2022 Year in Review

Looking back, I’ve gotten spotty with these “Year in Review” posts. I’m not sure where 2021 even went. That last few years have been a bit nuts, right? If only I had written a post last year and could jog my memory…

That said, 2022 must be reviewed. A lot happened last year and I want to get it all down while it is somewhat fresh in mind! Let’s start with the biggest, most consuming thing in 2022, our remodel.

Remodel

After 15 years of living in this house and doing a lot of work to the outside of the house (new fence, greenhouse, countless raised beds), we finally started working on the inside of the house. We aren’t totally finished yet. Pretty much every room has a least one wall that is awaiting a custom cabinet or bookshelf that Matt will build himself, but I can show you a few before and after photos of where we are at now. It’s all so much better. The living room and the basement were the biggest transformations I think, but the basement especially blows me away. That went from being a space we were basically using as a garage to becoming my new favorite place.

Living Room

Kitchen

Basement

Sewing

2021 Makes

 

• Black Ginger Jeans
• Olive green corduroy Ginger Jeans
• Starry, silky Sudley Dress
• Second Sew Over Vintage shirtdress in a  pretty red floral rayon (by Telio I think), that was basically the same as the first Sew Over It Vintage shirt dress I sewed so I didn’t blog about it.
• Railroad Stripe Harlene Dungarees
• Jessica Dress in a lemon print Telio stretch cotton sateen that I never blogged about but may still. It’s a good one!
• Sleeveless Sew Over It Vintage Shirt Dress– This is now officially a TNT pattern for me and my goal to sew all the shirt dresses is well underway.
• Two new pairs of Carolyn Pajamas: one shorts and short sleeve in Liberty of London cotton lawn (pictured above) and the other pants and long sleeves in a fun dog print flannel  from Core Fabrics– I never got photos the flannel pajamas and they are pretty worn in now, so  the ship may have sailed on photographing them. They are awesome though, just take my word for it.
• Black Lark Tee to go with my railroad stripe Harlene Dungarees- Also, no blog post for that one because I didn’t think people would want to read about a black tee shirt.
• Cool linen Scout tee with a beautiful striped linen from Blackbird Fabrics– That was my second Scout Tee and I didn’t blog about either of them since it’s a pretty simple tee.

I also sewed some things for friends; cushions for a trailer for my friend Val, cushions for a rocking chair for my friend Paula (and her new baby), and overalls just like the ones I sewed for myself, for my friend Lola. So I did some selfless sewing. Yay!

That reminds of the other big news of 2022. I finally upgraded to a fancy new sewing machine (a Janome Memory Craft 6700P) and Lola’s overalls were the first thing I sewed on them. Let me tell you, my sewing game has just stepped up, big time. The topstitching on her overalls is the best I have ever done. Yes, it was a big purchase, but I think  that after ten years of sewing all types of garments on $200-$400 machines, I have earned my sewing stripes enough to own a machine like this. Plus, I sew a lot of denim and can this handle denim!

Othering cool sewing-related things to happen in 2002 were that I attended Camp Workroom Social’s Wardrobe Week in April as a camper and Fall Camp as the staff videographer (again)!  The 2022 videos aren’t out yet, but here is the “video yearbook” I made for the 2021 fall camp.

I also did a couple of sewing retreats with my Seattle Sews group at Maker’s Hideaway. 

Knitting

Not having a living room for awhile really put a cramp of my knitting, since I mostly knit in front of the TV. But I did finish the Inlet Cardigan I started in DECEMBER OF 2020! Yep, still a slow knitter. In my defense, knitting with black yarn sucks so I wasn’t particularly motivated to work on it sometimes. I am glad I powered through because it really is my  most worn sweater now.

I also started a new sweater in 2022, a mustard color Georgetown sweater by Hannah Fettig with yarn I got at Fancy Tiger Crafts while in Denver last year. Now that we have furniture in our living room again and a comfy couch in the basement, I do have some great new knitting spots, so I expect there to be more knitting in 2023!

Gardening

We were so busy with the remodel this year, that we didn’t have as much time to focus on the garden. I say “we”, but really the remodel was mostly Matt, so I did have some time to work on the garden this year. It just meant he wasn’t as available to help as he usually is. Amazingly enough, I did get some stuff planted last year and we pretty much had a full garden from spring until winter.

The spring was especially cold, so that made it a great cabbage year. In all the years I have been growing food, I don’t think I’ve ever had cabbage head up like this. Matt made lots of sauerkraut with it, so I was in heaven.

I have always wanted to figure out how to plant apple trees on our property. Since we have limited space, I had never been able to figure out exactly where. Then one day, I had a revelation. I could do espalier apple trees! I even had an empty bed along the fence in the backyard due to some things that I had moved up front. It was the perfect spot for them. I thought I was going to have to train them myself, but when I went to my local nursery, they had some that were already trained. What is even cooler is that these are grafted, so the top row is Honeycrisp, the middle row is Gala, and the bottom row is Fuji. I’m so excited to watch these mature!

I even gotten around to canning a few things. The grapes I planted in 2020 are off the hook now, so I made a bunch of things with grapes this year including a super delicious grape jam. We also had a good jalapeño harvest, so I made jalapeño jelly, which is pictured below with the third and final thing I canned: tomato basil jam.

Matt even had time to build me a two bin compost system. Who knew a compost bin could be so exciting, but I was pretty jazzed about it. I feel like my garden is now complete!

On a final note, one other thing that happened in 2022 is I finally got COVID! In fact, I got it the weekend I took the photo (in my 2022 Makes grid above) wearing my red floral Sew Over It Vintage Shirt Dress while in Palm Springs. This was back in March and I isolated for a full ten days in my sewing room which is also our guest room and my office. That was back when Paxlovid was pretty new and I ended up taking that. While it left a horrible taste in my mouth, it did help me get better faster. Three years later, we seem to be in a different place with COVID. Things started to feel a bit more normal mid-year. I haven’t gotten it again and actually made it through the holiday season without getting sick (with anything), but I am also quadruple vaxxed at this point and got my flu shot too.

Anyway, it’s been a wild few years. I won’t lie in that 2022 had some really tough moments and I didn’t always feel so great mentally (and that is putting it mildly). In my personal life, there was a momentous shift having to do with my one living parent that gutted me at the time (i.e. estrangement from a narcissistic parent). It was heartbreaking and ultimately not my choice, but entirely necessary. Turns out, without all that toxicity and drama in my life any more, I am coming out the other end healthier. My “hobbies”, my home, the people in my life (Matt especially), all of these things help me through these dark times and I can see that even more clearly when I write these posts.

Who knows what 2023 holds. All I can say is, I am constantly grateful for all that I have and that I get to do; that I am healthy (for the most part) and that I have this great home and get to enjoy so many creative pursuits that fill me up. These year in reviews are such a great way for me to reflect on all of that and seeing it all one place like this makes me realize even more how lucky I am.