Handmade Nation in a City Near You

Handmade Nation, the 2009 documentary about the rise of DIY crafting, is still making it’s way around the country with premieres in more than 20 cities still scheduled. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the upcoming screenings on their blog.

First-time filmmaker Faythe Levine takes crafting seriously. So do the 80-some people she interviews in her well-crafted (pun intended) documentary about the growing art community that coheres around a belief in DIY skill and resourceful creativity. Many members of the indie crafting community spent their childhoods at flea markets, yard sales and thrift stores. Levine journeyed 19,000 miles around the country to discover what these crafters are up to today: selling mittens as band merchandise, knitting sweaters around street signs and networking with each other online, in stores and at craft fairs. This is a compelling look at the exuberant world of contemporary crafting.

Here are some of the upcoming events for September and October. Check out the Handemade Nation blog for more information on locations and times, plus more cities.

September 25-27th: Birmingham, AL
October 1st: Door County, WI
October 7th: Stadtkino, Vienna
October 11th: Tulsa OK
October 10th & 11th: Seattle, WA
October 24th: Norfolk, VA
October 25th: Huntington, NY

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Not too long ago I was seeing a crochet pattern for a glasses holder shaped like a bear all over the Internet. It was super cute, and also useful as a place to put your glasses on your bedside table instead of just throwing them somewhere random.

This project stewed in my brain for a little while and I decided I needed to make a knit version, but I didn’t want to make a bear. If you know anything about me you might know that I’m a cat person, so of course my version had to be a cat.

The base is just a basic little basic worked from the center out to the desired size, then up the sides as long as you want them. Knit some ears and add embellishments to make it whatever kind of animal you want.

The way I figured out to work the base from the center out was to use a crochet cast on, which gives you an easier way to pick up stitches from the back of the cast on than if you worked a more traditional cast on for a knitting project. It’s kind of fun to do things in a different way from time to time.

This little project is adorable if I do say so myself, and even as a plain little basket not made into an animal it’s a cute way to keep your glasses or other little things in one place. I’m tempted to make one for my desk to hold pens or even little little scissors and sewing needles that are always on my desk but somehow always seem to get lost on my desk.

If you need a little holder for your glasses on your table, check out the pattern at Our Daily Craft.

[Photo: Our Daily Craft]

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