This blog post is part of a new series titled, Eye Spy, including a few of my favorite things that I’ve noticed floating around on the internet this week!
These past few weeks I’ve slowly been adapting to the stay-in-one-place lifestyle, the lifestyle that was thrown out the door 11 months ago when I first left Canada to travel around the world. Everyday life feels rather luxurious. Simple pleasures such as,
- Snuggling into your down filled duvet covers for the night;
- Chopping up vegetables for a homemade stir-fry;
- Indoor heating and speedy wifi; and
- Dressers and closets filled with your actual belongings, neatly folded, rather than coming out all crinkled from your backpack.
In another few weeks, these everyday things might go back to feeling rather ordinary. I’m going to keep trying, however, to appreciate them as much as I can. I read somewhere that gratitude is the secret to happiness, and it kind of made sense. 😉
All of these new realizations and appreciations are likely a part of a greater occurrence of reverse culture shock that I haven’t quite fully undergone. I’m sure once I settle back into the daily grind of the 9-5 further realizations and longings for my distance backpacking lifestyle will return. But for now at least, I’m enjoying this change of pace.
Here are a few things I’ve come across this week while lazing about on the internet:
World Crafters interview with ODD ONE OUT knitwear brand
One of my favorite parts of Alina’s lovely knitting blog, The Gift of Knitting, is her interview series called, ‘World Crafters’. She interviews makers from all over the world for a behind the scenes look on what got them into their current creative profession. In this week’s interview, you get to meet Alicia, the former computer science engineer turned knitwear designer.
DIY Frozen Ice Bucket by A Pair and a Spare
What would we do without Pinterest, and all these lovely yet simple DIY ideas to be found there? I fell in love with the look of this gorgeous ice bucket used to attractively chill your bottles of white wine at the next holiday party. These buckets are deceptively simple to make: all you need is a couple of plastic buckets, a freezer and some flowers, plants and leaves!
Fraxinus Cowl Pattern by Ysolda Teague, knit by Satoko
Oh my. Ysolda Teague’s Fraxinus Cowl is too beautiful for words, and I love the way Satoko has styled it in her Instagram photo below, with her lovely ochre sweater (I wonder what sweater pattern that is?). This is definitely being added to my cowl bucket list.
Weaving Kits by Tanis Fiber Arts
Weaving is popping up everywhere these days. I was lucky enough to try it for myself in Laos, and now I’m hooked! These beautiful weaving kits put together by Tanis Fiber Arts makes me want to put down my knitting and pick up weaving! But let’s get real … with it being this close to the holidays, I don’t think I can afford stopping my knitting for one second with all the projects I have on the go! Maybe next year?
I always get really excited by the sound of KAL (knit-a-long) and each and every time I see a new one I want to join, but I almost always get sidetracked. Can you believe that in all my years of knitting I still haven’t done a KAL? I can feel Tin Can Knit’s mitten hackathon reaching out to me, calling my name … maybe I can still squeeze in one KAL before the end of 2016!
Have you ever had to deal with reverse culture shock? How did you deal?