The Art of Handcrafting: A Distant Memory

early-british-women1

Hello Y’all! I hope you’ve had a good week so far. I was on YouTube catching up on a few channels I subscribe to and I came across – as always – another makeup tutorial that I usually end up watching even if I have other things to do. :/ As amazing as the ‘after’ ย effect was in comparison to the ‘before’, I see that the art of having a skill or a craft is fast becoming a distant memory in our generation. People need an outlet and in this case, makeup fills that void.

In every culture of the world, the women were raised with some crafting skill or the other. It was a requirement to be able to use your hands for a skill. I was thinking to myself that I do not know anyone in my age bracket that knows how to use a sewing machine (myself included)…and not that we would make our clothes ourselves ๐Ÿ˜€ (that would be disastrous), but just to know how to tinker with one. :/ Anyways no worries if you have no skills, feel free to blame it on the industrial revolution ๐Ÿ˜€ ๐Ÿ˜€ for rendering us all inept in one way or the other.

Taking a ride down memory lane, It was my first week of 4th grade, there was a girl in my class who sat behind me that seemed to be poking around with two huge pins and some yarn; I later learned the term was called knitting. I was instantly fascinated and it wasn’t long before I pleaded with her to teach me how to knit. Before long I learned how to make a shawl, then a pair of socks and a cap – for fun! After 4th grade, my family moved to a different state and we had new neighbors. While playing outside every other evening, I noticed our neighbors cook would sit outside on their porch and knit. At the time, I had never heard the word ‘crochet’ before. She would do this between chores and as always, I was curious about how she was able to do that with one pin instead of two? I was fascinated and wanted to learn how. I would go and sit by her and watch her hands move very intricately between loops creating the most beautiful table cloths I have ever seen. I had to learn this new style of knitting and fast. She didn’t speak much english but she was very patient and happy to show me how.

Fast forward to present day, although a large portion of my job is done by clicking a mouse and sketching, every now and then I bring out my knit kit and continue working on that supposed table spread or blanket I have been knitting for a couple of years now… ๐Ÿ˜€ Its something I still find time to do. There is something very calming about knitting. Its as if your thoughts are streamlined into two basic things: where the hook needs to go and when to pull on more thread…very therapeutic if I might say. I have attached a few pictures. Let me know what your favorite crafting skill is and how you learned it. Until next time, I remain

 

Periwinkle Starr

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2 thoughts on “The Art of Handcrafting: A Distant Memory

  1. A lovely walk down memory lane! I was talking about this same topic with coworkers last week. About 4 of us, all female, and I’m the only one who can sew (with a needle & thread, btw)! I tried to crotchet but I couldn’t get the hang of it. But i’m star with two pins ๐Ÿ™‚

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