Hello! I hope you’ve had a beautiful week.
My post this week is a big Thank You to Tierney at tierneycreates.com. She recently nominated me, among other bloggers, for a Versatile Blogger Award (Thank you, Tierney, for the honour and the share!).
If you haven’t discovered it yet, Tierney Creates is one of my favourite blogs. There, you’ll find not only Tierney’s ongoing quilting projects and creative/design musings – showcasing her incredible skills and her prolific quilting – but also great recipes, beautiful pictures of her adventures & travels, tales of bookstore jaunts, and thoughtful discussions of lots of great reads. And more! (I am barely scratching the surface). As a library-lover, I always come away with new reading ideas from her blog; as a crafter, I’m inspired by Tierney’s beautiful creative work and her enthusiasm for her process and materials. Tierney Creates is a celebration of the creative life.
Linked to Tierney Creates is a wonderful companion blog, Schnauzer Snips, which offers more quilting goodness and a slice of life from the schnauzer point of view! If it’s not already obvious from my gushing, I think her blogs are real gems – do check them out!
The Versatile Blogger Award info page on WordPress suggests that the VBA’s purpose is to “Honor those bloggers who bring something special to your life.”
Here are the folks that bring that ineffable “something special” in the way they inspire me to blog (and live) better. In different ways, these bloggers expand my understanding of what it means to make things and cultivate happiness through creativity; share knowledge (wisdom!) that comes from their own process and experience; inspire me to be brave and experiment through their own example; tell great stories in unique voices; and create a space to reflect on the extraordinary in the everyday. That’s versatility. A good blog is a gift and a generosity.
I could go into greater length about the specific things that I enjoy about these individual blogs (I thought of doing a separate post on that) but, I think, in the end, the joy of following a good blog is getting to discover the pleasure of it yourself. 🙂 This one’s for you, bloggers!
The Crafty Crusader – A panoply of (sometimes) lovingly handmade crud
Devise. Create. Concoct. – Finding frugal ways to live more with less
Forgiving Connects – A safe place to share your stories
Handmade Homemade Knit Stitch Design – Knitting. Sewing. Crafting.
Imperial Crochet – Blogging about everything crochet
Knitting the Stash! Farm->Fleece->Fiber
Lucid Days – Living life awake
Rock Vandals – Guerilla art & street craft
The Yarn Blabber – Blabbing away about yarn, knitting, crochet, and crafting
If you feel inclined, nominees, you can nominate your favourite blogs for the Versatile Blogger Award (rules below), though there is no pressure to do so from me. Either way, know that you have a reader who enjoys your unique contribution to blog-land. 🙂
Some facts
In addition to nominating my favourite blogs, I think I’m supposed to include some facts about myself? So, in no particular order:
1. I used to cut and colour hair for my mother and friends in high school, and dreamed of opening up my own salon. I gave some haircuts to friends in recent years, and still really love it.
2. My first ever Hallowe’en out, I went as a hippie. It was 1991.
3. There are no other knitters in my immediate family. I started knitting after something like a waking fever dream. I was 16 and I remember suddenly wanting to make winter things like hats and mittens very badly. It was the middle of summer, and I walked 5 miles alone to get the things I needed (between the trip to the library craft-section and the big-box White Rose craft store where I purchased my first aluminum needles and a skein of rainbow-coloured variegated acrylic). I still don’t quite understand it, but there’s my knitter’s origin story.
4. I am studying to be an anthropologist.
What a terrific surprise! Thank you, Shirley!! Your blog and a handful of others inspire me and support me in all the wonderful ways you describe. As it happens the last couple of weeks have been uniquely challenging for me. I’ve been out of town trying to help to my parents navigate unfamiliar territory–health challenges and a number of things that go along with getting older. I’ve felt out of my element and utterly unsuited for the task. Knitting has kept me grounded, and checking in with my favorite blogs has reminded me that no matter what is going on with me, the community I love is out there putting one foot in front of the other, learning, growing, embracing life in the way that makers do so well. Thank you so much for all you do here in this space to make my life fuller and brighter. 🙂
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Thank you, Melinda. That sounds very challenging; it is one of the hardest kinds of work one can do. I can understand why it would feel that way, and can also imagine how knitting can create a space for grounding in tough times. I couldn’t have put it better than what you write above – just being (blog) ‘surrounded’ by people in the middle of making things reminds me that it’s still possible to say yes to a little possibility. 🙂 I’m so very grateful we could connect through the joy of blogging and knitting, and am positively inspired by your work and words. Hoping that things get better, and sending hugs. ❤
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❤️
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P.S. Can’t WAIT to check out all the other blogs on your list!
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Thank you so much for the nomination. I enjoyed reading your facts. I was looking for an idea to blog about today. Thanks for inspiring me with this.
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You’re welcome, Robin!
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Ah I am honored to be one of your favs 🙂
I love all the nominations you did on other blogs, I am going to have fun checking out the blogs you think are versatile! Also it was fun to learn a little more about you 🙂
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Aw. Thank you, again, Tierney for the share! Likewise – it was fun to read your facts! 🙂
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Oh woweeeee, thank you so much for including me in your list of favorites! I actually swung by Tierney’s blog at the weekend on your recommendation, and spent a lovely time reading about her quilting retreat! Now I’m looking forward to perusing some of the others on your list. And it was nice to learn a little more about you, too… Your knitting origin story is awesome! 😀
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Absolutely! I’m a big fan not only of the Beasties (no secret!), but their adventures and stories and the places they go. I love that the Beasties are made for adventure. 😀
Isn’t Tierney’s blog wonderful? I always marvel at the complexity and ‘layers’ of quilting. Have you ever tried it? Thanks, again, for reading, Helen. 🙂
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Thank you so much for including me in your list. I am going to explore all these other blogs too (not that I need anymore on my blog feed). 😉
I won’t continue the chain as there would too many to put on a list, but I do plan to create a blogroll page on my blog, to celebrate all these blogs I love. Yours is one of those I tend to keep for later, you know, when I have a lot to read and I truly want to enjoy the post, I keep my favorites for when I have a bit more time to read slowly and truly make the most of the content.
Take care Shirley.
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For sure, Agnes! 🙂 I am flattered to read that you enjoy the blog, as I really enjoy your wonderful and thoughtful takes on knitting style and process. That is my modus operandi as well (and how I have been reading your blog, also) – to wait until I have the opportunity to enjoy the thought and time the author has put into their post. It means I’m often late to read, but feel like I can better absorb the author’s message. How interesting we share this. 🙂 Take care, and looking forward, Agnes.
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I just saw this!! thank you so much 😀 I’ve been blog reading /stalking all night what a surprise:D ❤ loving your blog too and all the others I've seen posted on here xxx
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Thank *you*, Ms. Crafty Fox. 🙂 Looking forward to more! 🙂
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by i also saw you are studying to be an anthropologist 🙂 I’m studying to be an archaeologist 😀 fancy that 😀 I hope you are enjoying your studies!
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How very awesome that you’re studying archaeology, Kat! I would love to learn more about your interests in archaeology, and I have very, very fond memories of my arch classes (thank goodness for the four fields!). 🙂 Hmm, now I’m curious about how many other arch/anthro knitters there are out there ;). I hope you’re enjoying your studies, too! People are fascinating!
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Thank you so much! I am very grateful, and I am also happy for you, so congratulations. Your blog deserves this because it is so versatile in ways that are dear to my heart. Like, recycling yarn, knitting for zone out time, drawing super cool things. You’re so creative and mult-faceted!
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Thank you for the kind words! I’m glad you enjoy the blog, and even gladder to be a regular reader of yours! Happy weekend. 🙂
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