How does one tell the story of a one who is difficult to understand? An unknown, yet is a crucial piece of Firefly. That is River Tam. Alliance fugitive, genius, and younger sister of Simon Tam. Also, she is a young adult woman who is still finding her way. She is a talented dancer and that elegance and beauty brings tension to the reality that she is no longer just a girl, she can kill you with her brain and carries trauma, more vast than her years in the ‘verse.
Upon my first watches of the Firefly series, I thought River’s style was based on convenience, an amalgam of hand-me-downs from Kaylee, Inara, and Zoey. But with a more recent re-watch, I don’t think this is the case. River has clear vision for what she wants, and yes the first few days may have been hand-me-downs, but with a show tasked with telling so much is such a small window, everything is intentional. The costume designer, Trpcic, had a fantastic canvas to do what the story needed – tell us who River is without spoiling what she would become in her story arc. She is a girl who loves dresses, the freedom of comfort, flowy silhouette, and the protection of big combat boots.
Her clothes dance with her, gliding and twirling in those rare moments where River can soak in the simple pleasures of being free to exist as a human and not a weapon. You can see all that she craved from her time as an imprisoned experiment of the Alliance – color, nature, warmth, dreaming. Bohemian clothing is associated with a romanticism and idealism of the world free to exist in peace, love, and harmony. All things River has been deprived of by her captors. But when she is aboard the Serenity, she is given another chance at life. She is alive again. She is healing. Pink is an optimistic color, flowers a symbol of new hope. In the movie, when she can no longer ignore her trauma, and must confront it, River changes to darker colors. Her silhouettes stay romantic and delicate but in deeper colors. They communicate a maturity, she has passed from the arrested development state we find River in at the beginning of the story, to the woman who is accepting her new reality but choosing her path through it.
I’m not a huge fan of dresses, even though I have tried to like them in my twenties, they’re not for me. So if I consider incorporating her looks into my style, I have a bit of a road block when I see the over sized, pink dresses. What I do appreciate about River’s style is the Bohemian flair, knit and crochet details, and excellent taste in boots. I also like how she wears her hair. It’s how I’ve worn my hair for most of my life. I am inspired to knit pieces that she would wear and have incorporated sheer layering tops into my wardrobe this fall as well as a pair of Doc Marten look a-likes. I would like to dress like her, because I feel a kinship with River. Sometimes being neurodivergent, feels like you are stuck in your head, in a place no one can reach you. She is one of my favorite female characters for her realness. She is a strong female who is sometimes complete paralyzed by her struggles, she needs her community to bring her back from the brink, that’s real life. We are not lone wolves, lone wolves don’t survive. We need our pack.
There are many fashion icons from the Y2K era, many that have mentioned on the blog like Lizzie McGuire, Lorelai Gilmore, Phoebe Buffay, Zenon Girl of the 21st Century, etc. They are known for their wacky combos and closet staples that continue to appear in fashion trend look books. One character though, that typifies the 2000’s style for me in both past nostalgia ephemera and present sewing plans, is Kaywinnet Lee Frye of 2002’s Firefly.
Now, if you think this is crazy, I think you are overlooking the details of this style that mixes utilitarian work wear with pattern, floral embroidery, all while layering pieces in a fashion that keeps this style futurist and retro at the same time. Costume Designer, Shawna Trpcic, had a lovely eye for detail when crafting the style of Kaylee. She is an accomplished ship-mechanic, but she is also young, from a rural planet, and has a love of nature even though she spends most days in space travelling the ‘verse.
For most characters who would be styled this way from the 2000s, they would be the typical “not-like-other-girls” archetype, but Kaylee is not. She is a girls girl. She wishes to be as lavishly adorned as Inara, and as wonderfully adored by a partner as Zoey is by Wash. She is strong and delicate, gentle and brave. She is ying and yang, a great nod to the the mix of east and west in the show, as well as space and western. There is a pleasant tension that weaves this story together. She is nurturing to River, spunky to Jayne, unwavering in her standards when Mal or Simon talk out of turn, and respectful of Book.
By making Kaylee a multi-dimensional character, Trpcic had a lot of ground to cover, to explore these sides of Kaylee in 14 episodes and a movie. How did she make such a dent? I believe it is in the details. Kaylee wears a version of coveralls throughout the story. Sometimes these are long sleeved, or more of a vest style. These earthtone greens and browns, have a warmth to them, like Kaylee. In the show, Kaylee is always wearing a warm color palette. Pinks, creams, aqua, etc. It is later on in Serenity, where she wears cooler tone pinks, dark gray-green, and cool tone brown. In the show, Kaylee wears earth-toned accessories, delicate necklace, funky print tops, brown belts, coral flip flops, sheer pink gloves. There is lightness in what she wears, even if it is a twill coverall or an exaggerated poofy dress. Even her floral dress with embroidery from the flashback, has lightness, with the voluminous sleeves. You can see a common thread throughout every look.
Her style grounds the show in reality, there is a world beyond the ship, among all these planets. It is bohemian, and she is a free spirit. If the show had focused too much on the space-futurism, Kaylee would not belong in this world. Her love of strawberries would be untethered from reality. Her hammock in the engine room, brings that carefree spirit of a ship on the water, or a beach somewhere out there in the ‘verse, away from the alliance. Her parasol carries history, of a time before planet hopping and Alliance subjugation, before Reavers. She embodies that peace we feel surrounded by nature, even though most of the nature she sees, is floating by the windows of Serenity. The darkness of space never changes her, like Sandy Cheeks from Spongebob, she is thriving in an abnormal environment.
What I love the most is how femme the style is, even though her job is supposed to be masculine, the gender is removed and the person shines. I like that she is herself with grease on her face or a frilly cupcake dress at the Shindig. I wish we had more time with her to learn more about her background, and see her shine in her effortless looks. Fourteen episodes was not enough! I hope the animated reboot will carry the same spirit forward for Kaylee, with even more looks I want to recreate.
My favorite look is the green coverall, with the aqua silk coat, brightly patterned top, parasol, and flip flops. This combo has staying power. It feels like a combo you could buy today from the bohemian, Free People, and was something that fit in the 1990’s/2000’s. Work wear is timeless, which is why I have been slowly adding overalls to my wardrobe, store bought for now as I figure out what style is best for my body type, but I have plans to clone my favorite additions, and hopefully sew my dream garment – these sleeveless green coverall with the teddy bear patch. I have the fabric, now I need the motivation to cut the pattern out.
Now what about shoes? As I mentioned there are flip flops, but other than that, she mostly wears boots. Which grounds the look even more into reality. She is climbing stairs to get from the bridge, to the hold, to the engine room, kitchen or her bunk. They walk when they are docked on planets. She also plays basketball with the others when traveling from port to port, on board the ship. The boots, although a bit heavy for that, remain a wise choice for this woman on the go. In some ways, her wardrobe is not as much mechanic as nomad. She is ready for the next place, a uniform for whatever crazy adventure Mal signs them up for next. She collects souvenirs along the way, like the patches, the jacket, parasol, and embroidered tops. An actual curated bohemian gal, that slowly created this style over time. It is why she feels so authentic.
Happy October! I think this is the best time of the year. From August and beyond to December, it feels like a dance to the finish line. I’ve been busy, working to get my sewjo and knitjo back this year. One way I did that this spring and summer was to use new materials and techniques. This top I dubbed the Lizzie Halter Top, for my love of Lizzie McGuire, was an exploration of past muses.
The 2000s nostalgia is calling to me, as I have mentioned before, but there has been a pull for authenticity in these throwbacks. It’s becoming more than a trend for me, instead a way to explore style muses of the past, that felt like they passed me by as a kid, that with fiber arts. Making takes us out of that loop, if you like the thing, you can make it and then wear it. No fomo. No trends to chase. You’re free. This top is one of those throwback pieces for me.
I knit the front panel using 3.5 mm (US 4) needles using two new materials for me. And the best part? They were both purchased at local to me yarn stores. I had never used Knitting for Olive before, although the brand is quite popular. I hope they stay this way moving forward because I loved working with their Pure Silk. This Pure Silk is in the color Blood Orange. I used one skein for this top, which equals 273 yards of fingering weight yarn for 12 USD, which I think is fantastic value for silk yarn. To pad out this top, I used leftover Uneek Sock Yarn from Urth Yarn, another fingering weight yarn that is a mix of super wash merino and nylon.
Although, I was excited to work with such a bright color, I don’t wear a lot of orange though, so as I sat with this yarn, I began to worry that I made too bold of a choice. But there is something about the self-striping Uneek in the contrasting cool tones that balanced all my concerns. When I pair this piece with a cool tone tank underneath, this effect grows stronger.
My second concern, although wool is recommended for its breath-ablity, was the wool in this project. Was it insane to include wool in a summer top? To counteract any breath-ability issues in the finished fabric, I chose to crochet the back panel and chain the halter straps. I was very comfortable this summer, even on hot days, wearing this piece. With wool! It’s wild to me but it works. The silk does the heavy lifting though. I like working with cotton, but silk may be my new favorite warm weather fiber.
This is my own observation, and may or may not be in my own algorithm that I am seeing this, instead of being a wide spread pattern, but it’s strange enough that I’d like to talk about it.
The catalyst for this blog post, has been the extreme swerve in content on Philly and Keely’s vanlife channel since May 2026. I found this channel in November 2025, through a collaboration with The Endless Adventure, and have been watching it consistently until recent. I’ve been a viewer of TEA since 2018. Their content has ebbed and flowed with the pandemic, buying a house, and dealing with grief, yet has remained steadily them even if the format changes for a time to accomodate RV renovations. They are one of the rare ones to do this. Reddit sure has some TEA haters, but the snark is subdued compared to other channels, because in my opinion, their content style is not fueled by drama. They are not everyone’s cuppa and that is okay.
Another channel I used to watch from 2017-2022, Kara and Nate, do try to be everyone’s cup of tea, and it became less interesting to me as time when on, for the sheer uncanny vibes of the videos. It felt plastic. I got bored of the luxury trips and unsubscribed. The last exception to this I would say, is the Way Away, who I think are disqualified from this discussion due to personal reasons that they announced publicly in 2020, following their divorce. They no longer make videos together, yet I believe they would follow a similar trajectory to TEA if they had carried on their channel together.
K&N and TEA are rare outliers to the great scope of what I want to look at though – this trend I am seeing of travel couple channels, that were successful in the late 2010s to early 2020s, who are now bringing some strange energy to the party in the form of questionable video topics, and child endangerment.
To name a few, that have veered into a bizarre reality show space have been Flying the Nest, Kinging it, Samuel and Audrey, Eamon and Bec, Louis and Raya, Philly and Keely (the inspiration for the post) and The Travel Beans (apparently, by P&K’s admission, the reason why they hurredly sought out, having a baby). All of the channels listed above, aside from Samuel and Audrey, have dabbled in vanlife. All but Kinging It are married and have children. But all have shifted their channel focus from travel to family life, in the style of reality television or “lifestyle influencing” as it is rebranded today.
Have you ever watched Teen Mom 2? Or seen those spinoff shows for celebrities like ‘Newlyweds’ featuring Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson? Or the show Donnie Loves Jenny featuring Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy? It’s all about monetizing your life, your relationship, and your family for the drama. The more drama the better! The infamous Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Duck Dynasty, and Teen Mom 2 are great examples of these reality shows that try to monetize family life, and in doing so, lead kids to grow up with a camera in their face, without a break. They have been born into The Truman Show. Thumbnails seem to grow increasing exaggerated as these channels move towards these reality show videos, and drift away from real life. It’s an interesting phenomenon. These channels once had beautiful thumbnails pointing to the destination, now they manipulate you to click to make sure these strangers are okay. They play on the emotions of the viewers, even using their pregnancies or children as bait.
Why does this part fixate me so? Ruby Franke.
Ruby Franke was a lifestyle vlogger from Utah, that ran a Youtube channel called Eight Passengers who was convicted of aggravated child abuse and is now serving four consecutive sentences of between 1-15 years, determined by the State of Utah Board of Parole. For a deep dive into what happened, I highly recommend watching the Hulu docuseries ‘Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke‘ for multiple perspectives, particularly the POV of her oldest daughter. Her story provides an excellent account of what living as a character in your parents’ lucrative income stream does to your relationship with your parents and sense of security.
Now do I believe, any of the travel couples I listed above are going to follow the path of Ruby Franke. No, but the chance is never zero. Already, Flying the Nest has changed their whole channel to center their children and have written childrens’ books featuring their own children. Birthday parties are peak content for them. In a similar but creepier vein, Eamon and Bec, demonstrate no sense of boundaries between life and content. They are endangering their daughter by sharing footage of her that is innappropriate for viewing for anyone. It is sick and wrong, yet they seem willing to cash in on their daughter, after the success of monetizing Bec’s cancer. It’s very disturbing.
Getting back to the start of this discussion – Philly and Keely. They have amassed followers quickly, since coming to the US to travel the states in an RV. P&K focused on National Parks and the western vistas, the hits that put the butts in the seats. On the heels of reaching 100k followers, there was a sharp turn to family vlogging with raw, in my opinion oversharing that turned me off. I seem to be in the minority though, because from what I saw in the comments towards the end of my subscription to their channel, was pure parasocial gold. Their fans are not fans, they are stans, as delusional and voracious as K-pop stans who will fight to the death to get noticed by their idols. It’s bizarre! I’ve never seen such a quick change to a channel’s vibe as I observed with P&K. E&B’s change to family vlogging was a slow burn and was harder to see the change at first, but with P&K, like the Travel Beans, chaos is the currency.
Why does this concern me? Because social media has created accessibility to overshare and gather fame unlike we have seen before. We are no longer in the days of celebrities being the only ones who could cash in on their relationships and kids for more money and more fame. Everyone can, the floodgates are open. I’m not bothered or concerned about consenting adults cashing in on their life and sharing on the internet. I overshare all the time about my life and would like WordPress to pay out someday.
What is different to me is the lack of protection and consent of the children. I think we should be talking about how pervasive this has become in our present day, and speak up for the children who are at risk of being pedophile fodder and their parents paycheck. Child Labor Laws are ignored by society when labor is done for a camera held by your parent. I don’t think that is good for humanity, and I think a lot of kids and families are going to be hurt because of family vlogging. I believe we don’t see the problems because these videos seem relatable, but they could easily be programming for MTV, TLC, Bravo, or VH1. We scoff at the reality stars plastered on those channels, exposing their lives for a buck, and we judge harshly this trashy television. But what if it is just a couple and their van? I think we have blinders on because they are “normal” people just sharing their lives with us, so we feel kinship with them. This bias, from parasocial situations, normalizes this kind of content.
Travel sells. Vanlife sells. But drama sells more. Pregnancy put the butts in the seats, and dollars in your pockets, quickly. We all know the phenomenon. It’s why Trad Wife influencers bring home the bacon. It’s subtle, parasocial, propaganda. This is the reason that the works of fiction, Yesteryear and Tradwife, have been at the center of book discourse in 2026. It is a hot topic for debate.
Is this trend just a fluke? I don’t know. I hope so. I miss the more wholesome days of travel vlogging. I am not saying that people are not allowed to change up their content or life. That is their life and their right to do so. What I am saying is that I don’t like this trend, and I don’t want people on the internet to use their children as a way to grow the channel or bring them engagement. Children deserve privacy. Even before they are born, they deserve to be treated with respect and privacy. Having a family and walking away from the camera is an admirable choice here that puts your health, and your family first – I’m talking to you, Philly and Keely! It’s not too late to change course.
I would like to thank Ashley Viola and Tiffany Ferg, for educating me and so many others about the dangers of para-social relationships and family vlogging. I would recommend checking out their channels for a deeper dive on these topics.
This post is a little bit of a mash up, I guess the connecting thread is Zac Posen, or maturity? I’m not sure. I’ve been mulling over two topics that have been in my head this week. The first is the premiere of Project Runway Season 22, the second, being a knitting “controversy” that I believe is not a controversy at all. So, maybe, the connection is drama fatigue?
The Television Evolution from the 1990’s to the 2020’s
Social media is bad for us, we can agree on that. It compresses nuance, and that is exactly what is happening here. But, in the case of television and the fashion industry, it seems to be brain chemistry altering, to borrow an internet term, and the effects are getting strange. This is far from a comprehensive history, just a quick snippet for context.
Television has gone through several iterations in my lifetime – from the rise of cable, to the golden age of reality TV in the 2000’s, to streaming. In 2005, YouTube transformed who could occupy our attention, shortly following in 2007, the Iphone brought a new screen to our lives. In 2020, Tik Tok became the supreme ruler of culture, with the short-form content revolution. Now, in 2026, streaming platforms of shows and film, are self aware that they are the second or third screen vying for our goldfish-like attention spans. This is bad for business. What are networks supposed to do? I’d say they are letting this short form content culture lead.
Enter Project Runway Season 21 and its new, Tik Tok and YouTube editing style with quick cuts and comedy edits, that are self-aware to a level, that was a bit jarring to me. It was like internet culture was uploaded to an established show of 21 years, in order to modernize it. It did just that, it laid its cards on the table of what producers think a successful television show must have in the mid-2020’s – drama and internet-personas instead of contestants, in my opinion. It’s only gotten worse with the announcement of Season 22.
Why is it so loud here?
It’s noisy. I feel like everything about the show is shouting at me. I tried watching the first episode, and quit after the intro. Instead of letting the viewer sit back and engage with the show, the show demands shock, shade, and a level of seriousness that is simply undermined by how the contestants, presenters, and judges act. They are caricatures of humans. Like Zoolander or The Devil Wears Prada, it’s not an accurate representation of human behavior. The drama has been dialed up to a point of puppetry and theater, which would be fun if it was for say, in the pursuit of comedy like RuPaul’s Drag Race, which I am a fan of. This version of Project Runway is not about the clothing or the craft of sewing. It is for the purpose of creating internet buzz and translating that into streaming numbers. It feels so trite to say that. Project Runway is a business, what I miss is the illusion of the storytelling.
Tim Gunn, Zac Posen, Michael Kors, and Nina Garcia brought an industry seriousness to the show that provided context. With the elimination of all but Nina Garcia, and the death knell of losing the spot to show at NYFW, the legitimacy of the show is in shredded. What is all for? Internet fame. Even the challenges were different last year, with sponsorship themes shoe horned into a semblance of “design criteria” and it felt off. For example, the PNC “brilliantly boring” challenge to use boring fabric. There was the Eczema awareness challenge, that should have gone deeper, but instead gave us a concept and then quickly shooed it off screen.
In contrast, I have gained greater appreciation for Drag Race and its the commitment to staying on topic.The causes presented on the show seem genuine and it is refreshing! Like it is all in alignment with worldview.
Lack of Integrity in the Fashion Industry
I think this is because to have a clear worldview in the fashion industry right now, it has to be political, and they don’t want to do that at Disney, and so the political stances are muddled for the sake of saying nothing. Which is a political stance, indifference is infuriating with the amount of clout the show claims to have. This show is fashion “influencing” but make it a reality show.
The worst part of this muddled stance is the inclusion of Tyra Banks. The Netflix documentary from this winter makes sense now, it was a PR project to rebuild Tyra’s image. I grew up with America’s Next Top Model, created by Tyra Banks. I watched ANTM long before Project Runway, and it was a sh*tshow.
She let the cameras roll in Season 2, when a dangerously inebriated contestant, Shandy, experienced SA, and then Tyra had the gall to keep her from the hospital and police, to keep filming. She framed Shandy as an example of cheating, and publicly shamed her for a decade. She pressured contestants, Joanie and Danielle to undergo dangerous dental procedures. Tyra created photoshoots promoting blackface.
She fat shamed and encouraged ED on the show, ignoring the dangers of ED, all while shaming contestants who couldn’t “hide it” well enough. This is just a short list of the problematic behaviors on the ANTM show, a show that preyed on young women of color, and then made a mockery of them, reinforcing racism again and again for profit. I have no interest in watching a show that Tyra Banks is a part of, when she danced around an apologize in her documentary and, in my opinion, did not take any responsibility. Just have integrity, it’s all I ask for. Apologize. Truly make amends and rebuild your reputation through real change. This path is not fooling anyone.
Connecting the Two
Okay, so how are my two topics connected? Well first off, I wish they had brought a quality judge back like Zac Posen, but secondly, I think as much as people are not up in arms enough about Tyra coming back to television, I think the internet is always trying to drum up knitting controversies, that are not that serious.
I was definitely dragged into caring about The Game of Wool, by my corner of the internet, and proceeded to make a bingo card, as my farewell, once I realized I didn’t give a hoot even if this show was a let down. The most recent “controversy” I’ve seen is the Gap Happy Stripe collection for Summer 2026, promoted by the CCO, Zac Posen. The collection is not a knitwear focused throwback, instead it utilizes technology to make something “knitwear” centered. The image of the original knit has been printed on a mesh collection, that I believe has a decently high polyester content, because mesh.
As a fiber artist, if I want a happy stripe inspired piece, I’m just going to recreate it. Done. I don’t need to feel slighted by Gap, or be frustrated that they are not centering knitters with “fake knitwear” as I have seen touted on the internet. Gap is a fast fashion company, the knitwear would be machine knit, and the workers are not being compensated fairly. It’s the fashion industry, its problematic. They make poor choices and they create a ton of pollution. They also favor tech “innovations” so this is not radical, it seems inline with Project Runway to be honest.
I don’t think Zac Posen should “canceled” for this or for us to spam Gap, with anger that knitters have been slighted again. I don’t buy store bought knit anymore. I certainly don’t buy store bought crochet, because its either fake or created with slave labor. I try to buy thoughtfully, make what I can, mend, up cycle, and treat clothing as a permanent object. I think that is the best we can do right now. The problems with the fashion industry are not contained to Gap. It’s world wide. I have no reason to buy a mesh printed garment, so its a moot point for me. Protect your peace, the world is incredibly messy right now, this is a drop in the bucket.
Do you remember the Gap Happy Stripe collection? I don’t. I remember colorful knitwear from the early 2000’s and wearing one from Old Navy or Aeropostale. I’m getting tired of the internet shouting. I’m getting tired of endless knitting drama. I’m quite tired of dumb reboots of shows I liked. Whew, I think it I did it! Thank you, reader, hanging in with me on this random post. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. ❤
I was pretty late to the Late Show party, becoming a fan after it was canceled by CBS, for ‘purely financial reasons.’ What a shame that is! I think what we need more of is laughter. Pure, intelligent comedy for the sake of the joke. Not for the algorithm, or to bow down at the altar of tech bros, or the gold Nebuchadnezzar statue of Trump. But to instead frustrate the heck out of these life-draining entities with comedy.
In both my personal life and the greater world around me, the stress level is high. Morale is low. I think we’re all feeling tired by the burden of man doing what is right in his own eyes. But wait, there’s more! Now, the so-called “Christians” are whoring themselves out again, like the Israelites did in the Old Testament, raising up idols for their own gain and neglecting the covenant God made with them. It’s infuriating to be an adult and realize that this story is not a Bible story from the past, but a living example that continues to evolve with the generations, in repetitive cycles of taking God’s name in vain. Being the absolute worst representatives of God’s image, and claiming their actions are blessed by God.
As a kid, I naively thought this was what people from the past did, not us. In our “Christian” nation. I feel so dumb remembering how duped I was by the authority figures around me. As I got older, like we all do, we begin to see the signs of hypocrisy and corruption around us. Nowhere was it more apparent than in the Christian bubbles and institutions I interacted with. I remember my parents and grandparents warning me that the deepest cut would be in these circles. That sinful actions would feel more harmful in these environments, because we expect the believers around us to play by the rules, but we don’t. We treat each other just as badly, and sometimes worse, than the non-believers around us.
Politically, the age of MAGA and the culture wars of the last decade have exacerbated the tension in this dance of Christians being terrible representatives for the gospel, but wonderful representatives for their political parties, and the sin patterns being held onto, instead of being transformed by the sanctification process.
What I have the most irony, as I reflect right now as I write this, is that for my whole life, I have heard that the problem with America is that the church doesn’t preach sin anymore. This is usually targeted at things like unmarried couples living together, promiscuity, homosexuality, and gender expression. But I realize that, yeah, this is one of the problems with America, but not for any of the reasons listed above; instead, racism, bigotry, political idolatry, Nationalism, greed, capitalsim, extraction of the global south, ICE, Fascism, and more recently, worship of Trump, are some of the sins that are not preached about in the majority churches – and these sinful behaviors are running rampant in our world, destroying whole nations like Palestine, Iran, Congo, Sudan, and Lebanon for the sake of these bloodlusts “sanctioned” by people who aren’t being taught by churches that this is sin.
Getting back to the point of this post, all this darkness has felt like a dense fog spreading across all the light and truth, but comedy, by those like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel, has cut through the complicit silence. Now we only have one of these shows left, although Trump calls for Kimmel’s job constantly. I’m going to miss Colbert’s voice in the void and hope that he finds a new place to do the same thing – call out the evil and stand for the truth, while making us laugh. The sweet pressure valve release of laughing through things that scare us is essential, I believe, for us to maintain our humanity.
It is a non-violent fight against fascism, an unwillingness to buy the crap they are selling us, and remain focused on what is good and true, when the propaganda tries to drown it out. That’s what is happening here with CBS, a complicit, chicken-sh*t response to pressure from above. What they have chosen to silence is the reminder to be kind, to be unwavering in our beliefs, and to not let the bad around us determine who we will be.
I’m thankful for the time I got to watch Colbert’s show, for the comfort pause to laugh through the ‘Hormuz news you can uz’ segment, in the middle of a war that none of us want but can’t depend on our leaders to stop, while watching our tax dollars be ripped from social programs to bombs and guns. It was like a balm to the soul, a place to reset and breathe, with a laugh. A way to process together. Thank you, Colbert!
In the meantime, what will I do? Watch Jimmy Kimmel. Rock out to the Piedmont Raging Grannies, and laugh my butt off watching RuPaul’s Drag Race.
If you missed it, I made a Game of Wool Bingo card for episodes 1-3, because in my opinion, this show should not be taken seriously. I’ve given up watching, interacting with recaps, etc. I’m not going to watch beyond episode 3, and that is because hate-watching is validation in the attention economy of 2025. That got me thinking, what do I wish Game of Wool was instead of what it is? Game of Wool, just like Project Runway, I have notes!
No Kits or Internet Dressing Projects
I don’t want any themed-making kits sold per episode. They have been doing this for the episodes I have watched, each week partnering with a big yarn company, honestly making kits that serve no purpose other than a cash grab. I also don’t want to watch weekly episodes with challenges that create useless items. Useless from a practical and technical standpoint.
Crochet and knit swimwear is dumb. You can’t wear it other than for a photo shoot, which places it in the “internet dressing” category. It’s for a photo. It’s not even practical for a music festival. But it does resemble a “Coachella” look.
A crochet deck chair had potential, but it was not used within the materials provided or the time frame.
A dog sweater with a required hat is not kind or practical for dogs. The sweater is comfortable, but the hat is not comfortable for the dog. Again, it is for a photo. Washability was not discussed either.
The mohair sweater was the only challenge that was the closest to being a useful challenge, for design teamwork and wearability, but they ruined it with the ridiculous time frame.
A couch cover is useless, because I have thought about constructing one for my own couch to stash bust, but it’s just not practical for anything other than a showpiece. Which is how they judged it, so a lot of wool was wasted to make a big, useless swath of fabric.
The fair isle vest misrepresented a heritage craft of the region they were filming in. Why not just film a historical film set in the Renaissance, and put the actresses in Victorian corsets without a chemise, tight-laced? Same level of idiocy to be flashy!
This Game of Wool presents everything that late-stage capitalism is in relation to crafting and hobbies, thanks to greed, social media, and the attention economy. The British farmers could use the income; how about sourcing locally? What about sustainability and slow fashion? Yeah, 12-hour challenges do not represent anything but hustle culture. Girl boss, slay!
How Would I Fix It?
Real experts, not these two ladies.
Either all amateurs or all expert contestants. Pick a lane. Either be the Bake-Off or be Project Runway and offer a CFDA mentorship kind of prize.
Bring in a real mentor to help in the wool barn.
Take them on field trips to see wool being processed, dyed, and spun. Same with flax for linen.
Tell the story of why textiles matter and why fair trade for the animals, farmers, and ethical standards matter.
Explain why local matters for the economy and the ecology of the region.
Teach the history of cottage industries.
Teach the history of how knitting has changed the world, such as the development of textile machinery and the creation of the binary code. Essentially, fill in the gap of what Sci Show failed to do.
Set real challenges that teach, showcase the skill of the fiber artists, and show innovation.
Do a challenge that involves unravelling sweaters for yarn and teach the world about this amazing, sustainable possibility.
Task the fiber artists to design patterns, and explore what goes into design and proper pattern writing, because it is a technical skill.
Make things that will be auctioned off for charity.
Bring in people as guest judges who will bring professional connections and opportunities for the fiber artists.
Set realistic deadlines, and slow down the pace of the show. Follow a timeline like Mind of a Chef that explores moments of cooking over an entire season.
Let the makers make, unencumbered by the pace of the internet. Take note from Bernadette Banner and other makers out there that celebrate true craftsmanship and sustainability in the heyday of microplastics.
I’m tired of this show discounting a skill that has been tossed aside as a Grandma hobby since the Industrial Revolution. In these weird and wacky times, slow fashion and an appreciation of craftsmanship are in short supply in the media. This show had such potential! But they are truly chasing the money over integrity.
As a knitter, a crocheter, and a fan of shows such as Bake Off and Project Runway, I am hate watching Game of Wool. Yes, it is that mediocre. It’s frankly, shocking how unlikeable the judges are portrayed, and how blatantly the production is profiting off the design kits, while not openly compensating the designers. It’s been a disappointment for sure. So here’s a bingo card to make your watch through a bit more fun!
For those unfamiliar with him, Jeremy Clarkson is a well-known British TV presenter most famous for his work in the automotive journalist industry. His role as co-creator and host of the Top Gear reboot from 2002 to 2015 relaunched the show and made it a global hit. In 2015, he was fired from the show, and together with co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May, he launched The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime, which debuted in 2016. That series ran for six series before concluding in 2024.
In the background of his career as a TV presenter, Clarkson owned a 1,000-acre working farm in the Cotswolds that he purchased in 2008. Until 2019, he had a contract Farmer running the farm, but that changed when the farmer retired, which led to Clarkson taking over the farm and launching Clarkson’s Farm, also on Amazon Prime, in 2021. Four seasons of the show have aired thus far, with the most recent debuting in May 2025. A fifth series has been ordered, with filming likely done by this time in preparation for a May 2026 premiere.
Lessons Learned From Clarkson’s Farm
When Clarkson’s Farm premiered in June 2021, which covered the 2019-2020 farming season, Jeremy had zero farming experience. Previously, he lived in the farmhouse on the estate and allowed a farm manager to handle everything on the farm. He had to buy equipment, hire farmhands, and learn to operate everything. While it is a loosely-scripted TV series, it is non-fiction and filmed in a documentary style. Plus, because of Jeremy’s honesty, which he’s always been known for, you know you’re getting the truth. He isn’t trying to sugarcoat anything. Due to that, his ambitions, successes, and failures, of which there are plenty, teach you the viewer a lot as Jeremy learns.
Everything Is Farmable
In season 3, Jeremy has the idea of making money from the non-arable portions of his farm. This means turning to the areas that don’t have fields in them and aren’t used for animals. He begins harvesting the blackberries that naturally grow on the property and he buys piglets that can live in the woods on terrain that is too steep to plant in. It’s a reminder that you don’t need the perfectly groomed and idyllic land to grow things. Plants will grow in less-than-perfect soil, and some of the sweetest fruit grows naturally and in the harshest conditions, if you’re willing to go after it.
Farming Struggles
Season 1 starts a trend that has continued in every season: Farming is really hard, and there’s a lot that’s out of farmers’ hands. Weather plays a major role in their livelihood and can dictate a farm’s survival if there are consecutive years of poor weather. At different points, Jeremy has to do with record-breaking floods and historical droughts. Extended cool periods restrict plant growth, while lengthy warm periods scorch them.
Diddly Squat Farm (aka Jeremy Clarkson’s farm) [kTb, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons]
Aside from weather, there are the emotions that come with becoming attached to animals that have to be butchered or die from natural causes. You always think about how the meat industry is a business, but if you have a heart, like many farmers do, it crushes them each time animals have to be delivered to the abattoir.
Additionally, equipment breaks and needs to be fixed or replaced, prices fluctuate due to global events (natural or political), and governments make decisions that affect your ability to purchase and sell products. It’s not an easy business, but most farmers stick with it because they’re passionate about it.
Gardening this year showed us just a hint of how difficult growing your own food can be. Some of our plants never grew because of the wet spring we had. Then, the summer brought extended periods of drought that stripped the soil of its moisture. It was hard to keep up with everything while also managing life. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for farmers on a much larger scale.
Sacrificing Production for Long-Term Viability
In seasons 1 and 3, Jeremy makes two decisions that result in a short-term sacrifice with the goal of establishing long-term viability and success. Season 1 consisted of him planting native wildflowers in portions of his arable land to attract pollinators. He also let these areas go unmaintained to allow animals to establish habitats.
In season 3, he brought in well-known musician-turned-farmer Andy Cato who has established a business built on regenerative farming that replenishes soil nutrients while also producing a sellable crop. Much to the disbelief of Jeremy’s farm manager, Kaleb Cooper, Jeremy stuck with this plan, sacrificing that year’s profit potential in order to rebuild the soil that had been stripped of its nutrients following years of commercial farming practices.
Both decisions represented the importance of exchanging short-term opportunities for long-term potential. By dedicating a portion of his land to native growth and flowers, he willingly gave up the possibility of planting a grain that could be sold. It’s similar to season 3. While he still grew a sellable crop, it wasn’t as lucrative as selling a commonly-grown crop, such as rapeseed, wheat, or barley. However, the benefit of reestablishing nutrients in the soil was more important to Jeremy.
Learning New Skills Can Be Difficult
I believe Jeremy was 60 when Clarkson’s Farm debuted. He had spent the majority of his life behind the wheel of cars. He had no idea how to operate tractors, reverse trailers, raise and lower plows, or fill a spreader with seed. There was a major learning curve, especially for someone who has been very successful in his previous endeavors. Thankfully, he surrounded himself with people who do know what they are doing and taught him, albeit with a bit of sarcasm and attitude. He also humbled himself, which was a new path for someone who was famous for his smug face on Top Gear. Eventually, by the end of season 4, Jeremy actually had an idea of what he was doing. He could generally attach a trailer to a tractor by himself and knew what was happening on his farm.
It’s a reminder that regardless of how much experience you have in a field, it’s always difficult to learn a new skill or hobby. In our garden this year, I learned a lot even though I had gardened in the past. We planted vegetables we hadn’t grown before, experienced insects that we hadn’t encountered, and in-ground gardening brought with it new struggles not found with container gardening.
Impact of Clarkson’s Farm
Bringing Attention to the Farmer’s Struggle
With this show, Jeremy has used his massive platform to draw attention to how badly farmers struggle to make it. I think a lot of people believe that farmers have an idealistic agrarian lifestyle that consists of planting in the spring, harvesting in the fall, a bit of fertilizing in between, and being around animals. But that’s not the case. With so many aspects of their lives out of their hands, they are left at the mercy of the weather, economy, governments, and even global pandemics. One bad decision can lead to them losing their farm. They often can’t take risks because the potential to lose everything is too great. A disease can spread throughout their herd of animals and wipe out an entire year’s worth of income. Yes, there is insurance for these kinds of events, but they aren’t guaranteed to pay full value and can take a long time to pay out.
The Importance of Our Food System & How Fragile it Is
By watching Clarkson’s Farm, you realize how delicate our food system is. We have a great system of trade and infrastructure that allows countries to obtain raw materials grown on the other side of the world. But it’s also a system that can easily become imbalanced. One year of bad weather can result in a nation needing to import wheat for flour rather than growing it domestically. An idiot’s war in Ukraine can upset the world’s food security and lead to scarcity in developing nations.
Thus, it’s important to be able to grow stuff domestically when we can while also accepting that we live in a global society now where nations are dependent upon each other. As much as certain people like to complain about how much we import in the United States, we also export a lot of raw materials and goods. A drought in California or the temperature staying below freezing in Florida can upset the world’s agricultural market. It’s extra important to consider what we as individuals and families can grow. It also reflects the importance of having our own gardens when possible. And remember that when a natural disaster occurs or a weather pattern changes, it’s not the farmer’s fault that the prices fluctuate. Most of that is out of their control, and they certainly aren’t seeing an increase in their income.
Governments Set Farmers up to Fail
An unexpected part of the show is Jeremy, Kaleb, and Charlie Ireland’s encounters with the local and federal governments in the United Kingdom. Most of the show so far has featured Jeremy getting told “no” by the local council for everything plan he tries to implement. Restaurant? No. Farm shop? No. Pub? No. It’s like the council doesn’t want to generate revenue for the local community and district. On the federal level, they have to deal with the fallout of Brexit and the UK needing to develop domestic sources of food or pay more than they were before to import the food. The government promised subsidies to British farmers, but that money went away in 2024.
In the United States, the story is the same. The typical farmer has long struggled for survival. Dairy farmers barely make any money for their milk, and it leads to many converting to beef farming. They’re forced to plant corn for ethanol production rather than feed for their animals. Trump’s idiotic “leadership” has led to an increase in the cost of fertilizer and other farm chemicals because many of them are produced outside the U.S. Then, he doubled down on it by cutting or reducing most government aid programs.
Oh, and it gets better because of his decision to round up and deport immigrants who have been peacefully living in the U.S. for years. Those immigrants are often ones that farmers need as hands to operate their farms because Americans are usually too good for that kind of work. Those immigrants are the ones that we were told would be safe because they’re peaceful. It was just another lie that has resulted in Americans being victimized. Tariffs were supposed to result in other countries buying the vegetables we grow here, especially soybeans, but recent articles I’ve read have said that also hasn’t come to fruition. In fact, it’s worse than it was last year. Trump’s tariffs have led to retaliatory tariffs by China, resulting in them no longer buying our soybeans. Those farmers grew a crop that is no longer selling. At every turn, governments are making decisions that hurt their farmers. Leaders may say that they’re trying to help the farmers, but look at their actions. They speak much louder than words.
Clarkson’s Farm Has Been a Roaring Success
In the years since the show debuted, Jeremy has been honored numerous times by the British Farming Society. He has won awards for his work to bring attention to British farmers and the environment they find themselves in. It’s clear that he’s having an impact on the people who matter: the farmers themselves. He’s quick to point out that he is lucky to have other revenue streams, including the show itself, as well as the amount he earned from previous work. Most farmers have that opportunity or savings to fall back on. At the end of season 1, he gave the honest assessment that the farm couldn’t have continued without those other income sources.
A lot of people hate Jeremy Clarkson due to his brashness and how opinionated he is. But he has always been honest, even if you don’t like his delivery. That transparency is really refreshing in a society where things are masked and people make content just to generate clicks and views. Jeremy has become the voice of the farmer in the United Kingdom, and here in the United States, I think we should adopt him as ours as well. He speaks the truth and his dedication to finding innovative ways to farm is inspiration. I know that after watching the show, I wanted to do everything I could to be more agrarian. Gardening isn’t farming, but it’s at least related to it. They’re cousins. If you haven’t watched Clarkson’s Farm, I urge you to give it a go. It’s not a glamorous portrayal by any means, but it’s honest. And that’s what we need right now.
I’m currently watching the newest season of The Great British Bake Off, and it is bringing back wonderful memories from my childhood, thanks to one special contestant – Iain Ross. Iain is from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and his Irish charm reminds me of my trip to Ireland as a kid. He reminds me of the people I met, including my family members who live in County Antrim. He reminds me of my grandma, Florence, and my Gormley family tree. But I also remember the wonder of exploring this place called Ireland (and Northern Ireland) as an 8-year-old kid, who heard the legends of the places we saw, and found the stories truly magical.
Now, for political reasons, I wasn’t able to see Belfast due to some tensions around Orangemen’s Day. But there were lots of other cities and sites were got to see. There were stories of Dunluce Castle’s kitchen falling into the sea during a party. That was probably true. There are the ruins of tall towers, made to hide in safety from Viking raids, and also historical. But then there were the stories that lean into the fantastical, like the story of Finn MacCool and the Giant’s Causeway.
I had forgotten about the magical origin story of Giant’s Causeway until Iain turned the story into a pastry sculpture for the showstopper round. Finn MacCool, also known as Fionn ma Cumhaill in Gaelic, led a band of mythical warriors called the Fianna. Now, a giant Finn was in a rivalry with another giant in Scotland called Benandonner. To reach him, Finn created the causeway on the coast of County Antrim, which faces Scotland’s coast across the Irish Sea. When Finn saw how big Benandonner, standing in the distance across the sea, Finn decided this might not be a wise idea. Instead, Finn fled to his house, where he hatched a clever plan. He asked his wife Oonagh, to help him hide himself under a blanket, to disguise himself as a baby. Benandonner passed across the sea on the causeway, determined to settle the fight with Finn. He knocked on the door, but instead of Finn, he was greeted by Oonagh and a rather large sleeping baby, which Oonagh introduced as her son, Oisin. This terrified Benandonner. What could his father look like if this were the size of the baby? Benandonner fled back to Scotland, thwarted by the cleverness of Finn MacCool. In his haste, Benandonner ripped up the Causeway so that remnants only remain on the coast of Antrim, at the Giant’s Causeway site, and on the Scottish island of Staffa at the Fingal’s Cave site.
We know now that the hexagonal basalt rocks are evidence of volcanic eruptions that formed the Causeway in Ireland, but isn’t the creativity of my ancestors better? This story is one of my favorites. I may have been able to see through Santa Claus, but this filled me with the possibilities of a land where giants and magic roamed, and it filled me with a sense of wonder to exist in this place of extraordinary things. That’s what I began to explore in Udal Cuain and what continues to bring me back to Halloween every year – Samhain. The original celebration from Ireland.
Have you ever been to Giant’s Causeway? Did you know about the myth, and what do you think of it?
