Articles on: CourseHorse Partners

I didn’t come to knitting through nostalgia. I came to it because I felt an urge to make something with my hands. One quiet afternoon, I picked up a pair of needles and some yarn, and something clicked. It was an activity that connected my hands, my mind, and my creativity—and I’ve been hooked ever since.

I learned to sew as a child from my great aunt, who was a home economics teacher. She had transformed her basement into a sewing room, and I would spend hours with her, completely captivated by the process. Something about the craft—the precision, the creativity, the way a simple piece of fabric could turn into something beautiful—drew me in. From that moment, I knew sewing was going to be a lifelong love.

I'll never forget the time when—following a middle school outreach program, during a question and answer session—my colleague Ivana Mendez jested, “Walter's having his coming to Jesus moment, again. At the time I was sharing what "YES! AND…" and improv in general means to me. As I did, I imagined countless students, from corporate team building events to eight year olds at a k5 school, discovering what it meant to let go of fear and truly find joy on stage.

New York City is famous for its vibrant nightlife. As someone who had only ever visited before, I know first hand that it can be overwhelming to discover the city’s hidden gems when you’re on borrowed time.

Picture this: you step on stage, mic in hand, stomach in knots, and you launch into your best bit. It’s the same one that killed last weekend. You tell the joke, wait for the roar of laughter… and instead, there’s silence. Maybe a cough. A clearing of the throat. A clink of cutlery.

Gratitude gives us the power to focus on the good things in our lives and to be thankful for what we have. Practicing gratitude lets us pause to notice and appreciate the things that we often take for granted, like having the support of family and friends, a safe home, good food, clean water, toys and hobbies that bring us joy, and access to technology.

There’s something super satisfying about making something with your own two hands, and in a place like New York there’s no shortage of ways to do it. Whether it’s putting together your own side table in Brooklyn or stitching a tote bag in Soho, craft classes here offer a super full and fun experience.

I knew early on in life that I wanted to become a pastry chef and in France we start very young. People think I look young, but they don’t realize I have been creating pastries for over 20 years. I had my first apprenticeship when I was 15 and have continued working as a pastry chef since that time in several different countries.

Behind every great cocktail is a mixologist who knows all the little tricks that take a drink from good to great, and from great to unforgettable. That’s me. My name is Eric, and I’m the owner of J. Bespoke, a speakeasy in New York where my biggest goal is to elevate drinks and teach others how to do the same.

So you want to see New York. No, you really want to see New York.