Month: September 2007

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Review of Rutt’s History of Handknitting

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Not my review, but one I am impressed by. Richard Rutt’s History of Handknitting is widely regarded as THE history to go to.  I’ve had  HoH on my wishlist since it was waved in my face at Gulf Wars when I said ‘isn’t knitting as we know it almost out of period?’  (It was.)  Well, Kate has a few interesting problems with Mr. Rutt. I’m currently rather interested in how knitting got to Europe – I’ve heard of the Spanish cushion, and am aware of the probably-nalbinding Egyptian cotton socks.  Anybody? Continue reading Review of Rutt’s History of Handknitting

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Book Review – Guns, Germs and Steel

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Guns, Germs and Steel is by Jared Diamond, originally published in 1997, revised 2003, 2005.  It won a Pulitzer Prize, and was made into a ‘Major PBS Special!’ (That last is intriguing – I wonder what a dramatization of this content would be like.) I read GGS because of Mistress Jadi’s recommendation – I’d heard about it years ago via Readerville, and took the blurb at face value: "why the peoples of certain continents succeeded in invading other continents and conquiring or displacing their peoples."  This wasn’t terribly interesting to me as a Cherokee descendant – I’ve heard quite enough … Continue reading Book Review – Guns, Germs and Steel

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Deborah Chandler weaving DVD – cloth widths

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Being cooped up with a cough has had its benefits – I’ve been dragging out all the ‘someday’ projects and working on them.  One of which is this DVD that was loaned to me at July’s weaving guild meeting. I didn’t notice until I finished watching the video that Deborah Chandler is the same author of the book that’s also been loaned to me, and that I’ve quit reading in the middle because I want to get a loom warped.  But I was kind of scared of the process. But in the video she makes it look so easy, and … Continue reading Deborah Chandler weaving DVD – cloth widths

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Patagonia is making pattens!

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Sort of.  Their new two-part shoes remind me of soft turnshoes and wooden pattens, which I want very much to try wearing for practical reasons.  Check it out (pic via TreeHugger). So those leather boots or slippers slide out of the rubber outsoles.  There’s a tab at the back that keeps the heel in place.  Go look at the TreeHugger entry for more explanation. What tickles me besides the ‘everything old is new again’ aspect, is that leaving one’s shoes at the door is one of the ‘green building’ line items on the Florida Green Building Coalition checklist.  (Actually, it’s … Continue reading Patagonia is making pattens!

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Coughs but garb progress

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Okay, what did people call bronchitis in the Middle Ages?  Warning, medical experimentation ahead. Clearly brought on by a case of burning the candle at both ends of the day in prep for Daggers & Hemlock.  First it was a sore throat, and then a head full of goo, and now it’s fatigue with coughing.  From my experience with bronchitis (after chickenpox) for three weeks in 11th grade, and bronchitis (in Italy) for three weeks during graduate school, and then a return of bronchitis (don’t remember how long) while I was doing the bulk of the writing of my master’s … Continue reading Coughs but garb progress