Craft As Solace

So early last week I wrote an email about the tickets going on sale but before I was ready to send it the American election happened. And I pondered it, as I think all of us did. What it meant for our community and the earth and the future. And what it said about our society. All that pondering lead to me prefacing the email with the following words. After sending the email I got a some in return from lovely women around the world who reached out to let me know that it resonated with them. And so I thought I would what I wrote here. I hope it resonates with you too xx.

---

I was lying in bed this morning, staring out the window when I realised that I needed to talk about the week that was. It was big week. One full of unexpected outcomes, uncertainty and fear. Many of us this week have experienced dark moments - and felt the weight of knowing that the global society that we want to be a part of, one filled with generosity, open hearts, connection, community and truth, looks like it may have gone a little off track. I have read many posts on the interweb and instagram this week where people have spoken of their heartbreak, their disappointment and their concern.

And so lying in bed this morning, I was thinking about the deep need we have to find solace, to find ways to replenish our spirits, and ultimately find our sense of hope and courage.

When world events occur it may feel like a strange time to be talking about craft. Craft is trivial isn't it? And beauty too? .... in the face of such obstacles.

Lucky for you and I, we know this is total rubbish, right? But as the week has been so big in so many ways, today I wanted to remind you of the place craft can have in filling our cup and reminding us of our connectedness.

Craft provides us with a place to sit with our feelings and find solace. The act of working with our hands slows us down and allows us to find rhythm and flow. It centres us, and grounds us in who we are, and what we care about.

Craft gives us a place to connect, with ourselves, with the earth, and with our community, both local and global. Creating objects with our hands speaks of our shared value system, one whereby the small things, the unseen things where intention is the key, are important.

Craft enables us to create beauty that nurtures our spirits. We get to make stuff, and fill our homes and our hearts with intentional objects of utility and beauty.

Beauty is not trivial. Connection is not trivial. It inspires us and lights us up. And when we are alive we can't help but find hope.

I just listened to a Rebecca Solnit interview on the podcast On Being where she talked about how in times of crisis sometimes a community can fall apart - but also how big events in life cause us to be present in a way that can cause us to fall together, as humans with a shared experience, and really connect. And how there is courage to be found in that connection.

I truly believe that with courage, and a lot of work, we can create the world we want to be part of.

So I wish you peace this week and a quiet 30 minutes to make and connect.

Felicia x

Slow Stitching in the Barn - A special Event

Today is an exciting day for us! Today we get to introduce a new style of retreat that we hope you will love. After the success of The Craft Sessions annual retreat over the last couple of years, and with how quickly the retreat was selling out, we knew that we wanted to create more spaces for us to come together - but what? and how?

So I started rolling ideas around in my head, and where I came to, was that I really wanted the opportunity to dive deep into a particular discipline or craft for a whole weekend. I wanted us to have more time to have a deeper focus in one area. Once I got started on this train of thought, the ideas kept flowing. More topics, and more crafts, and more special events where we come together to connect and focus. Yay!

But firstly I couldn't get one idea out of my mind. I'd seen this beautiful Barn space at The Estate Trentham through one of our ace teachers, and I could see the whole event in my mind. Hand stitching, linen, tea, homemade cordial, the gardens, cake, and the opportunity to engage with Melissa and Elizabeth's beautiful work. A perfect match if I do say so myself.... and the possibility of the perfect weekend.

Without further ado I would like to introduce ....

Slow Stitching in the Barn

with Melissa Wastney, Elizabeth Barnett and Felicia Semple

Slow Stitching in the Barn is a weekend where we step into slow. We sit together, learn together, eat together and take time out to live a little differently.

This weekend has been created to feel like a total treat - divine food in the most beautiful space - spending time with the amazing Melissa Wastney and Elizabeth Barnett, who are two of The Craft Session's favourite teachers. This retreat holds a space where we can take the time to replenish, connect and drop in to a weekend of making.

Elizabeth

Melissa

Felicia

Slow Stitching in the Barn is a special event and offers a different format to our annual spring retreat. A non-residential weekend offering participants the opportunity to dive deep into hand stitching, in a more intimate setting.  We will spend our days making projects based around beautiful handwork. A magic retreat where we will stitch, embroider, handquilt, sew and if you want to, draw and paint.

All the details are on our website at Slow Stitching in the Barn.

We know you are going to love it. The Barn is totally stunning. The food abundant and glorious. The teaching generous, encouraging and knowledgeable. And the company .... well that's the best bit of any of our events. A weekend to slow down and make beauty.

Registration will open on Sunday November 13th at 5pm.

Please be aware that this is a small event and tickets are very limited. As always, feel free to email admin@thecraftsessions.com if you have any questions.

GIVEAWAY - To celebrate the launch of this special event we have a little pack of stitching goodness to give away - some of my favourite sashiko needles, some linen, a hoop, and some beautiful threads. Just leave a comment on the post. (My apologies international folk - this one is only for those in Australia and NZ. )

Can't wait to hear what you think.

Felicia x

Felicia x

A tale of one day workshops.

One day workshops weren’t my plan. When I began this whole venture way back in 2013 I really wanted the togetherness of a multi-day retreat. I wanted to make sure that people had the time to get to know one another and really form friendships – and my theory was, that that happens over breakfast. Which it does! The friendships that have formed over the years are a big part of the magic of the retreat. Community has been created.

I think I thought that it wasn’t possible to create community in a single day but as is often the case I was wrong about a couple of things.

Firstly, I think what this series of one-day workshops I just ran with Anna Maltz taught me, was that I was selling one-day workshops short. We decided to run them because I was bringing Anna out from the UK, and I didn’t want to “waste” her by not sharing her knitting skills and styling more widely than at the retreat. And so we tried to make the one day-ers a little bit like the retreat. We started early, and we finished late, and we ate together, and there was space for chat.

But they were totally wonderful! Each one of them in a different space with different women. But women, who were of course, the same types of women. They were women who really care about making. And what I saw was, not that we were creating community in a day, BUT that we already were a community who kindof knew one another, maybe though passing one another on Instagram or Ravelry. These one day workshops meant that we got to connect in person. I got to meet people I only “knew” from online and I got to catch up with people I knew in person, for the first time in ages. This is totally obvious now I've seen it, but it was a subtle new joy that permeated all of these days for me as we travelled.

Chat was a big part of the day, and the interesting thing that I heard time and again was that you didn’t necessarily have the making community you would like, in your everday life. Either you didn’t know other knitters, or if you did they were a little old school, and were the kind of knitter who believed that there was a correct way to do things AND that it was OK to tell you that you were doing it all wrong. Which of course we all know is totally unacceptable crazy person behaviour. I don’t know why I was so surprised, but I was. Not about the crazy person behaviour but rather that so very many of you make in isolation.

So tell me about it. Do you know others in who knit/sew/quilt/dye? Do you know others who make in real life? Or are your making mates mainly online???

Felicia x

PS. If you have nothing to do this Saturday Oct 15th, I'm teaching full day of Hand Quilting in the same Barn these beautiful photos were taken and we are almost sold out! Food is supplied by the lovely Tash who restored this beautiful barn and much of it comes from their property. Last time we got to eat their pig! Can't get more local than that. You can find all details and the last ticket or two on Tash's website A Plot In Common.

PPS. All of these photos are from the first workshop we ran simply because they are all I have edited at this time AND I killed my camera as I often do when I am on the road. It is now in the shop.

PPPS. Two of The Craft Sessions At Home winners are yet to contact me with their addresses. So if you left a comment then go check out whether you were picked.

Why connection? And some winners!

Around retreat time I end up thinking about the idea of connection a lot, because each year I realise anew that connection is the main reason why people come. Yes, they come for a weekend away, and yes the classes are awesome, and the food fabulous, but that isn't where the magic is. The magic is in what happens when you put a room of people together who have a shared understanding of the joy of making.

Connection is a word I love and a word I use often - it is why I do what I do. And yet, connection is a word that gets thrown around a lot in our culture. It is used to advertise mobile phones and banks and schools and government programs. It's used because connection is something we all look for and crave. We need it to live a good life. As Brene says - we are wired for connection. And yet, while I love it, when I read it in someone's marketing or magazine article, it can feel a little empty. A little marketing-y. Which makes me a little sad, because really, connection is the secret sauce of life.

To me, feeling connected means feeling heard, seen and understood. And feeling those things aboutsomeone else. Every year I am reminded of how real the word connection is in the context of the retreat. It is not just an empty word. The reality of it is palpable; everyone arrives on the Friday with open hearts ready to celebrate this wonderful life giving thing we share. And for that I am truly grateful.

In our everyday lives when we are thrust into a group of people we don't know, we generally look for people who are in our tribe to connect with. We guess that they will share some of our values and passions. We look at the visible markers we can see to tell us something about the person before us. Simple markers like the way someone is dressed, their expressions, their hairstyle, whether they are good at eye contact, their posture, their age group all tell us something about who it is that we are speaking to. However, often those very same markers that draw us to some people can also cause us to make judgements that mean we deny ourselves rich and rewarding relationships with a broader demographic that those people we instantly recognise as "our people".

To make my point I thought I would give you a very simple example of me being a lazy but judgemental arse. - There is a woman I met two years ago who looks crotchety all. the. time. For the first year or so I knew her, I avoided conversations that were deeper than hi because she looked so grumpy. And yet when I was thrown together with her in a room on a project I discovered that she is really really friendly and open and kind. I can hear my grandmother shouting "book" and "cover" and she is right. I should have taken the time a year earlier. It would have involved me investing an extra three minutes of my time in the initial phase of knowing her to figure out who she was.

Moving on from my shortsightedness.

What is amazing about a retreat based around a shared understanding support and joy making give us, is that we know the each and every person there has a common understanding of something fundamental about us, something that is somehow deeply personal and deeply universal. They have felt it too! They understand why we want to make, rather than buy something. They understand how our fingers are connected to our hearts.

It's like a shorthand way of getting to know one another. Knowing something that fundamental about someone, gives us a wonderful base with which to start connecting to them on other levels. This shared understanding means there is a conversation that can be had that is more open and vulnerable than a normal introductory conversation can be; we know a part of what makes that other person tick, regardless of their mode of dress, their age, body language and their possible tribe.

I know I'm being a little repetitive but for that I am truly grateful.

My apologies for the delay in getting the prizes assigned for our giveaway the other day. I've finally read all the wonderful, thoughtful comments on The Craft Sessions At Home post where I asked you about community and craft. I've picked a few to share with you here - but I really wish I had more than five prizes to give away. The comments made my heart sing and I encourage you to go read them with a cup of tea if you have a moment. Thank you so much for playing along.

The comments from the five people who have won prizes are listed below. If you find your quote here then please email me at admin@thecraftsessions.com with your full name and address and I will get them sent out to you. My apologies for not emailing you to let you know. My system has eaten some of your email addresses.

Felicia x

 

Connection Quote 1 - from kiran

I started knitting just a few months ago, and found it a way to soothe myself and "knit up" the unravelledness of my life. But the reaches of its healing keep surprising me. I found myself in the last few days not anxiously averting my eyes from acquaintances I pass, but instead meeting them with a smile. Something about living in my hands a bit more and not just my head, is helping me stand more solidly in my own being. I also find my eyes scanning for knitwear. My desire to talk about it is stronger than my anxiety. I feel the words come to my lips and the urge to speak overpowers my hesitation. "Your scarf is beautiful!" "What a lovely jumper! Is I handmade?" I have found a secret language which, in spite of myself, is breaking the barrier I saw between myself and others. I'm becoming human again. Woven in. Thankyou, fibres and needles. Thankyou, my hands. Thankyou, life, for the spark in me that made me want to knit.

Connection Quote 2 - From Sally

The community created by being a maker is cyclical & spans generations I think; with everything we make we are connected to those from whom we have learnt our crafts; we connect with those who are the recipients of what we make & also those who influence, inspire & generally hang out with us while we're making & then there are the connections we make with those to whom we pass our knowledge & skill. I feel this & think about every time I pick up every project I work on & consequently altho I work alone I am never lonely.

Connection Quote 3 - from Ellen

It seems I am not alone in using creative hobbies as a social support in meeting people and making community - I am very shy and introverted, but knitting and spinning provide a common ground to share with others when forming early friendships. I had the privilege of living just blocks from a brand new yarn store a few years back, and the inter-generational community fostered there changed the way I viewed my neighborhood and my friend group. I have also used knitting as a way to connect with and build community as a way to express emotion - I have often sent knitted items to welcome new babies, comfort for those experiencing medical difficulties, or send hugs to those in mourning.

Connection Quote 4 - From Karen B

I started knitting to fill my time and my attention on long hours of airplane travel for work. I find it satisfies my urge to be productive and to create - and unbeknownst to me, I make friends nearly everywhere I go! I have had an unexpected number of seatmates tell me that seeing me knit socks brings back warm memories of their grandmother or mother knitting. I've been told folks had no idea anyone knits anymore! Other knitters have pulled out their project and we have compared favorite yarn shops, yarn manufacturers, tools and patterns. And fellow travelers just like to tease me - "will you finish that (sweater, scarf, socks....) by the time we land?" Knitting has started dialogues with people who would otherwise remain distant and that engages me with community in a precious way.

Connection Quote 5 - From Annett

I feel like there really is no way to craft and not connect. Most of us learn a craft, whether it be knitting or sewing, embroidery etc.pp. from someone, and even if that doesn't happen in person, most of us learn a skill or two online, from all the lovely people here sharing their knowledge. And apart from the connections being made in "real life" through crafting together, or people asking about my knitting (seriously, there have been surprising people that would probably never talk to me if it wasn't for my knitting and vice versa), I feel like this online community has given me so much, blogs, Instagram and Ravelry are just part of my online home, people sharing their makes, me sharing mine, asking each other things, giving advice, encouragement, knitting along with each other, I really could not imagine my live without all the companions I carry around in my iPhone with me. :) So until I make it to events like your amazing Craft Sessions, Camp Workroom Social or the Edinburgh Yarn Festival I'll just cherish the community brough to me through the magic thing that is the Internet. Wishing you the loveliest of times with shiny happy people and awesome projects all the way from Germany! :)

More photos and putting off winners!

So it's now 11.18pm and I've finished the photos! Yay but I haven't got through the comments and I have to go to the gym at ridiculous-o'clock because life is interfering with my normally civilised schedule. So I'm not announcing winners of The Craft Sessions At Home giveaway like I promised. I'm adoring reading your stories, and some of you are so gorgeous with them words about that connection stuff you are making my heart happy. So Yay and I'm going to keep reading them without stress tomorrow.

Instead here's a few more photos, and have a read of the comments if you feel like some joy and we will chat next week. Thanks for your patience lovely women.

Felicia x