Bits & Pieces: What’s in my autumn rotation
Happy Friday friends! This morning as I was pouring my morning coffee and considering how I wanted to start my day, I noticed that I have quite a few things that have been on heavy rotation and repetition lately—all of them centered around...comfort? (Even the sewing project I just finished was a set of pajamas!)
What a perfect thing to share with you, right? Whether it's reading or eating or watching, I have been gravitating towards all things comfort and cozy in the past few weeks and have been coming back to certain things time and time again so I thought I'd share those things with you here.
WATCHING:
Waldemar Januszczak: Several months ago, Andrew and I discovered a series of art history shows hosted by Waldemar Januszczak on Amazon Prime (If you have prime, just look up his name and all of his shows will pop up). Please believe me when I say this guy is AMAZING—In my opinion, Waldemar Januszczak is to the art world as Monty Don is to gardening. I wish this guy could have been my art history professor in university. So funny, so informative, and breaks down the content into bite-sized fun chunks, while also being highly entertaining. We're still making our way through what's available on Prime, but I've also recently discovered the Perspective YouTube Channel, which is full of Waldemar Januszczak's videos. If you love art and art history, you will not be disappointed.
Jamie Beck Isolation Creation Part Deux: If you've been following along with me this year, you know that I have fallen in love with all things Jamie Beck. She became a muse of mine in a way, revolutionizing my creativity and awakening this side of me that I didn't really show to a lot of people. It's like she gave me permission to bring out a visually romantic side of my style again. Even as I write this, I'm wearing my flowing, blue dress layered with a white button up shirt. I feel a bit like Beauty and the Beast's Belle meets Renaissance painter today and I love it. As France has entered its second lock-down due to Covid-19, she creates one piece of art a day and details her process in her instagram stories, which I highly recommend watching. I've learned so much from her both in personal ways and professional ways. I've been wanting to invest in better quality output for awhile, but cameras are expensive. Thanks to you, patrons, I was able to invest in a new camera which I now use for better videography and photography. It's been so amazing to work on bettering my photography skills this year!
EATING:
Deviled Eggs: I don't think they qualify as COZY per se, but I have been eating a LOT of deviled eggs lately! Lol. I made a big batch for my breakfast for the week several weeks ago (perfect because they last 5 days in the fridge), and I've made them every week for my breakfast ever since for the past month. It's nice because they keep you full until lunchtime, and once they are made, they are so quick to pop a few on a plate without having to make a bunch of stuff. AND I love the flavor!! I've got my sister hooked on them too and she's been making them for her breakfasts as well. I've been using this recipe, but there are SO many out there and so many takes on deviled eggs. I'm sure you have your own favorite recipe for this.
PROJECTS:
And finally, I've been working on a variety of cozy projects lately! I mentioned a pajama project earlier—no photos yet, but I did use this banana-print cotton/rayon voile fabric. :) However, when it comes to knitting, I'm always gravitating to socks these days. Socks are probably my number one favorite thing to knit because it's the item I wear the most—literally daily in the cooler months. Nothing keeps your feet warm like a pair of hand knit socks. I've talked about my vanilla sock recipe here if you are curious! Right now I'm working on a pair of vanilla socks for Andrew (he absolutely LOVES hand knit socks, so I'm trying to build up a sock drawer for him) using the Folklore colorway from Grenouille Co, and for ME, I started knitting the Farnesina Socks (designed by @thenewyorkyear) using precious Viola Yarns that I bought at Rhinebeck last year.
READING:
This year, Andrew and I had planned on taking a big, 2-week trip to France this year to see various parts of the country— specifically Normandy, Paris, and Provence. That didn't happen due to Covid-19, but to make up for it, I have been indulging in all of the books about France that pique my interest—and lately that's been all things Peter Mayle. Peter Mayle was a travel writer who moved to southern France with his wife and shared his observations about Provencal culture. He's written so many novels, and each one that I've read (I think I've read 4 or 5 now?) feels like the ultimate cozy escapism read where you get to travel without leaving the house. Unfortunately that's the closest I'll get to traveling this year, but I've been absolutely devouring his books and books like them. Last night, I added French Dirt: The Story of a Garden in the South of France by Richard Goodman to my list, and I'm on the hunt for more, so PLEASE give me your Francophile favorites—Fiction or Nonfiction, any book set in France, please let me know in the comments!
Thanks for reading, I hope you have a lovely weekend ahead <3
Warmly,
Jaclyn