The last few weeks my loom has seen a flurry of use. SAFF (Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair) happened at the end of October and I brought back yarn for a commission project. After I posted Keeping with a Theme last January, I was approached about doing something similar, but in a blue jeans color pallet. […]
Read more "My Blue Period"Persona Giuliana di Chambery began as Juliana de Chambery from Savoy. I liked the choice of Savoy as it’s proximity to both France and Italy gave me flexibility in the styles available to me. I have always leaned towards the Italian styles though, so now Juliana du Chambery is born to a wealthy cloth merchant […]
Read more "Giuliana di ChamberyI am finding that as I work through various projects, weaving is less intuitive than I expect. My most recent set of projects is a perfect example. This fall my wonderful husband took me for a romantic weekend to a Black Mountain bed and breakfast. In addition to good food, lovely accommodations and a small […]
Read more "Keeping with a theme"Using the lessons from my test piece, I decided to move forward with a more challenging project, and weave a pair of winingas. Winingas are a piece of clothing common to men’s attire in the early medieval Norse and Anglo-Saxon cultures. They appear again as puttees in British military garb in the late 1800s. Typically […]
Read more "Winingas"It’s almost 2 years since I got my 8-shaft loom and just over 3 since I dusted off my 4-shaft table loom and actually learned to weave. In that time I have made lots of towels, and a few scarves, a shawl and 2 baby blankets that were super challenging. So far almost all of […]
Read more "Weaving Lessons Learned"As the pandemic draws on, I keep dreaming of when I might be able to travel. I’m parking this here for future reference, and dreaming…
Read more "European Trip"For the last 15 years or so my husband and I have celebrated the feast of the rutabaga. It is essentially a long running gag based on the fact that once upon a time I had never cooked rutabaga and my husband had never even seen one, but really liked the sound of the word. […]
Read more "Feast of the Rutabaga"Those of you who follow me will know that I occasionally write about medieval foods, the preparation of which is one of my hobbies. Today I’m posting about a different kind of history, a personal one. I have enjoyed baking since I was a teenager. It was the one culinary art my mother had not […]
Read more "A Different Kind of Historical Recipe"It says something about the state of my life that most of the posts I have managed to post, have to do with food. I may not have time to craft, but at least I’m still putting dinner on the table. That’s something I guess. We just got back from a five day family reunion, […]
Read more "Variations on an Old Theme and A New Winner"I love soup. It’s one of those things you can make as a vegetarian and no one feels like they’re missing out. It’s also now closely associated with warm the companionship of friends. My husband’s family, growing up, was a military family, which frequently meant being away from family at the holidays. Since there were […]
Read more "Cream of “fill in the vegetable” Soup Strikes Again!"