Why Create?

And why have I opened a web-based store for my creations and supplies you could pick up in any large town?  For one thing, if you want to sell something, you need to know a lot about it..  Hand crafting has been my joy and relaxation most of my life, so I decided to share.  Also, I think right now we humans need the crafting experience.

You hear a lot of talk about how the US has become a society of consumers - that's the way we define ourselves.  There's a lot of truth in that, and it's really unfortunate.  We're loosing our sense of individual achievement. 

Most people realize that children need to experience individual achievement.  That's why many stores and many recreational programs for children include crafting experiences.  The feeling of achievement is one of the needs of a healthy person.  So why do we forget about it as adults?

The fortunate among us have gainful employment - but there's no sense of achievement with it.  You do part of the job, the next guy does part, then it goes to the next department.  Seldom can you say 'I made this', or feel the satisfaction that brings.  That's why many men work on cars as a hobby.  "See that car running?  I fixed it up!"  Computer geeks spend hours at home rebuilding hard drives or solving similar problems.  "See?  I made it run!"

This is the joy of hand crafting.  Once women had to learn fabric crafts; it was their livelihood, or they had to make the family's clothes.  Some have always found a way to make necessity a creative outlet; we still celebrate their work today.

Now our uncertain economy calls us to be creative with necessity.  Knit a dishrag so you'll have a nice one.  Crochet potholders for your family and friends.  Sew, crochet, and knit for your church or charities.  You, too, can have the joy of achievement - can say 'I made that!'.  Stretch your budget by being a producer rather than a consumer.  Discover abilities you never knew you had!

At Peaypatch, I'm starting with modest, low end craft items to help beginners.  I will be adding to my inventory as I myself learn more, and I'll be blogging about my progress.  Contact me with your questions and suggestions at peaypatch@gmail.com.

 

Adventures in Knitting

The picture above is one of my first knitted dishrags, currently on sale at ebay.  Not much to look at, eh?  Well, when you want to do those pesky dishes, looks don't matter.

I learned to knit in high school home economics, where I successfully made a sweater.  Later, I followed another pattern well enough to make a shoulder cape, but I found both experiences rather frustrating.  You see, even after being blocked, my garments looked like they had been made for squirrels.  I decided to stick to sewing and embroidery instead.  Then, years later, my son asked me to knit him a Dr. Who scarf, and I managed that.

I've always found plain knitting, or using a knitting board, a soothing, practical way to use your time at the laundromat or while talking to friends.  This is knitting without a pattern, of course, so I could only do flat things.  You can only make so many mufflers before your family and friends are completely outfitted.  Then I found out about the dishrags and dish towels.

EVERYBODY needs dishrags and dishtowels, and you can even use the same skills for place mats and bath mats, if you're so inclined.  The dishrag above is done in the simple seed stitch pattern - knit one, then purl one.  If you have an even number of stitches, you'll need to alternate between starting with a knit and starting with a purl.

I even put my knitting in the service of my political interests.  I'm involved in trying to repeal the Tennessee Voter ID law, and we try to wear yellow to rallies.  What did I have that was yellow?  I remembered some El Cheapo yellow acrylic yarn I had left over from my son's Dr. Who project.  There was enough left to make an attractive tie!

You can use knitting to serve your interests, too!

This is the header for my online store, www.peaypatch.com.  I sell painting, embroidery, knitting, crocheting, and sewing supplies along with my own painting on paper mache and wooden articles and on shells.  Come along and visit!

Right now, my main interest is in something I just learned about a couple of months ago.  I've always done various kinds of fabric crafts, but I didn't know that you can buy cotton yarn and knit or crochet your own dish rags.  They're just like the dish rags I knew as a child (I'm 66.), and maybe even better!  No manufacturer makes anything of this quality, which can pick up spills, scrub your pots, clean your counter, and wipe down your microwave.  You can wring it out and put it in the washer.  If you recycle cans, as I do, you can even wash them out without cutting yourself!

I was so excited about this I got six balls of lovely cotton yarn to sell to crafters and will be getting more as needed.  Manufacturers think it's not cost-effective to create a good dish rag, but that's no reason to do without!  You can make dish rags with plain crocheting or knitting, no pattern needed.  After all, do you want fancy to do the dishes?