Crafty Competition
Hi friend,
At the moment, The Great British Bake-Off is on the telly here in the UK. Do you watch it? Or something similar where you live? I only watch it because Tony puts it on, competitions do not interest me, so it’s not something I would watch if I had sole control of the TV remote! :-D
The other day I was thinking about how there are all these creative shows on TV but they’re all competitions. GBBO, The Great Pottery Throw Down, Portrait Artist, Strictly Come Dancing, The Great British Sewing Bee and more.
Isn’t that odd? These activities are seemingly only interesting for TV people if they can add some kind of tension or suspense. Which to me seems like the opposite of what making things is about. I love making things, whether that’s embroidery or quilting or drawing, because it makes me slow down and appreciate the materials and working with my hands.
Turning these things into a tense competition seems antithetical to me. Why would you do that to yourself and the craft/art you love? And why are the creative pursuits only worthy of televising when this element of contest is added?
I would love to watch programs where someone talked about how they’re making things, the idea behind it, what it means to them, what they love about the materials. Watching shows like GBBO and Sewing Bee just makes me feel stressed. And you don’t really learn much about the art/craft.
I dunno…maybe it’s just me!
Have a good weekend!
Carina x
P.S. Since ‘tis almost the season and maybe you feel like doing some wintery stitching, take 15% off on all my snowflake patterns. Use the code: NOVEMBERSNOW. It is valid until November 12th.
Some Things I Enjoyed This Week
My album of the month! This month it is the Stay Gold album by First Aid Kit. Very nice. :-)
I have just started reading The Fair Botanists - Could one rare plant hold the key to a thousand riches?* by Sara Sheridan. I randomly saw someone mention it on Twitter and I took a chance on it because I liked the cover, and the book is set in Edinburgh (I miss Edinburgh!). I like what I’ve read so far.
A simple dinner: I had some leftover chili in the fridge; I mixed it with some cooked pasta, put it all in a dish, topped it with grated cheese and put it in the oven for about 15 minutes. So good!
*bookshop.org affiliate link.
From The Archive
Embroidery pattern: Noël Wreath from 2017.
Blog post: Log cabin block with oversize blackwork from 2014.