All the Sweaters

As I packed up some of my winter clothes for the season (sorry Wisconsin...I saw you got some snow today), I realized I've amassed quite the collection of vintage and handmade secondhand sweaters. And then I felt inspired to document them all.

The crowning achievement of any thrift run is of course a beautiful sweater. I really can't pass them up. I typically look for pieces made from 100% natural fibers as a rule and am very flexible when it comes to size since I'll end up wearing most as an outer, jacket layer.

So, for your viewing pleasure, here is my hoard.

 A few details on batch number one, clockwise from the top left:

1. This is my newest addition. Purchased in Portland a few weeks back. Tag says "Nordstrikk A/S Made in Norway". It's doubleknit, but cut and serged rather than seamed which makes me assume it's machine knit and not actually that vitage. Which I'm fine with. You can't see the ribbon edging very well in this photo but trust me it's lovely.

2. Alpaca! At least I'm 99% sure. There is no tag. It definitely needs new, smaller buttons because these one's are too big for the holes. Also, those pockets are fake. Only about an inch and a half deep. Purchased at the Salvation Army thrift store in Sodo (Seattle).

3. Oh my lordy I wear this puppy all the time. I love the zig-zag cable. Tag says "100% Wool Made in Hong Kong". There's also a really detailed and charming washing instruction tag which cautions the owner not to dry clean it. Purchased at Goodwill in Monroe, WA.

4. So. Pretty. And of high quality. The yarn has a wonderful feel to it and I suspect it will never, ever pill. Both the body and the sleeves are knit in the round then joined at the yoke and steeked from what I can tell. Tag says "Norway Design HANDKNITTING Shrinkresistant Colourfast 100% Pure Wool". Purchased at the Value Village in Lake City. I think this was my first big sweater score at thrift store.

5. A lopapeysa! What a find. Definitely falls into the sweater coat category, and I love wearing it that way. Tag says "Samband of Iceland ICELOOK Handknitted in Iceland Natural Colours". Found at a small thrift store in Lynwood, WA.

6. My one and only sweater vest (although currently I'm knitting myself another). I love the combination of lace and cables, and the fit on this one is just spot on. Tag says "J.G. Hook PETITES". Guess I'm a petite in sweater vest. Can't remember where it's from.

7. The opposite of petite. This one I'll admit I rarely wear out of the house. It's completely oversized, although the sleeves are actually quite fitted. Despite not being my "out and about" go-to, I wear it a ton in the wintertime inside the house as an extra layer. Tag says "Mayo Handcrafts Ballyhaunis". Again, can't remember where I found it.

8.  If you've been reading since the very beginning then this one should look familiar. I've waxed on about how special this one is before. It features a traditional Shetland tree and star yoke and is just gorgeous. Tag reads "Kate Drewyer Knitted in the Shetland Isles". I'm not sure if Ms Drewyer is the knitter or the owner, but either way I find the tag quite charming.

In photographing the gang, I couldn't help notice some trends. First of all, it's clearly cardigans for the win. Which should surprise no one who sees me on a regular basis. Cardigans forever. Beyond that, I must also have thing for collecting as many regional styles as possible, and absolutely every item features either colorwork or cables. Yep, I'm definitely not shy on color. Although the amount of red in the mix was a bit of a surprise.

And finally, there's this. My absolute most treasured sweater by a thousand miles. It gets it's very own full-sized picture for a couple of reasons. First, it's not from any thrift store. Second, it belonged to my grandmother.

I'm pretty sure I literally gasped when my aunt first pulled it out of the cedar chest. It was just so awesome and special and a complete surprise. To be honest, I don't really know its story. I don't know who made it or out of what (although there is some acrylic in there for sure) or really even 100% for whom. My grandmother was a knitter, but for some reason I got the impression that it was made for her and not by her. But even that I'm not sure of. I was unaware of its existence until after she passed away and certainly never saw her wearing it. The colors, yarn, and shape (slightly belled sleeves) read 70's to me, which was before my time. If anyone has any details to share please feel free to share! Regardless, I feel extremely honored, thankful, and blessed over the fact that it got to come live with me.

And yeah, I totally wear it.

Let's Talk About 2015

Truth: I have not kept up with my goals for this space in the past year. I'm not really bothered by that fact to be honest. Do I wish I had blogged more? Yes. But do I feel bad that I didn't. Nope. I refuse to feel guilty about this space because it has always been meant as a fun, casual outlet. On weeks when my to-do list is full of other things - or I simply feel like doing ridiculous amounts of knitting rather than typing - I easily move the blog to the bottom of the list. That being said, I still love writing and sharing things here so I'm going to keep doing it.

Last year, I did a little reflecting and documenting of my goals for 2014. My first goal was to write more posts each month in 2014 than I did in 2013. That only happened in two out of twelve months. Meh. Second, I wanted to post more about food. Technically, that one was a success but only because there were barely any recipe posts in 2013. But in truth I didn't write about many recipes, especially in the second half of the year. Knitting sort of took over.

....and cue the segway into knitting....

In addition to these two blog-related goals, I also set a knitting goal for myself last year of becoming a better sweater knitter. My challenge was to only knit sweaters for Kevin and I (meaning I would still knit other things for other people, but for the two of us it would only be sweaters). I did end up knitting some accessories for us, but mostly only toward the end of the year and out of necessity (wool socks for Kevin and a wooly hat for me because winter). Overall, I'm calling this one a rousing success! In total I finished six sweaters this year:

• Smokin' Jacket for Kevin
• Agatha Cardigan for me
• Flaming Tinder for me
• Christmas Sweater for me
• McQueen Pullover for Kevin
• Amanda Cardigan for Mom (not yet blogged)

Beyond having the garments themselves, I am most pleased that I have advanced my skills and become a more precise knitter. I've properly swatched, measured, and consulted pattern schematics so that I can finally stop being lazy and make things that fit the first time. I'm not including the failed Hugo sweater that sparked this whole goal in this list because most of the knitting was done in 2013. However, I actually love that sweater for me and have ended up wearing it a ton this winter.
 

Ok, phew. Now that I've gotten done with the block of text about last year, I can finally move on to this year! Below are the goals I've set. These are for life in general, not this blog. Because clearly blogging goals for me are a farce.

1. Become someone who sews. 

I can sew. I do occasionally sew. But this year I want to get lots better at it. I want to become a sewer. Someone who can make garments from a pattern with confidence. I'm pretty uncomfortable with using our sewing machine right now, and I want to get over that fear. If this year ends with few actual sewn garment but a higher level of comfortability with patterns and our machine it will be a success. A high aim would be to have lots of garments and to be at the point where I can start buying really good materials without fear of f%#*ing them up. Right now I'm buying cheap fabrics that I like but will not be heartbroken over if they get trashed.

2. Knit my stash. 

I consider my stash to be big but not out-of-control huge. If you saw it all you may disagree with this (and no, this picture is not all of it...). However, I have lots of really great stuff in there! Stuff I've been meaning to work with and genuinely love, but that has gotten shoved into storage or back-burnered for too long. The pile above is my goal. All of this has been designated for specific projects, so now I just have to make them. By the end of this year, this pile of string shall be transformed into stuff! Simple enough, right? A second half to this goal is to not buy any more yarn until this stack is used up. I know, I know. I can already say with confidence that I will fail on that account. Not buying any yarn for a year is a little nuts. I'm prepared to give myself leeway on this for super special yarn purchases or for random projects that will probably pop up as gifts.

That's it! Wish me luck!

Overnight to Shriner Peak

Here at the Churchill household we did our best to make the most of the late summer season. Yes, I said late summer and it is now winter. Ah well, better late than never with this post.

I'll admit we got off to a terrible start for the first part of the summer with very few overnight outings or day trips. Nothing on the scale of the infamous Churchill Family Yurt Tour 2013, that's for durn sure. But. BUT. Washington has saved us with a string of almost-too-good-to-be-true beautiful late summer weekends. Sorry rest of the country if that was not the case where you live.

On one such weekend, we decided to drive down to Mount Rainier National Park for a quick backpacking trip. One of my goals for the summer was to do more of that. We've had most of our gear since last year's Rialto Beach trip, but haven't used it for actual backpacking since then. Just a couple of regular old camping trips. So, we woke up, saw Rainier as clear as day from the city and decided to pack up and go for it.

We set out with nary a plan as to where we'd actually hike and camp. Because who needs to plan anything when going backcountry camping? KIDDING. We planned a little bit in terms of knowing the permit system and the fact that there were lots of options available for first-come-first-served sites. Luckily, Park Rangers are just the coolest. And luckily when we arrived we were the only ones in the office and this particular ranger appreciated rather than scorned our open-ended plans. He showed us what was available and suggested Shriner Peak.

Oh. Man. Best suggestion ever. The hike itself is moderate at 4 miles with a 3434 foot elevation change. There are only two campsites and the top which means it would not be crowded at all. And, it's got one of only four historic fire lookout buildings at Rainier National Park! This is all before mentioning the spectacular 360 degree views.

It starts out with a pretty steep ascent in a very forested area. It was a bit tough considering this was our first time doing an overnight trip with all our gear that included such an elevation change. I mean, I was sweating. But our packs felt good and it was really nice to be out. When we came around this corner, well, that was just about it. Look at this view:

What a sight! It's really a very good reward for not too demanding of a hike. We made it up and set up camp with plenty of time to spare before sundown. Both sites were empty when we arrived, which meant we were free to take the better one. Really, does it get any better than this?

After getting set up we walked back to the fire lookout and had our dinner on the wrap-around porch. I can't get over how beautiful the view of Mount Rainier is. I could stare at it for hours, and in fact did. Kevin did some really high quality glassing from the porch as well. The elk were really calling to each other and he was really hoping to see one through the specs. Unfortunately, they were either too far away to be visible or tucked into the trees, so we were only able to hear but not see them.

That night we happily tucked into our cozy tent with our heads toward east so we could be sure to see the sun come up. The sky was completely clear and the stars were just spectacular. Everything was quiet except for the elk, who continued to call as it got darker and darker.

The next morning, the sunrise was even more beautiful on the mountain than the sunset had been. You could really see the colors and shadows changing on the glaciers and I couldn't stop snapping pictures every few minutes as it transformed. It was a bit chilly, but not too cold and we were plenty bundled.

Even though we never saw any elk, we did see a track pretty close to our camp that had definitely not been there the night before. I get super excited by spotting animal tracks, especially when I see them before Kevin, and had to point this one out.

After a light breakfast we packed up camp with the sun on it's way up and started our trek down. It was so different to be on a hiking trail and not see anyone for so long! Usually on a lot of the hikes we've done out in Washington we see a lot of people on the trail, but this morning we were out ahead of everyone. I shouldn't say we didn't see anybody though. About a third of the way down, right among the huckleberry bushes, we interrupted a breakfasting black bear! Kevin was walking first at that time and saw him (or her) before I did. They both stopped in their tracks and stared for a few seconds before the bear turned and took off away from the trail. I barely even saw his little behind lobbing off into the brush! It was comforting to know he was so scared of us, but we still waited a bit before continuing on and made sure we were nice and loud through the rest of the huckleberry bushes.

We made it down in good time and did our usual post-camping/hiking tradition of stopping at a diner on the way out. There's nothing like a hot plate of hashbrowns and eggs after a night spent outside!

Long Loved Thrifts: Floral Suitcase

Soooo, I haven't exactly met my goal of posting more this year than last. On the one hand I am completely, 100% okay with this. This blog was always intended to be a fun project and not a chore, so when it's moved down on the priority list I've been totally fine with that. Some life events have also happened this year to contribute to the blog-less-ness. First, I started working full time again, thus leaving less time to loaf around coffee shops with my laptop. Why yes, I am a cliche. Thank you for asking. Second, I've started a new job. Twice. That's right, I started a new job around March then ended up leaving that job to start a new one in August. So there's been lots of general exhaustedness going around as I cram new job knowledge into by brain and get adjusted to the new schedule. Also, the first job included working weekends. So yeah.

On the other hand, I want to get back into a routine of posting at least once per week. I loved the 52 Tuesdays project as a way to stay with that schedule, but ultimately decided to take a break from it this year rather than making it an indefinitely ongoing series. That said, I miss posting about my thrifted goods! Hence, a new idea!! This idea is a combination of wanting to post more about second-hand finds, share their stories, and also add another element.

How do I say this...I like things. I get attached to them and like them for a really long time. I've been this way for, idk, my whole rememberable life I guess. As a wee girly I was super attached to all of my stuffed animals. They had names and I was very concerned about their feelings. Since most were gifts, it started with becoming instantly attached to them after the unwrapping process. It was like I was really being introduced to someone, and beyond that I had just rescued them from their packaging. I also used to rotate my "favorite" stuffed animal so none of their feelings would get hurt by not being given as much attention as the others. This may or may not be a symptom of only child syndrome...

I'm happy to say that as an adult I no longer think inanimate objects have feelings (phew). But I still really like things and particularly enjoy being surrounded by objects with meaning. I guess that's called being sentimental. Also, my taste doesn't change that much. There are lots of things that I've liked for a long time.

So now that I've rambled on for four paragraphs, let me introduce the first of a new series I'm calling "Long Loved Thrifts". The criteria are pretty simple. The item must have been purchased way, way back and still be in regular use. That is, in regular use and still loved. First up, this:

I can't remember exactly when I purchase this suitcase. Must have been high school at least if not earlier. I remember distinctly that I got it at St. Joe's Thrift Shop, which was my favorite thrift store for many, many years. I remember snapping it up immediately without a moment's hesitation. I mean, it's so good. Over the years I've used it for storage and for actual traveling. It fits perfectly in an overhead bin or even under the seat in front of you (insert my smug look as I watch the other passengers cramming their obnoxiously large roller bags into the bin). It also fits a surprising amount of stuff. I love this little guy. I doubt I will even get rid of it.

p.s. No offense to roller bag users. Of which I am one.

Green Apple a Day Reflections

A favorite random picture of myself from last year. Making 4th of July cherry pie in a Grandma Schoeneck apron. 

It's been over a year now since I started this blog. It's been an incredibly fun project and one that I plan to continue. I started this space with two main objectives. One was to create a journal for myself. I wanted to keep writing and to have a place to record our lives. I've always loved to write and I think especially when I started this blog I needed a place to just let that loose - no strings attached. A place to just write creatively and with no rules. Just for fun. I've also always wanted to be more of a journaler but never found the motivation to stick with it on my own. This space creates accountability to sit down, record, share, and then reflect on our lives. I've had so much fun randomly browsing through old posts to remind myself of our year.

Second, I really wanted a place that enabled me to connect and share with family and friends who are no longer geographically near. When Kevin and I moved from Wisconsin to Washington it meant that we'd inherently be spending less time with lots of people that mean so much to us. While we do try to visit, call, email, and write as much as possible, it's also impractical to think we're going to touch base with everyone twice or even once a week. This space was my way to say "look, here's what we're up to" at that frequency and at everyone's own pace. What has truly surprised and delighted me to no end is how many of you have taken me up on that offer. Thank you thank you thank you for taking the time to visit me here. It truly means so much to me to know you're reading. I love you all!

Finally, I've been thinking a lot about goals for this blog in its second year. I'm keeping the list short and simple to give myself a realistic chance of fulfilling it. Here's what I've come up with:

• Post at least as many or preferably more posts each month this year than I did in the same month last year. 
• Food. Share more recipes and more in general of what we eat, both at home and out and about. This is something I haven't done much of on this space, but food is something I care passionately about and genuinely love. To eat and to make. So, you can expect more food related posts in the coming year. 

With that said, is there anything you'd like to see more of (or less of) on this blog? Feel free to leave a comment or email to let me know!