Sometimes the best way to learn a new crochet technique is to start small. A friend of mine wanted to learn mosaic overlay crochet, but she wasn’t quite ready to jump into the full afghan pattern I’d designed for her. So I created a little heart block that would give her a chance to practice…
Cross stitch is one of those crafts that looks incredibly simple—and, in many ways, it is. You make a series of Xs on fabric, follow a chart, and eventually those little stitches turn into a picture. But there’s one small detail that can make a surprisingly big difference in how your finished project looks: Cross…
Have you ever had so much to do that you couldn’t seem to get anything done? I’ve had those days when my to-do list feels a mile long, everything seems equally important, and I can’t even figure out where to begin. One day, while feeling particularly overwhelmed, I started thinking about how I approach a…
Is the sky blue? Yes. That’s an easy question, right? On a clear day, most of us can look up, see a blue sky, and confidently say that the sky is blue. But that simple answer hides quite a bit of complexity. The atmosphere isn’t actually filled with something blue. Sunlight interacts with gases in…
Several months ago, I was convinced mosaic overlay crochet was far too complicated for me. Then I made two large but straight forward projects, discovered that the technique was much easier than it looked, and promptly fell down the mosaic crochet rabbit hole. Before I had even finished my first blanket, I was already looking…
If you are anything like me, you might need to hear this: Sometimes good enough is truly good enough. I have a hard time with that sometimes. Okay, pretty much always. 🤣 And the funny thing is, I’ve never really thought of myself as a perfectionist. I’m still not sure I am one. I don’t…
Some crochet projects begin with a carefully planned color palette and a shopping trip for the perfect yarn. This wasn’t one of those projects. The idea for the QT Pi Afghan came first—a playful design featuring a messy bun, oversized glasses, and the mathematical symbol π. As someone who enjoys puzzles, programming, and all things…
While you can safely freeze rhubarb for later use, I’ve always found that fresh rhubarb has the best flavor. That’s one reason I appreciate having a summer kitchen in my screened-in porch. By the time rhubarb is ready to harvest, the days are hot more often than not, and I prefer to keep that heat…
One of the things I love about rhubarb season is that it never takes much convincing to turn a basket of fresh rhubarb into dessert. Today I didn’t quite have enough rhubarb for a full-sized crisp, but honestly, that worked out perfectly. I had been wanting to experiment with the recipe anyway—reducing the sugar a…
One of my favorite things about XV Sudoku is how quickly certain numbers start behaving differently from standard Sudoku — especially the number 5. In XV Sudoku: At first this seems simple enough, but it creates a surprisingly interesting side effect: A cell connected to an X or V can never contain a 5. That…