Weekly Newsletters
Sat, 30 Aug 25, (4d ago)
The Three Stitches
It’s nearly home time, and time for fresh September energy. For now, I’ve been working on knitting. The shawl is probably 70% done; I’ll likely use all the wool I have.
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Sat 30 Aug (4d ago)
Sat, 23 Aug 25, (11d ago)
Calm in Cannes
I’ve been in Cannes the last few weeks, and I still have one more week to go, so crafting is minimal. I brought my handmade merino wool and started knitting a shawl. I love how the green dye turned out, using rosemary and grass. So far, the shawl has a so
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Sat 23 Aug (11d ago)
Sat, 09 Aug 25, (25d ago)
We have water
The borehole is officially installed and working. I got a generator off facebook marketplace, and it just plugs into the pump in the borehole. No problemos! I
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Sat 09 Aug (25d ago)
Sat, 26 Jul 25, (1m ago)
Spin spin spin
It’s been a low-key few weeks again. I’m not in a particularly creative phase. Since the big fleece-to-jumper project has finished, I’ve not started a new knitting project, mainly because I don’t have any yarn. I’ve been spinning the 500g of merino wool I
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Sat 26 Jul (1m ago)
Sat, 05 Jul 25, (2m ago)
Sheep to Jumper Complete
Not the most eventful two weeks. Experimenting is a lot of trial and error and I don’t have much to show for all the errors… I have however finish the Grobbendonk jumper, the last sleeve I made with this year’s wool.
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Sat 05 Jul (2m ago)
Sat, 21 Jun 25, (2m ago)
Ideas and More Experiments
We’re back in London for the next few months so getting set up again. I tended to my garden as first priority when I got back. The tomatoes had grown somewhat in the two weeks away
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Sat 21 Jun (2m ago)
Sat, 14 Jun 25, (2m ago)
Sewing Experiments
I’ve been in France the last two weeks, so there were limited things I could do, but I do have stuff to talk about! I had two main crafts with me; the knitted beige blouse I needed to finish, and sewing projects. First the blouse. I picked this up again
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Sat 14 Jun (2m ago)
Sat, 31 May 25, (3m ago)
Project Pileup
I have this Japanese-style chair project on my list, which I have the timber for. Progress has been limited; I did cut the timber down to the right sizes, but got stumped because the wood is very curved. Meaning, if I want to glue two pieces side by side,
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Sat 31 May (3m ago)
Sat, 17 May 25, (3m ago)
Pondering Problems and Pyrography
At the start of the week I dismantled the cabinet that I built a few months ago. I learned a lot from making it, it was relatively good at storing all my tools, but I just thought it was super ugly and I didn’t like hanging the tools on the doors; they mo
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Sat 17 May (3m ago)
Sat, 03 May 25, (4m ago)
Willow and Bamboo Sticks
I found a rain collection design online that I thought would work for me. I needed some very tall bamboo sticks and I attempted to reverse engineer the design (see picture below).
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Sat 03 May (4m ago)
Sat, 19 Apr 25, (4m ago)
Rain Catchers and Stick Chairs
This week I attempted round two of the tarp rain catcher, this time with a friend. I bought some taller stakes so the tarp can be held higher up. We dug it into the ground about 30cm, and piled rocks around it to secure it. I used tent pegs with string to
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Sat 19 Apr (4m ago)
Sat, 12 Apr 25, (4m ago)
Follow Your Own Path
The sun graced us again this week. For some reason, I went on a rabbit-hole-tangent that led me to recreate our calendar. Hold the eye rolls while I explain… The exact history is not super clear to me, but our Gregorian “solar” calendar was made by a Po
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Sat 12 Apr (4m ago)
Sat, 05 Apr 25, (5m ago)
Summer in Spring
What’s happened to England to make the weather this consistently good? No sign of it turning yet. Who needs a summer holiday in France or Spain with this weather? I went to my field first thing on Monday before the jet lag had time to react.
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Sat 05 Apr (5m ago)
Sat, 29 Mar 25, (5m ago)
Two Weeks Away
I’ve just got back from holidays, having had a lot of chill time, a little bit of knitting and lots of planning and thinking. My mittens are done, and I had enough spare yarn to make a headband to go with it. It’s not my best project; the second mitten is
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Sat 29 Mar (5m ago)
Sat, 15 Mar 25, (5m ago)
The Craft Life Rhythm
I spent one day on the field this week spreading out more mulch, around my garlic this time and in the hedge line. The mulch pile is now gone and I’ve spread the leftovers neatly in situ, which will become a potential car parking space. I also bought an a
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Sat 15 Mar (5m ago)
Sat, 08 Mar 25, (5m ago)
Back in Business
I was back in business this week. Sickness is gone, energy is back, and I made three visits to the field. The garlic is now about 10cm high, and the onions are sprouting. I should mulch around the garlic to protect them a bit.
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Sat 08 Mar (5m ago)
Sat, 01 Mar 25, (6m ago)
I Get Knocked Down, But I Get Up Again
I paid the price for the “hard work in the field” two weeks ago. I’ve been ill with flu and a cough for almost two weeks, but it’s finally on its way out. I haven’t been that much progress on projects while I’ve been ill and on holiday . Next week I’ll ho
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Sat 01 Mar (6m ago)
Sat, 15 Feb 25, (6m ago)
Hard Work in the Field
Last week I had some awesome progress on the field. First I installed the stake storage; I positioned it a bit further down the field rather than next to my other storage boxes. The locals and the council are reasonably opinionated about what you put on t
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Sat 15 Feb (6m ago)
Sat, 08 Feb 25, (6m ago)
Boxes, Brambles and Bread
The storage box was finished early in the week, including a few coats of weather protection. It all came together really nicely, except the lid… Which weighed a lot on its own and I couldn’t figure out how to attach it to the box… How do you hold at least
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Sat 08 Feb (6m ago)
Sat, 01 Feb 25, (7m ago)
Woodwork Whirlwind
This week was a week of woodworking, the business of wood. Only one splinter was gotten. The timber delivery arrived on Monday afternoon, so I got started on Tuesday. I made the two smaller frames for the sides. Wednesday I didn’t manage to do much, but I
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Sat 01 Feb (7m ago)
