Woven with Brown Thread This anthology is the result of deep heart work. Seeing Woven with Brown Thread come alive is one of my greatest dreams realized. When I started the Khala Series writing mentorship program my hope was to sit in a room with other poets and work through our work. In 2019, every other Saturday in Johannesburg for weeks Khala Series happened. We met, we laughed, we held each other, we cried, and we occasionally wrote. It was such a filling experience to be among the words and those who live to navigate them. With 2020, came the pandemic and lockdown and Khala, like other things in the world, came to a complete stop. Navigating sadness, desperation and uncertainty reminded me of how poetry is necessary. Poetry and being in community with other poets has always given me the space to breathe, consider and to simply exist. In 2021, I decided that Khala Series needed to continue if even virtually, so the 100 Poem Project was born. The Centre for the Less Good Idea was happy to support this project as it revels in work that helps to celebrate artists in all stages of their lives and practices. Through social media I issued a call to black women and nonbinary persons to submit poems dear to them. A flood of applications came from all over and I was both overwhelmed and overjoyed. I had worried that I would not receive any applications and by some great fate 500 people applied. 25 Poets were chosen to be in this anthology and from their bios you will learn how these unique previously unpublished poets come from different countries, have different professions and religions, backgrounds, and styles; They were all chosen for their magic. There was no prompt for the applicants and no themes. Poems came as they were and somehow managed to fit together neatly. The poems have been housed in five chapters. The first chapter 'Ritual' is a celebration of everyday practices and what we do to get by and get through. Facing a pandemic, practices that bring us back to the center are important now more than ever. From a poem about plantain to a poem about prayer, poems in this chapter manage to find the majesty in the mundane. The next chapter 'Inheritance' deals with navigating things of the blood. There are habits and features we may inherit and there are traditions we follow and those we break. Dealing with history, memory and heritage seems an essential part of all journeys to the self. Somehow looking backwards every so often helps us look forward more confidently and with better understanding. The Chichewa word 'khala' means 'to be' or 'to sit' or 'to exist'. In this book's third chapter, 'Being', live the poems that celebrate existence. Here are the poems around body, skin and names and life on the margins. The poets in this series grapple with what it means to exist as themselves, sometimes in love with all that is them and sometimes not. The last two chapters tackle deep hurt and deep love. Poems around loss, danger and the pain experienced at the hand of governments exist in the chapter 'Wound'. The failing of systems to protect those who live in the margins is central to this chapter. The collection's last chapter 'Tender' gathers poems that speak to joy and love as a final note to the reader that these two things are possible. 'Tender' is filled with love poems. Love poems for ourselves. Love poems for others. Love poems for nature. The tender act is opening your heart to joy. This book is filled with poems for the journey and all your new favourite poets. Through Zoom calls and Google Doc forms and all the conveniences of the internet this book came to be. This book, like the lives of those who have contributed to it, has been woven together with brown thread. May we all remember the kind thread that ties us to each other. May the poems do their work.

“A spectacular encyclopedia of embroidery, sharing valuable techniques passed down through the generations . . . you’ll wonder how you ever worked without it.” —Sew Magazine Enjoy the tranquility of slow stitching with this step-by-step, visual guide to 149 embroidery stitches, motifs, and extras. Go beyond basic color theory–robust color charts take the guesswork out of choosing thread, silk ribbon, buttons, beads, and trims. Then take your embroidery to the next level with luxurious seam treatments and stunning stand-alone designs. Bestselling author Christen Brown’s traditional and contemporary techniques are showcased in a colorful gallery of crazy-quilted projects. “An overview of embroidery stitches and techniques as well as inspiration for embroidery projects . . . She dissects several of her pieces, summarizing the color palette, decorative elements, and stitches used.” —Library Journal

One of the century's most spectacular archaeological finds occurred in 1921, a year before Howard Carter stumbled upon Tutankhamun's tomb, when Poul Norlund recovered dozens of garments from a graveyard in the Norse settlement of Herjolfsnaes, Greenland. Preserved intact for centuries by the permafrost, these mediaeval garments display remarkable similarities to western European costumes of the time. Previously, such costumes were known only from contemporary illustrations, and the Greenland finds provided the world with a close look at how ordinary Europeans dressed in the Middle Ages. Fortunately for Norlund's team, wood has always been extremely scarce in Greenland, and instead of caskets, many of the bodies were found swaddled in multiple layers of cast off clothing. When he wrote about the excavation later, Norlund also described how occasional thaws had permitted crowberry and dwarf willow to establish themselves in the top layers of soil. Their roots grew through coffins, clothing and corpses alike, binding them together in a vast network of thin fibers - as if, he wrote, the finds had been literally sewn in the earth. Eighty years of technical advances and subsequent excavations have greatly added to our understanding of the Herjolfsnaes discoveries. Woven into the Earth recounts the dramatic story of Norlund's excavation in the context of other Norse textile finds in Greenland. It then describes what the finds tell us about the materials and methods used in making the clothes. The weaving and sewing techniques detailed here are surprisingly sophisticated, and one can only admire the talent of the women who employed them, especially considering the harsh conditions they worked under. While Woven into the Earth will be invaluable to students of medieval archaeology, Norse society and textile history, both lay readers and scholars are sure to find the book's dig narratives and glimpses of life among the last Vikings fascinating.

A cloth bag containing eight copies of the title, that may also include a folder.

"Includes information on working with natural dyes!"--Cover.

In the busyness of our modern lifestyle, it is difficult to see and experience God in our lives. Unless we stop and listen, it is hard to hear what God wishes to reveal to our hearts. In publishing this book, Fr. Brendan offers us not only a challenge but an invitation. An invitation to take a break, to find some quiet time to be with the Lord. It is there, in the quiet of God’s presence that we will find rest for our souls. The book is comprised of a series of homilies. Each one of the homilies was delivered in Fr. Brendan’s parish. Each one emphasizes the presence of God in the daily events of our lives. He challenges us to step back from the busyness of the modern world and all its distractions and focus on the Word of God. Many of the homilies tell a story of a day-to-day life. Fr. Brendan then connects that story of ordinary life to the story of God acting in our own lives. When we step back and reflect on the presence of God in our lives, we see that God is not only present but that he has woven a fabric – a fabric rich in grace, telling the divine the story that is deep within each of us.