Linda Holman

 "In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."      ~Margaret Atwood Kia ora whānau, I hope all is well with you. Meteorologically speaking spring doesn't start in NZ until the 1st of September, but don't tell the daffodils. This episode was originally going to be about the joy of spring, and how everything was progressively getting brighter and better, but it's actually going to be about the myth of everything getting brighter and better in a progressive and steady way.   Craft Buoyed by the success of my teal Cuff Dress I foolishly moved onto a new pattern without doing a practice run on cheaper fabric. I also attempted to bugger about with sizing which didn't go so well and needed some jenky alterations. I have ended up with a dress that fits, and as it's a wrap dress it'll expand and shrink with me, so all is well, but now I know to ALWAYS DO A TRIAL RUN. Brown bald rabbit I was fooled into thinking that because I ma...

 “From ancient times both Māori and European have, like many other cultures, enjoyed their new year celebration in winter. Winter is a natural time to pause and take stock, to reflect and make a new beginning.”      ~ Juliet Batten, Celebrating the Southern Seasons Kia ora whānau, thank you for being here. It is winter in the southern hemisphere and it's been an odd month of heavy rainfall (as in many places), cold nights but weirdly warm days. It has been interesting to sense attitudes around climate change finally shift as dramatic floods and wildfires stalk the earth, and I'm hopeful for a belated change in direction for humans as a whole. The season and chemotherapy have kept me tucked up at the cottage most days, and sewing has become my main creative focus. Craft I recently read a blog about how childbirth had affected the author's body and left her in a liminal state between her old life and the new. I relate to this as everything has shifted for me in th...

"The reason that women feel so pressured to "remain youthful" is because the maiden isn't threatening to patriarchy."      ~Bonnie Rose Flower Welcome Kia ora whānau and welcome to May 2021. This month's theme - The Crone - had me thinking about the shift from the abundance of early autumn to the stark beauty of skeleton trees, and my own shift into inescapable baldness. For my opening quote I struggled to find positive words about Crone-hood, but personally I welcome the wisdom and re-prioritisation that comes with the territory of aging and slipping the shackles of societal expectations. Craft May has been a great craft month! Jewellery still not getting a look-in, but knitting and sewing projects abound. I've started my other colourway of Lotus Flower Beanies , and I've been asked to make some hats for my wonderful friend's wonderful shop: SoulyNZ. They have been asked for woolly hats on the regular so I'm madly knitting up hats in m...