Wednesday, September 16, 2009

The Crafty Urban Homestead



The weather has changed. The run on September sun ended the other day. The temperature regularly dips into the single digits at night and I've taken to throwing a light scarf around my neck for my bike to work in the morning. My tires crunch through yellowed leaves on the street.

There is still harvesting and work to be done in the garden and soon I will go wildcrafting for medicinal roots, but the hectic, almost frantic days of bolting home from work, to the garden and working hard outside until sunset are waning. I can feel the rhythm of my days and the nature of my homestead work changing with the season and I welcome it with a deep sigh of contentment. Ah fall. Time...to...slow...down.

I love this season and one sure sign of its arrival for me, is the urge to make myself comfortable on the couch, pick up a hook and some yarn, and crochet the lengthening evenings away.

For the last two night that's exactly what I've done, and it was pure bliss.

I started with a fun and easy project that I've made before and really enjoy. I've saved some mesh onion bags and by crocheting handles onto them, I can reuse them as produce bags, avoiding the need for disposable plastic. I can finish one in a few hours so it gives me a nice sense of accomplishment. (You can see the purple one I completed the first night, in the photo, holding potatoes for demonstration. Yep, these bags are sturdy.)

I like that I'm repurposing something that most people throw away and I'm also using scrap, thrifted yarn, reducing waste in the creation and the use of the bags. Awesome. Plus, (I like to think) they make nice gifts. (Oh and I really got a kick out of the fact that I actually had matching yarn for the purple and orange bags!)

I made a few of these last winter and posted a step by step tutorial on the blog. You can find it here.

Does the rhythm of your days change with the seasons? What are your favourite fall activities?

3 comments:

Tony R. said...

Fall has always been my favorite time of year...for me it is a time to play and enjoy people. Fall is a time to put down the shovel and pickup the wine!

We are putting sod down this weekend and then my summer chores are finished for another year!

Amber said...

Hey Tony! Good point about socialising. I've been so busy with the garden, harvesting, preserving etc, that I haven't had much chance to get together with folks. I should definitely do so in the fall, before I start hibernating for the winter!

Good luck with your sod project!

Pearlie Mcilvaine said...


Me too! I’ve been saving my mesh onion bags for my next project. Last time, I made a big ribbon out of it to finish the packaging of my birthday gift for my sister. My sister loved it. She said it was very simple and yet very lovely. =)