This year has well and truly deserved the title of the most moving year I’ve experienced in a long time.
It was a year of so many things – of learning, healing and autistic-burnout-recovery (ongoing project ^^’).
And apparently, what a year like this boils down to for me, when it all fades into a precious mist of memories;
is inspiration.
And for the first time ever, I also possess the courage to try and fully follow it.
You might have noticed that I’ve been more active than ever over the past month, ever since publishing Dixy…
And I have no intention to stop being similarly active any time soon!
I’m already elbows deep in drafts and preparation for what might be the most ginormous and perhaps slightly megalomaniac project I’ve ever done.
If you’re a knitter, a fantasy-enthusiast or just enjoy to see people live out their creative selves, please feel warmly invited to join me on this journey!
Chasing Magic – A Year Long Journey
It’s in every stitch and every word.
It’s in the comfort of witnessing a whimsical journey and in the warmth of a hand-knit sock.
The Chasing Magic Series will be a year-long series of free sock knitting patterns, accompanied by a story. (Including cables, lace and colourwork, and a bunch of fun stitchpatterns)
On the first of every month*, I’ll be releasing one new sock pattern in my ravelry store, along with an accompanying post on here.
The special thing about these patterns – they’re all connected by a story!
Every sock will come with one chapter of a fantasy story, that moves in unison with the patterns. (The socks are directly inspired by the story, or the other way around)
Release of pattern & chapter one: 01.01.2026
*Every few months there will be a break in this routine, to make space for something else to be published, which I’ll be teasing further down in this post
I’m far from an accomplished author (I’m not even an aspiring one).
I simply have a passion for all things fantasy and a true love for reading and obviously crafting.
This is the first time I’m putting any of my creative writing out there.
It truly was a joy to write the first (rather short) chapter!
And I deeply hope, that the little snippets of this world I’ll be able to share over the next year, will be even just half as enjoyable to read as they are to dream up!
(As this is my first time posting my story-writing – please be gentle with me ^^’)
To be honest, I’m incredibly nervous about this project, if not plain terrified.
It’s a huge undertaking to design and publish this many patterns in a single year, let alone have it be accompanied by writing. I’m scared I wont be able to go through with it, in a quality I’ll deem sufficient, and of course by openly committing to it, I’m also putting myself under a huge amount of performance anxiety…
Still, I’m equally as excited to work on it all and to put myself out there in a way that is so uniquely me! ^^
Accessible Connection
Wait a moment…
A pattern every month, a theme throughout,…?
Sounds like I’m hosting a pattern club!
Or maybe even a Knitalong?
Well… both!
Kind of.
I don’t use social media for a multitude of reasons – I just can’t cope with them.
So there’s no instagram hashtag or facebook group I could use to host a knitalong or make it a community thing.
Also I don’t have the means to offer prices or anything, and I can’t give out my own patterns as prices since they’re all free already… ^^’
However, I am playing with the idea to open up a Discord-server along the way, depending on wether or not there’s people who’d be interested in it.
It would be a place to freely info-dump about your projects, chat with likeminded people and it would make up for my failed attempts to set up a newsletter (IT is hard…).
So if you’re interested in that, please let me know!
I’d love to hear from you!
I wish I could turn on the comments option for this post, but everything just ends up flooded by spam-bots every time I try, so all I have to offer as a contact is my e-mail: wildflower-fibercrafts@protonmail.com
The Secret Project
Last but definitely not least, let me tease a tiny litte (but actually similarly as massive as the Chasing Magic Series) “something” to come:
It’s a secret!
As mentioned previously, the Chasing Magic series will be interrupted every few months, in order for something else to be published in its place.*
This mysterious “something”, that I won’t yet reveal, can be only found on this blog and not on ravelry, so if you decide to follow along the journey and don’t visit here frequently, make sure to visit this site whenever there’s no new pattern on ravely on the 1st of any given month.
*I’m dealing with quite major energy limitations, so I don’t yet know wether or not I’ll actually be able to do this project alongside the Chasing Magic series, which has priority this year. If I end up not being able to publish this “something” in any given month (or overall), please assume my brain went on strike. ^^’
This is also the reason why I’m not revealing what exactly it is yet, since there is a chance it might have to wait another year for its debut.
There’s only so much I’ll say:
It will be fully free and ad-free as everything I do.
There wont be anything you’ll need to do in order to get it (No signing up to anything, no need to give any data, etc.)
Simply said: There’s nothing in it for me, other than the satisfaction of publishing something. No financial gain. Nothing!
The only reason I’m so heavily self-promoting all the time – and especially this time – is that I’m excited about it. It feels a bit like drawing a picture as a child, then excitedly running up to your respective caretaker to show them.
Writing and posting into this tiny, quiet corner, is basically my way to do just that, – only without any person that I can see on the other end.
And to be fully honest: I also really like the thought of someone out there stumbling across all of this and finding comfort or enjoyment in it.
Here’s To A New, Very Exciting Year!
The personal life update bit ^^
The year ahead is going to be a really exciting one for me, not only because of the Chasing Magic Series, but also for personal reasons!
Simply said: I mentioned a few times in the past that I’m housebound, except for being taken out for a few walks every now and then.
This still holds true, however, it looks like my world is about to get a whole lot larger than our little apartment.
To put it simply: I can’t take public transport without being in a lot of distress and pain.
Ever since I reached a point in my autism burnout recovery, at which leaving the house wasn’t physically painful in itself anymore, I’ve been living with my partner who doesn’t have a car.
He’d absolutely love to take me places and take me along to run errands and such, but everything further away than walking distance is knowingly putting me through pain. And since my physical health has taken a major beating a few years ago and recovery is still going rather meh, walking distance really wasn’t that far for me this year.
But now, we’re about to get a car in just a few weeks!
I can’t even imagine what life will be like, having the freedom to go places without the journey itself causing major sensory overload and physical pain!
This is SO alien to me!
What do people even do when they leave the house? Other than work of course…
Will I even have a reason to go outside more?
What’s the world like as an adult out and about?
What is it, that everyone went on about missing during lockdown?
Imagine the mind blowing freedom of choosing your own groceries in a real, physical store!
And not even paying for it by spending the next few days in bed in pain! I truly can’t remember what that’s like anymore… I’ve never experienced it as an adult.
On top of that (after many years of waiting for appointments, then results, then the government offices to find the time to take a glance at them and so on…), I have been officially recognised as severely disabled!
Which means:
I have rights now!
Yey! ^^
Well… for me personally it won’t actually change a lot in a practical sense.
But even just the certainty of finally being officially recognised has been such a weight off my shoulders!
So… let’s see what this new, exciting year brings!
I hope you’ll consider joining me on our Chasing Magic journey through the year, and will be pleasantly surprised by the additional content I’ll offer once the secret “something” goes public!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my rambling!
May your days be filled with motivation, inspiration and excitement
Happy New Year!
Snowdrop