Your writing is luminously beautiful Emily, and you are a true warrior for women. I love what you have to say!
I have been cross stitching for a very long time and recently discovered this very clever woman who comes up with some very simple, but very direct sayings that bring great joy to my heart: https://subversivecrossstitch.com/
My personal wish for 2025 would be that magical thinking is put back in the fiction section where it belongs, so that Lucy Leader could retire gracefully and not have to write any more posts like this one that has just been published: https://lucyleader.substack.com/p/men-breastfeeding-again
Thank you for your work and blessings on you, your new baby and your family.
Thank you Lucy! I looked at those kits and they are funny-the “can you not” pillow 😂 I have the same wish for you and for us all! Will have to read your article later today, thank you for sharing!
I really enjoyed reviewing your posts from this year-a great deal of wisdom to take in. I love the cross stitch pattern you posted! I’m going to be continuing with cross stitch and crochet, while adding in some weaving projects (I got a peg loom to do bigger things like rugs). Reading wise I’m excited to dig into some women/gender related books I got for Christmas-Abigail Favale’s “The Genesis of Gender” and Erika Bachiochi’s book “Reclaiming the Rights of Women.” A piece I was really proud of was my reflection on filling out my first commonplacing notebook and what that habit has meant to me.
I have wanted to try weaving for so long, my 13 year old has a tablet loom that she never uses that I have considered taking over and making belts with but it intimidates me!
I have both of those books on my to-read list for this year as well!
Would love to read the post you are referencing if you have time to link it!
Basic weaving is surprisingly easy to pick up-I have a tapestry loom similar to what your daughter has that I jumped into after my husband gave me a bookmark weaving kit for Christmas a couple of years ago (which was super fun). I hope you write about them when you read them-I would love to hear your thoughts. And it’s this post! https://open.substack.com/pub/commonplacecatholic/p/a-mini-milestone?r=1fiwok&utm_medium=ios
I actually got the loom set up finally and I think I will try it! Maybe if she sees me using it, my daughter will want to do it finally 😅 thank you for linking the post, I bookmarked it for one of my morning reads, looking forward to it! Is that concept one of the Charlotte Mason practices, the commonplace notebook? I have only learned about CM on a very surface level but I’m very interested and also feel like I may have seen a video on that practice at some point 🤔
Emily, I always feel a burst of excitement whenever a new post of yours slips into my inbox! Sometimes I save them for days to read them when I can give them my full focus, but most often I end up taking a speedy peek and then eagerly awaiting a chance to return with clear attention. These new writing endeavors of yours sound wonderful.
At the moment my sewing machine is broken, but my aim is to have it repaired by springtime and then begin work on piecing a quilt. So far my patchwork projects have been small (apron-fronts, pillows, etc) and I would like to create larger pieces. I would also like to send the accumulated wool from our Tunis ewes off to be made into yarn, and once it returns resume learning how to crochet. The photos you've posted are most inspiring, and I want in on the fun too!
Jan I have been saving that freebirth piece to read because I’m writing my own and I’m weird about reading other people who I really respect and enjoy the opinions/writing of about things I know I’m planning to writing about because I’m paranoid about subconsciously plagiarizing ideas 😂 I will read it though as I’m sure it is brilliant!
Would love to see your quilting as you work through it this year should you choose to share as well, I think it is one of the crafts I admire most but find it a bit frustrating with all of the measuring personally. Also would love to see that yarn once it is made (big fiber nerd here!).
Thank you as always for the kind words and for reading along with me this last year as well!
I hear you on wanting to maintain clarity of expression! I have saved quite a few pieces from various publications to read later for that exact reason. Very much looking forward to reading what you have to share.
And in 2025 I will write my book which is a blend of memoir about my late pregnancy loss, nature and Celtic mythology and how that all relates to society's treatment and expectations of women...
You might understand how your work appeals to me!
Wishing you a wonderful pregnancy and birth.
Have you read Reclaiming Childbirth as a Rite of Passage? The truth it holds still resonates somewhere deep in me
I saved your poem to come back to later ♥️ thank you for sharing it and linking it here. Your book sounds absolutely fascinating and beautiful and I will look forward to seeing it be published!! I would love if you remember to let me know once it is available for pre-order. I actually just received that book in mail as well, excited to dig into it!
What beautiful inspiring projects. I should make a better plan for my sewing this year. I’m taking a break from pottery in the hopes that I can make space for some physical self care I’ve been lacking, but also for my sewing and home keeping skills (bread making, and maybe even getting chickens). But knitting is something I’ve always wanted to get back into because I’ve always wanted to make a “Little Cotton Rabbit”. I have a couple of quilts in the back of my mind; I’d love to make one or two seasonal ones for my bed and a big girl bed size one for my daughter someday. My kid seems to zap all of my attention most days and I’m having a hard time making room for daily tasks. One reason I want to focus on home keeping skills and handicrafts. Setting the tone for the home. Rather than running around doing this and that to try to distract us from life.
All of your projects sounds beautiful! I struggle with all of the same as well, I think the times I have been most successful with it all is when there is a devoted time daily just for handicrafts (or bread making or whatever), it really is about consistency and habit building. Which, when you have kids, especially ones who need to go to activities and appointments and the like, I think it is equally important to be flexible in your thinking about that devoted time as well as to not get too precious and perfectionistic about it (a personal problem I have!).
I too have a log cabin quilt on my list of projects for 2025, along with many other quilts. First on the agenda is a double Irish chain for my mother and a quilt for a friend's son for his First Birthday. I have so many books I'd love to read (including Kristin Lavransdattir!) and I really should create a list so I can remind myself what they are.
I'm not yet a mother but I really appreciate your writing and the way in which you think and approach topics around women, motherhood and life in general. Shall be thinking and praying for you and your little one as this pregnancy progresses!
Thank you so much Claudia! Your projects sound absolutely beautiful, curious how long you have been quilting for? Do you use a machine or hand quilt at all?
Thank you! I started at the end of 2019. My parents taught me to sew and use a sewing machine when I was little, but I never quite got the hang of sewing clothes, whereas quilting just 'clicked' for me. I mostly use a machine to piece and quilt. Though I've done a few hand quilting projects too. I can get impatient with those, which is likely a sign I need to slow down and enjoy the process now that I think about it.
Thank you for sharing your gift with the world. Your voice is so clear; I love it.
I'd like to be doing some writing in 2025, wether it lands here or stays tucked away in notebooks remains to be seen.
God willing, I'll be having my second baby this August. I'm still in early days, so haven't let myself really feel it all yet, but it would be a major answer to prayer. I can't wait for your writings on birth practices! I have no idea how I'm going to approach this next birth. I didn't have any interaction with the medical system at all last time, which was absolutely the best thing for me, but then ended up transferring to the hospital 5 days into my freebirth process and having a c-section and being hospitalized for infection for weeks. All my black and white ideas and clarity and confidence have vanished into a murky mist. I think I might be able to dream of the ideal scenario for me, but not sure that it exists where I live anyway.
Secondly, so many congratulations on your pregnancy! I will keep you in my thoughts, I can imagine the uncertainty you are feeling with your own personal past experiences. As time moves on, clarity surely will come.
The Hinterland dress looks so comfy! Reminds me of the Pyne and Smith dresses. And the Gwen 😍 like an old Gunne Sax (or a dupe for Christy Dawn’s Narcissa, which I wore for Christmas!). Love the little comfy vest too! I would love to learn to sew, this year I will be sticking with what I know but one day!
Those are all beautiful intended projects. I hope you get to some/most/all of them.
I have no problem coming up with crochet projects. I’m sure many things will inspire me! For now, I am partway through a whimsical crocheted “fairy queen coat”. I started a while ago but have taken breaks to make other short term things. I will also likely make a doll inspired by the dance my adult group is working on this year. I have concepts so far but that’s all. Other things always come up too.
I just finished reading “Living in Wonder” by Rod Dreher which is wonderful, and definitely the right book for me to read right now. Partly because of what I read in his book, I used a birthday gift certificate to get a beautiful illustrated copy of Dante’s The Divine Comedy and plan to read in the new year. That’s it for now!
Your projects sounds delightful and so fun! I love the idea of a doll inspired by a dance as well, that is really lovely. What sort of dance is it? Also, will have to look that book up!
Your writing is luminously beautiful Emily, and you are a true warrior for women. I love what you have to say!
I have been cross stitching for a very long time and recently discovered this very clever woman who comes up with some very simple, but very direct sayings that bring great joy to my heart: https://subversivecrossstitch.com/
My personal wish for 2025 would be that magical thinking is put back in the fiction section where it belongs, so that Lucy Leader could retire gracefully and not have to write any more posts like this one that has just been published: https://lucyleader.substack.com/p/men-breastfeeding-again
Thank you for your work and blessings on you, your new baby and your family.
Thank you Lucy! I looked at those kits and they are funny-the “can you not” pillow 😂 I have the same wish for you and for us all! Will have to read your article later today, thank you for sharing!
I really enjoyed reviewing your posts from this year-a great deal of wisdom to take in. I love the cross stitch pattern you posted! I’m going to be continuing with cross stitch and crochet, while adding in some weaving projects (I got a peg loom to do bigger things like rugs). Reading wise I’m excited to dig into some women/gender related books I got for Christmas-Abigail Favale’s “The Genesis of Gender” and Erika Bachiochi’s book “Reclaiming the Rights of Women.” A piece I was really proud of was my reflection on filling out my first commonplacing notebook and what that habit has meant to me.
Thank you Elise!
I have wanted to try weaving for so long, my 13 year old has a tablet loom that she never uses that I have considered taking over and making belts with but it intimidates me!
I have both of those books on my to-read list for this year as well!
Would love to read the post you are referencing if you have time to link it!
Happy New Year!
Basic weaving is surprisingly easy to pick up-I have a tapestry loom similar to what your daughter has that I jumped into after my husband gave me a bookmark weaving kit for Christmas a couple of years ago (which was super fun). I hope you write about them when you read them-I would love to hear your thoughts. And it’s this post! https://open.substack.com/pub/commonplacecatholic/p/a-mini-milestone?r=1fiwok&utm_medium=ios
I actually got the loom set up finally and I think I will try it! Maybe if she sees me using it, my daughter will want to do it finally 😅 thank you for linking the post, I bookmarked it for one of my morning reads, looking forward to it! Is that concept one of the Charlotte Mason practices, the commonplace notebook? I have only learned about CM on a very surface level but I’m very interested and also feel like I may have seen a video on that practice at some point 🤔
I adore your zeal in all the areas you share about.
Thank you Coral!
Emily, I always feel a burst of excitement whenever a new post of yours slips into my inbox! Sometimes I save them for days to read them when I can give them my full focus, but most often I end up taking a speedy peek and then eagerly awaiting a chance to return with clear attention. These new writing endeavors of yours sound wonderful.
At the moment my sewing machine is broken, but my aim is to have it repaired by springtime and then begin work on piecing a quilt. So far my patchwork projects have been small (apron-fronts, pillows, etc) and I would like to create larger pieces. I would also like to send the accumulated wool from our Tunis ewes off to be made into yarn, and once it returns resume learning how to crochet. The photos you've posted are most inspiring, and I want in on the fun too!
Edited to include the piece from this past year that I currently feel most proud of having written: https://themotherletters.substack.com/p/freebirth-the-peak-birth-experience
Jan I have been saving that freebirth piece to read because I’m writing my own and I’m weird about reading other people who I really respect and enjoy the opinions/writing of about things I know I’m planning to writing about because I’m paranoid about subconsciously plagiarizing ideas 😂 I will read it though as I’m sure it is brilliant!
Would love to see your quilting as you work through it this year should you choose to share as well, I think it is one of the crafts I admire most but find it a bit frustrating with all of the measuring personally. Also would love to see that yarn once it is made (big fiber nerd here!).
Thank you as always for the kind words and for reading along with me this last year as well!
I hear you on wanting to maintain clarity of expression! I have saved quite a few pieces from various publications to read later for that exact reason. Very much looking forward to reading what you have to share.
Thank you for all you share.
I am most proud of this poem I wrote because in the past I would have clammed up about the topics you so bravely speak of https://open.substack.com/pub/aoibhinswift/p/poem-a-brief-history-of-female-sexuality?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=u9nn0
And in 2025 I will write my book which is a blend of memoir about my late pregnancy loss, nature and Celtic mythology and how that all relates to society's treatment and expectations of women...
You might understand how your work appeals to me!
Wishing you a wonderful pregnancy and birth.
Have you read Reclaiming Childbirth as a Rite of Passage? The truth it holds still resonates somewhere deep in me
I saved your poem to come back to later ♥️ thank you for sharing it and linking it here. Your book sounds absolutely fascinating and beautiful and I will look forward to seeing it be published!! I would love if you remember to let me know once it is available for pre-order. I actually just received that book in mail as well, excited to dig into it!
What beautiful inspiring projects. I should make a better plan for my sewing this year. I’m taking a break from pottery in the hopes that I can make space for some physical self care I’ve been lacking, but also for my sewing and home keeping skills (bread making, and maybe even getting chickens). But knitting is something I’ve always wanted to get back into because I’ve always wanted to make a “Little Cotton Rabbit”. I have a couple of quilts in the back of my mind; I’d love to make one or two seasonal ones for my bed and a big girl bed size one for my daughter someday. My kid seems to zap all of my attention most days and I’m having a hard time making room for daily tasks. One reason I want to focus on home keeping skills and handicrafts. Setting the tone for the home. Rather than running around doing this and that to try to distract us from life.
All of your projects sounds beautiful! I struggle with all of the same as well, I think the times I have been most successful with it all is when there is a devoted time daily just for handicrafts (or bread making or whatever), it really is about consistency and habit building. Which, when you have kids, especially ones who need to go to activities and appointments and the like, I think it is equally important to be flexible in your thinking about that devoted time as well as to not get too precious and perfectionistic about it (a personal problem I have!).
I, too, am expecting a baby in August 2025!
Congratulations Sarah♥️
I too have a log cabin quilt on my list of projects for 2025, along with many other quilts. First on the agenda is a double Irish chain for my mother and a quilt for a friend's son for his First Birthday. I have so many books I'd love to read (including Kristin Lavransdattir!) and I really should create a list so I can remind myself what they are.
I'm not yet a mother but I really appreciate your writing and the way in which you think and approach topics around women, motherhood and life in general. Shall be thinking and praying for you and your little one as this pregnancy progresses!
Thank you so much Claudia! Your projects sound absolutely beautiful, curious how long you have been quilting for? Do you use a machine or hand quilt at all?
Thank you! I started at the end of 2019. My parents taught me to sew and use a sewing machine when I was little, but I never quite got the hang of sewing clothes, whereas quilting just 'clicked' for me. I mostly use a machine to piece and quilt. Though I've done a few hand quilting projects too. I can get impatient with those, which is likely a sign I need to slow down and enjoy the process now that I think about it.
Thank you for sharing your gift with the world. Your voice is so clear; I love it.
I'd like to be doing some writing in 2025, wether it lands here or stays tucked away in notebooks remains to be seen.
God willing, I'll be having my second baby this August. I'm still in early days, so haven't let myself really feel it all yet, but it would be a major answer to prayer. I can't wait for your writings on birth practices! I have no idea how I'm going to approach this next birth. I didn't have any interaction with the medical system at all last time, which was absolutely the best thing for me, but then ended up transferring to the hospital 5 days into my freebirth process and having a c-section and being hospitalized for infection for weeks. All my black and white ideas and clarity and confidence have vanished into a murky mist. I think I might be able to dream of the ideal scenario for me, but not sure that it exists where I live anyway.
I've got sewing plans for 2025. I'll definitely be making another Hinterland dress, the most practical pregnancy and post-partum dress ever, but what I would really rather be making this Gwen Dress. https://www.etsy.com/listing/1815777826/gwen-dress-sewing-pattern. I'll be knitting simple hats and scarfs with leftovers and maybe I'll but some 100% raw silk and make a little summer vest. https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/vest-claire-2
Firstly, thank you!
Secondly, so many congratulations on your pregnancy! I will keep you in my thoughts, I can imagine the uncertainty you are feeling with your own personal past experiences. As time moves on, clarity surely will come.
The Hinterland dress looks so comfy! Reminds me of the Pyne and Smith dresses. And the Gwen 😍 like an old Gunne Sax (or a dupe for Christy Dawn’s Narcissa, which I wore for Christmas!). Love the little comfy vest too! I would love to learn to sew, this year I will be sticking with what I know but one day!
Very excited for all the topics you plan to write about in 2025, and for your new baby and new season of different work!
Thank you so much! I am very excited as well, and just as excited to share here as I am able ♥️
Those are all beautiful intended projects. I hope you get to some/most/all of them.
I have no problem coming up with crochet projects. I’m sure many things will inspire me! For now, I am partway through a whimsical crocheted “fairy queen coat”. I started a while ago but have taken breaks to make other short term things. I will also likely make a doll inspired by the dance my adult group is working on this year. I have concepts so far but that’s all. Other things always come up too.
I just finished reading “Living in Wonder” by Rod Dreher which is wonderful, and definitely the right book for me to read right now. Partly because of what I read in his book, I used a birthday gift certificate to get a beautiful illustrated copy of Dante’s The Divine Comedy and plan to read in the new year. That’s it for now!
Your projects sounds delightful and so fun! I love the idea of a doll inspired by a dance as well, that is really lovely. What sort of dance is it? Also, will have to look that book up!