I started 2023 with some major existential crisis.

In January, following the umpteenth layoff in tech, I set up an cross stitch pattern shop in an attempt to get an alternative source of income, which as of now has yield a total revenue of zero (or less), but I sold 5 patterns and I’m very proud of it.

In February, I attended an open day for an university art certificate that gave me the hope I could eventually get a formal education in art. And that freaked me out because my goal was somehow to get into a PhD in machine learning.

In summer, I signed up to a course in drawing, and did two terms. By the end of summer, already convinced I hadn’t been accepted, I got a call telling me I got an offer two weeks before the start of the academic term. This induced an another major crisis since I had already planned holidays, and just life in general without having class two evenings a week. Eventually, I accepted the offer before starting an intense overthinking phase. And since the first class, I felt so under par in comparison to everyone else. I then realised that everyone felt exactly the same 😅

And for the first time in almost 14 years, I had times in which I wished to be back in Italy. It’s been a constant this year: my parents being here; my brother looking for an house and sharing ads for much cheaper and better places; the Dublin riots (which will be remembered in future as the ASICS riot); a general malaise surrounding my 9to5 job; a leaky radiator; the list goes on…

Finally, December came, and since I am no fan of the holiday period, all the major existential crisis just buddied up and my mental health took a dive – nothing new there, the black dog comes and goes.

Amidst all this, I’ve managed to be quite active in the crafting department, bordering the obsessive, but then again that’s me when my mental health goes down the drain.

Here’s a few projects I made, some finished, some still ongoing:

• Bedroom and office makeover: still ongoing as I’m still missing a few furniture bits, but my haul from the Ikea trip never made it home, so I now reordered.
• Curtains for the office and bathroom: post coming relately soon.
• Some test cross-stitch for my Etsy shop.
• A knitted cardigan and a crochetted blanket.
• A few tops for the festival that never happened, and a bikini.

Here’s a small gallery of some 2023 finish:

My plans for 2024:

• Granny square hexi cardigan: started this in December, and fresh off the hook.
• Made to measure cable sweater: I just realized I don’t need a pattern to make a sweater, I just need tecniques. That’s how my mamma and nonna knitted.
• More curtains and a cushion headboard.
• Tree of life cross-stitch in mauve/pink shades to hang in my bedroom.
• Mauve/pink blanket for my bed.
• Guest room makeover.

My current obsession is mauve/pink. After decades of being a black is the only color gal, am I getting old?