The COVID Craft Projects

Halfway through the second term of my second year in University, the pandemic began to hit my province. Classes quickly moved to remote online learning, and my job shifted slowly but effectively to fit the new government rules. As I began to save time by not taking the bus to the University, not waiting for classes to start, and multitasking more at home, I began to look for new interesting projects to do. After a little more than a year, my scissors and I found joy in embroidering, knitting hats and socks, and weaving tapestries.

First, I got interested in embroidery after seeing someone in my city, Nakita's, beautiful art on small circles of fabric and the back of denim jackets. I had previously bought artsy potted plants from her, and she had rebranded soon after, clearly into a craft she loves. My mom had grabbed a starter kit from one of her friends who started the project and quickly gave up. It consisted of the outlined cloth, embroidery string, a needle and a black frame to put the finished work in, making the project ready to be tackled. My starter embroidery kit was straightforward, nine colours all cross-stitched in the printed lines. Even though it is elementary, I am so proud of the job I did on my first embroidery, only detecting two minor mistakes that no one would see unless they carefully looked. The only items I needed to bring to the table were my scissors, an embroidery hoop, and my willingness to make mistakes, accept them, and calmly fix them even when they take time.

The second project I began was knitting hats and socks for myself and my loved ones. I have always loved knitting as it allowed my hands to do something while watching TV, working as a stress reducer as it made me feel less guilty about wasting time whilst I could be doing something more productive. Knitting is super easy for me to learn new techniques as the limited items needed are yarn, scissors, and knitting needles, and there are many tutorials on YouTube for every stitch. In the winter, I made six hats in the span of around two months, giving them to my mom, my boyfriend's mom, and my friends. Now, I am knitting socks, very slowly, for my mom. This gift was supposed to be for Mother's Day but seeing as it had already passed, it will now be her birthday present that she is already well aware of. As I find that I appreciate this craft more and more, I continue to buy online classes for crocheting and buying good quality yarn for new clothing patterns to try out.

Most importantly, I have fallen in love with weaving tapestries. Throughout my life, I had been intrigued with the beautiful pictures and colours made by weaving artists as early as the 16th century, and I have been interested in the way tapestries are created. Watching multiple YouTube videos of professional tapestry weavers and watching tutorials made by craft channels, I felt like I already knew how to weave, if only I had the proper materials. Then, my friend invited me to weave at her house with her mom as they had a couple of weaving looms and loved the craft themselves. I became very excited and waited for the opportunity to drive over, yet I knew the Covid restrictions would not allow me to visit their home anytime soon. So, I bought one of the cheaper looms on Amazon, still $75 CAD, and patiently waited for it to arrive.

The House of Ravenclaw inspired the first tapestry I made for my friend who loves Harry Potter and whose birthday had already passed. I used gold, brown, white, three different shades of blue, and fluffy grey yarn to match the Ravenclaw crest. Using techniques for the first time I had learned from withwendy, I filled my new loom with love and care. Within this first tapestry, I learned four new techniques plus the basics of weaving, making myself incredibly proud. Showing this Ravenclaw-inspired weaving to my friend, she adored it and said she would hang this up in her room immediately. Furthermore, she requested that I make three more tapestries for her with the other Hogwarts house colours, using the same grey yarn at the top to unify them. Her love for my new favourite craft inspires me to continue.

When weaving a tapestry, different amounts of items are needed depending on the tapestry being made. The basic items include scissors, yarn for the weft, a weaving loom, a tapestry needle, and string for the warp. Extra supplies include a ruler or thin piece of cardboard to weave into the warp at the bottom, a cylinder-shaped stick to use for creating loops, another ruler-shaped stick to help with dividing the warp, a stick for wall hanging, and the list continues. I found weaving to be incredibly easy to pick up and very addicting. Weaving the yarn through the warp strings is calming, and watching the colours and design explode on the weaving loom is the most amazing feeling. Even as I am a beginner who is still learning about tension and the most effective way to weave, trying new designs and using different colour combinations makes the tapestry look beautiful.

People who have inspired me to continue trying new techniques in my weaving include Jenell Flynn from spruceandlinen, Amanda from rogueweaving, Alyssa Ki from solipdiy, Amanda from wildjuniperfibreart, and Christine Dwyer from copperandfringe. Seeing their beautiful art in very different styles is a perfect reminder that tapestries do not have to look a certain way to be beautiful. They showcase their personal textures and bold colours for their followers to fall in love with. Some sell their homemade yarn, tapestry needles, and weaving looms that are all carefully and beautifully made. They have all inspired me to create four tapestries and counting, using new techniques every time.