Netherlands
| 11 November 2009
Making Work for Idle Hands - DIY
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Making Work for Idle Hands is a monthly column contributed by Stephen Akehurst. Stephen is the founder of the Idle Hands knitting company and workshop studio in The Netherlands. For more from Stephen, visit the Idle Hands website or become a fan on Facebook.
Sufficiently Green I am sitting in the garden of my mother’s house. It’s the house in the South of England where, along with my three sisters, I was raised in relative normality. I am here for some recuperation and motherly love after a small operation and as I sit in the garden drinking some of my mother’s homemade ginger beer, watching her potter about among some thriving bean plants I realise three things: My mother is a saint, she has also produced everything we have ever eaten while living here with her own hands in the garden and despite the fact that this is England and it’s only late June the temperature is a sweltering eighty degrees. Not that this weather is abnormal, just a little unusual. The England that I left eight years ago has become a much warmer place. A quick glance around the garden confirms the climatic change, as everything seems so much more exotic; brightly coloured fruits, strange vegetables and some amazingly tropical looking flowers all compete for attention in the small yard behind the house. I ask my mother about the ginger beer and she points to a bright red plume of a plant in the corner of the garden by the neighbour’s fence. This surprises me, as ginger is native to Asia where it’s generally hot and here my mother has successfully grown some in the ground next to some purple cabbages on a scruffy housing estate in Sussex. Not only has she grown it but taken the time to turn it into my favourite drink while holding down a full-time job and continuously babysitting for her grandchildren. I compare her efforts to those of my own life, pretty much free from responsibility (I try to remember if I had asked anyone to feed the cats while I was away) and commitments and wonder how it’s possible that I have suffered from stress: One of the reasons I had just been operated on was caused by this ailment. I look again at my mother as she pulls something large and green from the ground and pops it onto a pile of cucumbers in a wheelbarrow: She looks amazing. At sixty-three years old my mother is slim, healthy looking and has lines only from smiling at everyone and laughing. Her husbands have been bastards and her children troublesome at the best of times. Balance in family life is something she has obtained, so she tells me, through a peaceful vegan lifestyle. A diet I can remember being raised on myself and dumping for McDonald’s as soon as I headed off to University. Her sustainable lifestyle is an inspiration, not only has she always lived from her own means but she raised us that way too. How did we all travel so far from her ideals and standards? Actually that’s a pretty easy one to answer; it’s a difficult way to live and takes a lot of time and energy. You have to make it your lifestyle and commit to it like a marriage, living the sustainable life is difficult for many people (I for one live in a pokey flat in a place where it never seems to stop raining) but there are things that we can do ourselves to improve our lives and the environment: Grow something to use in your kitchen, re-use glass bottles and plastic containers, mend your clothes and repair your shoes instead of buying new all the time. Finally governments are taking issues like global warming and the closely linked ideas of sustainability seriously. This doesn’t mean that they are getting it right, governments tend to not to get things right and the imperatives today often turn into yesterday’s fads. It’s a strange irony that ‘going green’ and sustainability are often at loggerheads with one another with some bonkers green schemes making the most out of completely unrenewable resources (millions of multicoloured, plastic containers for various waste products don’t really seem like the most sensible option in consideration of their financial and environmental costs of production, collection and processing). As a true advocator of self-sufficiency, my mother takes very little from the environment in a green way that harms practically nothing: there are no special containers for recycling glass as most things are recycled in the house, in fact the bottle that the ginger beer fills has been doing the rounds since I was a child. The garden has a compost heap where all organic waste goes andthe vegetables and fruits in the garden are chemical free, nature is left alone to fight it out with the bugs and the food from this garden tastes good, really good. But it’s not just food that my mother is producing: Over the past few decades she has mastered the crafts of beauty products, household cleaning tools and medicines too. I feel a pang of guilt about my fall from environmental heaven and vow to change. The world of self-sustainability and environmental awareness doesn’t have to be all about mud and misery, in fact it’s beautiful. As I consider this lifestyle I feel an intrepid sense of something that can only have been experienced by the first frontiers of the Americas and the Antipodes as they laid claim to new worlds where they lived from the land and produced everything they needed, or was it maybe a yearning for an idyllic England lost under a layer of housing estates and shopping centres? I knew then that my work wouldn’t reach that scale but I would make my mark. My efforts might just be a drop in the ocean but they would be just as important as anyone else’s. Sustainability is an honourable culture that deserves respect. We can all do something ourselves to be a part of it. As soon as I was home I planted window boxes on my balcony that are filled with a spectacular array of herbs and spices, I re-use glass bottles and plastic containers where I can and I feel proud, not only of what I am doing for myself and the environment but also in the knowledge that I am respecting my mother and her beliefs. Not that a return to veganism is on the cards anytime soon. Mama’s Vegan Lip Balm. Do it yourself lip balm that is super easy to make and will have your lips kissably soft in no time! Why is it vegan? Well, there’s no bee’s wax in it, that’s why! You will need: - 1oz hard wax (soyis a good one) - 1 oz solid-at-room-temperature oil (coconut oil, avocado oil, mango butter, or Shea butter) - 75 additional hard-at-room-temperature oil (cocoa butter, floral waxes, or palm oil) - 2 oz liquid oil (jojoba oil or olive oil) - Three drops of Vitamin E Oil (Tocopherol) - Your favorite essential oils, use a maximum 8 drops for each lip balm You will also need: - A microwave - A microwave-safe cup or bowl with a pouring spout - A good pair of scales that are sensitive to at least 1 oz - A good spoon for stirring it all together - A small funnel - Tubes or canisters, be sustainable and clean out some old ones, we all have them laying about somewhere! Step one: - Measure out the wax with the scale and place it in the microwave-safe cup - Heat in the microwave on a high temperature in thirty second bursts, stirring between bursts until the wax has completely liquefied Step two: - Stir the wax while adding in all of your oils, if the mixture begins to harden, just pop it back in the microwave and give it another blast Step three: - Here’s where it can get fiddly. Using the small funnel, slowly dispense the mixture into the tubes or containers, tapping them a little to remove any trapped air. Allow the mixture to cool a little before pouring, it will make things much easier - If your lip balm begins to crack this could be because the mixture is still too hot, let it cool a little more and try again Step four: - Label it, use it and share it. Believe me, if you give your friends some homemade lip balm they will think that you are a genius and cover you in soft, nourished kisses for the rest of your life!
Get Your Knits Out
The years passed and I became more and more entwined in my knitting, not only had I found a way to I was happy and pleased with what I was doing, my close friends and family knew about my new passion and supported me but I hadn’t really come completely out of the closet. I couldn’t bear the thought of taking my knitting into the public domain and this meant that I was missing out on having a social life. My knitting was becoming an obsession and I was facing a new life of social leprosy: It was not an appealing idea. I needed to work, I needed a social life and now I needed to knit. I was either going to have to give something up or live with everything in balance. I decided to make the move and knit in the open air. It was a nerve-racking moment when I sat on a quiet train and took out the pinwheel blanket that I was knitting for a friend’s baby. I was nervous about people’s reactions; although I don’t know why? It’s not like I was settling in to skin a cat. In fact the journey passed event-free. I breathed a sigh of relief and was able to move on with my life.
Idle Hands came to life in 2008 and now I see the company growing and that fills me with as much pride as my first ever hand knitted scarf. It’s working too, people have learned and people have become proud of their talents! Last weekend I met with a group of knitting friends and we sat in the window seat of a busy Amsterdam bar and knitted. We weren’t the only ones either, it was World Wide Knit in Public Day and we crafters were everywhere! People took photos and made friendly comments, someone even signed up to join our Wednesday night knitting circle. I don’t know what world wide knitting figures would be but I liked to think that there were several million other fibre-fans doing their bit to make knitting a more socially acceptable thing to do in the great outdoors. Want to get in on some of that knitting magic? This cute bandanna is made from cotton yarn and is perfect for keeping your hair off your face as well as providing some protection from the sun in summer, and something cozy in winter. You will have to be a slightly experienced knitter but even if you aren’t the diagrams will help you get the moves you need! The Idle Hands knitted bandana
1 50g ball of DK weight cotton in your favourite colour 1 pair of 5mm needles (about 40cm long) A pair of scissors A large sewing or yarn needle A rubber band Skills needed: Make a slip knot The knit stitch The bar increase Bind off How to make: Wrap the rubber band around the end of one of your needles, this is the marker that tells you to increase your stitches as you knit onto this needle. This is your first stitch. Slide the slip knot onto the needle without the rubber band Row 1: Bar increase into the first stitch, you now have 2 stitches on your needle Row 2: knit across both of these stitches Row 3: Bar increase into those 2 stitches, you now have 4 stitches Row 4: Knit across Row 5: Knit the first stitch, bar increase into the next 2 stitches, knit the last stitch. You now have 6 stitches Row 6: Knit across Row 7: Knit the first stitch, bar increase into the next stitch, knit until there are 2 stitches left on the needle, bar increase into the next stitch, knit the last stitch Repeat rows 6 and 7 until your bandanna is about 25cm long or however long you want it to be, this could be about 66 stitches, count up the number of stitches you actually have then bind them off. To make the ties for your bandanna cast on half as many stitches you just ended up with, then just bind them all off. Make another and tie a knot in the end of each and sew the other end to the corners of your bandanna.
The Rise of the Weekend Warrior By Stephen Akehurst Not long ago the world was a darker place. It was a place where style and design on a personal level was reserved for the privileged few, the majority of people living an uninspired life far away from the ideals of design, creativity and probably feng shui. You could either afford people to turn your home into your castle or you couldn’t. You either had the skills to tackle jobs about the house yourself or you didn’t. Quite possibly your father believed he had the skills to tackle these jobs and (if you grew up in a house like mine) most probably he lacked those skills and you spent your childhood years dodging ropey electrical work and stepping around cans of paint that had been left to ferment in the garden. You could close kitchen drawers only with practice and the right flick of the wrist and the cloud of constant confusion caused by several different wallpaper styles in one room was commonplace. Incomplete projects littered the house; loitering in corners like grumpy gnomes in a gloomy forest amid clumsy stacks of papers, books and board-games that had no place to be stored, just waiting for that elusive cupboard to be built, or shelf to be hung. Things would remain like this for years until your mother finally gave in and did the job herself, completing the project with a cool professionalism that could possibly have been the catalyst for fatherly shame, adultery and divorce… but that’s a whole other story. Not ten years later and oh! How things have changed! No longer do we live in a menacing world filled with large, hairy men armed with heaving tool belts and forearms covered in mermaid tattoos, the realm of ‘DIY’ is now one that can be achieved by every student, suburbanite and senior citizen. Working hours are now the run up to evenings and weekends where the paintbrush and hammer have replaced the pipe and slippers as more and more people take up the challenges that their inadequate homes throw at them. Inspired by countless magazines, television programmes and books that lead us along the freshly-laid path to a better home, a stylish way of living and a higher standard of life! It doesn’t even have to be expensive or take a long time: Shows like ‘Changing Rooms’ and ‘The Sixty Minute Makeover’ have revolutionised our skill levels and tastes. Fair enough it might not be the best job in the world, but you did it! It’s all yours! This new beech laminate flooring that flows through your lounge is the fruits of YOUR labour! It is so simple! Get inspired for change and head out to your local gigantic out-of-town-do-it-yourself- Giving people ownership with home-planning decision making has created armies of weekend warriors who, inspired by the homes of inside the pages of glossy magazines and glorious coffee table books, troop out en masse in search the freshest shades of paint, the most natural tones of varnish and a perfect self-build iron frame Victorian conservatory. Your father will still probably want to by the biggest drill and sledgehammer but hey! That’s great! We can use it to knock the kitchen wall through and put in a cosy breakfast nook that will make mornings a time of family togetherness and be the envy of our neighbours who just wish that they’d thought of it first. And if it doesn’t work out? You could always call your mum. Fancy becoming a weekend warrior yourself? How about this for a simple project that takes less than a day and has a charming effect that will please for years! Stairway to heaven! Time: About a day Materials needed: Sandpaper Paint or wallpaper (or both); left over from various decorating project is perfect Wallpaper paste A flight of stairs What to do: First clean the staircase. Always clean everything really well; there is nothing worse than dust in your work. It’s just plain sloppy. Then smooth it up with some sandpaper, if there’s already paint on it then that will need to come off. Choose your mode of décor. Paper or paint? If paper, cut a piece that matches the size of the front of a step. Paste it and smooth it onto the front of the step, hold it for a bit so that it can set. If you choose paint, then put an even layer on the front of the step. If it looks good leave it. If it looks like it needs another coat, give it another coat. Now you could just have all the steps on the staircase the same. But that’s a bit boring so shake it up a bit by using different colours and wallpapers. It’s a great way to use up the last remnants of paper, paste and paint and has a cheerful, decorative effect that will have you smiling every time you climb the wooden hill. |
Knitting. What images does that word conjure up? ‘Grannies’ is an obvious one, ‘the lonely’ is a possible second and a few years ago I may have thought the same, but then I had to quit smoking and with the fear of gaining vast quantities of weight looming over my head I took the advice of a friend’s mother and picked up a pair of knitting needles and a few balls of wool and learned the knit stitch. I found that I had something to do with my hands that didn’t involve cigarettes or food and I liked it. I sat for a weekend and knitted up a very long, lumpy scarf that was filled with holes and a myriad of other mistakes but I didn’t care, I had made it myself and I was proud!
make nice things for myself and my friends, I had also discovered a form of therapy that cost hardly anything. I had become more relaxed, my concentration had improved and I was filled with a sense of pride that comes with having achieved something.
The next step was to find someone to knit with. It was easy! People who craft are desperate to meet others; they want to be free to take their projects to the public eye as well! We found a small gallery in the centre of Amsterdam and started meeting there every Wednesday night. Eventually this little gathering began to grow. There were plenty more people out there who had the same desire to create their own clothing and accessories, to do things with their hands and be a part of a caring community. Women and men from all walks of life who love nothing more than to sit about in a circle and create something with yarn. As the group grew and my passion for knitting and other fibre crafts like crochet and needlepoint developed I decided to start up my own company and bring knitting to the world. I didn’t want to sell things I had made myself, I wanted people to pick up sticks and learn the craft I love so much. I would rather be knitting; perhaps others out there would too?
You will need:
