Rick’s jack-o-lantern is extremely sincere.
My First Knitting Pattern
•August 5, 2024 • 2 Comments
During the pandemic, I knit a sweater for my husband, and to my surprise he loved it and wore it constantly. It turned out so well that I decided to try to write down what I’d done and publish it on Ravelry.
Two years and countless hours of writing, revision, online advice, tech editing, sampling, and testing later–not to mention sheepish sweater-modeling sessions in public places–it is now online.
I think I might do another one.
Radio Drama: Cry If You Want To
•July 29, 2024 • Leave a CommentThe BBC Radio Drama of the Week is a doozy this time, when a woman tries to find out how much money her male coworker is paid. Weird, tense, and funny audio fiction by E.V. Crowe.
17th Century Clothing Haul Video
•July 20, 2024 • 2 CommentsKarolina Zebrowska is a talented maker and an expert on fashion history, and her videos are always fun and informative. But once in a while, they’re also devastating satire.
Happy Midsummer
•June 20, 2024 • 2 CommentsThe Latvian folk ensemble Suitu sievas (women of Suitu) sings a song to the oak tree to celebrate summer.
My Old Red Sweater
•May 1, 2024 • Leave a CommentI’ve started a knitting blog! Here’s my first post.
This sweater is an old favorite for lots of reasons.
I made it years ago from a pattern in Interweave magazine.
I repurposed the yarn from two cherry-red sweaters I bought at the thrift store. If I remember correctly, one was an angora-acrylic blend, and the other was cashmere–big boxy sweaters with some wear and tear that I found hanging side by side. I unraveled them and knit the two yarns together. I think I spent less than $20 on enough yarn for a whole cardigan, and I thought I was a genius.
That was before my mom died, and she helped me unravel the sweaters. It took hours, sitting on the couch gabbing, the cashmere constantly breaking as we went. There’s a zillion broken yarn ends woven into the inside of it.
This sweater turned out to be super sturdy, and I still wear it often after all this time. When I first made it, the fit was quite a bit looser, but it’s still comfy.
I wanted it to be my first post on the lookyknits.blog.
If you want to repurpose old knits for new knitting, I’ve got a how-to with some advice on choosing your victim.
The Sidewalk, by Margaret Atwood
•May 1, 2024 • Leave a Comment
by Margaret Atwood
We’re hand in hand along
any old street, by the lake this time, and laughing
too at some joke we’ve
made and forgotten, and the sun
shines or it’s raining, lunch after lunch, dinner
after dinner. You could see it
as one thing after another. Where
are we going? It looks like
nowhere; though we’re going
where love goes finally, we’re
going under. But not
yet, we’re still
incarnate, though the trees break
into flame, blaze up, shed
in one gasp, turn to ash, each thing
burns over and over and we will
too, even the lake’s
on fire now, it’s evening and the sidewalk
fills with blue light, you can see down
through it, we walk on
water for a split
second before faith lapses and we let go
of each other also. Everything’s
brighter just before, and it’s
just before always.
–
From Paper Boat, 2023
The Chawed Rosin 
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