Crafting as a Walkabout

For nearly two years, I've included a "walkabout" in my weekly schedule. It's an idea I adapted from a colleague's description of an Australian aboriginal practice of taking off from regular work for a short period of living in the bush. We were discussing it in the context of my up-coming sabbatical, because at the time I was trying to find a balance between setting up a rigid work schedule and wanting to have the time and mental space to "wander". I decided to experiment with weekly "walkabouts" -- days when I would let go of my work routine. I've stuck with the practice because it works. My productivity hasn't suffered, and the "walkabout" itself has resisted routinization.

When the weather is fine, I escape to the outdoors. I board the Metro at my local station; I have no idea where I'll get off, and sometimes I have ridden to the end of the line and part of the way back before deciding. While I ride, I listen to music. Sometimes I go to a garden, sometimes to zoo, sometimes a museum. if a work idea pops into my head, I write it down and let it go.

The weather was decidedly NOT fine this week; Friday was hot, humid and stormy. So I used crafting as my walkabout. Reaching into my stack of commenced projects, I spent the day making a simple shell in an autumn-hued paisley challis. Crafting lets me gather information through unused senses: feeling the soft drape of the fabric, listening to the clattering hum of my sewing machine, watching carefully as I sew each seam.  Crafting challenges me; challis loves to ravel, and I needed to figure out how to prevent that. Michael Pollan recently suggested that we have replaced cooking with watching other people cook on television. I wonder if our rich media culture hasn't done the same with gardening, carpentry and other crafts. My crafting walkabout was to a sewing show what my kitchen efforts are to Gina De Laurentis' creations. What is the advantage to working with my own hands, head and senses, instead of watching someone else? What synapses are being connected in my brain? What do I learn? How does it affect my relationship to the product of my effort? To be continued.

More stuff for girls

What does it say about the state of my femininity that this kind of product is the very last thing I would buy?

Usually manufacturers just slap a coat of pink paint on when the marketing electronics to women. Sony Ericsson clearly put a lot more thought into its Jalou phone, which comes out later this year, but still managed to come up with one of the most insulting pieces of electronics on the market.

From Jezebel.com, h/t to the awesome Jacob.

FTC takes action on 'Bamboo-zling' Claims

I've been rattling on for over a year about bamboo RAYON and arguing that manufacturers should follow the textile labeling laws, and that consumers need to be skeptical about green claims for bamboo. Now, the FTC has released two new Alerts addressing these issues, and have taken four companies to court to halt false environmental claims. One of the Alerts, How to Avoid Bamboozling Your Customers educates businesses who sell clothing and other textile products that unless a product is made directly with bamboo fiber, it can’t be called bamboo. Have You Been Bamboozled by Bamboo Fabrics? lets consumers know that the soft “bamboo” fabrics on the market today are really rayon, made using harsh chemicals in a process that releases pollutants into the air.

In additional, the FTC announced  that it has charged four sellers with deceptive labeling and with making false or unsubstantiated claims. The sub-title reads: Bamboo-based Textiles, Actually Made of Rayon, Are Not Antimicrobial, Made in an Environmentally Friendly Manner, or Biodegradable, which just about sums up my blogging efforts on this topic. Read the entire press release here.

It's a great new fashion trend: enforcing regulations!