My mom has a tendency to mangle the names of things, but often the name she comes up with is better than the original. She always calls Netflix “Flixmix” — so that’s what I’m going to call this new semi-regular feature. Streaming services have saved my sanity during the past year and a half. I’m always on the lookout for…
Category: Uncategorized
Juneteenth
Today is Juneteenth, a day which commemorates the promulgation of General Order No. 3, a proclamation in which a Civil War general announced freedom for enslaved people in Texas. This is an important anniversary and I’m glad it was added to the roster of federal holidays. I did not learn about Juneteenth in my high school or college education. I…
No-Bull Book Review: Fair Isle Weekend by Mary Jane Mucklestone
What a pleasure to pick up a beautiful book full of beautiful projects photographed in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. Mary Jane Mucklestone’s latest is just such a treat. If you aren’t familiar with Mary Jane, she’s an expert in the field of stranded knitting, with five previous books and numerous pattern designs to her credit.…
My new t-shirt is here!
I’ve been blogging a long time (it’s scary, honestly). Since the beginning of my blogging life, I’ve made no secret about the fact that I am an ally of the LGBTQI community. Many years ago, after I did a post about National Coming Out Day, some sly little skank sent me an anonymous email saying something like “oh you are…
Win a free lecture from Virtual Vogue Knitting Live! — WINNER HAS BEEN CHOSEN
The on-going pandemic may have forced knitters to stay home, but that won’t stop us from knitting and learning more and more about our passion. Virtual Vogue Knitting Live January starts this week and I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be doing a one-hour lecture called “Secrets of the Skein” on Sunday, January 17th at 4:30 EST. We’ll talk about…
“Look, 2020, I just think I should start seeing other years”
We’ve just about made it through 2020, a year which took all my high expectations and shat on them. Repeatedly. We’ve experienced so many hurts throughout the past twelve months. The loss of human life was staggering, with each death leaving a hole in the hearts of family and friends. Even more infuriatingly, the half-ass handling of the pandemic by…
In memoriam: Cat Bhordi
The knitting world is mourning the loss celebrating the life of a passionate knitter, consummate professional, creative designer, and beloved teacher. We learned of Cat Bhordi’s death this weekend, when her daughter posted about it on social media. I admired Cat on so many levels, and one of the things I respected most was the way she faced a terminal…
TNNA Recap
I’m back from a jam-packed weekend at TNNA, and as usual, I feel tired and happy and bursting with new things to think about and work on. (TNNA is The National Needlearts Association, a trade group consisting of the yarn industries: both knitting/crochet and other needlecrafts like cross-stitch and needlepoint. Their big annual show is in late spring/early summer, showcasing…
Voyage to alien territory
I never thought that, at 48 years of age, I’d go to my first Comic Con. (For those of you who have never heard of it, Comic Con is a convention devoted to all sorts of pop culture, from comic books to superheroes to tv shows and more). And little did I think that I would go in costume. Along…