nico

Took a free mending workshop tonight taught by @emilymakesthingseveryday at @mcfarlandlibrary ! Now I finally know how to repair everything in my giant mending pile. Libraries are amazing and so are artsy friends!

I’m in the middle of an 8-week workshop on Yoga & Creativity taught by @atha_yoga_ca through @yogawellinstitute . The course has been so inspiring so far. Although I have lots of “creative” hobbies, I don’t often consider myself to be creative because most of what I do is precise, detailed, planned, and about execution. I don’t really play, I’m not very spontaneous, and I really struggle to stick with things that I’m not immediately good at. For these reasons, drawing and painting has always felt really high-pressure and disappointing for me. I’m not experienced with them and don’t really know the fundamentals, I expect too much of the result, and I don’t end up having much fun during the process. But I’ve been feeling so inspired from the Yoga & Creativity course that I’ve been playing in Procreate the last few days and it’s been really fun! I did follow tutorials for these, because I enjoy learning all the art fundamentals I’ve never learned (like I literally could not have told you how shadows and highlights work without learning in the tutorials). But I didn’t hold myself to any perfectionistic expectations for the results, and did these pretty quickly, focusing most on a sense of play and exploration. The process felt so good, and I’m so proud of what I made and learned. More to come! The last thing I’ll say is that beginning to study the yoga sutras and really look at them through the lens of my daily life has been such a gift. It is so interesting to see how things unfold through this lens.

I have a very exciting announcement… I will be teaching at @sukha_somatics beginning in July! This little studio is very special to me, as it’s the first studio that finally felt like HOME after moving from Austin to Madison. I am currently teaching one weekly class—“gentle embodied hatha”— on Fridays at 5:30pm. Come through to shake off the week and transition into the weekend! First class is July 7th! #MadisonYoga

🍓 First strawberry harvest! 🍓

Hello everyone! I missed the last few days of Me Made May because I’ve been in my final full weekend of yoga teacher training! I aced today’s exam, I turned in all of my class observations, and now all that’s left is to teach my practicum class in a few weeks, and then I’m officially a certified yoga teacher! I wore one of my many Axis Tanks today, as well as the other days of training. #MeMadeMay #MeMadeMay2023 #MeMadeMayPlus #MeMadeMayFat #MeMadeMayPlus2023 #MeMadeMayFat2023

For day 4 of MMM, I’m wearing another one of my go-to outfit combos—an Axis Tank and a cropped Penny Raglan made in the same bamboo knit. Remember those matching cardigan & tank top combos from like the 90s? It’s like that, except designed for never having to wear a real bra and maximizing drapey comforting goodness while still looking somewhat cute in what’s really just a t-shirt & jeans. #MeMadeMay #MeMadeMay2023 #MeMadeMayPlus #MeMadeMayFat #MeMadeMayPlus2023 #MeMadeMayFat2023 #SHinesAxisTank #GrainlinePenny #GrainlinePennyRaglan #GrainlinePennyPlus

Day 3 of MMM. I honestly didn’t get dressed until around 3pm because I’m having a weird EDS flare day, but I pulled it together to go out to dinner for my partner’s birthday. Wearing some RTW Levi’s and a Deer & Doe Melilot that I hacked into a cropped tie-front. My belly is now full of chicken liver mousse, chicken schnitzel, baked potato, and raspberry pavlova, and I’m ready to crawl into bed early to read. #MeMadeMay #MeMadeMay2023 #MeMadeMayPlus #MeMadeMayFat #MeMadeMayPlus2023 #MeMadeMayFat2023 #DDMelilot #DDMelilotPlus

It’s day 2 of MMM and today I’m wearing what has pretty much been my outfit formula since February when the Closet Crew Marigold came out. I’ve made five of these so far because they’re so cute and cozy. I love wearing them for working from home, and these are also my ideal tops for going to yoga or pilates classes when it’s a little chilly! I love how you can move around in them, but they stay in place nicely because of the bottom band and the sleeve bands. This one is probably my favorite because the fabric is just really fun (thanks @blackbirdfabrics !). I am wearing an Axis tank underneath. The leggings are RTW from @free.label . #MeMadeMay #MeMadeMay2023 #MeMadeMayPlus #MeMadeMayFat #ClosetCoreMarigold #ClosetCoreMarigoldPlus

It’s Me Made May and I’m coming to you live to let you know you do NOT need to wear a bra everyday! Today I’m wearing a Zadie (sans bra), plus an Unfolding Jacket for an extra layer. A bit about me! My name is Nico, and I moved from Austin, TX to Madison, WI in July of last year. I am ridiculously grateful to have real seasons now! If you look at my past years of MMM, I’m usually trying to wear as few clothes as I can get away with because I’m always hot. But now I can actually wear layers! I’m in a weird style place currently, in part because of my move and not having a full wardrobe for the different seasons, but also because I work from home permanently, and comfort is sooo important to me now. I’m still trying to find a good balance between wearing clothes I love aesthetically and that meet all my comfort needs. I’m also finding lately that I’m not gravitating towards dresses or purely “feminine” outfits, and am preferring separates and outfits with a mix of “feminine” elements and sportier, workwear, or more “masculine” elements. I also haven’t sewn very much since we moved because I still don’t have my sewing room finished yet. Most of my free-time lately has been taken up by yoga teacher training, which I will graduate from next month! Other stuff I love in my free-time: reading, knitting, cooking, baking, Pilates, drawing in Procreate, and watching genre film. #MeMadeMay #MeMadeMay2023 #MeMadeMayPlus #MeMadeMayFat #ZadieJumpsuit #ZadieJumpsuitPlus #UnfoldingJacket #UnfoldingJacketPlus

Finished my February @thefarmersdaughterfibers sock club socks on Monday, but I’m posting a bit late. This isn’t ordinarily a colorway I would choose, but I think it made for a nice pair of socks. I had a hard time picking the contrast color. Originally I tried what came in the sock club, but it wasn’t enough contrast for these socks, so I switched to this dirty-baby-blue-grey yarn, and think it made for an interesting pairing. Pattern for all my 2023 socks will be the Totally Rad Socks from Summer Lee Knits. Can’t wait to start on my March socks! #fdfsocksquad_2023 #totallyradsocks

I finished my January sock club socks just in time! The January chicory set from @thefarmersdaughterfibers made for one of my favorite socks to date. The colors are stunning! I used one of my favorite sock patterns, the Totally Rad Socks from @summer.lee.knits . I actually plan to make this same pattern for each month of this year’s sock club! #sockknittersofinstagram #knittersofmadison #fdfsocksquad_2023

I think this wins for favorite thing I’ve knit so far! This is the “Vintage 83” tee from @dreareneeknits in the exact same yarns/colors as one of her samples. Despite knitting for like 8 years now, this was the first time I ever actually swatched, and I discovered that I’m apparently a very loose knitter! I used needles 2 sizes down from the recommended in order to get gauge, and whaddaya know, this sweater actually fits me as intended instead of being too big. The yoke is knit with two color brioche using silk mohair. It feels amazing! I honestly do not know why brioche has a reputation for being scary, because it’s really simple IMO. And the results are so SQUISH! I haven’t actually blocked this yet, although I plan to do that this weekend. I just couldn’t wait to wear it! I would love to make another of these because it’s so cute. What colors do you think I should do?? #vintage83crop #vintage83 #knittersofinstagram #madisonknits #styledseated #fatknittersofinstagram #plussizeknitting #fatknitting #knittersofmadison #vintage83cropplus