A new beginning

I’m not a writer, so I never want to be quoted on anything I say in these blog posts. After leaving uni in 2024, I found that it’s not very often you get to speak in depth about a project or the ideas you have. For the last god knows how long, I’ve had to comb over every inch of my work, describing it, explaining it, presenting it - and now I don’t. But I miss that feeling of having a vision and talking about it. I miss thinking about how the context of life affects our art, and how that art is shaped by that context.

So, here we are. I’ve always struggled to find an outlet to talk about my creative projects and the silly little ideas that get stuck in my head. Also, sometimes (what a shocker) I can be a tad hard on myself. I’ll say, “Oh, I haven’t done anything this year,” and that’s not quite true. I have, I’ve just forgotten what. So this blog is a place where I can document and grow as a creative, but also maybe help you do the same. I could yap for hours about knitting, illustration, and DIY projects, but I don’t always get to do that. Instagram makes me feel like I have a screwdriver and a nail and now I have to cure cancer, and I’m thinking… I don’t think this is how it works? So instead, I’m just going to post here once a month and show you what I’m working on. Just creative chat, no pressure.

To start last year, I wrote a letter to myself to be opened a year later (January 2026). I ended up opening it way later than when I was intended (7th of January) because I was genuinely scared of whatever deep, dark confessions I’d written a year ago.

When I started reading it, all that fear kind of dissipated. I realised how nice it was to hear from a version of myself who was desperately trying to get to where I am now. (I know I said don’t quote me, but I will be quoting myself now.) “Maybe I’m trying to time travel, reaching out to a future I’m unsure of.” Reading that made me realise this is how the average person time travels. You have to go through the motions and feel it, because eventually you’re reading a letter from 24-year-old you and you can say: yes, 24-year-old me, I do feel peace and happiness reading this. I thought I hadn’t done a lot with my life that year, but reading that letter gave me peace. I’d grown in ways I couldn’t have seen without that letter. I was no longer in despair about life - I was excited and curious.

It’s funny, because when I read the letter I mention wanting to get into all these different creative projects… and I didn’t do a single one of them. However, I did learn how to knit. (Not mentioned even once in my letter.) If knitting was therapy, I would say I owe it my life. It stopped me from overthinking, doom-scrolling, and sitting on my phone for hours. I spent a year learning how to do one thing, and now I’m genuinely very good at it. I can read a pattern no problem. I can make pretty much anything. That’s one of the most beautiful things about learning a creative skill, there is no shortcut. You have to learn for yourself, put the work in, and make mistakes. Now, when I make something, I can see it as an amalgamation of everything I’ve ever made before.

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to knit a jumper. I’ve kind of started it, but it’s definitely something I’ll be working on over the next few months, so there will probably be an update about that every month. A couple of projects I’ve finished recently are some fingerless gloves one of my favourite things to knit. It’s quite simple but Also I loved learning how to make a thumb gusset, I remember thinking there is no way i’m going to be able to do that but it was actually very simple once i understood the mechanics of it.

I also learned how to do a stretchy bind-off last month, and it has changed pretty much every project I’ve started since. I made my first hood by combining a few patterns into a Frankenstein-style creation. The one thing that really irks me about it is that I didn’t use a stretchy bind-off, so every time I put it on or take it off I feel like I’m being reborn. But it’s a learning curve for me! 

Right now, I’m slowly trudging along with two projects at once, swapping between them so I don’t get bored and abandon them completely. One is the ‘Sophie Scarf’ in the prettiest yarn ever - it’s literally called Mermaid Glow, which is obviously why I bought it. I’m nearly finished, and by my next blog it will definitely be done. The pattern itself is very simple, but sometimes it’s nice to have a project that doesn’t require too much brain power. I’m also working on another hood. I’ve just finished the scarf section at the bottom, and I’m obsessed with the yarn. I have so many knitting projects in mind and can’t wait to have an entirely knitted wardrobe by the end of the year.

Another thing, I really want to make my living room feel nicer and give it a bit of a revamp. I’m 25 now, and there’s something about me that yearns to always be slightly old lady coded in whatever I do. It’s definitely going to be a work in progress because I have absolutely no time, but slowly and surely we’ll get there. My main method of revamping is going to charity shops and buying wooden frames, then giving them a bit of creative flair — some stripes, some flowers, and there we go. I just want things to feel more put together and more like home. I don’t want to live in a place that feels like uni accommodation anymore. I want to decorate and actually feel at home.

I also feel like I need to mention the scariest part of my year so far. I needed to buy a card the other day, and I’ve been told I’m not very good at getting cards BUT I’m always up for the challenge. I was walking down the aisles, slowly booping along to the retail crack music, when I reached the card section. When I tell you I gasped at the slop before me, it feels like an understatement. The entire section was AI slop. Every single card was AI-generated. Dogs holding hands in suits. Giraffes holding birthday cakes. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at.  It felt like when the main character in a horror film finds the serial killer’s hideout and there are pictures of her everywhere.

I was thinking, who is buying this crap? But I know people do. The cards I’ve always kept are the beautiful, textured, illustrated ones. If you get an AI-generated card, there’s no way it survives once the balloons come down and the cake is gone.

Even when I was making my website, I was encouraged to use AI, “fill in the prompt to generate your perfect website!”. I’m sick of hearing about this idea of “perfect” that AI keeps trying to sell. Being imperfect, making mistakes, and learning from them is literally the foundation of being a creative person. As Bob Ross said “We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents”. That said, there is a very, very small way I’m almost grateful for AI art. Because when I see things people have made with passion, life, and context, it makes them even more beautiful. It feels unmistakably human. So thank you, I guess AI, for reminding me how much real creativity matters.

January feels like the month where I really decided to lock in and focus on what I need to do to build myself up as an illustrator. I drew for fun again, something I haven’t done in a long time  and I want to do more mock briefs to add to my portfolio. It’s fun and challenging. Next month, I want to get some more projects done. I’ve also been trying to piece together a book idea I’ve had forever, but I think that’s something I’ll slowly build up throughout the year. And thanks to my number one task this month of making a website, I can now blog every month about what I’m up to creatively. I can show you my silly ideas from the very first kernel right through to the final polished outcome.

See you in a month,

Niamh