I can't help noticing that there seems to be an invisible divide in crafting - one that is not always acknowledged, but one that seems to make a massive difference to the sheer extent of a person's crafting ability. That divide is between those who were taught skills such as knitting, sewing and crochet in their childhood, and those who had to pick them up later in life.
Self-taught knitters are often no less talented than those who learnt at granny's knee, but in many cases the skills take far longer to acquire, and it can be frustrating watching someone who seems to be 'a natural', having churned out crafty creations since the age of four. So what do you think - does it make a difference learning at an early age, and should we all learn to knit, crochet and sew on buttons at school?
Poll after the jump
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I've long been aware that when it comes to crafting, boundaries simply do not exist. For the uninitiated, a quick dip into Monster Crochet will make this point loud and clear. But there are boundaries of decency that have not, until now, been crossed. And one of those might be the rendering in craft of acts of international terrorism...
These pieces, which aren't for sale, have divided commenters over at Boing Boing - there are the amused ("These rock!"), the offended ("Too soon!") and the considered ("Something about a huge tragedy makes everyone whip out their opinions. I think whimsy is a great response").
Jenny and Johnny created them as a "heartfelt piece of work", and although the Ryans come across as articulate and well-intended in the Boing Boing comments, personally I'm not at all sure what to make of it all. But I feel slightly uncomfortable, at least.
What do you think? Let me know in the poll after the jump.
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We're all into making stuff around here, so occasionally, I like to post about recipes that just look really tasty. It's a bonus if they look like something else - like Jar Jar Binks or a nice set of intestines, for example, but sometimes I see something that just looks like it would be fun to make (like our egg nog recipe this morning), and I tell myself it all comes from the same creative places as crafting.
But am I stretching the definition of 'craft' too far? Vote after the jump.
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The Wall Street Journal reported this week on Janet Haddad, who is known as the "Bone Lady", as she likes to make jewelry, toys and other crafts out of animal bones. Her favorite species to work with is, apparently, the turkey, and she gets most of her raw materials from friends, who bring her animal carcasses found in the woods or by the side of the road. She boils down the carcass to get the flesh off and the scrap the bones clean. The result is kind of pretty, as you'll see from this video. But do you mind wearing animal bones on your body?
Read on for the poll.
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If you're into your craft, Blythe dolls are one of those things that come with the territory, love 'em or hate 'em. She's on Etsy, she's on here and she's all over Flickr like rash. But do we like these big-eyed beauties?
I'm strangely divided between admiring the creepy-cute creativity they seem to promote and running screaming when I see pictures like this. But what, dear crafter, do you think?
Poll after the jump.
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Melanie over at Beansprouts Blog mentioned that she'll be making clothes for family members this year (but got a bit distracted making historical costumes for her kids!) and it stuck me that it's about this time of year you'll need to get cracking on presents if you're planning on a home-made holiday.
So I'm interested to know what you guys are doing about Christmas this year. Will you take advantage of your crafty skills to avoid shelling out at a time when we're all feeling the pinch, or as Katie found, is it all too much hard work to put all that love into gifts that may not be fully appreciated when you could be happily whipping up pointless but beautiful crocheted toilet rolls?
Let me know in the poll, over the jump, if you're planning to make your own festive gifts - and if you answer with a 'yes', please share your progress on our crafty readers' flickr pool!
Related: Yay or nay: Christmas crafts in November?
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They say that Christmas seems to come earlier every year, but I'm guessing the credit crunch has well and truly bitten this time around, as just a few short weeks away from the big day, I've hardly seen any signs that Christmas is coming at all!
As someone who loves the holiday season, this makes me want to blog about it as often as possible. But I don't want to fill the site with ribbons and reindeers if it isn't cool with you guys...
Follow the jump for our Christmas poll and tell me what you think!
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