five year celebration: a yarn giveaway!

I started this blog five years ago. Five years. Oh my! That's a long time. I've met a lot of friends through blogging who have changed my life in both subtle and substantial ways. It's amazing how much inspiration and influence can come from people I've never met in person, yet whom I've spent countless hours with online.

I've changed in these five years. I married my college sweetheart, earned a graduate degree, found a career, discovered a love of knitting, bought a house, planted gardens, baked countless cakes, and became a mother to the most wonderful little boy.

As much as I've changed, it's funny to look back and see how I've remained the same. I started this blog with a quote from "Apples and Oranges," a short story by Alice Munro: "The list of things that Barbara doesn't want to do is as long as your arm. Apparently she wants to do what she does--read, and go for walks, eat and drink with pleasure, tolerate some company." I planned to write this blog as long as it was something I wanted to do.

I've been wrestling with what to do here on field wonderful. I love writing and crafting, sharing my life with you, and reading about yours. But I've been feeling uninspired lately. It's hard to find time to write here while taking care of a toddler all day and working at night.

A couple weeks ago I wrote a post to quit my blog. It was a fond farewell, but it also felt like I was breaking up with someone I still loved. I hit the save button and wanted to cry.

I lived with the idea of seriously ending my blog for a few days before deciding that field wonderful is still a place I want to be, still a place I want to come together and share with you all, but that I want it to change to fit me. I want to give myself the time and space to sit down and be creative here.

The blogs I love are the ones where writers share their personal narratives. I want to get to know people through their words in addition to their photos, which is why I shy away from other social media platforms. I know, I know, I feel like a Luddite saying all this. Deep down I'm an old lady stuck in her ways. Maybe I just need to collect addresses and send each of you a nice handwritten letter. To hell with all these screens.  

In the end, I decided to take a little time away and return refreshed and ready to write.

But before I go, let's have a giveaway. Shall we? Oh yes. To celebrate the time I've spent writing this blog and the time you've spent reading it, I have a small giveaway for you. It's a skein of Shetland wool yarn from Ballyhoo Farm that's made from the fleeces of a mother and daughter sheep: Thistle and Shamrock. It's 250 yards of worsted weight and smells wonderfully sheepy, if you like that sort of thing (I do!).

To win, simply leave a comment on this post telling me your thoughts on blogging. Why do you read blogs? Why do you write a blog (if you do)? Make sure I have a way of contacting you if you win.

The contest is open to anyone. I'll ship to the far reaches of the world if that's where the winner lives. I'll close the contest on June 14, 2014.

Be well, my friends, and thank you so much for reading!

crocheted stone from margie

I recently won a giveaway on Margie's blog, resurrection fern. Her crocheted stones have been inspiring me for years now, and lately she's been documenting her experiments with natural plant dyes. She has created some wonderful colored yarns and fabrics from materials she's gathered near her home.

I was so happy to receive my giveaway package from Margie. The bamboo "stone" feels so light and smooth. I'm amazed at the colors Margie has achieved--such stunning robin's egg blue and deep, dusty purple. This stone will definitely be treasured. 

Thank you, Margie!

Belated thanks

Vintage goodies from The Jolly Bee

Happy Thanksgiving (one day late)! I had a wonderful time seeing my family and stuffing my face. I feel very grateful to be able to spend time with people I love. I'm already looking forward to Christmas when we get to do it all over again. Hanging out and eating are two of my favorite things. (You may also remember how much I enjoy red-wine-drinking and couch-sitting. I spend my time in quality ways.)

I also wanted to say thanks to a few fellow bloggers who have sent pretty things my way.

Jodi sent me some lovely things (above)--I can't wait to dive into that pile of vintage sheets and start crafting. There's a scrap with a blue butterfly that will be just perfect for sewing into a Christmas present for my grandma. The beautiful cream and brown threads are sitting with a crocheted stone in a milk glass bowl in my hallway. I'll have to get a photo sometime to show you. Thanks, Jodi!

I won this gorgeous fall tea towel (please forgive my lack of ironing!) from Claudia Pearson. Please check out her shop to see more of her work and much better photos. Thanks, Claudia!

I was also lucky enough to win a copy of Craft Hope: Handmade Crafts for a Cause from Ellie at petalplum.  There are lots of great projects in this book from a lot of great (and familiar) crafters. I'm looking forward to making some things over Christmas break. Ellie included one of her pretty fern zip bags in the package!Thanks so much, Ellie!

I hope everyone has a happy and relaxing weekend!

weekly wanderings: morning on the dock

one morning last week i found myself alone on a dock at the lake with a cup of coffee. the water was still and quiet. the birds were awake and chirping, and the fish were nibbling my toes. it was a wonderful way to start the day.

breakfast time

shore view

treasures from the beach--i'm pretty sure the second object is an unripe persimmon

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i won't lie. it felt very nice to be away from the computer last week. i enjoyed not having the pressure of coming up with new blog posts. i liked being able to just go and not have to worry about when i'd have time to blog. life felt very full and calm. that said, i missed this space. i missed writing and hearing from all of you. have any of you felt this push and pull, the love and hate of blogging? how do you strike a healthy balance?

Mini-banner love

A package arrived the other day from the lovely Camille of Camille Creates. She recently had a blog giveaway and I completely forgot to enter, so of course I didn't win. Luckily for me, Camille is incredibly generous and maybe she could tell just how much I wanted one of her mini-banners, because she said she'd send me one. I was so excited to get this beautifully wrapped package from her last week. She put in a sweet note, too. 

All of those colors and patterns are so pretty together, plus I love the sunshine yellow ribbon that binds it.

I can't wait to find a place for this in our new apartment. It's such cheery bunting that I know it will brighten the place up.

Thanks, Camille! This banner is going to make the new place feel like home right away.

Nightstand Love

Well, hello.

I promised myself I wouldn't blog this week, at least not until Friday, because even though I have so many things I want to share here, I also have many things due this week. But, I'm making an exception, even if it means typing up an annotated bibliography late into the night. Oh, the sacrifices I make for blogging...

Today I visited Maria's blog Vintage Simple and saw that the lavender eye pillow I made is now residing on her nightstand. Maria's home is so beautiful and calming. I'm really honored that something I sewed has found a place there. If you've never visited Maria's blog before, take some time to look around. She's got a great eye for design and is so genuine in her writing. I'm sure you'll want to linger.

You can also see Maria's nightstand featured on The Goodie Life. I love seeing the mix of handmade things and books she keeps around to inspire her.

Handmade Holidays

I've always thought of the weeks between Halloween and Thanksgiving as a kind of frigid wasteland. Life is pretty regular, just colder and with nothing much good happening. I thought November would feel the same this year, but I am so happy to be wrong.

I woke up very unsuspecting on Sunday morning, and when I suddenly realized that it was November 1st my whole world felt cheerier. The time had come to start making ingredient lists for holiday baking and to figure out what I'll be taking to family Thanksgiving parties.

Even better, I realized it was time to really get cracking on making Christmas presents. (Picture me smiling so big that my eyes squinch shut.) Imagine my delight when I saw that Sew, Mama, Sew! is filling November with 30 days of tutorials and creative ideas for hand-making holiday presents. It's only the 2nd of November and they've already blogged about lots of cool things I want to craft. They're also giving something away every day. Check out the amazing prizes here. And, if you're not into crafting, but still like to support individuals who make things by hand, Sew, Mama, Sew is including ideas for buying handmade as well.

I hope November is going splendidly for you!

Papermash

I began reading the blog Tea for Joy because it's a fun way to see London (since I can't afford to go jaunting off to the U.K. whenever I feel like it) and because I love almost anything having to do with tea--tea itself, teacups, tea parties, etc. In fact, you might remember that I actually got engaged over a cup of tea!

Well now Lynne, who writes Tea for Joy, has given me another reason to love her. She's started a stationery shop called Papermash that sells all kinds of goods from independent artists around the world. I certainly think handwritten notes and letters are important in our busy and technology-obsessed world, and beautiful stationery only adds to the charm of personal correspondence.

Lynne is currently having a contest on her blog and is giving away a year's worth of stationery from Papermash! Do you know how much loveliness that is? Enough to make my heart go all aflutter! Get yourself over to Tea for Joy to enter the giveaway for yourself.

Here are some of my favorite things from her new shop:

(Click on the pictures to see the item on the Papermash website)

Scalloped edge notebook

Polaroid Postcards

Lace tape

Free downloadable typewriter cards!

I've already printed some of these cute cards out and can't wait to send them to some special folks.

* * * * *

All pictures in this post are from the Papermash website. Best of luck with the new shop, Lynne!

oh, hello friend: a pretty blog and an amazing giveaway

I just wanted to introduce you to a creative blog called oh, hello friend. It's chock-full of artistic goods to inspire and purchase. I love getting ideas from this blog!
The best part is that there is currently a huge giveaway going on at oh, hello friend! They're giving away $275 worth of beautiful things, which means you have a chance to put some more pretty in your home. Yay! The drawing is on June 8th, so head over soon to enter the giveaway and check out this fun blog.

Click on this banner to go to the giveaway page.

CSA Day

We went to the farmer's market a little later yesterday, and there was a crowd of people around our CSA farm's booth, clamoring for their vegetables. People stuffed boxes and bags, and we were no exceptions. We loaded up on spinach, bok choy, strawberries, kale, 2 heads of lettuce, mint, English peas, turnips, and some mixed salad greens. Amazing haul, huh?
We've got a lasagna planned for the spinach, as well as a bok choy stir-fry, an egg and kale saute, and lots of salads. We already threw some mint into our iced tea with dinner last night. I'm most excited about the peas because I've never had fresh peas before! I have no idea how to cook them, but I did crack open a supple little pod (how sweet, peas in a pod!) and found that they taste quite good raw.
Thanks again to Finger Picking Farms!
Also, I found out that Phoenix Hill Farmers Market has a blog. The recipes look good!

Post for me!

The lovely Marjorie, who writes the beautiful blog My Cozy Little Whimsy Nook, hosted a giveaway recently and lucky me, I was a winner! Her drawings are gorgeous, old-fashioned and dreamy. She often takes little excursions into the woods and always invites her readers along. I love the ethereal pictures she takes, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a little fairy town amongst the trees and sunlight.

On Saturday, the package pictured above arrived. I love getting mail, but getting pretty mail is the best. I ripped it open and found some adorable owly stationery accompanied by pretty polka-dotted envelopes (polka dots make me happy!) and the cutest hedgehog bookmark.

I can't wait to send off some letters written on this paper. I know my friends will enjoy getting some pretty mail in their boxes, too.

Thanks Marjorie! You can buy Marjorie's artwork at her Etsy shop, MarmeeCraft.