I'm Erica — a maker, mother, sailor, and adventurer living in the woods on the Olympic Peninsula with my family. I came west in my early twenties, straight from college in Maine, and while I've come to love this rainy, evergreen, quiet life, I still carry a soft spot for New England winters and find that the best balm is getting outside yearround.

I grew up in a family where handmade sweaters weren't precious — they were our normal. My grandmothers, aunts, and mother knit them, and we wore them hard: outside, in the mud and snow, before being passed down to the next sibling. Wool was just part of home.

Before sweaters, I spent years sewing sails at one of the finest lofts in the world, where sailors placed their trust and their lives in our hands. I still think about strength and wear, about the parts of a garment that take the most abuse, about crafting a product that will last as long as possible, that is made responsibly with thought towards maintenance, sourcing, aesthetics, and durability.

Three years ago, some old Japanese knitting machines found their way into my life, and I started making sweaters alongside my eldest son. With the speed gained, I could finally make wool gear fast enough with the turning of the seasons for my kids and others.

With an eye towards helping others outfit their kids, I pulled out my own favorite sweater — the one my mother had knit for my youngest brother — and began experimenting with sizes, wool, colors, and fit. The Everyday Sweater is the fruit of this exploration.