I was part of a collaboration recently! My comics buddy Walter Hudsick adapted a short story I’d written into a comic. Continue reading →

Today I’m launching my webcomic, My Ex, Vlad. It’s a romantic comedy… with monsters. And whether you’re having a great or not-so-great Valentine’s Day, I assure you: Gladiola’s is worse. If you could use a chuckle today, check it out: https://myexvlad.com P.S. If you read it and think of a friend who’d find it funny, … Continue reading →

I thought it’d be fun for you to see what goes into creating a comic panel. It’s an interesting process. Continue reading →

I was having Zoom-based tea with my friend Laura Fry recently. (One of my current goals is to reach out and reconnect with friends.) While we were talking we got to sharing what each of us is working on at the moment. She hit me with these: And I started throwing cash at the screen, … Continue reading →

Ever hit a point in your artistic endeavor where something that used to be effortless… you can’t do it anymore? A comics colleague recently expressed this frustration to me. Here was my reply, I thought it might be of interest to other creators. Do you have any thoughts / advice on this subject? I am … Continue reading →

Today I submitted a seven-page mini comic to the Sequential Artist Workshop Year-long Program. It’s my final project for the course, and will help determine whether I get the certification. This is the first page. It’s a Vampire Ex-Boyfriend bonus story that tells the origin story of Mr. Whiskers. The rest of the comic is … Continue reading →

Today’s adventure was installing a ViviMAGE Explore 2 projector on my ceiling. Why you say? In order to project sewing patterns onto my cutting board. I got clued into this by a Facebook friend, who pointed me at a Facebook group called Projectors for Sewing. The goal is to save time and paper when using … Continue reading →

This is an excerpt from my latest work on Vampire Ex-Boyfriend. I think I’m making progress in drawing faces — at last! Though I still have a lot of work to do to get to where I want to be. This is part of Vlad’s backstory, the full mini-comic is published on Patreon for story- … Continue reading →

About 20 years ago, I walked into Ace Hardware and impulse-purchased a fiber-optic Christmas tree. It was skinny, about 6 feet tall, and designed to be put out in the yard. I loved it. The way the colors swirled around it, changing in sections, was mesmerizing. If you’ve ever been to Spencer’s Gifts, back in … Continue reading →

However you celebrate the autumnal season I hope you have a great one!  This was one of my Inktober(*) sketches this year, for the prompt “Raven”. As with last year I decided to make each sketch a cartoon. This one is of a grim reaper taking a break in the middle of a busy day. … Continue reading →

I recently took an online workshop from Linda Hartshorn called “Weaving in a Parallel Universe”. It was part of the offerings of the Natural Fiber Fair. How to design and weave parallel threadings (like echo and jin) has been something I’ve tried to learn a couple of times, both through lectures and books, without ever … Continue reading →

Click on the image to see a larger version.

Bonnie Tarses just asked me what my top ten weaving tips are. I’d never thought about it before. Off the top of my head, and in no particular order I came up with: Experiment Keep records of the things you try; both the successes and the failures Take any workshop class that sounds vaguely interesting … Continue reading →

As part of the Sequential Arts Workshop (S.A.W) online Graphic Novel class, we’ve been asked to make short videos introducing us and our projects. I thought you might find it amusing.  It also explains the storyline behind Vampire Ex-Boyfriend and what I hope to accomplish with the project. (So, you know, SPOILERS) It’s 3:34 minutes … Continue reading →

This comic was created during the Graphic Novel Workout class I’m taking on Saturdays. The exercise was to create a comic with bug characters in which every panel used a different type of speech bubble. For fun, you can go through and see how many different types you can identify. I was rather surprised that … Continue reading →

This comic was made in the summer of 2020. This was drawn for the online Dune anthology.

This comic was made during the summer of 2020, for an anthology called Dune.

This was an attempt to convert a novel-in-progress into comics form. What I learned is that changing formats is difficult! Especially when the prose version has a lot of internal musings.

I made this comic in 2020, right before the pandemic started. In hindsight, it was eerily prescient.

This comic is based on my inability to filter out sounds in noisy environments. For a while I thought I had hearing loss, after visiting an audiologist, I learned that my ears were fine, it’s just how my brain processes things.

This comic is based on a true story that I originally wrote up as a text-based blog post. Thus far, my most popular post ever. It makes a pretty funny comic, too.

Alert: This post is about modifying patterns for panties, aka women’s underwear. There are no pictures of me wearing said undies, just paper patterns. However, if straight talk about how panties fit and terms like “crotch length” make you uncomfortable, bounce now. Continue reading →

The tricky thing about sewing knitwear is that the (most of) the stitches on a standard sewing machine won’t stretch enough to keep up with knit fabric.  So the best way to seam knits is with a machine called a serger. If you look at the side seams of nearly any t-shirt, you’ll see what … Continue reading →

This is your content warning. In the blog post below, I use sewing terms, some of which would make an eight-grader snigger. Everything is safe-for-work… for most workplaces. If either of those make you uneasy, bounce now. 🙂 Most commercial underwear does not fit me. The two exceptions are some high-end French brands (that I … Continue reading →

Yesterday I gave a talk to the Northwest Regional Spinner’s Association and tried some new techniques for presenting over Zoom. First of all, I listened to the advice of Laverne Waddington and Laura Fry to lean into the fact that Zoom means less audience feedback. That just because you’re feeling awkward, doesn’t mean the audience … Continue reading →

I gave a one-hour talk to the Whidbey Weaver’s Guild on etextiles. I was excited, I was prepared, it was a good group of folks… so how’d it go? I don’t know. And that’s a problem. It’d been a month since my last long-form Zoom presentation, and I forgot the most awkward part of moving … Continue reading →

I’m currently working with Patreon support to get the “Adult Content” warning label removed from the page where I share my comics. This is important for two reasons: Accounts labeled “Adult Content” do not show up in searches on Patreon. If you go and search on “cute comics about sheep, and vampires” or even “Syne … Continue reading →

Today and for the next few days I’m updating slide decks and practicing public speaking for two presentations I’m giving over Zoom next week. Normally, when I teach or give a talk, I take great care to hide all the paddling that goes on under the surface. This time I thought it might be interesting … Continue reading →

I was walking with Eric and looking around the garden and orchard, when he pointed up into a pear tree. He’d spotted a swarm of bees. As a beekeeper, I got excited. Free bees! Capturing a swarm had been on my bucket list, and here was an opportunity in my own back yard. So I … Continue reading →

I often describe racism, sexism, ageism, etc. as a “headwind”. You may still accomplish things, but it’s a whole lot harder. And some goals you may not reach; you might even die. The thing about headwinds, is that it’s really hard to notice a headwind that’s not in your face. They can be invisible. If … Continue reading →

I’m not a very experienced seamstress. I am, however, making a lot of N95 covers at the moment and stumbled on a trick that works for me. And thought I’d share it. One of the challenges for me is getting the pleats on either side sewn down, especially getting them both to be the same … Continue reading →

tldr; Got a sewing machine? Want to help? Please sew this N95 mask-cover pattern and then contact me through the Contact page on this website to coordinate delivery to UW Valley Medical Center by mail or pickup. I’ve also created a Facebook Group for this effort. I have been talking directly with UW Valley Medical … Continue reading →

Covid-19 is on all our minds at the moment. As an artist, the way I deal with uncomfortable emotions is by creating art. Below are a couple of comics I drew with the current situation in mind. This first comic represents my hope that the current situation will bring us closer together. Next I drew … Continue reading →

I’ve started making comics! I’ve loved the medium since I was a kid, and even did some educational comics work at various tech companies. There’s a lot of research that combining images, text, humor, characters, and narrative improves comprehension and retention of information. And they’re fun! I’m finding that it’s a great medium for storytelling … Continue reading →

The prompt for day two of Inktober was “Mindless”. The first iteration of idea I had for this was a drop of water splashing into a pool. But that seemed more like mindfulness than mindlessness. Then I thought of an image of a woman with a head full of butterflies escaping out of her mouth. … Continue reading →

So I’m taking drawing classes this fall, with the goal of eventually creating sequential art (aka comics). Being me, I jumped in the deep end and took courses that had a prerequisite of Basic Drawing, even though I’d never taken a drawing class before. So I took them concurrently with the basic drawing class, started … Continue reading →

I was playing around in the kitchen today and came up with something tasty! I thought I’d share it with you. DISCLAIMER: I created this recipe in the “splash of this”, “dash of that” tradition, so measurements below are my best-guess approximations after the fact. Try it, if something’s not to your taste, play around … Continue reading →

So I wrote this book, Inventive Weaving, that’s all about pushing the boundaries of what you can do with a rigid-heddle loom. And yet… I never considered using one as inspiration for building a jacquard loom! Fortunately, Kurt did. Whether or not you’re interested in ever making your own mini-jacquard loom, watch the following video. … Continue reading →

Is Lynda F. Congratulations! I’ll be shipping that out to you ASAP. Together we raised $1392 to support Doctors Without Borders, which is truly the best gift I’ve ever gotten. Huge thanks to all who participated, whether through donating yarn or sending money to DWB.

Now that I’ve left the tech world, one of the things I’m picking back up is teaching fiber arts at select venues. So I’m excited that I’ll be teaching in Prince George, British Columbia at the Association of Northwest Weavers’ Guilds conference on June 11th – 16th. I’m honored to be included among an amazing … Continue reading →

Thank you, everyone who’s contributed to the birthday blanket fundraiser! This is turning into my favorite birthday ever! I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see a good cause being supported. So far we have 10 entrants, and have raised $715 for Doctors Without Borders! The most common donation is $25, and … Continue reading →

I’ve finished the Birthday Blanket and am ready to raffle it off for charity! If you’d like the chance to win a handwoven (by me!) king-sized, mostly wool, blanket. All you need do is donate money directly to Doctors Without Borders and then email me and tell me the amount that you donated. There is no minimum donation required; give what you can. One entry per person. On February 19th, I’ll randomly select a winner from all of the entrants and mail the blanket to them. Continue reading →

On Thursday, Google employees held a global protest against the way the company handled several cases of workplace sexual harassment. It was my first protest. Everyone I’ve told that too has been surprised, including my son. I always meant to join marches, hold up signs, join the fight. Women’s rights, racial equality, climate change… I’d … Continue reading →

This is a poem I wrote when I was 26. Feels like I wrote it for my older self. What a thoughtful youth I was. End of the Road As people age, they become more themselves, Less society’s construct. As if our culture, obsessed with youth, forgot to lay a path for old age. For … Continue reading →

Yesterday Eric and I went on a date and saw a play put on by the Sound Theatre Company and Deaf Spotlight. It was a bilingual version of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” presented in both English and ASL. The stage was small and intimate, with the only setting being curtains and a few pillows. … Continue reading →

Some time back, I published an online magazine, WeaveZine. When I went back to the workforce I had to shut down the business. Because I love the content, however, I’ve kept the site alive. To make hosting it relative inexpensive and hacker-proof, I converted the site from a Drupal CMS to a flat-HTML site. In … Continue reading →

The ebook version of my rigid-heddle book, Inventive Weaving, is on sale during the whole month of November for $2.99. Which is something like 90% off. Please help spread the word because I don’t want anyone who’d like to take advantage of this offer to miss out. What’s happening is that Storey’s added my book to their Fresh Picks selection this … Continue reading →

This past Thanksgiving I had an adventure. I spent the day with my family, then bright and early on Friday, hopped in my car and drove from Seattle, WA to Mountain View, CA. A thirteen-hour, one-way road trip, by myself, in Black Friday traffic. What would induce me to do such a crazy thing? Why … Continue reading →

I’ve been mending and burling the Birthday Blanket. This means painstakingly going over the fabric looking for flaws and fixing them. Most errors, like skips and floats, are easy to fix. The one that’s been puzzling me is sleaziness. In places where there are two consecutive shots missing, it’s easy, simply needle-weave in two new shots of weft. But what … Continue reading →

Maru got excited while I was warping the last of the blanket warp. Given half a chance, he’d run into my studio and full-on attack the warp. Grabbing paw-fulls, and raking it with his back claws. Needless to say, he got booted. Not only for the sake of the warp, but for his own. The … Continue reading →

This is what 9 yards looks like, wound onto the cloth beam. This is the third warp. I’ve woven 27 yards for this project. The next step is mending, in which I fix any errors and skips in the fabric. There are a non-trivial number of errors, but not as many as I feared there … Continue reading →

I was recently interviewed about my work and Inventive Weaving on episode 176 of the Craftsanity podcast. If you want to know more about the story behind the book, give it a listen. It’s a great way to pass the time while threading a loom, which is what I was doing when I played it. … Continue reading →

I was weaving along on the Birthday Blanket at a good clip when the right treadle cable broke. This was frustrating, but I take it as a sign that I’m now a “real” weaver. Though as soon as I type that, I hear Laura Fry in my head saying, “Not until you fix it, you’re … Continue reading →

I had a wonderful time at the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival. It’s a new festival, I believe this was it’s fourth year.  It was small and had a great vibe, reminding me quite a bit of the Madrona Winter Retreat in Tacoma. Friday night, there was a book signing with all the teachers and authors … Continue reading →

One of the fun things about working at Google is that you get to work with smart and creative people. The photo below was created with Cloud Spin, a demo project that shows how to use Google Cloud Platform to build services for mobile apps. The folks running the demo at the GDG conference were bemused when I showed … Continue reading →

For previous book releases, I’ve made a pilgrimage to the local bookseller to take a celebratory picture standing next to the book on the shelves. With my time almost completely taken up with working at Google and spending time with my family, I’m not sure when I’ll have time to get to a local yarn or … Continue reading →

My new book, Inventive Weaving, is scheduled to be published tomorrow, though I know that some folks who attended Rhinebeck or pre-ordered the book on Amazon have already gotten their hands on copies. This upcoming weekend I’ll be promoting the book at the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival, in The Dalles, Oregon. It’s one I’ve never been to … Continue reading →

November is National Novel Writing Month. It’s an annual event where writers pledge to write a novel (40K or more words) in a month. There are websites where you can register and find other enthusiasts, and cheer each other on. I have never participated in NaNoWriMo, but I’ve always been intrigued. I like the idea … Continue reading →

This summer, I spent time in Seattle coffee houses and libraries going through the page proofs of my forthcoming book: Inventive Weaving. This is the step in the publishing process where all of the photos and text are laid out as they will be in the finished book, and the author gets to go through … Continue reading →

It’s not dead, just pining for the fjords…. WeaveZine was down for about a week recently and I’ve been asked questions about that. I was moving WeaveZine to a new host, and making some improvements to the site at the same time. There was a snafu with the DNS switch-over and the site was offline … Continue reading →

It started when Eric sent me a link in email. The subject line was “another keyboard”. I’ve been looking for a new keyboard ever since my beloved Touchstream LP began dying. It’s 12 years old, so I can’t complain. Having suffered with RSI in my late 20s, I’ve become a big fan of ergonomics. It’s … Continue reading →

In February of this year, I joined Google as a technical writer for Google Cloud Platform. People who work at Google refer to themselves as Googlers. Newbies are called Nooglers. And yes, they issue every single one of us our own beanie cap. When you join Google they send you to orientation. It’s a week long, which … Continue reading →

I’ve been with my current derby team for over a year, but my skates still reflect the colors of my previous team. It was time for a change. So I went to MacPherson Leather Company, down in Seattle, and after consulting with the guy behind the counter, purchased some leather paint. I was initially worried … Continue reading →

Two weeks ago I gave notice. Today was my last day working at Amazon. It was also my third year anniversary of when I joined the company. It was time. It’s a hit financially, but a necessary one; I need a break from the long hours and the stress that goes along with any IT … Continue reading →

I had to work through the weekend, but made time to swing down to the Madrona Winter Retreat to pick up my pocket wheel. My birthday present this year. Made on Whidbey Island, by a lovely husband and wife team, this little wheel is a marvel of engineering. It’s small and light, and the spinning … Continue reading →

This past weekend I traveled down to Oakland to teach at the Conference of Northern California Handweavers. It was a fun time. I hadn’t been immersed in the fiber world in a while and it was good to be back. I was there to teach two classes, “Beginning Rigid Heddle Weaving” and “e-Textiles”. It’s always … Continue reading →

This Sunday, an unusual thing happened. My friend Marilyn stopped by with a parcel. That wasn’t too unexpected, so I invited her in for a cup of tea. I was giving her a tour of my house (aka: the house I went back to work to afford), when I noticed my friend Astrid outside, holding … Continue reading →

Last year, my birthday sucked. I was saying a final goodbye to my dreams of making a living in the fiber arts. It was poignant, because I spent the whole weekend teaching at Madrona, a wonderful fiber conference, surrounded by everything I was giving up. The day after Madrona, I would start full-time work again. … Continue reading →

If you had told my twenty-year-old self that I would one day enthusiastically sign up for eight hours of hard workout spread over two days, she would have looked at you as if you were crazy and gone back to making chain mail, eating pizza, and watching TV.

My friend Bobbie Climer took some photos of me in my roller derby gear.

I signed up for a Linux Administration certification program, because I thought it would be fun, and because Amazon Web Services is a Linux house, which is geek for “we use a lot of Linux around the place.” So I walk into the classroom and I was the only girl…by a lot.  That’s really the … Continue reading →

One of the things I love about going to a gathering of fiber enthusiasts is the sharing and inspiration that goes on. For example, I recently went to an Eastside Spinners meeting (held at Starbucks, because this is the Pacific Northwest) where a woman pulled out a gorgeous multcolored batt, filled with sparkly bits, recently … Continue reading →

It’s a banner day, the first of two warps for the Birthday Blanket Project are done!  Eric and Kai were away for most of the week, and I took the opportunity to weave on my big noisy AVL (the flyshuttle is loud) while they were away.  At first it felt as though the 13-yard warp … Continue reading →

I was browsing around online as I sometimes do, and look what I stumbled across.  The Sept-Oct edition of Handwoven is on sale, with my eTextile project mentioned on the cover!  How cool is that?

Yesterday I was part of a flash mob. If you’re not famliliar with the concept, its an event where in some public space, seemingly random strangers break into coordinated action or song. It’s  like a musical come to life. This flash mob was put together by Sock Summit folk, who were so organized as to … Continue reading →

I’m a long-range planner.  My husband tells an apocryphal story about the time he caught me furtively looking at prices of mulberry trees online.  As he approached, I was trying to switch screens and go back to the novel I was supposed to be writing. “Syne?” he said, in a wry tone, “Was that a … Continue reading →

I had a plan, it wasn’t a perfect plan, it wasn’t a well-funded plan, but it was mine and I was determined to see it through.                                                                                 —Syne Mitchell

I love it when life takes a turn for the surreal. A couple of Fridays ago, I headed out for lunch, and while I was crossing the Amazon headquarters courtyard, was suddenly confronted by a pair of slender giantesses, clad in pink and silver skintight spandex, doing a sensual dance number to the tune of … Continue reading →

Yesterday was Kai’s first day of summer camp. Dropping him off was poignant. He handled it well enough, I was the one who wanted to cling to him. What a long way he’s come since first grade.



Yesterday was a day of glamour. I woke up, bathed, re-colored the fuschia-orange stripe in my hair, painted my nails. This is something I’m not sure I’ve ever done before, spent an entire day just on looking good. Even on my wedding day I was more worried about getting my lines straight than what I … Continue reading →

Recently I had the good fortune to get into a workshop with Randy Darwall. It was so popular, that I had ended up on the waiting list and didn’t find out until two days before that I’d get in. The format of the workshop is a round-robin critique of people’s work, with an eye to … Continue reading →

Today was one of those hard days, when you come home and just need to be alone for a while.  Eric’s known me long enough that he actually looked at me and said, “Go, do something with your hands.”

This past Thursday I had lunch with Astrid Bear.  If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Astrid, she’s witty, fun, friendly, and knows an astounding number of people from many different walks of life. You’d probably like her if you met her, she’s just that kind of person. Among the many hats Astrid wears … Continue reading →

Guess what?  I’m teaching at Sock Summit in Portland!!! If you don’t yet know about this event, it’s an entire weekend celebrating the hand-knit sock. It covers pretty much every way a sock can be created and is a complete ball of fun. I went in 2009 on the advice of Brenda Dayne and the encouragement of Astrid Bear and had … Continue reading →

I’ve been discovering my inner sports fan. After a lifetime of my father dragging me to football games, and the utter shame of me attending not even one Seminole’s football game during my years at Florida State University, it’s amusing to have this hit now as a 41-year-old. It’s roller derby.  Which if you’re not familiar with … Continue reading →

http://www.weavezine.com/weavegeek/andean-pebble-weaveâ%2580%2599s-new-home.html One of the tricky things about shutting down a business is figuring out how to do right by your business partners.  So I’ve been working with Laverne Waddington to find a new venue for

I’ve been through my first two weeks at my new job.  Starting a new job is always an adjustment.  There’ve been fun moments—my coworkers are a smart and lively bunch, and the technologies I’m working on are cutting edge—and challenging moments—there’s so much to learn, it’s like drinking from a firehose—and sad moments—I have less … Continue reading →

I got back from Madrona yesterday.  As always, it was a whirlwind.  This year I ended up teaching two entirely new classes, one with a co-teacher, which was another first for me.  I enjoy working up new material to teach, but it’s a lot more work because all the samples are new, the notes are … Continue reading →

2011 is already starting out as a year of big changes.  The biggest one is that, after 10 years of being a work-at-home mom, I’ve gotten a day job…and not just any day job, but one that matches what I’d described as my “best possible job” when I started looking. I’d been plinking in resumes … Continue reading →

The warp is wound onto the plain beam of my AVL, and awaiting threading. The warp separator I ended up buying is six bamboo blinds from the hardware store, handily precut to 46-inch widths, 2 yards long.  I use pliers to remove the blind hardware and ta-da!  Perfect warp separator.  Infinitely reusable, works a treat, … Continue reading →

The title of this post sounds like a bad romance novel, doesn’t it?  It’s not, it’s a reference the birthday blanket project from last year.  Remember that?  Things got kicked off with a wonderful birthday party, I came home that night and finished winding the rest of the threads into warp.  And then…the project sat all chained … Continue reading →

I’m teaching a beginning rigid-heddle class at Weaving Works in Seattle today so I’d originally thought there would be no blog post today. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that it’s possible to blog by proxy! First of all, Bonnie Tarses of Weaving Spirit posted pictures and a description about a handwoven towel I wove up for her. Then … Continue reading →

I washed the rayon chenille that I took off my AVL.  As expected, some of it was completely unusable cloth.  Sacrificed to the gods of learning. But here, completely pettable and respectable is four yards of cloth, 36 inches wide.  I washed it on cold/normal and then dried it with some towels on tumble-dry-low to … Continue reading →

I first encountered a computer in eighth-grade gifted class.  It was a TRS-80, which immediately was referred to as “Trash-80.” When it was brought into the room, a number of the boys immediately adhered to the box.  It wasn’t their fault, the nerdions within them were irresistibly attracted to the positive computer-nucleus inside.  They were … Continue reading →

If you listened to the first WeaveCast, you’ll know that I didn’t take to weaving immediately.  I bought a used Baby Wolf loom, tried to learn it on my own with limited success, and then put in in the corner for a two-year time out.  Then I took a class, learned how to really use it … Continue reading →

Last night I was up at 2 a.m. drilling holes in my AVL.  I finished the modifications to the fly-shuttle assembly to turn it from a pull-down mechanism to a side-to-side throw.  The pull-down mechanism the loom came with made my shoulder hurt after about a half-hour of weaving, so Laura and Doug Fry (aka the … Continue reading →

This is one of my favorite nights of the year.  I love the twinkly lights and the sense of anticipation, When I was a little girl, I used to sleep in the living room next to the tree the night before Christmas.  I don’t know if the plan was to catch Santa in the act, … Continue reading →