Almost three years ago I began a journey. A physical journey to the end of the world.

Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Where Mount Olivia rose just outside my window and the warm summer day reached a high of 52 degrees Fahrenheit.

From there we traveled, with some adventure, to Antarctica. A land discovered, if you will, by an Irishman. Edward Bransfield was the first person to see, chart and map the Antarctica Peninsula. What we saw when we opened the curtains from our room on board the Island Sky was what he saw in January of 1820.

The landscape was stark. It was vast. And it was beautiful. There were no words to describe it. There are no pictures that can convey the feelings that we felt as we observed a place that few people have had the opportunity to see.

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Returning home did not, however, mean the end of the journey for me. It was only starting.

As a weaving project, I began designing a tartan that would memorialize that trip. I had never in my life thought I would be a weaver much less a designer. But Antarctica had touched me. It had somehow changed me.

The designing process and all it entailed, I have documented elsewhere. But I eventually wove the first samples.

That led to the creation of Penguin Designs, LLC.

That led to Cushendale Woollen Mills in Ireland and the making of the Edward Bransfield Commemorative tartan into lambswool scarves.

Amazingly, Cushendale sold out their stock and Penguin Designs has just enough left to make it to the Holidays.

So Cushendale, on a bespoke run, made blankets! Large throw blankets of the same lambswool. (72″x54″–twin size)

Today, those blankets are on their way to Penguin Designs. They have joined the journey.

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If you would like a scarf or in the next week, a throw blanket (–they aren’t here just yet!) just head on over to Penguin Designs!

It is all part of the journey. Where it will go next is anybody’s guess. I will not speculate on that.

I am in a boat on a river. I have a paddle but the river is the driving force.