In the spring of 2018 I suffered a severe autistic burnout. Among other symptoms, I lost my balance and also the ability to read. This was a completely new situation for someone used to being on the move and reading a lot. Luckily I retained my ability to knit and crochet, although focusing on instructions was hard.
The Icelandic version of the saying about necessity being the mother of all invention literally reads: Necessity teaches the naked woman to spin. In my case, necessity drove me to create my own patterns and work with what I had close at hand.
I felt very clearly that the recovery from my burnout came to me through my feminine lineage, both directly and figuratively, sensing the invisible and endless umbilical cord that joins us all together across the ages.
This feeling also surfaced in poems that I call Vaðmál. Vað means wad and mál is Icelandic for language. Vaðmál was the woolen cloth our foremothers wove both for clothes and for trading for other goods.
Stories crocheted into blankets and words woven together became a part of my healing process.
The blankets in Story thread are all inspired by a female heritage and made with Icelandic wool.
Textile work has traditionally mostly been done by women. With it we have written our poems and drawn our pictures through the ages. Our art has mostly consisted of objects for use, serving some sort of practical purpose.
In that same manner all the Story thread blankets are useful as warm covers, a defence against physical burnout. Their use is much wider than that though, as they also hold pictures and stories.
