i love to craft because it engages the head, heart and hands.

i must use my head to plan the project and follow through on it.

my heart is always involved because all of my craft projects are gifts for friends and loved ones.

hands are the cornerstone of crafting and the reward of using them is two fold. it allows me to create a nontraditional archive of my life and at the end of each project i have a sweet/sassy little gift for someone close to my heart.

i craft because it is meditative. i always have bag full of yarn and needles to knit in my free moments. also am going to start a knitting circle at my job so i can infect others with my love.

There are so many reasons why I love crafting: It's relaxing. I get to be creative. I feel a great sense of accomplishment and pride when I finish a project. But I have to be honest, one of the biggest reasons I craft is that I'm really, really picky, and I often can't find exactly what I want in stores! When I make things for myself, they can be exactly how I want them to be.

I love to craft because:
A: I can never find anything that is just right, so I have to make it myself - learning the skills as I go
B: Saving money is always a big in my book
C: It's creative and I get to make pieces of "art" that no one else has in their home!
D: The satsifaction of knowing that, yes, I made that!

I grew up in a 'crafty' home- its what my mom and grandmom do while watching tv, talking to someone or even while planning other crafts. Whether it was bead curtains, wall hangings, unique pieces of art from toothpaste caps (stack them up for pillars for a doll sized pavilion in a model garden; I didnt say they were anything but elaborately inventive. :-)), sweaters or clothes, I had the most unique things!! Now I live halfway across the globe, spend hours a day on the train, and work as a scientist, but when I pick up my latest project after dinner, I am sort of home.

I craft therefore I am.

I craft because I have to. It's as innate to my being as breathing. I want my life and surroundings to be as far away from a consumer mentality as I can get and creating my environment helps put that in perspective. It creates importance and permanence that our disposable economy doesn't understand.

In my professional life I have to be very precise, very perfect, and keep track of a dizzying number of details. My workload is very constant and it's difficult to schedule time away.

In my personal life I can be as haphazard as I want to be. My friends know that I don't do math after 5:00. I can even leave a project half finished, for months, or forever for that matter. This fact keeps me sane.

My "crafting" mainly consists of sewing and screen printing. I am self-taught so I'm sure there are "short-cuts" that I'm not aware of that would probably make my projects a little easier. More recently I've been learning metalsmithing/jewelry making. I love that I can dabble in whatever is interesting to me at the moment - this allows me to come back to work every day and be perfect again.

It's for me!

Crafting allows me to spend time with me, to make something for me, lets me explore my potential in creativity & imagination. Above all, crafting allows me time to myself. I love my babies, all three of them, but I’m their primary care giver 24/7 and all my time is about them, which I am very blessed. But when my partner can take over the care-giving duties, I get my space and time to focus on me. Whether it’s knitting my son a sweater, or cutting and sewing cloth to make window curtains, or making a new lampshade to give our old lamp a new face.

My crafts are ideas that are constantly brewing in my head, and until I get ME time, they’re all just sitting there in the dark. But when I get to let them loose, who knows….? My friends might end up with a knitted hat, or my dining room table may end up with a lovely fabric runner, or the windows may have a new look with the curtains I set out to make. I get solitude time with me, and my friends & family get a flavor of my creativity. Everyone wins.

Crafting can get expensive because knitting a scarf may be very costly in yarn and other supplies as oppose to picking one up at the store. However, that scarf would mean a lot more to the person I’m knitting it for, and that is worth much more to me. And yes, I may love that pillow at the store, but I may not prefer the color its in, so my solution would be to make one just like it, but in the color that would define me more. And perhaps, off subject, but from my experience, counseling may cost up to $150/hour, but I’ve discovered that crafting is a marvelous substitute to counseling when you can’t afford the $150 an hour session with your regular counselor.

In short, I craft because it is a lovely form of therapy. I would love these books very much, and would be most appreciative to have them in my space!

I love to craft because I am actually quite awful at it. And I like to challenge myself to make something which I never thought I could make myself. A pillowcase you say? Well, I could just buy one from IKEA, but then it wouldn't be endearingly wonky and with very obvious, hand-made stitching. And it wouldn't be... me!
So basically, I craft because I hope to be better at it and in the future, when and if I have kids, I can make them something they will want to wear without cringing ;)

I love to craft ‘cause:
Math & Sudoku only use half of my problem-solving brain. Crafting uses a full whole.
I face the “Inconvenient Truth” head on by reusing leftover items.
Mama didn’t raise no big box store girl.
It helps me better express who I am on the inside to those on the outside.

it just makes me happy.

I can make gifts from my heart.

I craft because I am an engineer.

Whether sewing curtains from bed sheets, coding a finance program, or writing a letter a newspaper, I aim to create something of utility, beauty, efficiency and durablity.

Harry Potter made me do it!

My love affair with crafting began after I saw the first HP movie, and I decided that even though I was living in Texas at the time, I had to have one of those big Gryffindor scarves. The ones that Warner Bros. sold looked (and felt) like junk, so I picked up a knitting book and taught myself how to make one. It took me a while to find the yarn--and and even longer while to learn the difference between a knit and purl stitch--but now I have the EXACT scarf that I wanted. Since then I've added crocheting, sewing, quilting, decoupage-ing, screen printing, and building furniture to my repertoire.

I craft because I need to make things that are special and one-of-a-kind. I craft because I have an unhealthy obsession with fabric. I craft because it's fun having all the ladies in the office ask me, a boy (gasp!), about how to fix their knitting projects. I craft because there is nothing better than seeing the look on someone's face after you've given them something you made with your own two hands and hearing, "WOW! You MADE this?!"--hopefully in the good way.

Crafting is a form of meditation for me, a way to free my mind while my hands create. I often try something new just to see what will happen inside my head when I use a new material or attempt a new technique.
Crafting is also a way to cherish friends and make my feelings for them into something that they can enjoy and hold in their hands.

I craft because I need to learn. I want to try everything- I don't need to be good at everything- but I need to try. I love craffting because I can express myself with fabric, paint and clay better than I ever could with words. I craft to have alone time from my husband and toddler whom I love with all my heart. I craft to give a part of myself to others. I craft because I love it and it makes me whole.

I craft because I have to. Not crafting would deny the creativeness in me along with the need to make my apartment and life reflect me...instead of revealing that I live in rooms easily recognizable in various catalogs.

I like the old and new and the outrageous. When an object enters my home, I must make it look like my own and use it in an unusual way or make something that suits my own needs - not the needs of thousands of others.

I love to craft because it feels authentic - I love the process of making something with my hands, my time, my senses, my creativity and imagination. I love the product - mostly I do fiber crafts, and I love the tactility of it, the textures of the fabric, the pattern. I love making something and giving it to someone knowing it's something I put time and effort and thought and care into, something that I created. I love that it gives me a creative outlet and at the same time engages me with other people around me, people interested in the same crafts. I've made many friends through knitting and fiber crafts and learned a ton, too. I wouldn't be a blogger if it weren't for my crafting!

I love to sew and craft because I'm not such a great free-artist. Sewing and crafting is a perfect way for me to express my style and creativity. I get a lot of enjoyment from the process of creating a garment or a soft furnishing. I'm always amazed and proud of how it all comes together, even if it's not perfect. I can get the biggest thrill from creating a pair of simple place mats. Sewing and crafting suit me because I love the idea of a pattern and a set of instructions. I'll even use a pattern or instructions for a simple table runner or a memory board, even though I could most definitely construct one without a detailed step-by-step. I'm detail oriented and I like things spelled out; I like a plan even if I end up putting my own creative spin on things the majority of the time.

And the best thing of all: Whether I'm at the sewing machine, or painting a pot, my head is in a healthy, relaxed place.

I craft because it’s totally unlike my real life as a PhD student, where I can work for months on a research project and end up with nothing to show for it. With crafting, I can work for a long time or for just a little bit, but either way, I have something pretty to show for the time I have spent.

I like to hand-sew because it’s meditative. You have to pay attention to what you’re doing but it’s not that complicated so I can just let my mind go and unwind. I took up quilting 2 months ago as I started studying for comprehensive exams. My quilting time each evening after studying was what kept me sane, and now I have 2 lovely baby quilts that I have to decide whether I should keep for the future or give to my friends’ new babies.

I would love love love the books as more eye candy and ideas for projects. I should say thanks to AT because I’ve learned so much from this site. I've been a lurker for over a year but was just moved to participate today. I love AT!!

I absolutely love the idea of crafting but to be honest I am still learning to love crafting itself. I have some basic, but rust knowledge of sewing and knitting but I definitely need some inspiration and direction to start some new projects.
My mom taught me to sew and knit. We would go to the local fabric store and she would get a pattern and fabric to make some clothes for the family and I would get a pattern to sew my Barbie an outfit using scraps from mom's projects. Sadly, I did not stick with sewing and my skills have been reduced to making duvet covers (i.e. sewing 2 flat sheets together).
My mom also taught me knitting but I can't not get beyond knitting a scarf and I've only ever managed to finish one. *sigh*
The long and the short of it is, with another gray and wet Seattle fall settling in I have decided to take on a couple of sewing projects to spruce up the house but I have not been able to decide where to start. Also, I now leave within a mile of my mom and I am really looking forward to getting her help on projects and being able to show her how much I learned from her.

When I was little, I saw sewing as a job, not something fun to do. My mother and grandmother were both seamstresses, and they used to sew for living; the sewing machine was running in the house all the time.

I thought I would follow my mother's step and become a seamstress, I didn't but I still LOVE to sew. I love sewing becasue it brings back a lot of my childhood memories; I still remember how grandmother used a chopstick to turn a spaghetti strap inside out or those times when my mother brought remanent home from the factory and made me pretty dresses. (I still have them) These memories are invaluable and I've been enjoying every sewing moment.

By the way, I keep a chopstick in my sewing kit.

I am crafting adict. I admit it. One reason I enjoy crafting so much is that it gives me an oppurtunity to express creativity in my life. As some one who has a technical job, with very limited creative oppurtunites, its a great feeling to go home and make something. Plus it allows me to say "I made that."

Crafting is one of my outlets.

I love to craft because it puts me in touch with the ancestors. They had no Wal- Mart to go to to get the tools and things they needed. They designed them and crafted them. I love to craft as a way of perpetuatiog traditions passed down from my elders to my family.

I love to craft because it reminds me of my mother, whether I'm knitting, sewing, or gluing.

She never forced me to craft, rather I wanted to learn. I wanted to create things and be closer to my mother. She taught me to cross-stitch, knit, weave, sew, etc.

Later, did I realize that crafting was the easiest way for us to communicate while I was growing up. I'm part of the .5 generation Americans in my family; born in Thailand and raised in the US. Though growing up was difficult with the language, culture, and generation gap widening the easiest way to communicate was with our hands. We could craft in silence but speak softly with our hands and eyes.

My fondest memories were of us sitting close to each other cross-stitching. Every time I would prick my finger she would make me a special bandage of cotton and beautiful silk tape. Yes! She even made her own bandages.

Today, my crafts are far more elaborate than anything I had made when I was seven years old, but everything I craft is a homage to my mother; to her hands and her heart.

I just bought a sewing machine off Craig's list and I'm getting ready dive in. As a child I sewed briefly when a kind teacher show me how. My mother thought such activity was not for liberated girls or women. Never had home ec either. So I'm teaching myself and could use all the help I could get.

I've lived in my house 10 years and still don't have curtains. I stalk fabric shops and websites fantasizing about accent pillows. But I've never had the skill or confidence - now I'm ready.This is my house cure! Each of these designers is fantastic. I want to make pillows by Amy Butler, a duvet cover by Cath Kidston and an organizer by Lotta Jansdotter.

Last year I had a friend help me sew a Halloween costume for my daughter. I was delighted, but moreover my daughter beamed with pride. What a pleasure to make someone happy with something you made. When she wears a sweater I've knit, and tells everyone "My mom made this" you can see joy in her eyes. Simple yes, but that is why I love crafting.

I listen to a whole lotta opera, and I've stitched up many gifts and garments through angst in multiple languages.

I craft to make myself and others happy.

crafting is like getting away for me. its my me thing.

Inside my engineering brain is a crafter screaming to get out. All day I sit in front of a computer designing circuits, speaking in technical lingo, and overall being very linear. When I come home at night, the knowledge that there is at least two-three projects waiting for my inter crafter to be released on makes the whole day seem less strenuous.
My grandmother for Christmas gave my newlywed husband one of the ceramics that I painted her when I was little so he could have a piece of me when I was young. When you make something with your own hands, a piece of you is forever contained in it even if it was a complete flop (just look at most of my knitting projects). Through crafts, I can express myself in ways that never seem possible in my engineering world. I have secret dreams of quilting my job and become making my own craft business but I fear that a trapped engineer would be far worst than a trapped crafter. So, for now, I will continue to release the crafter out into the wee hours of the night to enjoying all of the excitement of that next project.

Why do I love to craft? Well, because it's not just about being creative but creating. Growing up I watched my grandmother sew family clothes without a pattern. I watched my dad build my sister and I playhouse after he had constructed his own tool shed, lawnmower storage and even a sit-on coconut shredder with no power tools. He also grew beautifully manicured roses and acted as the barber to all his friends. Like both my dad and my grandma, I craft to show my love and give away much of what I make!

i love to craft because it feeds my soul.

I craft for my daughter. I adopted her when she was 15. you can guess the reasons why a child would need to be adopted by her teacher. I had always made things, for others, for myself, but when I gave her the first hat I had knit for her we both landed up crying. It made her realize that I really was in it for the long haul, that I wasn't going anywhere, that I really was her mom. I've made her many hats & other gifts since then, and every time they remind us both of what's been and what's to come.

Crafting isn't making, it's being. There's something to be said for both the process and the product. My days seem to fly by and much of my work disappears with time. Things that were done need to be done again or are no longer relevant. Not so with the things I make. Crafting makes intangible things like ideas and feelings, tangible. And there's something about a handcrafted object that we humans respond to in a way that's different than a storebought product, even though almost everything we craft started off as a sum of storebought, machine made things! I've seen adults reduced to childlike glee and affection by a gift handcrafted by the giver. I love it because its a physical way to show how you feel in a way that feels not only safe but liberating.

I craft because it keeps me sane! I have a stressful job and realized that when I’m not sewing or knitting or crocheting I am a little less friendly. I am a creative person and when I’m not doing something with my hands I am constantly thinking of things to do. I am scrapbooking a bookshelf right now and am planning on repainting a dresser to match my beautiful new duvet.

I craft because I want to be invested in my life.

I love knowing that my son sleeps every night under the blanket that I made for him, that my daughter's favorite skirt is obnoxiously pink and twirly because that's what we designed together.

So much in life is mass-produced and cookie cutter perfect. I craft to leave a tangible mark on the world, to give my family and my self a space that belongs to only us.

Hello! Crafting is an outlet in many ways for me! It helps me through my bouts with depression and anxiety. My craft room is MY room, that is an expression of me and takes me away from the world for awhile. Thanks for a wonderful
contest.....Cindi