27 Comments
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Amy Solovay's avatar

Hi Cori! I'm Amy. Nice to "meet" you. Your hat is stunning!

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Cori Bren's avatar

So nice to meet you too. Thank you. My friend Angela from Valley Purl made the hat. I’ve bought 4 of her hats because the colors and work and yarn (from Ireland) are beautiful. I don’t hand knit because I’ve moved onto manual looms and now use an Addi knitting machine and I crochet a lot. If you are interested in such craftsmanship I just published part 2 of a design-along series in which I am creating my first pattern from scratch to possibly sell. It’s an art blanket I literally dreamt of. Have a wonderful day!

Part 1 - https://coribren.substack.com/p/is-your-brain-abby-normal?r=2umm6v

Part 2 - https://coribren.substack.com/p/beguiled?r=2umm6v

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Amy Solovay's avatar

Thanks for the info about your hat! Angela is super talented!

And, I'm (mostly) with you on the hand knitting.

After I learned to machine knit, hand knitting seems far less exciting to me...except that space constraints made it impossible for me to keep my knitting machines.

In 2009, my husband and I moved aboard a sailboat, and then we went cruising. So before we set sail, we sold / donated / gave away pretty much everything we owned that didn't fit aboard the sailboat. It was bye bye knitting machines, and I never replaced them (because space constraints, still).

So I still hand some projects that lend themselves better to knitting than crochet, but I'm not gonna lie, I miss the knitting machines.

Looms are intriguing to me, but I'm still really new at those.

And, crochet is my first love. I'd rather mess around with crochet than anything else!

Thanks for sharing the links to your art blanket! I'll check it out momentarily.

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Cori Bren's avatar

Thank you for taking a look. You’ve done a lot of interesting things. Disclaimer alert - unsolicited advice incoming - you should write about your cruising too

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Amy Solovay's avatar

Thanks for the suggestion, Cori! I appreciate it.

I've spent some time documenting our sailing adventures in scrapbooks. That's a never-ending project that could take the rest of my life, if I let it. Maybe I'll occasionally share pics of some of those pages here at my Substack, too.

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Jonboy's avatar

The unbearable lightness of being

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Donna McArthur's avatar

Cori, your vulnerability in posting your photo (I can SO relate) gives the rest of us permission to own our weak spots as well. I love that you said you're happy and many folks in your life would say the same...but there's the others who might think you've gone off the deep end! I'd say this puts you in a great position😀 Thanks for the lovely welcome.

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Cori Bren's avatar

I appreciate your kind words more than I can say. Thank you.

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Cori Bren's avatar

Thank you kindly Charlotte! Hopefully we can all have coffee in person some day.

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Charlotte Pendragon's avatar

@Cori Bren ,It’s nice to meet the lovely face and person behind the beautiful inspiring words.✨💖💜

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Lacey Bryan's avatar

I love that last sentence. Very important reminder for everyone, but especially those of us raising the next could generations.

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Cori Bren's avatar

Thanks Lace!

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Danielle ⛈️'s avatar

Love it! Writing is my jam, too, but so are a few other things. I am very nearly 54 and I also have two boys. So glad we connected. XO

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Cori Bren's avatar

Uncanny I’m 59 also a cat herder IRL job and have two growing up young adult sons

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Danielle ⛈️'s avatar

I work with elementary kids with special needs, am working on getting my teaching cert and masters in special education, and my boys are 14 and 19. XO

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Charles Huckabee's avatar

Thanks for sharing…

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Ken Macko's avatar

Nice to meet you too. It’s a pleasure to see the face behind the buzz 🐝

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Cori Bren's avatar

Thank you Ken

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Ken Macko's avatar

You are very welcome.

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Michael Newberry's avatar

Hi Cori, glad you did the intro, it gives a wonderful layer of authenticity.

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Cori Bren's avatar

Thank you I appreciate that feedback. I love your work.

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Charlotte Pendragon's avatar

Congratulations Cori, it's nice to be introduced to the beautiful face behind the incredible, heartfelt and encouraging articles. I’m so happy we are sharing our Substack journey together. I admire your bravery revealing something very private. Thank you for allowing a glimpse at that part of you. ✨🤗💜

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Cori Bren's avatar

Thank you Charlotte. Warm welcomes like yours in the SubStack community are what led me to come out from behind my logo. 🫣

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Charlotte Pendragon's avatar

I’m so happy for you! You look at lot a room mate I had in college. She’s a lovely lady 💞

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Cori Bren's avatar

Glad you remember that cause my 59 year old memory is shit! Lol. You needed the pep talk…

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John R Weaver's avatar

You made me believe in myself when you were my manager 10 years ago. I remember your words, “You belong at this table with the rest of the managers so act like it”. And you said it with compassion. Thank You!

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Cori Bren's avatar

Glad you remember that cause my 59 year old memory is shit! Lol. You needed the pep talk…

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