I just wanted to talk a little about why I even bother to make handmade as much as possible. Of course, the the most obvious is the personal satisfaction - the creative outlet - the joy.
But what I want to talk about today, is the fact that how we choose to spend every cent can be an act of resistance or an act towards changing our economic systems. Who we support with our dollars means everything. So many people think their actions will not matter - but that is crazy thinking. If we all stopped buying at Amazon, then Jeff Bezos would stop being the richest person in history, the CIA would stop paying him, he would cease to own the Washington Post, and he would stop buying out smaller companies. One person should never have so much power. Ultimately, though, the power is in our hands. I know this hard but it is so possible. I think our income may have us very close to the poverty line for a family our size - but we are hardly poor (to me poor means without hope). It is truly a matter of priorities for most (not all - there are many that are not as healthy as we are, don't have any hope in their lives - for many cheap is truly the only option. Please don't think I am judging. )
So, when I create from raw materials, I am supporting the maker of those raw materials and the business I purchased them from. I definitely don't choose to buy those materials from Amazon (although I have, such as paper - and I am committed to not doing so again). I sometimes buy my yarn from Knitpicks and although, I would much prefer to buy from local stores and small fiber farms, with the amount of knitting I choose to do, I could not afford to do so. However, when possible, I do often buy yarn from my local yarn store in Belfast. Her prices are not any higher than most online stores. This way I support a shop on Main Street, I support an individual that is sharing her passion with others. In addition, when I attend a fiber festival I enjoy supporting the local vendors depending on what my budget can afford, which is such a treat. I am also challenging myself to use up textiles that I come across that would have otherwise been trashed, such as when our children out grow their jeans, recycled jars that can be made into holders, and bits of old clothes that can be used to make quilts.
The pictures above are my works in progress. The first is my first handmade holiday gift. It is a pair of socks for Mike. Although he sees me knitting them now, he will for sure have forgotten about them by Christmas. The pattern is free from Purl Soho and I am using some yarn I had purchased this past December. My goal is to finish by February 15th or sooner.
The other is a gift for Emmy for Valentines Day. She was looking over a Rite Aid flyer that came in our mailbox and saw stuffed animals holding candy boxes and thought that would be a wonderful Valentines Gift for herself. I commented that it would be so much better to have a handmade little animal holding a small box of sweets. So, a Valentines Day cat is in progress.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and what you are making.
Warm wishes,
Tonya
I have basically come to the same place as you regarding the importance of where we spend our dollars. The transition took multiple years and was upset briefly when we moved from California (where I had already figured out how to buy most things locally) to Boston (where I had no idea where to get things and was stressed out from the move to boot!). I had to forgive myself for back-sliding in my resolve while we got settled in our new home, and that was actually quite hard. I had also been trying to live more zero-waste in CA, with my own compost pile, etc. and that too has had to be reevaluated for life on the East Coast. Which is all to say that it's been a continuing journey for us, but I finally feel like most of my purchases lately have reflected my ideals, which is nice :)
ReplyDeleteI love seeing your projects so far! Iris' birthday is coming up so I should start planning a special gift this weekend.
there is always room for grace - we need to be gentle with ourselves because sometimes our sanity is more important or our children having a parent that isn't overly stressed. It really is very personal but I think it is ok to push myself and work more and more to live out my principles (like you are)- thanks for sharing Anna!
DeleteThis is very thought provoking. I've wondered who Amazon is. I've been knitting hats to take with me to my chemo treatments. I leave extras at the center. They're always gone when I return.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you,
Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage
Laura,
DeleteI will keep you in my prayers for complete healing. You are such a blessing and I so appreciate your sharing. Sending Love.
Thank you so much. By the way, I love the colors you are using!
DeleteLaura lane, what a blessing you are to others, right within your own trials. xx
ReplyDeleteI've only just begun 'learning' about Amazon and the man behind it...and not that I've ever used it much, but now that it's come to Australia (where I live) I shan't support Amazon in any way. I always buy from Book Depository and my husband just informed me they were bought out by Amazon. So many 'hidden' things.
ReplyDeleteI don't knit, I design embroideries, but I love using what I already have or reusing what others have discarded. Thanks for the honest blog post. Bless you heaps.
Thanks for sharing. It is amazing how many businesses they have bought up and unless you really dig, you don't necessarily learn about.
DeleteI want to knit socks for my husband as well, he has a birthday on the 20th of February though so I might wait until Christmas :-) About Amazon, I will admit I use Amazon a lot. Not because I think the monopolisation of books (or anything) is good, but because I struggle to find the books I want here in Norway. Often when I have ordered from a smaller local bookstore, they have had to order the book for me which takes about two/three weeks and they actually often order through amazon and then sell it to me at a much higher price. Books are taxfree to import to Norway, meaning I dont pay import taxes when I buy books from abroad (otherwise you have to pay 35% of the price in taxes when you buy stuff from abroad), so the price is much cheaper when I buy from Amazon. I have not investigated what are the conditions for authors who sell through amazon, are they paid rightfully? or do they loose their rights when they sell through such a big company. That said, I will buy from some smaller online shops, like knitting books from Ysolda or Jamieson and smith, if I find them there.
ReplyDeleteIt is one of the struggles of living where we live, to buy locally is not often an option because there are so few shops.
There are no easy solutions and Amazon is just one example of many of these giant corporations... which in the long run will probably not be good for the worker or the consumer. If we all do our best and think through each purchase, it will make a difference, even if it means we do buy from Amazon every now and then. Thanks for visiting here and I would love to visit Norway someday!
DeleteYour knitted cats are lovely and not cartoonish. Would you please share the title of the book in which you found the pattern? It would be much appreciated - Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI love this post, Tonya.
ReplyDeleteIt is my hope to get blogging again too, and am trying to organize myself to begin again this month.
Such a good, thoughtful post, Tonya. And thank you for another branch of the problem-that-is-Amazon. I had not made that particular connection. You know, one of my favorite bits of Wordsworth is this "“The world is too much with us; late and soon,
ReplyDeleteGetting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon;" And I do agree, but I also see that if we can change our ways of "getting and spending" we take back some of our power.
I do hope the rest of the year brings you more income, more saving. We are also self-employed, with a near "poverty line" income, so I understand. And honor all that you are doing and sharing. xo