Fiber Harmony (Stitch 'n Dish)

Category: Self-Care

  • Vacation fiber finds

    Vacation fiber finds

    (( re-sharing a blog from a vacation, pre-COVID )) A morning walk on the beach along the Atlantic Ocean coast of the Outer Banks in North Carolina is hard to beat. Still, one year (2017) I found myself seaside and missing my crochet/knitting bag. Thankfully, Google travels with me via iPhone, and the nearest Local…

  • Self-Help from the fiber arts

    Self-Help from the fiber arts

    I wrote this blog initially a couple years back, and focused it on crocheting and knitting (yarn). Back then, stressors were typical life stressors, and not national crisis-level stressors. Since then, I have added a lot more SEWING to my “toolbox” for coping, as I noted in a previous post on retreating to my sewing/craft…

  • Transitions

    Transitions

    This past week marked a couple of transitions for me around some fiber arts habits. Crafters everywhere are painfully aware that the Joann era for shopping around arts, yarn crafts, and sewing supplies, is almost gone – forever. I had been wanting to shop there a few more times, but when I would think about…

  • Stitching life’s pieces together

    Stitching life’s pieces together

    I’ve been working from home since early 2020, and along with millions of others, was recently mandated back to the office 5-days a week. This has resulted in some new normals; most significantly, less sleep each night. Yesterday when I got home, I kicked off my shoes, spent some time with my cat, fed him…

  • A sewing lesson

    A sewing lesson

    As I strive to use the fabric (& yarn) that is in my stash, and to keep myself from browsing stores aimlessly, which often leads to mindless shopping, I’ve found making bags to be quite fun. In addition, I’ve learned a lot from spending time with my fabric stash as I was making these bags,…

  • A refuge in fabric

    A refuge in fabric

    I have a confession: I hide in my sewing/craft room. Sometimes this is to decompress after a stressful day at work, while other times it’s to avoid the news story of the day. Still other times it’s to distract myself when I’m worried about someone I care about. Recently, I was there for a hybrid…

  • Hunting and gathering fiber

    Hunting and gathering fiber

    Audiobooks are a wonderful companion for exercise, and for those who are otherwise engaged in solitary tasks – such as crocheting, knitting, or sewing. Sometimes they even unexpectedly give us insights into those same activities. Such was the case this week when I was working on my latest tote/market bag. As I noted in my…

  • A mindful approach

    A mindful approach

    I have been reading and thinking a lot lately about the way we are tempted, and even manipulated, by companies that want us to hand over our money to them. In my blog post about retail manipulation I shared some of the research on how stores intentionally place items, advertise them and offer us coupons…

  • Shared fiber joy

    Shared fiber joy

    Now that I am once again driving into work 5 days a week, I am pretty much “done” by Friday night, or “all in” as my British friends might say. Working from home for the past 5 years meant that I got more sleep, eliminated the stress of commuting, and had a LOT more work/life…

  • Finding peace in fabric scraps

    Finding peace in fabric scraps

    I have taken a serious break from listening to the news. This means that I find myself heading to my sewing room in the evening instead of catching some national or international news after work. In addition to my enjoyment of crocheting and knitting, I’ve had a lot of fun making the triangle coin purses…