Friends at the Table Every Day
Craft is about more than just products—it's about bringing people together. In her newest blog post, Mary Tripoli writes about the connections made on her craft journey, and the meaning carried in handmade objects.
Craft brings people together. In 2019, two friends and I thought it would be fun to start a little spoon carving club in Seattle. There were 15 people at the first meeting! Now, five years later, the Seattle Spoon Club continues to thrive! I have made so many friends through the club and we even cohost a weekend Spoon gathering with the Portland Spoonclub in the summer. We do skill shares, spoon swaps, and carve in a big circle each month. During Covid, we moved online and kept the community going, even expanding it—meeting carvers from all over the world!
The first meeting of the Seattle Spoon Club
North House has hosted third-year students from Sätergläntan this week. We had Emilia, Oscar, Klara, and Leen for dinner and games for two nights at the ADP house. Of course we ‘made’ everyone take note of Caroline’s woven table square, Liz’s dyed napkins, and my collection of bowls and spoons! I wish we had put one of Tara’s dala horses out, for full cohort representation at the table! Oscar left us a spoon, and when I travel to Sweden in March and April, I’ll be sure to have a pocketful of spoons to share with new friends I meet along the way.
Community Craft Night with Sätergläntan
I’ve collected and swapped a lot of spoons over the years. Especially now, when I’m away from my community, I still feel a part of things just by using spoons and other woodenware daily. It’s like a little “hello, friend!” at each mealtime. Just this morning, I had my oats with a spoon made by Barn the Spoon, who I met and carved with last year. Though I don’t always have a deep thought about what spoon friend I’m eating with at the moment, I feel so connected and happy to be in the wood craft world in this small way, nearly every day.
Breakfast with a spoon by Barn the Spoon
If you are a maker, keep swapping, selling, and sharing your work with others. When a friend sweeps with your broom, eats Cheez-Its from your wooden bowl, or does dishes with your woven towel, the new keeper of that item has likely thought of you, even for a second. That is the kind of community connection that you can’t get with mass-produced items.
Prepping wood with friends