Today on the public radio show Morning Edition there was an interesting story about a woman who is reviving traditional embroidery in the Swat Valley of Pakistan and training women there to be self-supporting. There are a few good pictures on the web site to go with the story.
Month: December 2010
New Year Musings
About ten years ago I started to make fiber-related New Year’s resolutions which I recorded in a notebook — projects to finish, new skills to learn, organizing my stash. It didn’t take many years to notice that the same resolutions appeared on the list year after year, and to wonder how I had let another year go by without finishing my sweater and learning to spin flax. I wondered what I had been doing all year, and realized that I hadn’t wasted time — instead, unexpected opportunities and inspirations had replaced my original plans. Now before setting goals for the new year, I review what I have accomplished in the past year.
In 2010, I spun 37 skeins of yarn, wove two scarves, carded a Shetland fleece and dyed the batts with onionskins, dyed 7 tshirts, 3 scarves, silk and rayon yardage, silk and wool yarn and a variety of fiber, made a basket, a pine needle mat and a felt basket, knitted a hat, three stuffed slugs, and a pair of fingerless gloves, sewed a vest lined with fabric I dyed. Before making this list I was thinking of the things I left undone – three sweaters and a pair of gloves which should have been finished long ago, and I still haven’t learned to spin flax or to weave a double-wide fabric that looks right at the fold.
One other goal that has been on my list for several years is to create a web site. And here it is, just in time on December 31.
