new shoes

These boots started life as a tracing of my foot on a scrap piece of card. Raphael is a shoemaker working out of wooden shack in Meru, Kenya. He studied at the local polytechnic before starting his own business making safari boots and repairing shoes. Small shops and businesses, from dressmakers to carpenters, appear in clusters along the dusty roads around Meru. People sustaining themselves and their families through their own skill.

* little bit of kenyan dirt in there.

yarn

These are from  my visit to Nanyuki Spinners and Weavers in Kenya, a women's group that teaches valuable skills to women that they can use to make their own income. Starting with raw wool from the local area, the women make woven products from rugs to scarves that are sold onsite, as well as over the web and to shops in the USA. This one is me spinning wool ( I was not that great, she laughed at me)

I love the holistic approach to making here, and the fact that its done more out of necessity than to adhere to some 'crafty' aesthetic. They make yarn in a variety of colours, all of which are derived from plant or animal products. Above is Lois, with a piece of cactus covered in tiny cochineal beetles, well known for its ability to make pink cakes. They collect the beetles from the forest and, when fermented for different periods, it produces a range of purples when used to dye the yarn. Almost all the other things used to dye are grown within the compound. This means they are independent, and are not reliant on the producers of chemical dyes and the prices they set, and not working with harsh chemicals.

http://www.spinnersandweavers.org/