‘Essential Needlework Advice for Shadows, Spectres, and other Ethereal Beings’
— Reneé Bibby
Melding attitudes of do-it-yourself with self-made, Linn’s flash story is a build yourself into being through needlework. Focused so intimately on the body, certain moments, read on their own, lean towards allegory; building skin suddenly becomes about how to be a mentally healthy person in the world: “Choose a thick yarn for this part, worsted weight or larger, to avoid thinness of skin, and knit using small needles to create a tight stitch that will allow nothing to come through.” Even taken as a whole, there’s room to read the story as commentary on physical strength, emotional growth, illness, or motherhood. But the most interesting way is to read her story is as a true missive on how to build a body. Linn is also an illustrator, and she paired the story with an uncanny set of illustrations that on first blush appear to be straight out of a classic needlework book, but a deeper look suggests a literal interpretation of the text in the weirdest way. The net result is interesting, unsettling, and above all, charming.