All posts written by Laura
Gnomish

Gnomish

Today, I got together with some costuming friends. It wasn’t costumed meet-up, but because we are who we are, all of us were wearing some type of history bounding something or other, or accessorizing with a costuming piece. I wore this vest, a midi linen skirt with my favorite blue boots, and the hat I had just finished making.

I don’t have any photos of the hat yet, but it’s a free pattern from Thistle Thistle, so you can click over there to see a pic if you’re curious. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a decent photo in it soon.

Decent is relative, because it’s a pixie hat, and I’m an adult.

Spendy McSpenderson

Spendy McSpenderson

A long, long time ago, before the pandemic, I made a commitment to stop buying clothes because I was spending too much, didn’t need any more clothes, and was having trouble finding ethical sources.

And I did stop. Since I transitioned from that initial commitment, I’ve almost exclusively purchased only occasional replacements for items that wore out or things I wore all the time and never seemed to have enough of.

Every time I would start to think about buying more clothes, I would realize my hamper was full. As soon as I did the laundry, I found all the clothes that were “missing” from my closet.

Blue Christmas

Blue Christmas

I discovered recently that there are whole playlists of sad Christmas songs. Sometimes they are actually sad (I’m looking with heart eyes at Sia’s “Snowman”) and some just sound sad (Sarah Mclaughlin’s Wintersong Album). Either way, I am here for it.

18th Century Banyan

18th Century Banyan

This summer, I finally finished my 18th c. banyan. I love it so much that I often swan around the house in it in the evenings. And now that winter here in everything but name, I’ve finally photographed it, too.

The fabric is cotton from Anuprerna on the outside, and Indian block print cotton on the inside. Outside and inside are relative, since it’s reversible.

A Reluctant Cat Mom

A Reluctant Cat Mom

When people ask if we have pets, it’s always been an easy no. We have seven kids, why would we need pets?! At the same time, I wanted my kids to be comfortable around animals and compassionate towards them. I saw a flyer at our library for a program where you read to shelter animals.

Great, I thought, it’s an opportunity for exactly what I wanted – exposure to animals plus reading practice. What’s not to love?