Medieval and early-modern textile and embroidery blogs you might want to follow...

Since Bavaria is going into a strict lock-down on Wednesday, I am not going anywhere for the moment. This means I will have plenty of reading time. My Feedly (= a handy app helping you to keep track of new posts for the blogs you follow) reading list contains a few embroidery and textile blogs devoted to the Middle Ages and Early-Modern times. As this is a niche in a niche, you might not have heard of them. So, let's explore them together! You might end up adding some to your reading list as well.

1. A Stitch in Time is written by Dr Katrin Kania. She is the owner of Palia, a webshop with lots of authentic goodies for recreating (pre)historic textiles. I bought some gorgeous plant-dyed embroidery silk as well as replicas of medieval needles and pins. Besides writing about embroidery and textiles, Katrin also writes about her life in general. A bit of politics and activism, her fantastic gardening with weird-looking chilis or trying to grow coffee in Bavaria. Due to Covid, we have not been able to meet up in person, but that will certainly change when this pesky virus is finally under control.
   
2. The blog on the CIETA website. The Centre International d'Etudes des Textiles Anciens publishes about interesting ancient textiles news from their members. Their membership is very diverse, so this is a real treasure trove of everything textile related. Last year, I applied for membership and recently I have been accepted!
3. Early medieval (mostly) textiles is a blog by Dr Alexandra Makin. She started out as an RSN apprentice and then studied archaeology. Secretly, I think she is my long-lost twin :). She publishes an in-depth article each month on early medieval textiles. I particularly loved the one on the invention of the steel sewing needle. Each article contains all the contact details of the particular researcher involved as well as a list with further academic literature for you to explore.
   
4. One I recently discovered through Katrin, is the blog on the Historical Textiles website. Two self-proclaimed textile nerds, Maria Neijman and Amica Sundström do much the same as I do: travel, explore and write about the textiles you find. During advent, they have come up with an advent calendar publishing beautiful pictures of a particular historical textile each day.
   
5. This one you probably already know: Opus Anglicanum by Tanya Bentham. She has a hilarious way of writing and not everything is rated for kids :). There is a lot of hidden and not-so-hidden erotica in medieval illuminated manuscripts. Tanya enjoys transforming these little gems into embroideries. She has a great sense of humour and the piece with the ancient watermill that had a CCTV-camera above the entrance still cracks me up.
   
6. Parlstickare is a dormant blog by my archaeozoology colleague Lena Strid. As she is currently working on her PhD, she has very little time for stitching. However, if you are interested in German brick-stitch embroidery, it is well worth browsing the older articles.
   
7. Relics in situ is written by Erin Harvey Moody and Christy Gordon Baty, two needlework historians. They combine their love for needlework with their academic background to explore textiles and the lives of women in the early modern period.
8. Another well-known blog is maintained by the Textile Research Centre led by Dr Gilian Vogelsang-Eastwood. Here you will find articles on a wide range of textile topics.
   
9. The Embroiderer's Story is the blog on Thistle Threads, maintained by Dr Tricia Wilson Nguyen, is well-known for the embroidered caskets from the 17th-century. Recently, Tricia has been exploring fine-whitework from the period too.
10. The unbroken thread is a blog by Kathy Andrews. She mainly writes about crewel embroidery and re-created patterns inspired by the historical publication of Thomas Trevelyon.
11. Vrouwen Maere is a blog on women's lives in Tyrol in the 14th-century as portrayed by three friends. One of them, Eva-Maria, is a prolific embroiderer. She specialises in making faithful replicas of medieval alms purses found in museum collections. Before Corona, I met up with Eva-Maria as she is one of the people living within travelling distance near the Brenner Pass. When we both drive for about an hour, we meet in a lovely cakeshop in Seefeld, Austria :).
    

So, that's my medieval and early-modern textiles and embroideries reading list. If you know of other blogs well-worth reading, please let me know in the comments below!