Things are definitely interesting here in Germany at the time. To my great relief, the Bundestag has not voted for the absolutely insane new immigration law that Merz had proposed - and gotten backed by the AfD.

We will see how things are going to be, but at least that is not the all-out slide into the repetition of history that I had feared for.

So now: Weekend, including some demonstration against the far right and their utterly bullshit ideas. 

Well, I can tell you what is up here... I had a little medical check-up today, which ate basically all my morning. (They did a "function test", which sounds fancy but means you lie on a recliner for close to 1.5 hours doing exactly... nothing. Well, there's three blood draws and two administrations of stuff, but that's it.) The cat then was adamant that I sit down and do computer work instead of running around sorting stuff and finishing prep for the online sewing workshop tonight (because then she can nap on my arm...)  which means I am now doing the paperwork first, running-around-work later. 

Part of the paper- (or almost-paper)-sorting included some updating of the literature database, and that led to a little bit of software installation as an old converter that I always used is no longer working. Yay technological progress. Not. 

So after some looking and trying to re-activate the old method, I've found a new way now (which included installing a second opensource reference manager called JabRef). Now on to finish that bit of housekeeping, and then on to other work!

You all know the tangible heritage we have - old buildings, old cities, old items. And most probably, you have heard of intangible heritage, which is cultural practices and knowledge. Knowledge, for instance, on how to make the items that we have preserved as tangible heritage, made in times long past.

The Unesco is keeping, and extending, a list of this heritage, and you can find it here. Even better, each item on the list can be clicked to tell you more about it, usually with a short and well-made explanatory video. So if you want to see some beautiful Portuguese horseriding, or some amazing fibre arts - go there and enjoy!

I am back home, now enjoying (more or less) the German rain as opposed to the Italian rain last week...

The Winter School was a wonderful experience, and I got to meet and spend a little time with so many of my colleagues that I see way too rarely! The practical part of the school itself was more like "Textile Technique Speed Dating", as there was only very little time for each small group in each technique. We knew that beforehand and had planned accordingly, so I had compressed the "how to spin" as much as possible, and prepared a lot of spindles so everyone could have a try straight away, with no time lost to prep. That worked almost als well as imagined, except I had counted on a bit of breathing time while everybody span, and had planned to use those two or three minutes to reset the first batch of spindles while the second one was in use. Well, that plan went down the drain almost immediately, because there were too many questions and too much to show - which meant that it got a little more stressful than anticipated. 

It was great fun, though, and also an interesting experience regarding of how much you can teach in the shortest time possible, and where the pitfalls are. 

The programme of the International Winter School "Textiles Make the World go Round" was topped off by a spectacular closing event: A "Catwalk to the Past" in the magnificent Sala dei Giganti of the Uni of Padova. This prehistoric fashion show was planned and organised by Karina Grömer, who has done similar events in the past a few times, and her team Kayleigh Saunderson and Ronja Lau, plus the many volunteer models who took part in the show.

And in case you missed the thing on site and also the livestream, fortunately there is a video recording of the Catwalk to the Past! Unfortunately I was not able to embed it here directly, but you can click this link, which brings you to the point after the Italian opening speeches and right to the start of the presentation.

I hope you enjoy it!

I've mentioned the knit-along yesterday - I'm also on my merry way to resurrect a pattern design that I made ages ago (or, if you like precise numbers, about 11 years ago). It's ... interesting.

I was pretty sure that I had recorded everything correctly, and that it was just a matter of adding some explantations and formatting and tweaking it a bit here and there, but now it turns out that... well. I hadn't. There's some issues. So I'm re-knitting it, trying to find out if it's a systematic error (and if so, where to fix it) or if it's just a sequence of on-going blunders not really connected to each other (that's the interpretation I am currently leaning toward) and fixing those individually. It definitely stays interesting that way, and I will have a nice knitted item at the other end of this.

In other work news, I've been packing up orders to send out, and more of that is still on the list to do during the next few days. Though I have to time my away-from-desk times carefully, or I am getting The Stare from the little cat, who does insist on her desk cuddle time. (Which, as you may well guess, does not always align with my planned sitting-at-desk-and-typing times.)

It's time for the festive season - and whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, something else, or not at all, I hope you will have some good days with people you love, doing whatever makes you happy. 

We will be seeing family and friends, and have some quiet days before the New Year comes. 

I will be on my winter break starting today, so blog posts will be back on January 13. Have wonderful holidays, and a good start into the year 2025!

These are rare - very rare, but obviously they do exist: job offers in the field of experimental archaeology. Case in point? The ArcheoBark project, which is looking for someone to fill their vacancy. So if you're looking for a job for 18 months, starting next spring, reconstructing and making bark vessels, you can read more about the job and how to apply here.