My Mom is still waiting for test results, so while we’re waiting I’m keeping busy. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but I set up a great trade with my friend Kelby.  He’s very tall and doesn’t sew, but he needs clothes for living history.  I sew, and I need both music lessons and […]

Wild Decembers by Edna O’Brien This book  encapsulates so much about rural Ireland and feuding families and the strictures on women.  It’s heart-breaking and beautiful and true.  O’Brien’s language is gorgeous, and the story unfolds like a great tragedy.  Unfortunately, the audio version I listened to was of poor quality.  I’m surprised Audible did such […]

Things do slip away from me. Where were we . . . We went to Mississippi and had a fantastic time.  Lots of our friends were there, I gave out some presents, we sang a lot, the food we made was fantastic and we spent much less time laboring over meals, and we didn’t want […]

I don’t have a lot of time, but I do have a few pictures.  Forgive how schlumpy these all look–I don’t have a dress form, so you have to imagine a body inside these.  All of these garments are fitted to the waist with full skirts. This is a new linen Hedeby traggerrok (apron dress) […]

Look–that little bugger is back.  I think the number is actually pretty far off on the low side, but I need to keep digging though notes to correct it.  And either way, the next couple of weeks should really add to the count.  I love knowing that I’ve handsewn at least a fifth of a […]

The sweatshop is in full swing.  I’ve been making clothes for living history, finishing knits for others, sorting scraps for projects, and updating the Big Bad Spreadsheet of Supplies.  When I started measuring and sorting and folding and organizing everything last fall, a few friends scratched their heads, and a few thought it sounded like […]

This year, I’m trying to focus more clearly on music than I have since, well, since the world went all pear-shaped in 2009.  I’ve also been doing more research on early medieval Scandinavia than usual.  It feels right, then, to give you a song that circles through my brain, particularly as the ground starts to […]

I’ve been on a bit of a quilting spree for a while now, as you may have noticed. And when I was sorting through some quilting stuff in my studio yesterday, I realized that I never posted about a really sweet pieced bag I made right before the KR retreat last autumn. I made the […]

I picked this for 12 books in 12 months because I’ve started it at least once or twice before and abandoned it each time, so it seemed to fit right into the spirit of the project.  I’m so glad I read it, though I can see why I hadn’t stuck with it previously.  I opted […]

In addition to tallying up and recording all of the pertinent information about my yarn and fabric stashes, I’m trying to finish a bunch of projects that I had started but never finished. I’m not promising to finish them all before I start any new ones, but having a spreadsheet of all of my works […]