Dirty Blue Shirts

Last week at this time we were recovering from the raucous good times of the 5th annual Connecticut Sea Music Festival, which included a sojourn to 1776 for the opening parade. Nate looked every inch a sailor in his new wool jacket & petticoat trowsers, shown here engaged in a regular breakdown with the Ship’s Company Chanteymen. On Sunday he & Johann added more weight to our cargo-handling demonstration by rigging the tiny cask for hauling up a convenient hillside - many thanks to our fiddler friend for pacing the work! This week we’re preparing for the raucous good times of Old Songs: Music with Roots - see you on Friday, Altamont 🌊

📸 thanks to Liz Hannan Kading

Hannan Kadingckskorner

It’s Worldwide Knit in Public Day! Liz & Rebecca knit in public during the Connecticut Sea Music Festival, where the intersection of maritime & textile history was just as deliciously heady as the scent of beach roses in the heavy afternoon sunshine. Rebecca’s yarn is being transported in a Cordova Gansey project backpack from The Net Loft in Alaska - a long way from Essex but a lovely thought during these high temperatures!

📸 Hunter A Bustamante 🙏

It’s Music Festival June! and we’re thrilled to be back in Essex for the 5th annual , bringing the skills & stories of our maritime heritage to life on the Lay House Lawn above the Connecticut River Museum. With demonstrations & lessons in canvas stitching, knotwork, spinning rope, and cargo handling (among others), we can shed light on the seagoing world & the ways in which its music appears in our lives today. Plus some of us might briefly inhabit 1776 during tomorrow morning’s festival-opening parade…

As seen on C-Span! While a video is no substitute for seeing our presentation in person (can’t feel all the fabric samples!), please enjoy a sample of our signature America 250 program The Web They Wove!

NB This was presented in Bristol, RI. We always customize our program according to the locale, so it’s never quite the same!

Women's Wardrobes During the Revolutionary Era Historians discussed the textile choices of women in Revolutionary-era New England and how wardrobe preferences affected the Revolution. The Rogers Free Library in Bristol, Rhode Island, hosted this event.

Happy Shad Derby Day! How could Melodie & Rebecca resist a long-standing fish festival? We were thrilled to be invited by & sponsored by , and we had so many inspired (and we hope inspiring) conversations with budding stitchers & experienced historians alike. Then we made a great day perfect with a pit stop at our favorite 18th century chocolate shop! Here’s to the 2027 Shad Run 🐟

Turns out a cool New England Spring is the perfect weather for pic-nicking with daffodils! Living History Day at the Bonfoey Farm brought us lively outdoor games with busloads of ARC clients & Yale students, visits from old friends & introductions to new ones, and the friendliest, most welcoming venue we could ever imagine. Plus we were a practically perfect timeline about 5 years apart, starting with Barbara in the mid-1770s and wrapping with Beth in the 18teens! Must be some Halfinger magic because we couldn’t do that again if we tried 🌼

📸 thanks to the fabulous

One blissfully short week until we return to glorious Dancing Daffodils! It’s our 5th Living History Day at the Federal Era farm of the Bonfoey family, and between that and the 250th anniversary of 1776, we have some extra special things up our hand-stitched sleeves. Keep a watch here for hints, or better yet come join us in your most festive frock - daffodils perfectly suit every fashion era!