Sally Hancox

Sumoto Retro Komichi is a handmade/ craft fair held twice a year in the main city on Awaji Island.

I was there today with my partner and will be there tomorrow, Sunday 18th October 2015. It has a very nice atmosphere and mix of people looking around.

June calender was a collage of bits of stuff.

Its rainy season in Japan.

cosmic egg 2015

It’s February! Halleluah (Im not a fan of January). This month not particularly related to the season. Valentines theme? screw that.  February’s calender page is a mix of all leftover bits of drawings, screen print, photocopy and painting dating back to long ago. I dont like to throw stuff away. Its all under the bed, but now a bit less of it, as i used it. In your face naysayers.

Recently I’ve been showing various groups of friends my take on backstrap weaving in various living rooms. I think anyone can do it, and I just like showing people because I love doing it myself. I like the simplicity of the process. Also, the variety of artifacts that come out of it are as unique as the people who make them.

The youth at Spotlight (the youth centre) had a great time making pom poms this week.

we used the method where you wrap the yarn around your hand instead of those awkward cardboard circles. It worked a treat!

The other technique we tried was finger knitting, which has some similarities to the very popular loom band trend. We couldn’t really get it off the ground at this session unfortunately. At least 4 people went home with a finished piece of finger knitting but it didnt take off. It just would have required focus and concentration for about 30 seconds more than was given. At least 4 more kids started and gave up just before they got the hang of it. It also could have worked if one of the louder kids had grasped it early on, but you know how it is with social dynamics, especially after a long hard day at school. Anyway the POMPOMs caught on and they were all addicted to that instead.

also didnt get any good pics of finger knitting becuase my fingers were full of yarn during those times!

I did show them how to trim them ‘give them a haircut’ but the scraggly pompom look was more fashionable.

One teenage boy made all these pompoms! 8?! he’s going to make a scarf.

This is the easier way to make a pom pom. It does help to have your friend’s finger on hand to tie a tight knot.