The sun sets here at 4:01pm today. The sun has been setting around 4 since the middle of November, and it will keep on setting around 4 until the middle of January. And I? I do not do well with mid afternoon sunsets. So when the dark starts to feel a little overwhelming, I make these.

I cannot tell you why they help, but I know that they do. And I cannot promise they will help anyone else, but I suspect that they might. I suspect it because every year, when I share them online, I hear from so many other folks who want to make them.

So now that I have a good way to share things other than just knitting patterns, I’ve written up a little book of instructions for how to make them. It covers everything from finding the paper and supplies (there are links to those on the book’s page so you can check that out if you want to experiment on your own) to folding them up to putting them together and hanging them up. It walks you, fold-by-fold, through nine different stars and gives you lots of suggestions for how you can modify them to make variations of your own. And really, despite how intricate they look, they’re surprisingly easy. If you’ve ever folded a paper airplane, you can make these (lots of folks even make them with their kids)!

There are two ways to get the book. You can either buy it directly on payhip (the code STAINED GLASS will take 10% off through the end of the day Friday December 8).

Or you can join my patreon at either the Utter Nonsense or Rampant Nonsense level and get the book as part of your membership. Just to save you the math, joining either of those for a month cost less than buying the book directly, and you’ll get a whole bunch of other nifty stuff too (like these patterns at the Rampant Nonsense level and these at the Utter Nonsense level). And of course you can totally cancel whenever you want (no really, it’s ok, that’s how it’s supposed to work), and you’ll still have anything you got while you were subscribed!

I really am delighted to share these with you. I hope they help you stave off the darkness when things feel grim and remind you that the light will come back if you just hold on long enough. Here’s to brighter days ahead!