I am, in my personal view, once of the least crafty people I know.  I have sad memories of attempting to learn to sew at school and being run away with by the sewing machine, with stitches in all sorts of places they shouldn’t have been.  I never got to grips with the sewing machine and it left me with an abiding dislike of sewing and an appreciation of others ability to bend it to their will. 

So here I am in living in a place where craft skills are present everywhere you look and they are appreciated and encouraged.  There are the professionals such as Alice Clarke who makes beautiful jewellery which sells in the Falklands, New York and London; Hairy Daisy who make pewter jewellery inspired by the landscape; Julie Halliday who fills her shop Studio 52 with beautiful designs and keeps learning new skills to add her to her considerable bow.  Alongside them, a considerable number of the population use their artistic and craft skills to produce greetings cards, prints, model buildings, silver and ceramic jewellery, all things woollen such as bags, gloves, hats, and much much more which are bought by locals and tourists alike.

Despite my low expectations of my innate ability to be any good at any craft, in such a place it’s natural to have a go at new things and see if one of them might reveal a previously unknown talent.  My very first weekend I was invited to a wine and felting evening, during which Jo showed a bunch of novices how to felt.  Results included a beautiful beach scene, lots of bowls and my misshapen red object… although I do use it to keep coins in.  Felting was clearly not the craft I was looking for.

After the annual spring Craft Exhibition and Show last October, I was inspired to have a go at teaching myself to knit with the aid of Youtube.  I enjoyed it and managed to make a scarf for my sister for Christmas, which she gallantly put on and declared herself to be very pleased.

This winter I have had a go in a class at Falkland College in making a piece of silver jewellery using local stones, which have been cut and polished to bring out their natural colours.  This was a lot of fun and it was great to spend time with others learning how to choose stones, polish them and then set them in silver.  I wouldn’t say that I fell in love with the making process, it needs a great deal of patience and I think an affinity for it, which I didn’t feel. However, it was a great weekend with a lovely group of people and a skilled teacher and I am now the  owner of a pendant that I am very proud to wear and am planning to enter for the spring show….