If you're like me + find yourself increasingly allergic to all the alpaca found in so many sweaters these days...this brand might peak your interest. If you simply like beautiful cozy layers...these beauties will likely be of interest to you too!  :) 

Merrow knits are designed + made in Fall River, Massachusetts. Many (most?) of their knits are made from 100% natural materials like cotton + linen. Most knits are now made overseas, so this feels like a pretty amazing find...perfect for these cooler days!

Find this + so many other fair brands on our ethical brands page, when you need them. More fair sweaters here.

May you harvest the light 
+ keep it burning brightly in your heart,
so that when the deepest darkness of winter is upon us,
you will remember the summer sun.
​~Teo Bishop

The interwebs I swim in love La Réunion, and I couldn't be happier that Sarah Nsikak's pieces are being so widely embraced. Sarah's pieces are made (in New York) exclusively with vintage + waste textiles. Some vintage pieces wear their patches proudly, while others are made completely out of pieced together fabric scraps.

Those of us who have experience thrifting, mending, quilting, or crafting our own clothing understand the price point of these pieces. The higher price point brings awareness to the time + attention that goes into each piece. Price can also suggest the value an item should have once in a wardrobe. 

Of course, we can choose to find inspiration in Sarah's pieces + put our own time + attention into our own patchy pieces. I find encouragement in the all the La Rèunion love, because I feel that my patches may be seen in a different light due in part to this brand's influence.

Patches may have signaled poverty + lack in the past, but many of us are now seeing them as emblems of care + reverence. I feel a sort of full-bodied, visceral connection with humanity when I see these pieces. To be human is to struggle + toil + imagine + create. It is both fiercely difficult + gloriously beautiful. Somehow I see all of that reflected here.

Dress photo via La Réunion. All other photos via Vestige.

Love,
​Jane

Today is the day we've been waiting for. The window has arrived, so the work can begin on our kitchen. In preparation, I've removed everything from our kitchen, dining space + living room...and moved it elsewhere in the house. A makeshift kitchen has been set up in a corner of a bedroom.

I have been eagerly anticipating getting to see all of our kitchen items in one place. It is not often that we get to see everything housed in the cabinets + drawers out in the open. 

I've moved enough times to have seen the spectacle of boxes piled high + marked "kitchen" waiting to find new places to belong in a new space. I've also seen tiny kitchens with (apparently) adequate space to house a family's kitchen items.

Less feels like freedom to me, so I love to experience + know that not much is needed to eat beautiful, nourishing meals. We experience this on some level when we camp, but living out of the trunk of our car offers less than ideal circumstances. I would love for the kitchen we end up with to prove a bit more ideal.  :)

This little corner is pretty reassuring. It holds everything that will need a place in our kitchen (not including the fridge, stove + seating). 

Alright, commence new adventure!

Love,
Jane

I've worked my last day at one job + begin a new one this week. Thinking through how I'm going to show up in a new way is part of these types of transitions...whether we are beginning a new school, a new activity or a new season. 

When thinking through what clothing I will need in a new situation, it's very easy to get caught up in feeling that I don't have what I need or that I don't have enough. It's true that I may need to add pieces to my wardrobe. It's likely, however, that I have enough to see me through the first few days without adding anything just yet.

One exercise that has been very helpful to me whether I'm starting a new job, beginning to attend yoga classes or moving to a new climate is trying to think of just one good outfit to wear in that situation. (Notice that I didn't say perfect. That's too much pressure.)

At first, I may think of dreamy pieces I've always imagined wearing or pieces in new collections of brands that epitomize this type of work, activity or locale in my mind. It's fun + exciting to imagine my days, feelings + interactions wearing these lovely pieces. I might try some things on...try mixing them with pieces already in my closet...layer them up...move in ways that are to come.

More often than not, I come back to the pieces I know that I love...my personal basics. Since I've chosen them with my daily life in mind (every day, season, activity + occasion), there are usually some pieces that will serve this new situation.

At this point, I may not be able to comprehend what I will wear every single day in my new situation. I may not feel confident knowing how much will be enough. But I am coming closer to thinking of one outfit that seems appropriate, comfortable and "me" enough to work on one single day in that new situation. That feels like a good start. I have found some direction. 

In my last job (coffee roaster in a café), I wore an apron, got sweaty + served customers. My one good outfit was a fitted short-sleeved tee (my preference under an apron for proportions + staying put...short-sleeves don't get in the way) + slim darker jeans (don't get caught on machinery + don't show stains) + comfy trainers. 

This week (thinking about my newest endeavor), my one good outfit might be a pair of black jeans (they can skew a little bit dressier than blue jeans + won't show stains, if any are involved) + my chambray shirt (dressier than a tee...sleeves can be rolled up above the elbows, if it's very warm + kept longer, if it's cooler) + leather tennies (comfy for being on my feet for hours, yet more polished than trainers). 

​It's a start.

Love,
Jane

P.S. Just for fun...speaking of one great outfit...his.  :)

it's ok to live a life others don't understand

Cozy, well-worn comfort...that's what I'm attracted to these days as temperatures promise to cool a bit. A few of the things that have been speaking to me especially loudly lately:

• this deep, dark navy slip that I'm imagine topping with a big, black cashmere sweater 
• perfectly soft, worn-in loafers worn with almost anything 
• a rumpled pajama top worn with soft, pale jeans
• one of Michelle Blade's beautifully hand painted dishes filled with late summer fruit 
• Sylvan Esso's new album on repeat

All lovely photos via links.

Love, 
Jane

The opportunities to organize a couple of work spaces presented themselves over the past few months. The transformations have blown me away both times. It is quite simple to lay eyes on every single thing in a space one by one...to make quick decisions about usefulness + belonging...and to move things item by item into place or out of the space. It takes time, but it is not difficult. We come across empty boxes, broken pieces, and trash just taking up space. Things get moved to where they are used. Things get donated + discarded. Boxes get broken down + moved to the recycling. Dust + dirt get swept + wiped away. Boxes get labeled + moved to logical places. 

When we step back + take it in, it can be shocking to see how little is left. I think the feeling some get from such a reveal is fear that everything they need...their security blanket of enveloping stuff...has been stripped away. I feel like the stifling brain drain has been cleared away...opening space for creativity, collaboration + possibility to flourish. I exclaim that it is liberating to see how little is needed to do what we do well!

I am currently moving everything out of our kitchen so that some work can be done. We will be living + eating in a different space in our home as this work is done, so I'm thinking through how we can do those things as comfortably as possible. At the same time, I'm thinking through what we truly need in our kitchen when we put it back together + trying to get things moving in that direction now.

Like those work spaces, our kitchen needs to function. It functions as a place to create simple, nourishing meals made from whole foods. It is a space where we can gather + laugh + love + grow. If there is space for these, then we have everything we need.

Love,
Jane

Tintorería is the type of project that can only result from an intersection of grand imaginings, artistry + collaboration. Maria Romero is an artist who has a dye kitchen in her studio modeled after "earlier dye houses, where people would drop off their garments to be re-colored".

Food waste is gathered from local New York restaurants + community gardens to become the dye material. Maria has designed a few basic pieces that are made in New York from natural fibers to take her dyes. She has also collaborated with the New Denim Project to dye some pieces made closer to them in Guatemala City. Gosh, I love a project where zero-waste + fair fashion come together!

Our washing machine is out of commission again. I'm washing things by hand + taking advantage of the dry heat to dry our dripping clothing outside. I'm only two days in, but I'm choosing to enjoy the laundry in its altered state for the time being. This task comes with a little space to think + here are a few of the thoughts that have surfaced:

• keeping up with this task is more important than ever + having less clothing to begin with prompts washing more regularly which keeps the pile (+ the task) from getting to large + overwhelming
• choose to wear clothing that will serve me through all the tasks of the day + night, since I'd like to wash as little as possible
• what can I wear more than once even on these hot days?
• the merits of certain fabrics: linen can be shaken out + worn again..it dries faster too
• seeing how much water it takes...how many times can I reuse this water? 
• the electricity used as opposed to time spent with my thoughts
• each person can do their own laundry (+ connect with all of the above too)  :) (I usually combine everyone's clothing, because it helps me have full loads often enough.)

We considered just purchasing a new washing machine (since we've already had to have this one fixed three times in ten years), but we're going to try to have it fixed again before giving up the ghost. Our space is not big enough for any conventional washer now available(!), so concessions will have to be made when we do purchase a new machine. We will have to go with one of three options:

• a more expensive, European machine
• a smaller capacity stackable set
• doing away the dryer 

We only use the dryer for towels + sheets, and we now have towels that might hang dry well enough. We only have one set of sheets for each bed, so they do need to dry in between sleeps. If it's only sheets that require a dryer, maybe going without a dryer is more of an option now than ever. The house I grew up in had clotheslines strung back and forth across an entire room in the basement...hmm...

I appreciate having a mindset that allows me to feel that there are options, when confronted with decisions like these. I appreciate feeling that there is space to learn from not having things I have come to see as "necessary". It's nice to be reminded that I don't need to wait to experiment either. I can experiment without waiting until something breaks. I could experiment with not using the car for a weekend...not using instagram for a month...or not complaining for a day. These limitations can actually expand possibility... weird isn't it?  :)

Love,
Jane