Shawl Club: Crockern Tor

It’s been far too long since Dulcinea graced the pages of this blog, so I’m happy to share a photo of our girl modeling Crockern Tor, the latest pattern from designer Ysolda Teague’s 2015 Shawl Club. (Note: the fluffy black object in the photo above is our kitty Mithril’s tail. He doesn’t want Dulcinea to […]

Shawl Club: Caer Idris

Perhaps you saw the word ‘Idris’ in the title and thought this would be a post celebrating the handsome British actor Idris Elba. If so, I’m sorry to dash your hopes. This post features ‘Caer Idris,’ the second knitting pattern from designer Ysolda Teague’s 2015 Shawl Club. Like my first shawl club installment, the Caer […]

Who Made My Clothes?

We’ve just passed the 2-year anniversary of the collapse of Rana Plaza, the site of the clothing factory in Bangladesh where 1,133 garment makers were killed. On my Twitter feed, the Fashion Revolution Day hashtag was trending last week, asking #WhoMadeMyClothes? This question has been on my mind for some time, hence the deeply flawed […]

Shawl Club: Stac Shoaigh

This blog post references feral sheep, rock formations in the Outer Hebrides, sustainable wardrobes, and mathematics. Just so you know what you’re getting into. Let’s continue, shall we? I’m not a fan of disposable fashion, about which I’ll say more in another post. As much as possible, I like to know where my clothes come […]

An Introvert’s Guide to Fat Tuesday

It’s Fat Tuesday, and if you’re anything like me, perhaps you’re hoping to enjoy one last binge before renouncing the devil and all his empty carbohydrates. But there’s a problem: you’re a raging introvert. You prefer being alone. In fact, you’d rather be flogged at dawn than spend a minute of your evening in a […]

Holiday baking: Old-fashioned Krumkake

It’s snowing outside, and the holiday baking is finally underway. Yesterday, after eating a plateful of lefse with lingonberries, I made Norwegian krumkaker with an old-fashioned iron, briefly setting my stove on fire. My mom makes her krumkaker with a modern electric iron, but I am just stubborn enough to want to do things the […]

Robin’s Egg Blues

It’s been a remarkable summer. I haven’t been blogging, and I don’t feel guilty at all. Why not? Perhaps because I’ve written 20,000 words in the last month and a half. It’s been fun, pure and simple. People say writing is a torment, an agony. Not true. Sometimes, trying to give voice to what’s in […]

Sargasso, no tassel

Is it just me, or has April raced away without even stopping to say hello? There are so many things I’ve meant to do this month, and they are still not done: short stories I need to finish, proposals I need to draft, a synopsis that’s not quite right. When you’re faced with tasks that […]