This design comes from a photograph I took during my PhD years, when I was deep in dissertation research and spending long days in the lab surrounded by specimen after specimen, samples, notes, and the kind of mental intensity that can make the whole world feel very small and isolated. After an extremely long day in the lab, I met a dear friend and fellow graduate student at a local coffee shop in Minneapolis (Five Watt Coffee) so we could sit together in solidarity and write. It was not exactly a break in the sense of escaping the dissertation and all it means to pursue a PhD. It was more like stepping out of one kind of work and into another, and doing it in the company of someone who understood. I am grateful to all the local coffee shops in the Twin Cities that provided refuge for the weary grad student in need of a caffeine boost and a change in scenery. And, I am grateful for the dear friends who shared that time of life with me.
What I love about this image is that it holds a kind of quiet relief that I think a lot of us know. The drink itself matters, of course, because there is something so grounding about a warm coffee in your hands when you are tired and trying to keep going. But for me the real heart of it is what that moment meant. It was a pause from the isolation of the lab. It was friendship. It was body doubling. It was still dissertating, still pushing forward, but in a way that felt a little more human. A little warmer. A little less alone.
This piece also reflects something that matters to me about the work I share here. The original image is my own photograph, taken by me, and when I adapt my images into graphic designs or patterns, I do that work myself. The same is true of my drawings. I care a lot about the fact that these pieces come out of my own life, my own experience, my own hands, and my own way of seeing. So this is not just a coffee image to me. It is a small record of endurance, connection, and the kinds of ordinary moments that help carry us through difficult seasons.
- 56 × 56 stitches
- 4 × 4 in. on 14-count Aida
- 6 DMC colors
- 3 strands of floss
- Includes color chart, black-and-white symbol chart, pattern key, overview, and instructions
- Digital PDF; no physical item will be shipped
This design comes from a photograph I took during my PhD years, when I was deep in dissertation research and spending long days in the lab surrounded by specimen after specimen, samples, notes, and the kind of mental intensity that can make the whole world feel very small and isolated. After an extremely long day in the lab, I met a dear friend and fellow graduate student at a local coffee shop in Minneapolis (Five Watt Coffee) so we could sit together in solidarity and write. It was not exactly a break in the sense of escaping the dissertation and all it means to pursue a PhD. It was more like stepping out of one kind of work and into another, and doing it in the company of someone who understood. I am grateful to all the local coffee shops in the Twin Cities that provided refuge for the weary grad student in need of a caffeine boost and a change in scenery. And, I am grateful for the dear friends who shared that time of life with me.
What I love about this image is that it holds a kind of quiet relief that I think a lot of us know. The drink itself matters, of course, because there is something so grounding about a warm coffee in your hands when you are tired and trying to keep going. But for me the real heart of it is what that moment meant. It was a pause from the isolation of the lab. It was friendship. It was body doubling. It was still dissertating, still pushing forward, but in a way that felt a little more human. A little warmer. A little less alone.
This piece also reflects something that matters to me about the work I share here. The original image is my own photograph, taken by me, and when I adapt my images into graphic designs or patterns, I do that work myself. The same is true of my drawings. I care a lot about the fact that these pieces come out of my own life, my own experience, my own hands, and my own way of seeing. So this is not just a coffee image to me. It is a small record of endurance, connection, and the kinds of ordinary moments that help carry us through difficult seasons.
- 56 × 56 stitches
- 4 × 4 in. on 14-count Aida
- 6 DMC colors
- 3 strands of floss
- Includes color chart, black-and-white symbol chart, pattern key, overview, and instructions
- Digital PDF; no physical item will be shipped
