The Alchemist Diaries

ABOUT

Welcome to my cozy blog. My name is Christie, and I journal about cozy fiber crafts and art inspired by folk traditions, nature, and the whimsical.

Alchemy is a word that stays with me because it has evolved to also mean (according to American-Webster): a power or process that changes or transforms something in a mysterious or impressive way.

This philosophy can apply to anything in the art of crafts. How many times have we watched a family member transform meager vegetables and meat scraps into the most spectacular stew? Or watch a grandmother crochet her heart out to create the most impressive blanket? Perhaps you have seen a blacksmith mold scarlet iron into a spoon or knife. Perchance you witnessed glass being blown into the form of a wine bottle.

In my experience, I’ve seen all of these occur, inspiring me to be highly appreciative of the work, expertise, and care that is put into anything humans create.

Transformation—Alchemy—is incredible, especially when fulfilled through our own two hands. I cherish the skills of crafters and artists everywhere who have maintained humanity through their crafts. Our skills as humans are invaluable, despite what technology and artificial intelligence might say. Sure tech can perform better in the short term. However when technology malfunctions, it is human minds and hands that take up the slack.

LATEST STORIES

  • The Year of the Snake

    The Year of the Snake

    “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” ― Confucius Share what you know about the year you were born. When I was in elementary school, I had a classmate who was…

  • Daily Art Musings: Judging Fashion in a Different Way

    Daily Art Musings: Judging Fashion in a Different Way

    “I’m not pretty, and I’ll never be pretty, but it doesn’t matter. I have something much better. I have style.” ― Iris Apfel Let’s ramble a bit about judgement… Have you ever wondered about…

  • Happy Yule: A Recipe for Happiness

    Happy Yule: A Recipe for Happiness

    “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” ― Mahatma Gandhi Today is the Winter Solstice, and last night we experienced the New Moon. An extra…

  • The Art of Patience: The Three-Year Sweater

    The Art of Patience: The Three-Year Sweater

    “Goals are like apples in a tree. Some are a little higher than others, so you just have to jump higher.” ― Morten Andersen If there is one thing people have said to me…

  • Daily Art Musings: A First Time for Starting Over; The Necessary Evil of Frogging

    Daily Art Musings: A First Time for Starting Over; The Necessary Evil of Frogging

    “You can’t be afraid to burn everything down and start from scratch. Because the only direction you will go from there, is up. New opportunities will have no choice but to eventually open up…

  • Daily Art Musings: Forest Walks and Local Colors

    Daily Art Musings: Forest Walks and Local Colors

    “entering the woods a hiking stick selects me to carry it” ― Cor van den Heuvel, Modern Haiku 44:1, Winter–Spring 2013 There was a time when I was incredibly active: soccer, track, gymnastics, martial arts, weight…

  • Daily Art Musings: Admiring Folk Art

    Daily Art Musings: Admiring Folk Art

    “He stepped down, avoiding any long look at her as one avoids long looks at the sun, but seeing her as one sees the sun, without looking.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina It occurred to…

  • Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice: A Recipe for Pumpkin White Hot Chocolate

    Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice: A Recipe for Pumpkin White Hot Chocolate

    “I don’t see how a pumpkin patch could be more sincere than this one.” ― It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown I thought I should share yet more pumpkin spice this season. I am…

  • Yarn Weights for Regular People

    Yarn Weights for Regular People

    “There’s great value to knitting or digging up your garden or chopping up vegetables for soup, because you’re taking some time away from turning the pages, answering your emails, talking to people on the…

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The World Inside My Mind