"Winterfest"

Well, I had a craft day on Saturday when I had a booth at the Winterfest selling my crocheted items at the local high school. All day, as we sat at our tables full of handiwork, the other crafters and I were serenaded by the local school choirs singing holiday songs. It was heart-warming. My favorite was when the high school show choir sang "Eye of the Tiger." The girls in sparkly dresses, the guys dressed up to the nines, all of them singing their little hearts out and probably wishing that they could have been alive when that song first came out.

I sold a few hats and a scarf, happy knowing people will be warmer. I felt vindicated when elderly women would walk by my table and sort of nod in a way that seemed like they were approving my wares. They did not speak, they would just walk by slowly looking at the things I had made and then nod once, like I was a student at a crafting school for girls and had to prove my skills before I could move to the next level of crafting wisdom.

Sitting at a table all day also gave people the chance to talk to me, to tell me stories. One man asked me about my projects and then told me about how his mother was a wonderful knitter. He told me that people would send her yarn and tell her what to make, she would make it and they would pay her for it. He also told me that his mother would make new pants for the children out of their father's worn out slacks. He told me that when there was no money you just used what you had. He said that the depression in the 1930s raised tough and resourceful men. Men who would later have to fight in World War II. He said we owe them a lot. All this from just selling my hats and listening.

That pretty much sums up "Winterfest."
There's no place like show choir for the holidays.

Pour Some Sugar On Me

I had read that instead of starch, you can use sugar and water to stiffen things like crocheted snowflakes. The sugar water is better becuase it doesn't yellow over time. so, I tried it in two different applications and it worked! The process was super sticky but it was easy. I just melted the sugar in a pot of water on the stove and then dunked the snowflakes in. I squeezed them out and then blocked them on a piece of cardboard with pins, and waited for them to dry. It took about three days for the small one to really dry which was longer than I thought. The big one took four or five days. The big one was the experiment- instead of cotton I used wool and the snowflake was much bigger. In general, I think cotton will always work better but it's nice to know that wool works too. Now that I write that I realize the nerdieness factor here is at about an nine, but no one can deny the cuteness of crocheted snowflakes.

Craft and Talk at the Same Time

I had three ladies over this weekend for a crafty day. We had lovely, pumpkiny food and good conversation. Crafting with others is somehow validating. It's like the difference between drinking alone and drinking with others. When people are around, it seems less strange and obsessive. So, I took the opportunity to finish some crocheting from my "unfinished projects box," while the ladies knitted and beaded. It was so civilized. It makes me think back to the days when rich ladies just sat around and did needlework in the huge parlor. I am grateful that I don't have to craft in a corset.

Crafty John

The Halloween crafting award goes to my friend John, not because he is so handy with safety pins, but because he was "Holy S**t" for Halloween and he made the most creative hat. Way to implement an idea John! It was an honor to help put the final touches on such a costume dude.
The hat was made of brown felt and the halo was fashioned of patiently collected toilet paper rolls and wire. You can't see it but he had angel wings on his back.

Here's a Halloween tip: always bring safety pins, bobby pins, a glue gun, or something of the sort to your party. You never know when you are going to have a costume emergency!

Nut Job

So yesterday I was making a nut wreath, yeah, a nut wreath, out of uneaten Christmas nuts. After gluing what seemed like hundreds of nuts to a circle of cardboard that I had cut out, the glue gun started gluing me and I got a frickin' second degree burn on my finger. All for a nut wreath. I'm not quite sure nut wreaths are all they're cracked up to be.