About

I am Mara E. West, packrat extraordinaire.  I love to knit, crochet, bead, cook, bake, read books and write.  I also dabble in cross-stitch, redesigning clothes, scrapbooking, drawing and painting.

Over my 31 years I have amassed a large collection of yarn and beading supplies. Even when I’ve got several projects on needles, the yarn supply just seems to grow.  This is largely in part due to my lovely mother who often gifts me yarn she’s decided she won’t get around to using, but also my inability to walk away from a good sale or a beautiful skein of yarn.

I’m here to document and share the results of my efforts to keep my stock to a more manageable size so that I won’t forget why I bought that yarn or those beads.  And hopefully I’ll even make a design or two of my own to share.

I grew up in the wilds of Alaska, or more accurately I grew up mostly in a tourist town, but tramped around with my friends in the dirt, mud and forests that surrounded our homes and neighborhoods. After a few slow progressions down through the continental US, I’ve found myself in Texas.  I have spent portions of my life in Oregon, New Mexico and Colorado.

My childhood seemed to consist of almost daily trips to the local public library (though it was probably more like weekly), playing in ditches, creating snow forts (in the winter), learning how to crochet, attempting to knit, creating beaded earrings, and hiding in my blanket fort reading books till I fell asleep.

Now I spend my days sitting in front of a computer listening to audiobooks while I work, running around town playing Ingress, a weekly D&D session, playing boardgames at least once a week with friends and squeezing in craft projects when I can.