I’ve crafted in one form or another since forever, as I’m fortunate to come from people who make things. The guest bedroom at my grandma’s house features curtains she made, a rug she hooked herself, and furniture made by my grandfather. I love staying in there. My mom has sewn and crocheted and made ceramics, and my dad is very broadly handy in a mechanical sort of way. Growing up, my best friend’s mom made crafts to sell at craft fairs, and their basement was a wonderland of ribbon and yarn and glue and plastic canvas.

Me? I do some of everything. I actually reined it in early last year, when I realized my dilettante tendencies were keeping me from finishing a single large project. In 2009, I took classes in metalsmithing, lampworking, chainmail, encaustic and acrylic painting, and I’m sure several other things I can’t think of right now. In 2010, I worked on Furlough and finished a scifi novel. And, well, attempted in vain to sort out the rest of my life, but that’s a story for another day.

I’ve made beaded jewelry since I was ten or so, but I’ve only ever sold it individually to friends and, occasionally, on my Etsy page. This weekend, I shared a booth at a local flea and craft market and sold my jewelry in public in an organized way for the first time. Lookit:

Pretty, no? Some of it includes beads I made myself at the torch.

I’ll be selling stuff again at the Punk Rock Flea Market on December 10th. I’ll have all the jewelry pictured plus some, and comics and zines, and my friend (and tablemate) Jenny’s beautiful handmade sketchbooks, and some foodie goodness she and I are going to make.

Because I’m still lucky. Most of my friends are makers of things too. It’s nice this time of year – there’s something about winter that makes me want to tuck into projects. I have about a billion things I want to knit, and I’m about to start on a small zine about my small cat, a companion to my Cat Lady zine. I want to cook a million squash this winter, and maybe knit myself another sweater, and do a ton of sewing.

I’ve also had an idea to make cat sweaters, inspired by a fortuitous visit to the Martha Stewart pets section late this summer. We’ll talk more about that later. It’s seems like a journey to a particular kind of heart of darkness, but I think I have what it takes.