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There’s nothing better when you embark on some new crafty journey then buying a good book. While they’re heavy, bulky and completely inconvenient when compared to digital files but I still vastly prefer paper and ink to their digital counterparts. I like it even more when said books prove to be excellent references that you come back to time and time again. When it comes to machine embroidery though, where is the best place to start?
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This is the final part in this three part series of looking at the question of ‘how do I find more time for crafting’ or, for some, ‘how do I get more crafting done in the time I have?’ Part I was all about identifying what time you could spare, Part II was about finding the right time and place for projects and in Part III we’ll look at pragmatic parts of scheduling to Get Things Done.
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As regular readers of the blog probably realise, I work a job(s) that is pretty demanding on both my time and my braincells. I do enjoy my work very, very much and it does give the chance to visit craft shops work all over the world. Probably because of this, one question I am commonly asked when people see my craft work is ‘how do you find the time?’ If I am honest, I find my pondering a variant of this question, ‘how do I find more time for crafting?’ way too often. Because I so often feel like I have no time for no anything, time-management, productivity and efficiency are concepts that are on my mind more frequently than I’d like to admit to. In this post, I’ll try and share some of what I’ve picked up over the years to still find time for sneaking in some sewing because, let’s face it, making stuff is fun, and making more stuff is more fun!
This post has ended up getting so long – apparently I have a huge amount to say on the topic – that I will split this into three parts (which will be out over the next weeks). Part I is about figuring out how you use your time now and what you want to do with it and Part II is about identifying how to make the best use of your time and Part III will be all about practical time management strategies. This will all be my very waffly opinions based on my own experiences, so I hope you find perhaps something you can identify with in there – if not, I’d love to hear your approaches!
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What does a knitter like to do when not knitting? Buy yarn, pet yarn, ogle designs, and read books about knitting. Got a knitter you would like to let know you’re thinking of them without entering the minefield of fibre blends, gauges and tools that look like torture devices to the uninitiated? Maybe Ann Hood’s collection of short essays could be just the thing for you…
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As it seems everything else in life has had to go online, I supposed it was only an inevitability until things like craft shows and festivals started finding ways to transport themselves to the digital domain. This is exactly what the Festival of Quilts was experimenting with, with their ‘Beyond the Festival of Quilts’ event, which caught my eye for the digital masterclasses on offer.
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I’ve been very much enjoying the number of textile-themed narrative non-fiction books being published lately. From Kassia St Clair’s brilliant offerings, The Golden Thread and The Secret Lives of Colour, through to the exceptional Threads of Life and the still interesting but not entirely my cup of tea, Knitlandia.
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A book about knitting in the New York Times Bestseller list? Apparently not as outrageous as it sounds. Welcome to ‘Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World’, Clara Parkes’s collection of tales of knitting conventions and events across the world.
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Art? Handicraft? Women’s work? What is needlework to you? To Clare Hunter, needlework is not just a decorative frivolity but true skilled labour and a means of telling the stories of the individuals, countries and historical periods. To her, the act of sewing is to secure and trap out personal memories in thread and fabric. ‘Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle’ is Clare Hunter’s exploration of the oft-forgotten tales of the accomplished hands that created many different textile pieces, lost and preserved, and the political and social environments surrounding their work.
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My visit to Dongdaemun Fabric Market in Seoul last year left me with the impression that this was one of the best fabric markets in the world. Having the chance to revisit it this year, I’m pleased to report that it is just as fabulous as ever with plenty to see and do.
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It was always going to be a challenge to dislike to a book that starts with the sentence ‘I am assuming here, Dear Reader, that you are not naked’. It was also always going to be a challenge to dislike any book that promised an adventure through our textile past, present and future.
astitchornine 