over the next couple of weeks we are going to find out a little more about the wonderful makers featured in the 2010 whipup calendar – Maritza Soto is featured with her image of her loving softies.
Maritza Soto – also known as soto softies lives in Cambridge, MA (in the US).
Main craft of choice: sewing, specifically sewing softies
Craft hero: there are a few – Lisa Congdon, Hillary Lang (wee wonderfuls), Stephanie Congdon Barnes (little birds), Nicole (craftapalooza), Caro (splityarn)
Fave crafty materials supplier: ReproDepot fabric, Hancock of Paducah’s, A Child’s Dream Come True
I asked all our participants to answer a few questions about their creative process:
1. When did you start making/crafting, and who or what inspired that
first creative burst?
I first started seriously crafting about 3 years ago. I was inspired by all these wonderful crafty blogs. Once I picked up a few Japanese quilting and toy-making books, I started playing and experimenting more with design.
2. What would you say was that light-bulb moment when you discovered your ‘style’ and really hit your making stride?
I’m not sure. I would definitely say that I have a style, but I think it is still developing and growing.
3. Why do you make – what do you get out of it?
I have to admit, I am all about the finished product. I really enjoy photographing and playing with my softies once I finish them. I get tremendous joy from seeing other people appreciate them. I love how people of all ages respond to them at craft fairs; they always manage to bring a smile to someone’s face. That’s a great feeling, knowing that your work can do that.
Find out more about how to get your hands on a copy of the 2010 whipup calendar here.
It’s My Party and I’ll Knit If I Want To! By Sharon Aris, Allen & Unwin (September 1, 2003)
A lucid, pragmatic and often entertaining treatise on why knitting is cool / popular and ‘in’. Of course knitting has been ‘in’ amongst those in the know for a while now – but it seems it is getting taken a bit more seriously with sociologist, Sharon Aris, going on a pilgrimage to find out more, discover knitting secrets and become immersed in the knitters culture. On the way she discovers a personal love of knitting and surprises herself at how knitting changed her life.
With a compelling voice questions are asked ‘is knitting the new feminism?’ (otherwise why are all her career minded friends knitting…what is going on?), ‘is knitting the new yoga?’ (discovers rehabilitation and meditation effects of knitting akin to yoga), knitting your way to ‘the good life’ (knitting for some means a return to their roots, to a more natural and handmade way of life). More chapters discuss the social aspect of knitting, the trendy side to knitting and knitting as a way many of us are reclaiming our heritage. Knitting seems to hold the answers to many of life’s modern dilemmas.
This book is fun, lighthearted, easy to read and inspiring all at once, and with some insightful reflections – it makes a lovely read for the doubters and the believers.
over the next couple of weeks we are going to find out a little more about the wonderful makers featured in the 2010 whipup calendar – Blair Stocker is featured with her image of her knitting in progress.
Blair Stocker otherwise known as wise craft, lives in Seattle, Washington and her main craft is sewing and quilting.
Craft hero: Denyse Schmidt
Fave web site: Anna Maria Horner’s site is always fun, Design Sponge for home dec ideas, True Up for fabric news.
I asked all our participants to answer a few questions about their creative process:
1. When did you start making/crafting, and who or what inspired that first creative burst?
I crafted a lot as a kid, my grandmother taught me how to knit at the age of 4 (which I never fully appreciated the patience she must have had until I had my own 4 year old). I have gone through fits and spurts of crafting throughout my life since then, but I’d have to say when I had children in 1998, I really got into sewing and making all kinds of things for them. Its all just continued from there and creating is a part of my daily life now.
2. What would you say was that light-bulb moment when you discovered your ‘style’ and really hit your making stride?
Writing a blog really showed me what my own style actually is. I never stopped to take photos and talk about what I made before I started blogging, but I can look back through older posts and see there is a common thread that I never saw there before (I honestly never picked up on just how much I like blue and green, for example).
3. Why do you make – what do you get out of it?
Making things is a way to just escape. It usually requires a lot of focus, and at the same time it clears my mind. So much of my day is taken up multi-tasking, but sitting and making something really allows me to focus and relax. I also believe that when we my family uses things that are handmade that we’re less likely to look at that as disposable. It just makes us more thoughtful in that regard, which is good.
Find out more about how to get your hands on a copy of the 2010 whipup calendar here.
