books and magazines
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best of 2016
Already we are the better part of a week into the new year, but I’ve been traveling and I’ve only just gotten home, so I hope you’ll humor me with one or two looks back to 2016 in the coming days. Mostly I just wanted to pop by to say that I have a few Continue reading
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bladet garn
I received a magazine in the mail a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been wanting to sit down and write about it ever since. It’s Bladet Garn, a brand new independent Norwegian knitting mag, and the first issue is absolutely gorgeous. The creators, Solveig Engevold Gaustad (aka Surrehue) and Unni Cathrine Eiken (aka Malsen og Mor), have obviously found a niche that Continue reading
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on darkness and light
I’m going to get a little philosophical today, but I hope you’ll bear with me. As the days have grown shorter in Tromsø I’ve realized I’m taking fewer photos. I like shooting in natural light best, so as the availability of natural light becomes smaller and smaller, it’s not surprising I reach for my camera Continue reading
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reading, thinking: seawomen of iceland
The Sun Voyager, photographed in 2012 in Reykjavík Jess’s Swatch of the Month post over on the Fringe blog today got me thinking about a book I read a few months ago. Her swatch this month is in Icelandic wool, the Lopi we all know and love, and her post includes a really fantastic short history of Iceland. Continue reading
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inspiration: this thing of paper
“Who is ignorant of the difference between writing [scriptura] and printing [impressura]? A manuscript, written on parchment, can last a thousand years. How long will print, this thing of paper [res papirea] last?” — Johannes Trithemius, In Praise of Scribes (De Laude Scriptorum) When I was in high school, my mom worked in the office for the Women’s Continue reading
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the north sea
I read a book a couple months ago called The Shetland Bus, which I picked up over Christmas break after someone posted about it on social media last fall. The phrase “the Shetland bus” refers to a British and Norwegian special operations unit who used fishing ships to carry supplies and refugees back and forth between Shetland and the Continue reading
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42 norske kofter
Today I’m thinking about kofter. This ubiquitous Norwegian word can feel difficult to properly translate, as it can describe several different pieces of clothing. Today I’m writing about it in the sense of “knitted cardigans” – you may have heard the word in connection with the famous lusekofte, or “lice jacket,” from Setesdal. Kofte is the singular form, while kofter is Continue reading
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farm to needle: stories of wool
If you’re familiar with Tolt Yarn and Wool in Carnation, Washington, you can probably imagine how I felt when I received an email from Anna Dianich earlier this year … there was a book project she was putting together, and would I like to be involved? It was a no brainer, of course – YES, I said, Continue reading
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vintage knits
I enjoyed Karen’s post that went up today over at Fringe about the vintage sweater booklets sent to her by a friend. I had to smile to myself, because yesterday I’d pulled out what is probably my oldest piece of knitting paraphernalia – and I was largely inspired to do that because of the waistcoat Karen’s currently knitting from a vintage Continue reading
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a new year, tutorials, and yokes
Happy 2015! I hope everyone’s new year has gotten off to a good start. I must admit since getting home (and it is so good to be home again) that I’ve been swept up in the new-year-fresh-slate-mindset a little bit. I decided to give in to that impulse this year, knowing that some of the changes I’ve Continue reading
Paper Tiger 