Sunday, August 12, 2012

Handmade Collections

I like to keep things organized. Art and crafting supplies included. I like neat compartments and piles and putting everything into its own place. This summer has been really rainy and cold in Finland. So I have got a lot of time for organizing!


I browsed the photos that I have taken the past couple of months and I see grids and piles in most of them. Even the cards that I have made are showing the strict order. Another things that I see there are collections, all handmade. I have grown the flowers from the seeds, picked the berries and potatoes from my garden, dyed the yarn, carded the wool ... The pictures from summer are like well organized shelves in my house.

There was a time when I was desperately avoiding grid patterns in my art. The free and flowing line surely is the sign of creative spirit. I wanted nothing to do with symmetry or squares.

Now that I have found some of the freedom I was seeking for, I get the permission from myself to space the small circles evenly instead of throwing them to the background. It is like in knitting I tried not to knit simple patterns to learn the complicated ones. Nowadays after tens of years of knitting I enjoy simple projects the most. Sometimes it's laziness but most often it's being able to do something more from the less of stuff. 

The last picture is a simple neckwarmer that I made. I started with the carded roving, handspun the yarn, then dyed it, and finally knitted the piece using a simple pattern. It's not like the most ingenous knitwear ever but it has a story unlike many store-bought items do.

4 comments:

  1. Organization is so much fun, and display of craft media is art, isn't it?

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  2. Your neckwarmer is very nice--love the color. It gives a certain satisfaction, doesn't it, to make something from start to finish. I agree with you--it does have a story!! You have a very nice blog, I enjoy reading it and as well as following you, I have added your blog to my blog list.

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  3. I love seeing all your colletions. The neck warmer looks warm and cozy. I have lovely fleeces drying all over my house. They are beautiful silver and mid grey's to die for. I am looking forward to spinning them into lovely yarn's for the blankets I will weave this coming winter. Have a lovely day!

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  4. Sandi, thanks for the great comment!
    Liz, thanks so much, it really means a lot to me to hear that my blog is followed!
    Kate, thanks, and ha! - you are a spinner too! I am so hooked with spinning, it is so relaxing! The handspun blanket sounds great!

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