I get super grumpy if I don't spend at least a small part of every day making something with my hands. Before I started knitting, when we lived in a very small house, this often required massive amounts of prep time to clear stuff off horizontal surfaces to lay out materials, and then dedicating time to actually doing the activity, and getting it cleaned up before we could eat a meal. When I discovered knitting and it's flexibility and, more important, it's portability, it was like discovering a limitless treasure. That need to flex my crafting muscles was met every time I sat down to knit, and better yet, it could go everywhere with me - making all those minutes spent in cars, in meetings, even in lines, minutes spent making something.

Since then, I've become much more opportunistic when it comes to "making stuff" time. I do have a room dedicated to crafty messes (lucky me - big old house!), but I've also learned to take advantage of the inevitable ten or twenty minutes of free moments that crop up throughout the day. Knitting taught me that it's not how big a block of time that you dedicate to making something, it's stringing together all those moments of actually working on it that results in a finished object.

One thing we wanted to do with Craftstitute was make it a space where people could walk in the door and find empty horizontal surfaces to spread out on and make stuff. No moving the piles of mail, the toys, the detritus of life, to get to the actual making part. You show up during Drop In hours with your project, your ideas, or you come looking for inspiration - what are other people working on? What tools have appeared since the most recent classes were held? Do you need help with a project? We're good at answering questions and finding resources, and we love to help with knitting projects!

Every class we offer is one that I want to take. My parents are visiting, and my mom and I are going to take the Kumihimo weaving class together. Ever since discovering Coral & Tusk, I have been wanting to make some of their amazing patches for brooches, so I was super excited when my friend Erika Molnar pitched her version for a class. This one is on a Friday night, so friends, crafting and wine make for a perfect evening. My husband is excited at the prospect of learning to make pasta from scratch and enjoying a yummy dinner afterwards. I'm not so much about the process as the opportunity to make dinner with a bunch of friends!

The block printing on fabric class is a week from Sunday. Tiana and I have had a great time prepping for this class, and I am so excited about the possibilities inherent in creating your own fabrics, customizing simple tee's, and embellishing an existing piece of clothing... not to mention printing napkins, hankies, dish towels, and a myriad of other gifts for folks.

All of that is just this first week of June. I know, right? Upcoming: an introduction to bookbinding (a Friday night - friends and crafting!), Summer Skirt with Maya*Made, Learn to Crochet with our Lisa (I'm making a summer hat!), Cardmaking with Beth Dewalt, and more. We are going to posting three weeks of creative camps for teens, so keep an eye out for that. If you aren't on our mailing list, please sign up so you don't miss class announcements!

Enjoy the summer weather and make stuff!

-Robin

June is Upon Us