Michigan

OOAK Knits | The Motor City Vest

The Motor City Vest

Detroit Michigan in February is a very cold place.
Very cold.
I'm actually fairly certain I've never been as cold in my life as I was in Detroit in February.
And I've been to Chicago in December.
And Iceland.
Despite being miserably cold for the majority of this trip, I loved Detroit in a way that I can't quite explain.
Maybe it was the fact that, like Richmond, they also have a Belle Isle.
Maybe it was because I was Urbexing some of the coolest places I've ever seen with my best friend.
Or maybe it was simply because I was somewhere I'd never been, having some of the most unbelievable (read: borderline reckless) adventures. Because that's often all it takes for me to fall in love with a place.
(Ask me about driving 10 hours home in one of the worst ever snow storms sometime...)

Regardless, Detroit will always have a special place in my heart.

The grey shades of that snow covered, windswept city, inspired this textured patchwork vest.
It will definitely help keep you warm anytime, anywhere. 
Even Detroit in February.

Yarn origin:  Reykjavík Iceland, Richmond VA, Boston MA.... and a lot of other unknown places

A photo posted by Leney (@agirlnamedleney) on


You can also see other OOAK Knits and there stories here.

Why one-of-a-kind?

These pieces are inspired by...
the places i’ve been,
the people i’ve met,
the words i’ve read,
the images i’ve created.

All of which are unique, to themselves, their own, one-of-a-kind. 
Much like you are.

I believe that your clothing, what you wear, says a lot about you.
It adds to your story, your make-up, who you are as an individual.

And so, shouldn’t those pieces in and of themselves hold a story all their own?
I think so.
That’s why my knitwear is one-of-a-kind. 
Each design is a piece of art.
Each piece tells a story. 
Of a person. A place. An experience. An idea.
When you own one of these pieces you are the only one to own it.
Aside from me, the creator, you hold it’s story. 
You are now the caretaker of it’s story. 
And it, in turn, becomes a part of yours.
The Stories The Things We Own Tell.
I think they're terribly important, though often overlooked. 
I find that the things we invest in are the things we cherish and value most. Which in turn speaks to what kind of individual we are. What we put stock in. Who we want to be.

You can also read more about why here.

// Photos by Meagan Abell //

The Urbexing Diaries | Abandoned Airstream

During this roadtrip I came across an abandoned Airstream trailer. 
(I actually posted some iPhone snaps of this on tumblr already but I'm just now getting around to sharing the digital shots I took)
Over the past few years, off and on, I've gone through various fascinations and dreams about owning an airstream of my own. I mean with people like this and this living their dreamy airstreamed lives, how could I not?

So anyway.
Came across this beauty, snapped a few photos of her, went on my marry way but couldn't stop thinking about her. So I went back again the next day and ended up tracking down the owner, whose name was Freddy, to see if there was any way he'd be interested in selling his airstream. You know, just out of curiosity.  
Freddy was quite a character and though he was, sadly, not interested in selling her, he did have a few stories about her he didn't mind sharing.
He told me he didn't really have any plans for her other than to drag her out to the road so people could see her from it as they drove by. But he told me he'd gotten her for $500 at a junkyard and that she was from '51 or so and how he'd once let a guy gut her and start fixing her up when all of her insides (along with a half moon bed and other "goodies" as he put it) burnt up in a barn fire. Ever since then she's just been sitting, unloved, and acquiring dents from when his horses lean up against her.
He said he'd been offered money for her on several occasions but he just wasn't willing to part with her.
I understood. 

I named her Stevie. 
Because she had a gypsy soul about her.
Here's to furthering and chasing after my airstream dream.

Don't know what urbexing is? 
Check out an explanation in this post here as well as other posts in The Urbexing Diaries.


See more on
Instagram || Twitter || Facebook

A Boat Story | Luna

This is a story about a boat.
We drove all the way to Mattawan Michigan for her, and then we brought her back. 
I feel overly fortunate to be able to say that I consider both of my parents to be some of my very best friends. This road trip with my Dad in particular is home now to some of my favorite times with him that are going to be hard to beat to be honest.
Discovering an abandoned Airstream trailer (post with photos forthcoming) during our trip was of course a highlight and culprit to intensifying my Airstream dream, and there was a stop at a yarn shop (no surprise there). But those experiences aside, there's very little that means more to me than just simply being with the people I love and doing life with them, in whatever way it's presented to us. Whether it's having coffee on their back porch, dancing our feet off wherever there's good music (or even when there's not), sitting at a kitchen counter talking while they cook (because we all know my cooking skills leave much to be desired) or sitting shotgun in a truck for twelve hours.

On the first day of the road trip we passed a sailboat off the highway that was sitting in a yard and on her transom was the name Moon Dust. I wrote it down because I loved it so much.
I'm forever making notes and lists and scribbles of words/phrases/lyrics/sentences I like. 
But it must've stuck somehow because on the way home, as we were brainstorming the name for her, I couldn't get Luna out of my head.
And so it just sort of came out. 
And it just sort of stuck.
So Luna she was christened. 
(Not to be confused with Una of course, her sister)

The day after getting home I realized how attached I already was to her. Perhaps it was because I helped name her, and as humans we often get so attached to the things we name, or perhaps it's because of the journey and the memories along the way in retrieving her.
I'm not really questioning it though, whatever the reason.
She's going to be a great new adventure. 
Even her old name, Andiamo, which is "Go" in Italian, speaks to a spirit of adventure and seeking out and discovering new waters and places unseen that I think she already embodies.


See more on
Instagram || Twitter || Facebook