Month: October 2026

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Happy Birthday to Ya

Happy birthday to ya, Happy birthday, Mr. Honey. I am no longer allowed to say how old he is. The number is rather impressive, He doesn’t look, think or act anywhere near what I think someone that age should look, think or act like. Those are good things and it makes me rethink how I view people that age – since I aspire to be that age one day myself and don’t want to think, look or at like it then.

He goes out to dinner a lot thin month. His brother will take him out. So will his sister. So will I. (I already have.) If his friends remember, they’ll do something for him too. He deserves all of it for being a great brother, friend and hubby. He’d be proud, and also a little annoyed, at being singled out so we won’t tell him and we won’t make a fuss. But he can’t stop the blessings being sent his way for being such a good guy.

What’s New in the Shops

The new ‘At Dawn’ addition, The we Craft at Dawn Shirt. 5 colors. 8 sizes Shop/Heart it here.

 

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All We Need Is

All we need is…..apple cider. At least today.

The mug says all i need is coffee, prayer and yarn. The prayer and the yarn are pretty much a given. The coffee is a regular of sorts. I still have not made myself coffee at home. Coffee, which I started drinking about two years ago, is still one of those luxury things for me. I don’t drink it every day the way Mr. Honey does. It is a treat for me, whether iced or hot. I didn’t understand people’s dedication to the elixir but I am converted. Except I don’t make it for myself.

So, while the mug in the photo is filled with coffee, I am drinking apple cider from Quednow Farm in Elkhorn, WI where we go every year to get apples and apple cider. I didn’t get a lot this year. We went a little late in the season and the staff there was saying it was not their best harvest year. I only picked up a dozen apples and a quart of the cider which came out really nice this season.

The apple cider is bolstering me as I rework the pattern for my Rasta Slouchy. This is one of the first hats I ever did and I have made it so much that I don’t refer back to the pattern. Recently though, I had the feeling I was making it more than a little different than the pattern I sell and that seemed a bit unfair. Opening the pattern and reading it, yep, this needs a refresh. So, that’s what I’m doing. The added benefit is that I get inventory for the shows and ready to ship for the shop. I am moving designbcb more to ready to ship and patterns and away from made to order.

The yarn and the prayer are constant: always there and always changing. Fitting the mood and the time and the piece and the maker.  It is possible for some things to stay the same and change.

What do you have in your mug, cup. bottle as you work? Find the mug at StitchPrayRepeat and watch for the pattern refresh at designbcb.

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Ooo Baby, Baby

Ooo Baby, Baby

October kind of caught me by surprise – even though I saw it coming. It’s here and now the  count down to busy season and craft season begins and I am thinking what I always think: I will not be ready.

There are things to knit. Patterns to refresh. Pictures to take. Listings to write. Then there are the things I hadn’t planned to make until I had an idea that seemed too good to leave alone. That last part might have something to do with it.

Between DesignBCB and Stitch, Pray, Repeat, I can always find something else that would be lovely to offer. A hat in another color. An ornament for another kind of crafter. A mug for the person who believes dawn is a perfectly reasonable time to start a project—as long as there is coffee.

Coming up with the idea is quick. Getting it ready for someone to buy takes considerably longer. And the ordinary work does not stop while I prepare for the extraordinary work. Orders still need attention. There is still a household, a church calendar, and a life beyond the shops. I cannot simply put everything else in a drawer until January.

Although I could probably find a drawer. Whether it would close is another matter.

I am beginning to suspect that my definition of “ready” is part of the problem. In my imagination, ready means everything is finished, photographed, listed, packed, and waiting. Every good idea has become an actual product. There are no loose ends. For someone who works with yarn, that is a fairly ambitious position on loose ends.

Perhaps I need to ask a smaller question: What needs to be ready first?

The things people already love. The things I can realistically finish. The new pieces that deserve a proper introduction, rather than a hurried photograph and a promise to talk about them later. Some ideas will have to wait. I don’t especially enjoy that part, but having an idea does not automatically give it a place at the front of the line. This I learned from years of thinking it did and still not getting it done.

So here I am again, heading into the busy season with work on the needles, products to share, and a list that could use some firm supervision. If you are also looking at the calendar and wondering how you can be surprised by something that happens every year, pull up a chair. We can commiserate together.

I would offer you coffee, but we should probably put it somewhere away from the yarn.

New in the Shops

We Craft at Dawn Mugs! As, go take a peek and heart so you can find and so the Etsy algorithm works for me! 

We Crochet at Dawn
We Craft at Dawn

A New Ornament
The Stitch with Joy Ornament