[Nfb-krafters-korner] classes and crafts

[NCBootman]

Jean,

All of your points are very valid ones. A question for you. What crafts do 
people in your country do? Also, think about your parents or grandparents. 
What might they have done either as useful items to get through the day or 
what did they decorate with or adorn their clothing or costumes etc? I 
honestly don't know much about your culture and would love to learn. I'm 
asking you these questions because it may be easier and more practical to 
adapt some of your traditional ways instead of adopting and learning 
American ways. The materials will be available. The need for electricity 
won't be there because your people are not dependent on it. The need for 
compact and portable will be there because that is a part of your way of 
life. Tell us these things. Describe them as best you can no matter how 
little that may be. What will happpen is that we will read your note and go 
that's just like our something craft here. We will learn from you and you 
will learn from us.

I may be considered out of line here but that’s ok too. With your unreliable 
electricity, even if a class can be offered at a convenient time, you may 
not get to participate. So, what I think is that instead of focusing solely 
on classes over the phone, we can start teaching each other right here in 
the e-mails! That way, people can read and learn and ask questions when they 
can. Doesn't seem like a brilliant idea just maybe one nobody has thought 
about. And, if I know a craft and you have questions, I'll always give my 
input and try to help. Sometimes folks can't see the trees for the forest. 
Keep writing and talking to us and let's learn together!

Greg

-----Original Message----- 
From: Jean Parker
Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2011 2:12 AM
To: nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] classes and crafts

Susan, Henrietta and others:

In answer to your question I am 10 and a half hours ahead of eastern time at 
this time of year.  When America changes to day light time it changes to 9 
and a half.

About what kind of crafts I like to do, this is a little complicated.  I did 
some crafts growing up but nothing in quite some time.  That is why I joined 
the list, to find out what other blind people do and learn some things.  I 
feel the need to do something creative..

There are many things I have to consider when deciding what to take up. 
Although I have electricity much of the time these days we do have problems 
with it so a craft or activity should be something that is not reliant on 
power.  It should be something where the instructions are either accessible 
already or where they can easily be made accessible.  Although I have a lot 
of sighted assistance, their reading abilities in English are not 
sophistocated enough to explain paterns or detailed and complicated 
directions.  Somehow I doubt that Joanne's and the like have their patterns 
and directions translated into Hindi or Marathi.  It should be something 
where the equipment and supplies are available locally or easily obtained 
from abroad.  Electrical equipment for a craft or hobby purchased in America 
is the wrong voltage so the expense of a voltage converter must be 
considered.  .  Sending things to India is prohibatively expensive so 
typical mail order is not an option for us.  With the safety pin beading 
kits for example, Joyce and I are exploring the possibility of having them 
despatched through the US Embassy in Bombay as her daughter works for the 
State Department.  Since they are small and light this might work nicely. 
Even if things or equipment is sent from abroad there are customs fees to be 
paid and often things go missing in customs as well.  So sometimes after 
patiently waiting several months for something to arrive it never does 
appear.  Fedex etc provide better assurance but like I said the expense is 
so high only the corporations and wealthy people can afford it.  It used to 
be that things could be brought in personal luggage but new restrictions 
have made this difficult as well.

Another aspect is whether something can be replicated here.  If I have a 
safety pin kit for example, I can take that to the market and get the 
correct size of pins and so forth for future projects.  I am terible at 
metric conversions so it's better to show someone what is needed rather than 
to ask for it by number.

Another reason I was interested in classes on this list is because even if I 
identified a craft I wanted to do, finding someone to teach it to me is very 
difficult.  Classes for such things are huge.  This is a country of well 
over a billion people annd everything is done in a crowd.

It should be portable.  I have to move house often and travel a lot.  Having 
a setup for making candles for example would be a real problem.  We live in 
close quarters here, space is at a premium.  With some sort of beading I can 
have a container fabricated to hold everything in place and slide it into a 
back sack. These and other questions have to be considered when deciding 
what craft to work on.

So that is a long answer to what I'm sure was meant to be a simple question. 
I am not complaining, I choose to live here with all its challenges, for 
reasons beyond the scope of this list.  But that in a nutshell, is why I 
joined the list and was interested in taking classes.

Jean
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