There is something particularly special about the smell of New York when the weather is warm. The garbage left out on the street leaves a patina that some try to wash away with a hose but to little effect. Instead the smell is diminished and altered slightly, but enough lingers to lodge in your sense memory. Or at least it did in mine. Add to that the smell of fresh fruit in the corner market bins and the general smells of morning (and fish if...

For reasons that will continue to elude me, videos wont embed at the Madame Defarge site, so… I’ll put them here. Without further ado, Sections one, two, and three of What Would Madame Defarge...

As you may know, many things are afoot in Mama O Knits too Much-land—the book of knitting patterns coming out from Cooperative Press in February 2011, the online tutoring site, more and better patterns for sale, blog hops for the release of the new book, and a couple of things I can’t talk about yet. So while I’m sitting here in a cold, dark room (wearing my Cratchettes), wishing I were knitting but looking at the computer screen...

Welcome to the final part of A Christmas Carol brought to you by the podcast CraftLit: A Podcast for Crafters Who Love Books. In the previous episode I promised to link to a webpage with lots of A.C.C. and Dickensian information. This is the compendium of useful links. In this episode I point you towards the CraftLit episodes that cover A Tale of Two Cities, and two other books: Amazon.com Widgets Here are the various file formats you can use...

Welcome to part two of A Christmas Carol brought to you by the podcast CraftLit: A Podcast for Crafters Who Love Books. During the course of the episode I promise a link to a webpage with lots of A.C.C. and Dickensian information. This is the compendium of useful links. Here are the various file formats you can use to listen to Dickens. a mini-video podcast you can watch here (see below) a video podcast you can put in your iTunes or on your...

Welcome to part one of A Christmas Carol. One of the many hats I wear in life is as host to the podcast CraftLit: A Podcast for Crafters Who Love Books. The idea behind the podcast is that folks who are busy with their hands—knitting, quilting, gardening, taking care of small children, vacuuming—aren’t able to hold a book and read while they’re doing all the other things they like (or have) to do. The podcast expands their literary...