A short break.

Quick post today to let you know that I am going to be having a break - from all things The Craft Sessions related - until the end of September. It feels like a good time to have a break - off the back of the high of all that was. A bit of time and space to bask in the joy and figure out what next year might look like. Space sounds mighty fine right about now. 

There are also a few real-life things that have to be done in the next few weeks. Like reacclimatising a set of three, slightly wild, small people into a life of daily routine and kinder/school. I can't figure out whether they are going to go into shock, or whether they will be so excited to see their mates they won't really even notice the school part. Maybe both? We also need to settle back into our house and maybe plant a (late) broad bean or twenty. Funtimes.

I'll be back in this space at the start of October with some love for the sponsors who supported us at the retreat and some giveaways I have for you, from them. 

See you soon.

Felicia x

The Craft Sessions 2014 Retreat - Part 2!

So more pictures today - but first I wanted to say a big thank you to the wonderful women in the picture above. To our wonderful teachers and my fabulous friends who help me to organise this thing - I couldn't do it without you! xx

Finished beanie from the colour work class. So many students got theirs done!

"25 colours from one natural dyepot" with Jules.

Weaving with Belinda

Colourwork with Jules.

Mel's crochet class on the deck. The weather was glorious!

Melissa's Freedom patchwork.

Camilla.

Georgie in one of her knits.

Night falls.

Belinda's Modern Weaving with Traditional Techniques.

The Craft Sessions 2014 Retreat - Part 1

Wow! I'm writing this 24hours after the end of our 2014 retreat and I'm still smiling. I think I will be smiling for a while yet….. It is tricky to describe with words just what it feels like to be in the company of so many women that share the same passion. I guess the only thing that describes it is that it felt like community. And joy. So much joy!

The weather gods did their magic, the food was fantastic (thanks YVCC), the bush was beautiful, the teachers were encouraging, enthusiastic and generous with their knowledge, and the women….. What an pleasure to spend a weekend with such a joyous and diverse and interesting bunch of women. So lovely to meet you all!

I'm not going to try to describe it any further as there will just be too many adjectives. I'm going to post some pictures today and Friday and hopefully they will chime in the comments to leave their thoughts about it. I think the pictures will give you the vibe much better than my words can.

With a happy heart,

Felicia x

PS. There are so many gorgeous photos I don't even know where to start!! 

The Craft Sessions 2014 Starts today!

Today is the day! The retreat starts at 2pm and we can't wait to meet you all.

Follow us on instagram and Facebook. We will be using the hastag #thecraftsessions.

See you back here on Tuesday with some pictures.

Felicia x

In an atmosphere of growth.

The best source of books we found while travelling was in secondhand bookshops in capital cities. It makes sense – they are places where there are lots of English speaking travellers. A couple of weeks ago while perusing what was on offer, I stumbled across The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It was published in 2009 and the jist of it is that Gretchen spent a year testing out different theories around how to be happier. Pretty early on in the book she comes up with what she calls her First Splendid Truth. 

“To be happier, you have to think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth.”

— The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

That last bit struck me as a really interesting part of why I (and you?) make and create. It’s the learning. The nutting stuff out. The not-understanding that then becomes understanding. Such an all-consuming, sometimes frustrating and ultimately joyful process. 

A lot of the craft that I’ve done while I was away was craft as comfort. Easy, thoughtless, habit based craft. It’s kept me company and helped me stay calm through the chaos, and lately, the queues that have been part of many of our every days. 

But the craft that really made my heart sing was the colourwork jumper. I made mistake after mistake (I’ll show you some of them another day in a post about colourwork) and the finished product is far from perfect. But I learnt things about colourwork technique (which at the start I didn’t know anything about) and about combining colours. The exciting part was not that I achieved perfection (I didn’t) but that I worked it out. As my friend Anna’s friend Gina would say – It was the piece you need to make, so that you can make the piece you really want to make.

Something else I heard in a podcast this week was that "clarity comes from engagement not thought". Such a useful idea. I often spend way too long thinking about projects rather than getting starting. While project planning is really important, it was a great reminder that I can’t always learn what I need to learn, to make what I want to make, just by thinking about a project. I often have to make to learn, and through the making the idea takes shape. There is something about the physical process of working with your hands to make an object from materials, that clarifies an idea in a way that just thinking about it can’t. Even if that means that the thing I really want to make is still one more project away. Practicing in the gap has taken me a step closer.

Growth requires focus and in the focus we find the joy.

Felicia x

PS. There are only three days to go!!