Preserving a Heritage Craft: The ShetlandPeerieMakkers

Do you remember who taught you to knit? It’s an interesting question, many of us remember an older relative constantly knitting in our youth and at some point, we must have shown an interest and been taught how to form knits and purls. Shetland has a long tradition of knitting, mostly for trade as the […]

Traditional Irish Aran Knitting

Tablet Weaving

I am not sure when or where I first learned about tablet weaving, but when I realized that it was a technique that could allow me to solve one of my most “concerning” knitting-related problems and allow me to create very beautiful bands with relatively simple tools, I immediately ordered some wooden tablets and tried my […]

Nålbinding: An Ancient Craft for the Modern Maker

Fiber crafts have been passed down from person to person for hundreds ofyears, weaving generations together. I learned how to knit from my mother, she was taught by her father, and he was taught by his mother. I’m sure my genealogy of knitting could cross centuries and continents. While these old connections inexplicably link generations […]

Isting: the wool felt rugs of Ingushetiya

Preserving heritage wool crafts is about more than just saving a way to ornament our homes.  While there are fiber crafts that live more in the realm of the decorative than the practical, creating clothing, curtains, rugs, and other household items has an impact on how much fuel we need, and the amount of work […]