Handicrafts

No matter how ‘oppressed’ a traditional woman might appear, traditional life leaves tons of time when (if you don’t have TikTok and a good internet connection) you might get really, really bored.  This is why you’ll see women, perched on hillsides, knitting away while their cows graze.  In the past, I suppose there was just a heck of a lot of knitting to do, to keep yourself, your man (useless or not) and your many, many children supplied with adequate numbers of scratchy socks and vests to survive the punishing winters.  But Tropojan life suggests that you can’t stomp the artist out of people, hence the proliferation of doilies, elaborately embroidered tablecloths and pillow-cases, and hand-made lace decorations on shelves, windows (and anywhere else you might legitimately stick them).  Also the fact that you can’t hardly visit anyone without being gifted with elaborate socks or papuce (a traditional kind of slipper-sock).  Women here seem to have spent an inordinate amount of time covering just about anything that sits still long enough with handmade lace, or intricate beadwork, and when they run out of surfaces, stockpiling socks etc.

Just visit our shop to see our “object of pride” – a beaded chicken, with crocheted eggs nestled beside her.  It goes beyond kitsch, and we will never ever sell her.  Nope, not ever.  But that leaves about a billion other beautifully handcrafted objects.

BTW:  Full disclosure (and uncomfortable self-knowledge) means I should tell you that this gallery of what we have in the shop is unlikely to remain up-to-date or even accurate.  For now, please take it as an indicator of the kinds of things we have available, and contact us to let us know what you’re looking for.  Four years ago, when we started developing the shop, we got flooded by women flinging their doilies, socks, etc at us.  Which means that we ended up with piles of one-of-a-kind, hand-made artisanal objects.  In 2022, it’s kind of the (white and frilly) black hole of what we’re not even sure how to organize.  But stick with us – there are treasures in here!