BUTTON UP FOR A CAUSE – Craft Gossip

http://www.buttonmad.com/Site/Catalogue/Catalogue%20Page1.htm

Someone just directed me toward a site that sells fantastic buttons all handmade by women in Africa. Such a small thing, a button. But, such a huge way to support an artisan anywhere in the world with the purchase of his/her handmade items.

To this end, I’m going to begin collecting and posting information about similar sites on this blog. IF YOU are aware of a site that would support an artistan/artist/crafter in a ‘fair market’ way, please be sure to post a link to the site or shop here.

Since I’m a small business owner, I try to support other small business owners rather than having all my dollars go to the big box retailers. This can’t always be done on a practical level, but I have discovered that it’s usually worth the few extra pennies or bucks I might spend to keep good businesses local and to maintain the huge amount of expertise in all crafts/arts that will be lost if we spend all our money at the big box stores.

So, join me in this. Doesn’t matter if you’ve actually dealt with the business yourself, but it does matter that you have good reason to believe it’s on the ‘up and up’ and that the majority of money will return to the artisan rather than to some intermediary.

On this site, there are literally hundreds of buttons to chose from. Here is a sample:

Best of all, these buttons are available at MY favorite LYS (Hearthstone Knits). You can check the website for a retailer (or wholesaler) near you.

Here are some more buttons that are stunning. I love that they’re made from fallen trees rather than from the destruction of living trees.

http://www.ecobutterfly.com/catalog/Natural_Buttons-7-1.html

At the Ecobutterfly.com site there’s a section on beads. I’ve purchased a bunch of glass beads in India. As far as I know, they’re all authentic. This site tells you the questions to ask when purchasing ‘fair market’ beads to determine that you’re getting the real thing.

Another business benefits the children of mothers with AIDS.

http://www.injabulo.com/acatalog/Beads_from_Mothers_for_All.html

You can find more resources online that will use your dollars to benefit artisans all over the world. After all, when you pour your energy and money into your one of a kind crocheted project, it may well be worthy of a special button.

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Knitwear designers can get inspiration from almost anything when it comes to re-creating a color scheme, an image or a texture in stitches. Sometimes the inspiration isn’t always obvious in the finished project, but sometimes it’s more literal.

That’s the way it is with the Tin Ceiling Blanket from Purl Soho. Not just because the inspiration is in the name, but if you’ve ever seen one of these old ceilings you can see that the design of the blanket is quite similar to the pattern of the tin tiles.

This is also a good example of the idea that you don’t have to use fancy stitch patterns or lots of color to make a big impact with your knits. This single-color blanket (designed by Gianna Mueller and inspired by a washcloth and towel set designed by Sandi Rosner) is made completely with knits and purls, other than slipped stitches at the beginning of rows to make neater edges.

The pattern is written out row by row, but there’s also a chart, which means this project is a great opportunity to practice reading a chart where you can check your work against the written pattern if you need to.

It comes in two sizes, a crib blanket and a throw. The yarn used in the sample is an organic cotton sold by the cone, which is a great way to get a large quantity of yarn and have fewer ends to weave in. In fact, you can knit either size of the blanket with just one cone of yarn, which isn’t inexpensive but makes you a great, sturdy, heirloom quality but still washable blanket you’ll use for years to come. (Of course you can use any sport weight yarn you like to make this blanket.)

Check out all the details and grab the free pattern from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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