had a wonderful dream. A white-haired older woman visited me. She told me to follow. I followed her through our snowy woods to her cabin. She handed me a lantern. I weirdly began to turn it over in my hands. Afraid I would cause a catastrophe, I apologized. She said, no. This is your light. It will take whatever form you like. It became a ball of light. She said to nurture it. I put it inside my chest.

    What should my word be for 2026? I am liking ember right now.

    Black eyed peas, greens, and cornbread for dinner today. What are you eating for good fortune in 2026?

  • 2026 Year of Project Goals: Crack that WIP!

    In 2026, Marilee and I are having a Crack that WIP! knitalong. We both feel we have too many projects in the works, and want to clear the board. Below are my current WIPs I plan to finish.

    If I finish these, I will exceed my annual knitting yardage goal, which I have decided will be a nice and round 10,000 per year.

    For sewing, I would like to continue to make garments I enjoy wearing. I have done well with summer clothing, so I am focusing on a few winter things right now, mostly in wool. I think I may also make a teal corduroy jumpsuit.

    I have a set of tea towels to weave this year, this time using a pattern and kit with an inlay technique to learn.

    I would also like to learn to weave on an inkle loom. Our weaving guild has a small inkle loom, so I am hoping to borrow it to weave a belt. I make so many loose flowy dresses, I think sometimes it would be nice to have a way to belt them. If I can’t borrow the inkle loom, I may make a cord on my lucet.

    I also want to start a slow stitch art journal. I am mulling over the possibilities, and am watching videos by k3n clothtales on youtube. I want to use found objects, sort of like junk journaling. Anyway, I’m not sure what this looks like. I don’t have a lot of mixed media supplies, and I don’t want to buy things I’m not sure I will use. I guess we will see where this leads.

    This is a Year of Projects (YOP) Update. The group is in its 15th year, and is a Ravelry based group. You can learn more here.

  • 2025 YOP Wrap Up

    I have had a look back at my 2025 Year of Projects. I don’t remember what my goals were, and I may not have posted any.

    Knitting in Numbers

    While my incoming yarn still exceeds my outgoing yarn, I had a look back through the years. My incoming yarn has improved immensely, from 43,000 yards in 2022 and steadily decreasing to the number you see here. That’s a win. Plus some of these skeins were gifts.

    My number of projects and yards knit has also decreased. When I hit burn out in 2022, my knitting slowed. However, I’m not happy with these small numbers. I would like to get back up to my 2023 numbers.

    2025 Knitting Finishes

    2025 Sewing Finishes

    I think I did a good job with my sewing this year. I sewed basics that I wore, and will wear again next year.

    I finished weaving a set of tea towels in 2025 on my rigid heddle loom.

    Not a bad year!

    This is a Year of Projects (YOP) Update. The group is in its 15th year, and is a Ravelry based group. You can learn more here.

  • Old Christmas Moon Shawl Reveal

    I don’t know if the curlicues were supposed to happen, but they are a design feature now.

    I do love it with the dress.

    Here’s a close up. I’m hoping you can see the sparkle. Pattern is Moontide Shawl. Yarn is Betwixtmas Advent from Lizzie Bird Yarns 2021, plus a skein of Campfire Knits Winter Cranberry.

  • Yuletide Glimmers

    I hope everyone celebrating is having a cozy holiday. We had a houseful yesterday, and will see more kids this weekend.

    I finished sewing my Linnet dress from green raw silk. I enjoyed wearing it Christmas Day with some sparkly shoes. Alas, I didn’t finish my Old Christmas Moon shawl in time to wear it.

    I did finish it, though. Today. It is blocking. It is supposed to be a crescent moon shape. My old man (in the moon) has a curlicue forelock. I love the colors.

    I made cranachan for the first time, which is a traditional Scottish dessert with whipped cream, toasted oats, raspberries, and a little whisky. It was delicious, but a lot of cream for me. So I made a vanilla Yule log, filled it with the cranachan, and covered it with chocolate ganache. Delicious!

    I made epoxy bookmarks this season. It is a fun craft, but messy, so not something I will do regularly.

    Tarot card bookmarks for friends.

    Winter Solstice bookmarks for kids.

    Funny bookmarks for kids. (Bob and I brainstormed these.)

    Next year I’m hoping to 1) finish (or frog) all my knitting WIPs 2) 1 finished object per month (any craft) and 3) weave a basket with foraged materials.

    Wishing you a wonderful 2026!

  • Scraphappy December YOP

    I haven’t much to show for Scraphappy or Year of Projects this month. I sewed these napkins from linen scraps. Not exciting to look at, but I like having them to use. I didn’t mitre the corners like my grandma showed me when I was a girl. I found a video tutorial to refresh my memory, so next time!

    I continue to knit on works in progress. I have also been trying a new craft, which I will share about after Christmas.

    Bob and I made wreaths at Dawes Arboretum. I’m pretty sure this will continue to be an annual tradition. We had a good time.

    I’m going through one of those phases where I want to close up shop and disappear from the internet. These waves come faster now, like labor contractions.

    If I do that, though, I will likely reappear at a later date and have to start over, again. I’ve decided to sit with it. I think that will be my phrase for 2026. Anxiety? Sit with it. Restlessness? Sit with it. Soul crushing self-consciousness? Sit with it. This too shall pass.

    Clearly, I am still here because I still have something to learn. (Or I have FOMO.)

    ScrapHappy is a great group of bloggers creating with scraps. I am inspired every month when I read their posts! Anything made of genuine scraps is eligible to write about. If you would like to join in on the 15th of the month, email Kate at the address on her Contact Me page.

    Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy on occasion.

    Kate, Eva, Sue,Lynda,
    Birthe,Turid,Tracy,Jan, 
    Moira,Sandra, Chris, Alys,
    Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
    Sunny,Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera,
    Ann,Dawn 2,Carol,Preeti,
    Nóilin, Viv, Karrin,  Alissa,
    Tierney, Hannah and Maggie

    This is also a Year of Projects (YOP) Update. The group is in its 15th year, and is a Ravelry based group. You can learn more here.

  • Monday Mend

    Bob accidentally burned a hole in one of the tea towels I wove. He felt bad about it, but I told him I accepted that if I make towels for household use, they will get damaged and stained.

    I decided to try to mend it. This will keep the holes from continuing to fray. I used the darning loom on the biggest hole.

    I practiced the star stitch for the smaller hole. It is a new technique for me, but I think it’s a nice decorative stitch.

    I would like to do more visible mending. I wish I had more items to practice on!

  • November YOP

    Knitting

    I have made a little progress on my Abilene pullover and Old Christmas Moon shawl. The next color on the shawl is green, and I’m excited to see the colors progress.

    Sewing

    I haven’t been excited about sewing any of my wool projects. But I have been thinking about sewing a Christmas dress. I have a dark green raw silk I am planning to sew into a simple box pleat dress. It will look super fine with my Old Christmas Moon shawl.

    Other Crafts

    I have been making epoxy resin bookmarks. It is fun, and easy to do, but difficult to do well.

    I also started making my own cards. I have restricted myself to only using what I have, which means my cards are pretty lackluster. It’s fun to do, though.

    Gardening

    I saw hellebore for the first time in Scotland, and decided I want to grow it. I planted two plants in the front garden bed, a red one and a white one. I hope they like it there!

    My greens bed is okay so far. The greenhouse is warm enough — so warm my flowering tobacco plants are still alive and making seeds. If they have time to finish up (before a hard freeze, I’m guessing) I will plant the seeds around the greenhouse to attract pollinators.

    Watching and Reading

    I have already started watching my holiday favorites: Hjem til Jul (new season!) and old holiday Bake Offs. After Thanksgiving, Bob will be amenable to watching our favorite Christmas horror movies.

    I am trying a book of Christmas short horror stories, The Haunting Season. If I like it, I will try the other two from the series.

    Thursday is Thanksgiving here in the States. We will have kids over, and eat delicious food Bob prepares (except I make the cranberry sauce) and play D&D. My youngest has led Bob and I in a character development session (last year’s Christmas present). We have no idea what we’re doing, but meet Nyxalyn Eldrowe, my character.

    Call me Nyx. I’m a Tiefling Druid. I actually have Krampus horns to wear while I’m playing. Thanks, AI, for the name and image generator! I will never use you again!

    On Friday, we will have more kids over, and eat leftovers. And probably watch Elf.

    This is a Year of Projects (YOP) Update. The group is in its 15th year, and is a Ravelry based group. You can learn more here.

  • Year of Projects: A Weaving Finish

    I finished weaving my tea towels on my rigid heddle loom! They are a little small for tea towels, and too big for napkins. I measured the warp to be the same as my favorite tea towels, plus the waste, etc. But clearly it wasn’t quite long enough.

    I think the next tea towels I weave will be using a pattern. If that turns out, I can continue using the same measurements.

    The warp is Duet cotton and linen, and the weft is Mallo slub cotton, both from Gist Yarn. I have always wanted to weave tea towels, and I look forward to the next ones. These match our kitchen tile!

    This is a Year of Projects (YOP) Update. The group is in its 15th year, but I have only been doing it for a few years. This is a Ravelry based group. You can learn more here.

  • What’s This? A YOP Update

    Knitting

    I have packed away my Halloween WIPs and pulled out my Christmas WIPs. The quarterly rotation of the WIPs, if you will. I am giving up finishing seasonal knits within the season. I will work on them year after year, in their relevant season, until they are done.

    Apparently I am knitting these mittens with the main color in white. Probably a mistake. It’s like I think I will be wearing them caroling, or for church on Christmas Eve. Oh well. They will be pretty.

    Sewing

    I didn’t sew my cargo pants. I packed them away for spring, and will start sewing a few wool things. It gets too cold here for hemp/cotton pants in winter, at least for me.

    I have been hanging onto this navy wool flannel. I finally decided to sew some overalls with it. The common wisdom is to line wool, for the itch factor, I know. But are there other reasons? To keep them from clinging? I don’t really want to line them, but I might regret it if I don’t.

    Gardening

    Bob and I installed the raised beds in the greenhouse. I’m hoping to have a greens patch this winter. I’m also trying broccoli rabe and Brussels Sprouts. Without a heater in the greenhouse, I’m not sure if it will work. But should be good until the daytime temperatures stay below freezing. I am also growing carrots in a bucket. By the way, I did get a few, small sweet potatoes. I’m trying for more.

    Reading

    I read The Clues in the Fjord by Satu Ramo while on vacation. I described it as reading a Sigur Ros song, if you could do that. I enjoyed it. Especially the knitting parts! (The MC’s partner is a knitter.) However, this isn’t simply a murder mystery. Trigger warning: child abuse. I am reading the second book in the series now, The Grave in the Ice. Look at me reading fiction!

    Journaling

    I have been trying to start a journaling routine. I have tried so many different types of journals and planners. I am too precious about them. So I took one and started whacking things in, making notes, drawing schematics, planning… It’s a mess. I’m thinking combination planner, scrapbook, journal, art journal. I don’t know if this will last, but I’m giving it a go.

    This is a Year of Projects (YOP) Update. The group is in its 15th year, but I have only been doing it for a few years. This is a Ravelry based group. You can learn more here.