Where disability politics, feminism and craft collide.
After starting with fair isle hats, the next progression in my colourwork knitting was a yoked jumper. The classic style of a colourwork yoke knit in the round above a plain knit body seems to have been around forever, but it is in fact a fairly recent invention – Bohus-style jumpers appeared in Sweden c. 1940, followed by Icelandic lopi yokes (or lopapeysa) in the 1950s.* They really took off in the 60s and 70s, then as now contributing to Iceland’s national identity and tourist trade.
If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’ll know my love for Burda and their shirt patterns in particular. A couple of years back, I made the Burda 04/2010 #114 long-sleeved blouse which became my most-loved and worn button up shirt. When it finally hit the dust (RIP shirt), I didn’t think twice before replacing it.
Continue reading “Burda long sleeved blouse 04/2010 #114, V2”
Don’t expect this to be one of those “plan ahead for your international long-haul flight, try not to see too many amazing attractions in one day” kind of posts. This post is for those spoonies who can barely make it 1 hour out of the house, let alone travelling to another town; for whom a few hundred km’s may as well be around the world. (Toni Bernhard has an excellent article about how minor holidays become massive trips with chronic illness on Psychology Today.)
These are my tips for surviving a short yet major (for me) trip to Geelong (2 hours away), which would have been a destination for a fun day out before I fell ill. If you’ve been reading my blog recently, you’d know I didn’t cope that well and am paying for it dearly now, but if I hadn’t planned ahead and made accomodations, I wouldn’t have made it through the week at all.
If you are housebound/bedbound due to chronic illness, you will be well aware of the limitations placed on yourself and others like you in accessing adequate healthcare. However, it is an issue that largely goes unnoticed, as the medical system and broader society either do not want to know or choose not to care about people in this situation.
Continue reading ““Just Invisible” – Medical Access Issues For Homebound/Bedridden Persons”
May is ME Awareness Month (along with literally every other illness, it seems). I’m too despondent to write something new, so I figured I’d recap my top 6 posts regarding ME/CFS and chronic illness in general.
Recently, I did something which I thought impossible. I went away for four nights, for the first time since becoming chronically ill 8 years ago. It was to the closest city: Geelong, 2 hours away, with my mother/carer/also chronically ill buddy. You might be wondering, how the fuck did you do that, Siobhan? I’m as shocked as anyone else! One night I just felt, for the first time well, ever, that I could do it. And by that I mean, do something, get sick, but not get permanently worse (which has been the norm these past 8 years).
Warning: contains GIFs
I went on a knit-sewing session a while back, resulting in my ponte skirt and a couple of long-sleeve tees. I actually meant to blog them together, but the weather has been so offensively hot this Autumn that I’ve had to wait until it cooled down enough that I could wear long sleeves without swooning like a 20s film star.
