Hello!  I am now writing over here and would love for you to join me there!  You can subscribe (free or paid) to receive my weekly essays (and more!) Love, Patti

Sometimes we are supportive just by showing up for the in-between times. Feliks had a horse show near Aiken, South Carolina, this past weekend. His horse had been acting up, and he wasn’t thrilled about going, but he had made the commitment, so he went. I was scheduled to teach …

I have been working with writers for a long time now, helping them get motivated to write, helping them determine what to write about, helping them build a sustainable writing practice, helping them fall in love with language, helping them know they already have a voice and that their voice …

I LEARNED HOW TO WEAVE! And yes, the right teacher makes all the difference. I traveled to Clover, SC, to study with “The Barefoot Weaver,” Sue Helmken, for two days last week. And I was able to make this sampler of different weave structures while there. IT WAS LIKE MAGIC. …

As you read this, I am in the second day of a two-day intensive workshop in South Carolina intended to introduce me to weaving in a way I can understand, unlike the last weaving class I took, which made my head explode right off. Please light candles for the math …

Learning new things is humbling. It requires that we say (to ourselves or others), “I don’t know.” And that is hard for many of us. Or we find ourselves taking classes to learn things we already know in some kind of self-validation. Today in knitting class, I caused much consternation …

This week, Feliks and I reunited with our beloved knitting teacher, Miss Roberta, for a new class about knitting socks on two circular needles. Need I say I am flailing in the deep end? And that the little bit in the photo above took me HOURS because I had to …

I just did an interesting exercise you might want to explore. (This process was mentioned by someone on Medium in the last few weeks, and when I find the article again, I will link to their Medium page.) First, I listed 10 goals I have. They ranged from “write a novel” …

painting by C. David Gammel In early January, I made a pledge to buy nothing other than food, medical needs for pets and humans, gifts for others, educational experiences, and toiletries when they ran out. No shoes, clothes, accessories, magazines, books, notebooks, cards, stationery, household items, or electronics. Those were …

I have started writing my novel in earnest. The title so far is “Novel.” That’s the name of the file I am writing it in on my laptop. Simple. This is big news for a non-fiction writer, and after 8 books, I am excited by the freedom of fiction to …