Christmas Crafts

Back in Catania, we were lucky enough to drop in on a Christmas crafts bazaar. There were all kinds of homemade crafts, from tatting, to loom-made rugs, to homemade limoncello and wooden boxes. Quite incredible displays of craftwork! Here are some of the wonderful things I saw (and some, I bought!):

The woman above made fabulous handmade rugs - she showed me a little bit about how she worked. She uses scraps of fabric in order to make the process go faster - and she was indeed quite quick at her loom! It reminded me very strongly of the loom I'd seen in the museum in Matera, and it was absolutely fantastic to see that loomwork is still alive and well in Italy.

This woman made beautiful earrings and necklaces with tatting - a skill I've never seen before (I've heard the word, but didn't know what it was). She had a beautiful range of earrings - some in the shape of butterflies, or intertwined spirals, or some that seemed like delicate snowflakes. 

They were both beautiful, and quite affordable - I ended up buying two different pairs!

 Beautiful ceramic work - and some of the finest I've seen in Italy (it in no way compares to the tourist stuff peddled on every corner!)

Not sure what this craft was, but it was incredibly gorgeous -
after some attempts in Italian, I couldn't quite figure out what the name
of this technique was.... incredible process.

Really nice paintings on burlap - great color, and a great idea!






To the right - a master of marquetry and woodwork.


All in all, a wonderful example of Italian craftspeople. :)

Old-school Drop Spindle!

Drop spindle and cotton

When we visited Matera, a city where people built their homes into natural limestone caves, I saw an old drop spindle and loom in a museum! It was pretty fantastic to see the evidence of textiles, and especially spinning, since it seems that very few people in Italy still spin.

Drop spindle

There was also this stick with cotton on it, as a way to hold the fibers. The museum also had an old hand-crank machine for wringing out clothes.

Old loom

I also learned that the women would often rent a large loom, just for the winter, to make the family's cloth.

Wringing machine for laundry