Begin as You Intend to Go On. . .?

It was my first day back at school for the new year yesterday.  I spent a good part of the day catching up with students and colleagues and saying “Happy New Year” to people I haven’t seen in two weeks.  I’ll be honest.  I left for vacation ready for a break.  School went right up until the days before Christmas, and once we celebrated the holiday, I spent much of the remainder of the break in pajamas with yarn in my hands or in front of the sewing machine.  It was wonderful, I am not going to lie to you.

Prior to The Big Pause, I would contemplate a word for the year, set intentions, make plans.  After a series of family crises, the pandemic, and a whole lot we never expected, I was staring down 2023 with a bit of a “Show me whatcha got” energy, and not a whole lot of planning or agency.  Those plans for 2020, 2021, and even 2022 were so derailed that I’ve felt a little bit like a piece of driftwood being pushed toward shore and then pulled back out into one of the Great Lakes over and over and over again.

This year at midnight, there was no fanfare at our house.  No resolutions.  No special words for the year or intentions set.  The old year slunk out, and the new year came in.  No big deal.  No expectations to fall short of.  No pressure to be a new me.  Easy.  I think I needed that.

That is not to say I haven’t been planning.  Or prepping.  There are some ideas percolating and plans I hope to share with you this year, but maybe in a different way than I have in the past.  Maybe a bit more writing and showing over here in a bloggy like format rather than the snippets I struggle with on Instagram and Facebook.

Like many of you I’ve got a stash that needs to be used, and am working on some ideas of how to manage that while still feeling that creative surge of holding something new and fresh in my hands.  I’ve got some fresh ideas for some old favorites that you may not have seen.  Let’s start there.  If you want to get a head start, you can check out the patterns section.  I’ll be creating some new kits with older patterns even as I am working on (finally) finishing up some of the work I’ve been derailed from over the past few years.

This long format of blogging isn’t new, but it’s new for the MBC website. If you’ve made it this far, I’m curious. What would you like to see in this space? Drop me a comment or send me an email. I’d love to hear from you.

Happy New(ish) 2023.  I hope we can crush and not be crushed by this new revolution around the sun.