Members of Bathory may not sport Fana cardigans on stage, but knitting is actually one of the oldest Nordic crafts, and a variation on the art was even popular among the Vikings (giving a whole new, knitting needle meaning to "Viking metal"). This weekend, crafty Seattleites have a unique opportunity to learn about Nordic knitting—which includes lacemaking, two-end/twined knitting, and weaving techniques—at the Nordic Knitting Conference. And all just in time to make some mittens for winter. more ›

• Few things bring us dorkier joy than guerrilla knitting, and PhinneyWood has photos of a newly spotted project.
• MyBallard reports that the Nordic Heritage Museum has plans to become a "world class museum" now that it's leaving its school house home. To this we say: held og lykke!
• According to HorsesAss.Org Bill Clinton got the biggest reception of the Democratic Convention by far. Guess ole' Slick Willie still has it.

• My Ballard has lots of tasty news, reporting on Paseo's first day in a new location, Rachael Ray shooting an episode of Rachael's Travels at Volterra, and lots of fat salmon going through the Locks.
• Phinneywood reports and shares photos of an adorable knit crosswalk pedestrian flag that's popped up in Greenwood. We are all for guerrilla knitting projects, especially those that benefit your community, so we say hooray!
• The Belltowner shares, in two posts that should have been linked to each other as proof, how tourists should stay out of Belltown and on the homecoming of Daniel Stoy (an out-of-towner who was beaten unconscious on his visit to Belltown).

In researching Seattle elementary schools, we came across Mark Bergin's article in the most recent issue of the Christian weekly World Magazine. Bergin, who covered the Seattle Storm's season for the PI, tells us about Seattle's sex-segregated Thurgood Marshall elementary school. more ›

Man, is there a LOT of Bumbershoot stuff on Seattlest right now. If you're anything like Editor Dan you're hoping for a break in the Bumber action; a contributor's recounting of a trip to Lake Chelan, a reaction to a dunderheaded Seattle Times editorial, or even some lame PR survey naming Seattle 16th Most Fashionable City West of the Rockies. Anything! Well, you can hope for something different, but your hopes will be dashed because this is another Bumbershoot post. more ›

During our carefree days as hapless grad students a couple of years back, we noticed a surge of knitting among the student set. While discussing greasy topics like intellectual freedom, ethnographic methodologies, and how best to catalog pornography, some of our number were simultaneously manipulating dangerous needles and fearsome quantities of yarn. We never formulated an official opinion whether knitting during class was disrespectful or not. On the other hand, we felt much safer sitting in a room full of pointy weaponry. Had the anti-intellectuals finally decided to storm in and shut down our abstract fantasy-land, we were prepared. more ›

Laure R. King, best-selling mystery author, drew a standing-room-only crowd at the University Bookstore last night. King is the author of two mystery series, one about a lesbian police detective in San Francisco, and another featuring Sherlock Holmes with an ass-kicking emancipated female sidekick-spouse, Mary Russell. The two series finally converge (to the delight, surely, of her publisher) in King's latest, . more ›

The Austin-based Craft Mafia has been a hit in Texas and in other cities and Seattle just the kind of place for a new familia. And as if in answer to that void SeattleCraftMafia.com launched today. more ›

Seattlest has loved Brooklyn-based rockers The Walkmen for a while now, but it was their second full-length, 2004's critically acclaimed Bows and Arrows, that really got us good. The album slowly revealed its facets, intense and yearning one moment, subdued and wistful the next---qualities that made it a great post-break-up listen. Since we had nearly worn that CD out over the past two years, it was about time for some new tunes, and the Walkmen deliver with A Hundred Miles Off, in stores yesterday. more ›

Action! Romance! Deceit! All this excitement on a Sunday night can mean only one of two things: Either our Tivo accidentally began playing an episode of Passions (and the likelihood of that happening—um, again—is slim to none) or our favorite Seattle-based show is revving up for the second season home stretch (two night finale is May 14-15, mark your calendars now, boob tubers). If we were betting types, which we are, we'd put our cash on the latter. more ›

You may have noticed that we've added a few new bylines recently. (So young, so fresh, so enthusiastic!) There are other new faces still waiting in the wings, but we just can't stop ourselves now - We want even more. We're greedy like that. more ›

Crafty hipsters will gather Sunday at the Crocodile for yet another installment of I Heart Rummage. more ›