Posts from — December 2008

some of my first Navajo plying

When I first decided to learn spinning, it was a hard and heavy obsession. I bought a drop spindle learn-to-spin kit and quickly realized that it wasn’t going to suffice. A few weeks later I had a brand new spinning wheel and four pounds of falkland and merino roving. I taught myself the basics using a great book: Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning by Judith MacKenzie McCuin. I made bulky singles, sock weight two-ply and lots of heavy worsted/light bulky. Later, I even learned to navajo ply (my current favorite method).

Sometimes you learn a craft and it’s fun, but not something you’re going to do much. Other times you learn a craft and you feel like you could spend the rest of your life doing it. Spinning is like that for me. I absolutely love the process of spinning and having a finished product that I get to turn into yet another beautiful and useful object at the end.

When I first started spinning, I was satisfied with simply creating a mostly consistent, balanced yarn. But now that I have learned how to do that, I want to have more command of my yarn. I want to make it come alive bright in barber-pole  twists like I’ve seen others do. And the problem is, I just haven’t been able to find the magic trick for doing so.

Since spinning classes are out of the question unless I want to drive over an hour, I’ve been researching spinning books that may give me the more specific information I need to make the yarn of my dreams. It looks like The Intentional Spinner again by Judith MacKenzie McCuin is the book I’m looking for. Unfortunately, it’s not available yet. In the mean time, I’ll be lurking in the spinning groups on Ravelry.

Welcome to my new blog! In the spirit of the new year and in light of a tumultuous 2008, I’ve decided to start my blog anew.

Why am I calling this blog My Handmade Life? For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a maker. I love making things- beautiful and useful things. When I’ve finished a project, it’s not just about how pretty or well-made it is, it’s knowing that it will serve a purpose- keeping belongings safe, clothing clean or little fingers warm.

I read Alice Walker’s Everyday Use in a college course years ago, and it has always stuck with me. It is about two African American sisters. The elder moves away and becomes “cultured” while the younger stays home with her mother and continues to live in the traditional ways of their family. When the elder sister returns, she wants to take her family’s heirlooms back to the city and treat them as priceless artifacts. The younger prefers to continue using them as her family always has. In the end, the mother decides to let the younger sister keep them because she will put them to everyday use, as was intended by their makers.

This Christmas, while furiously knitting to finish all of my gifts on time, (I didn’t quite make it) something occurred to me. I have sent so many of my handmade objects out into the world as sales or as gifts, but I haven’t made many things for everyday use in my own home. This year, I am resolving to change that. In fact, I’m going to try to change a few things this year:

• Create more objects for our home (quilts, towels, aprons, etc.)
• Create more objects for ourselves and our kids (clothing, toys, etc)
• Blog at least twice a week
• Be better about documenting my projects with photos
• Have a vegetable, herb and flower garden- however small or fruitless (sadly, I’ve never had a green thumb)
• Donate at least ten handmade items to a charity like Dulaan.

Whether I make any progress on these goals is yet to be seen, but I hope to spend a satisfying year trying, and sharing my experiences here. Since I do run two crafty businesses, you’ll also see occasional business updates, but they won’t be the primary focus here.

Here’s to 2009!