Dance has taken center stage since I finished my last painting a month ago. There were two large performances in March that the studio troupe and I were focused on for the first half of the month. The first was for a Burlesque show on International Women’s Day! We were… Read More »Dance, Dance
It feels really good to finish this painting that I started early last year but put down over the warmer months. Last week I posted more progress photos for this piece here. Watercolor on hot-press paper, the scene is of a local game reserve in January where I often to… Read More »Game Refuge in Watercolor
Here with a teaser post of a work-in-progress. A watercolor painting of a local forest in mid-winter before the snows fell. Feels a lot like fall, but the bright low winter sun creates some very stark shadows The painting starts as a line-drawing, transferred onto a hot-press watercolor block. If… Read More »Watercolor in Progress
How many neck tubes can one person make? This one is to match the hat that I made Jake for Christmas. It’s a ribbed half-double-crochet using bulky yarn. He decided he wanted the top a little more narrow than the bottom….when I was already done making the width of the… Read More »Orange Cowl
The transition from one year to the next involves baking for many. In this house we try to avoid too many sweets, but there is always room for bread during the darkest season. I started making my own bread in 2020, like everyone else, and have kept at it for… Read More »Art on Bread
I’m no restoration expert, but I was asked to repaint the numbers on this old clock. I was not commissioned to touch up the boarder or the white paint, not that I’d even know how without sanding it down an starting fresh. Nope, I did my best to trace the… Read More »Clock Restoration
The annual gift dilemma. What to get or do for loved ones when we’re all a little strangled by things? This year I tried on being that person who gifts something handmade, at least for a portion of the gifting. I don’t know if it’s more or less appreciated, but it… Read More »Crochet Winter Hats
Plague Faire 2024 potluck was on another level. Everyone stepped up for the first ever competition potluck and the masses were well fed. To incentivize extra effort we provided prizes for the first and second-place dishes to receive the most votes for best-dish. Jake donated a disc to the cause… Read More »One-Shoulder Cape Prize
Krampus, the recently re-popularized ancient goat-demon of spooky Christmas was the guest of honor at last year’s Plague Faire: Perchtenlaufen Krampusnact, which was held on the first weekend of December, 2024 just after Krampusnact proper. Here’s a behind the scenes look at his construction and some more detail shots of… Read More »Krampus
I had some leftover yarn from my scalloped medieval half-cape so I decided to make a matching hat for myself and a remnant hat for Jake. I took a really basic approach of single-crocheting in the round starting in the middle of the hat. I worked my way up first,… Read More »Yarn Remnant Single Crochet Hats
The Plague Faire keeps getting bigger and colder! Started in 2020 as a way to enjoy a renaissance faire in the safety of the yard, it has gradually expanded into a mythical festival of disease-avoidance. The guest-list topped 25 people this year with the added challenge of hosting in December!… Read More »Plague Faire 2024: Pertchenlaufen Krampusnact
I like these weird little deeply scalloped capes often seen in illustrations of medieval clothing for upper-middle-class people. Sewing one would simply be too easy a method for achieving an interesting and precise scallop shape, so I decided to try and crochet one instead. Without a pattern. It took several… Read More »Medieval Scalloped Cape Crochet
It has been a very bad week. For the world and for me personally, the past two weeks rank among the worst. Crochet is a small comfort, and the product is comfortable too. I joined a knitting circle at my local library for the winter to get me out of… Read More »Crochet Bubble Cowl
The Connecticut Renaissance Faire is always such a great show! Our big day at the fair was the second-to-last weekend during the Halloween-themed programming. After dark the faire was transformed into a spooky wonderland with extra macabre and fiery entertainment. We made a big to-do of coordinating with many friends… Read More »Connecticut Renaissance Faire 2024 Halloween Theme Weekend
I have a quick update for you on those T-shirt designs for Team Spoonwood. The team found a local printer and the design has been made into T-shirts, long-sleeves, hats and hoodies! The best part is this printer runs small batches that are completely customizable, so members of the team… Read More »Team Spoonwood Apparel Update
All of my very hard work practicing dance and drumming culminated the end of September in the first Simsbury Movement Arts Festival. The studio director where I dance decided she wasn’t busy enough working two jobs and having five kids, but also needed to put on a giant festival and… Read More »Simsbury Movement Arts Festival
Earlier this year I took a lamb butchering workshop at a local farm to deepen my connection to my food. At the end of the workshop, I was invited to come back to participate in the annual teaching of ‘earth skills’ at a gathering of like-minds known as the Ground… Read More »Earth Skill Sharing at the Groundnut Gathering
This project has been sitting on the backburner, but an upcoming trip to the faire has jump-started my motivation. Funny how with a self-imposed deadline looming, I got way more happy brain chemicals out of pulling thread than without a firm timetable. For a week leading up to the faire… Read More »Fancy Embroidered Collar
Opening weekend of the Connecticut Renaissance Fair, also Labor Day weekend in the States, we found ourselves with a free afternoon and my desire for a particular bodice from a particular vendor opening at the faire. I threw together this cute Renaissance shopping outfit from pieces already sewn to peruse… Read More »Connecticut Renaissance Fair Shopping Outfit
I’m learning to play the Sombati Darbuka! Also known at a doumbek, this is a ceramic hand-drum from the middle-east, popularly used to accompany raqs sharqi style dancing, also known as belly-dance. I’ve been dancing for over a decade and I played percussion in school growing up. With a big… Read More »Drumming Cushion
During the winter months my husband plays on a disc golf league that tours the region. This year the team needs new shirts and he had a vision that he asked me to paint. A spoonwood is a mountain laurel, which is native to the area and flourishes on the… Read More »Spoonwood T-Shirt Design
Spent a second day at Kripalu for a yoga retreat, this time with a friend, so much less introspective and more social. At the end of the night we took a workshop entitled “Healing Through Art,” though the instructor admitted she wouldn’t have called it that herself. She’s into alchemy.… Read More »“Healing Through Art” at Kripalu
Breezy summer magic. Pools, beaches, hot-wind on an afternoon walk, and the kimono cover-up made with the power of rectangles. This fabric has been kickin’ it in the stash for almost a decade where I last made a simple halter dress from the rayon-poly-blend. Sun-protective, wrinkle-free, quick-dry, and not much… Read More »Purple Kimono Cover-up
This is another “I made this in front of the TV” project. No patterns, no counting, just wingin’ it. I was gifted this 100% cotton yarn from my aunt who uses it to make wash-clothes. She gave me 2 big skeins so I thought “this would make a good towel.”… Read More »Crochet Mini Towel
I’ve heard that if you’re having trouble with hornets or bees, hanging a mock-hornet’s-nest on your patio or deck can deter the pointy-flyers from invading the “already claimed territory” of your fake hornets. Or is it wasps? I don’t know, but it seems like even a paper bag, the approximate… Read More »Crochet Hornet’s Nest
This is turning into a two-part post because I have too many photos to share and we’re all visual people here. I am freshly returned from a camping trip in upstate New York to Wilcox Memorial Park. This sprawling park boasts over 8 miles of hiking trails, bucolic campsites, a… Read More »Art and the Forest: Summer 2024
At the end of June, the dance studio where I practice had another showcase night so that the adult classes could see what the others have been working on. It’s part of a larger push to prepare for a movement arts festival this fall that the studio is hosting. Photos… Read More »Dance Exposition Summer ’24
On the last weekend in June we spontaneously headed off to the Robinhood Medieval Festival in east-central Connecticut. When the weather forecast called for a break in the heat and humidity and promised a cool, dry, cloudy, blustery day, we were all in! I love a cloudy fair day, even… Read More »Robinhood Medieval Festival 2024
No time for sewing or painting right now; it’s gardening season! I didn’t go as big as last year with the crazy schedules and big yields, instead trying to adapt my well-performers and self-sowers into a larger portion of the 2024 garden. Seeds were started indoors in late February as… Read More »I’m in the Garden 2024
I do not finish a lot of creative projects during the busy summertime months, so today I want to talk about an ongoing real-time internet project. That is…I review books I’ve read in tweet-form. Tweeting a book review is a short and simple way to keep track of what I’ve… Read More »Read and Tweet
I hope everyone in the states had a lovely Memorial Day Weekend. I made myself a super-extra long weekend by taking a few additional days off during which I attended my first yoga day-retreat at Kripalu. I’ve been practicing yoga consistently for about a year-and-a-half, though of course I’d been… Read More »Plein Air on Yoga Retreat
Nothing beats a linen dress in the summer. Softer with age, breathable, natural, a fabric of the ages. Considering that so many fairs take place in the warmer months and I’m always complaining about being too warm to wear many layers of garb, it was time for a linen dress.… Read More »Linen Wrap Renaissance Dress
A renaissance faire two weekends in a row!? How fun. The weekend prior Jake and I attended the first ever Wyndonshire Renaissance Festival, followed by a friend excursion, this past weekend, at sister faire ‘Enchanted Orchard’. Held at the Red Apple Farm in Phillipston, MA, this is another first-annual event… Read More »Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire, Year One Review
This past weekend we attended the first ever Wyndonshire Renaissance Festival. Organized in collaboration with the Winchendon Recreation Department, the faire took place in a large public park. The venue was spectacular. Very large with a variety of wooded paths, open fields, paved walkways, water-views, and even an amphitheater. There… Read More »Wyndonshire Renaissance Festival, Year One Review
The hand-embroidered medieval silk cap is finished! Sometimes worn as a base-layer under a hat or veil, but also sported alone, I wanted a cap that was both fancy and good for the hair, so I used real silk in a champagne color. The shape is based on St Birgitta’s… Read More »Embroidered Medieval Cap
Glad to be back with more creations to post after a month of progress. I’ve been reading, thinking, resting, and filling the creative wells. Lots of yoga and dance, including some recent public performances. The first renaissance fair of the year for us is fast approaching at the end of… Read More »Gold Stuffed Circlet Hat
Years ago I was gifted some old saris to make into costume pieces and recycle the silk and satin. Here’s a men’s tunic that I finally finished after years on hold, stashed away since before we moved into the house. Patterned by me in my favorite shapes: rectangles. I used… Read More »Recycled Sari Tunic
My latest masterpiece is complete. Inspired by illustrations of 14th century noblewoman’s dress, adapted for modern ease-of-wear. Does anyone else ever feel rushed for time in a dress that takes 10 minutes and a second-set of hands to lace up or get out of? For those certain events were time… Read More »Cinnamon Rust Medieval Gown
Have you ever heard of a sontag? It’s a historical women’s shawl that was worn wrapped around the body and tied at the waist to keep the arms free for work. It was probably in widespread use before the American Civil War, but that’s about when it started showing up… Read More »Crochet Sontag Shawl
The window bench in the home office was getting worn out on top because my large dogs like to lay there often. A hole was starting at a seam on top and batting was peaking through a thread-bare spot. Before the damage got too far along Jake and I spent… Read More »The Reupholstered Bench
I’ve been making a new dress for the 2024 cool faire season, and to make the project take much longer than usual, I decided to add intricate hand-embroidery to the shoulders. I’ve done minimal embroidery on small projects in the past but am so in love with texture wherever I… Read More »Sleeve Embroidery
Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had a very restful holiday season. I haven’t posted any new projects in a while because I have some really big ones in progress but nothing new completed. In the meantime, I thought I’d share some of my travels and the stunning visuals… Read More »Iceland
He didn’t want mittens, but wanted all of the difficult bits of a mitten that would force me to learn a lot about crochet. I haven’t been crocheting for very long. I can make rectangles, circles, all the basic stiches and some scallops. Baubles, I can do. I don’t like… Read More »Men’s Handwarmers
Who doesn’t love having two garments with the storage requirements of one? Also, the best costumes have a lot of layers. Therefore I have sewn a vest and belt set which is fully reversable! Pattern created by Frankenstein-ing a women’s tunic pattern, I actually had one side of this vest… Read More »Gold Vest and Obi Belt
I finally made myself a perfect medieval chemise. Perfection existing in the fabric, the pattern, and the notions. Past attempts at chemise fell short when I tried to use cotton muslin. The stiff weight didn’t drape how I had imagined in one case or another. This time I found a… Read More »Medieval Chemise
Year number four of pandemic, year number four of our disease-free, plague-themed backyard renaissance faire. Annually since 2020 we have hosted a small group of friends for a pot-luck party, costumes mandatory! This year was pretty chill, as if we’ve gotten better at setting up for the fun over time.… Read More »Family Plague Faire 2023
Continuing the discussion on new items I made for Jake ahead of the 2023 Connecticut Renaissance Faire, is this very large canvas and remnant belt-pouch. Purely a bonus project, for my own decompression between more strenuous sewing, I pieced this pouch together with remnants of fabric from projects current and… Read More »Large Remnant Pouch
We had the absolute best day at the Connecticut Renaissance Faire in 2023. This season has been rough for faire organizers, as every-single weekend has seen rain. This means a lot of overcrowding on the few nice days. My ideal faire weather is overcast with even a very slight drizzle… Read More »Connecticut Renaissance Faire 2023, Review
Jake wanted a vest for the Renaissance Faire, but with an anime pop-culture flare. Very specific directives on the shape and poofy shoulders and collar on this garment. I started with a basic men’s costume jerkin pattern and slimmed it way down. We didn’t need closures or room for bulky… Read More »Poof-Shoulder Men’s Renaissance Vest
I’ve taken a recent interest in head-coverings to really bring a costume together. To that end I’ve sewn Jake a poofy men’s hat. This is a very classic example of a hat you’d see throughout western Europe during the renaissance, though his is a bit more flamboyant in fabric than… Read More »Men’s Renaissance Poofy Hat