Slow October

Joining in at Fringe Association for Slow Fashion October.  I'm thinking about need versus want right now, as we head into holiday season.  I'm trying to scale down what I buy and what I wish for so that I focus more on enjoying what I have instead of longing for what I don't have.  This is not a huge mind-set change, more of a honing in more mindfully on what I've always been thinking but have not always been living.

I usually knit holiday gifts, but this year most people will get a handmade gift as the main thing rather than an 'add-on' to other gifts.  So far I've knit some hats (some started in the summer), both from Babycocktails Tiki collection:

I've also knit a baby gift for a colleague instead of donating money to a group gift - very cute Tin Can Knits pattern, Gramps:

I've started a cowl for a friend's birthday that needs to be done by the 9th (so not so slow after all!):

I don't sew (used to but it wasn't for me, mostly because I don't have a space to keep things out until they are done, and packing away everything/unpacking again the next day was tedious), but I do cook.  We usually go out for dinner when we have a sitter or when kids go to grandparents', but this time we stayed in.  I bought a book for inspiration (author's blog isNot Without Salt) and made three dishes from two menus.

Dinner at home, at our pace, for a fraction of the cost at a restaurant seems to fit with the theme for me.  Spend less, enjoy more.  For me, that's the driving thought behind my Slow(er) October.