About Making Space @ Penicuik

Making Space Penicuik would like to encourage people of all ages and stages to skill share crafts, for the moment especially fibre crafts, creating a pool of resourceful people who are free to facilitate "Crafting in the community" projects.
"Crafting in the community" for us means to be at our own leisure and pleasure in public places in Penicuik, engaging ourselves and others in crafts we love to learn and practise.

If so asked, Making Space Penicuik would like to help filling a gap in the curriculum of craft education, and would welcome to contribute its skills and knowledge base to the curriculum of excellence, as well as our peer2peer pooling we are developing at present.

Making Space Penicuik above all would like to fill a gap in the community of access to free crafting one that can include intergenerational learning and practising of traditional crafts in our times, and one that cares for and takes inspiration of nature and soul.

Insert, dated 1/10/2011

Making Space does presently not gather at the townhall Saturday mornings as it is taking a rest from a year and a month weekly public free service. We meet still every Saturday, but in the quietness of 4-6 West Street, hoping to gather new skills, new folks and new momentum. 

We open to the public once a month for crafting by donation (first Sat) and for Story Scaping (first Friday) in Library for the next few months.

We hope you enjoy our blog - the stories of the past 13 months and what is to come. And we hope you call us if you want to join us or want to negotiate a fee based input in your community. 

...................

...............................

........................................

Penicuik has a wealth of Makers in its midst. All the known and unknown crafts people of course living here, but also YOU!

In each and everyone beats the heart of a Maker, waiting for the moment to come out and shine, even if it is just for a moment.

Feeling inspired by the beauty and other fabulous properties of natural materials is something children of all ages, and the child in every adult relishes in.

During the Penicuik Arts Festival 2010 we started this wee initiative "Making Space Penicuik" by creating 3 Join-in-Circles in the community where local crafters, or 'Makers' demonstrated their craft and the public had the opportunity to have little 'tasters' of making little things out of wool. Then there were those lovely 2 workshop days at Penicuik House, where the sun shone, in nature (naturally, as we were all so appreciative of the gifts of nature! ;-) and in people's eyes (also naturally, as the creative maker in each one got unlocked! ): the Felt making intensive workshop day and the Family Fibrecraft Fun day.

All events were free, due to the generosity and passion of the Makers and the Scottish Lime Centre (Penicuik House Project, bringing traditional crafts to the people).

The feedback of the people was so very positive:
"That it is so simple and such fun I never thought" - " We can get together and skill share and have more of that fabulous fibre fun!"

and we are now (Mid-September 2010) starting to test our shared enthusiasm for learning and practising craft, especially fibre craft, together in the community:

Regular free "Crafting in the Community" sessions had started on Saturday the 18th September from 11.30- 1.30 in the Penicuik Townhall during the Open House coffee mornings there where also homemade soup and cake awaits you as well as various exhibitions.

We had started with pegloom weaving, because there were quite a number of people who said they had a peg loom but were not sure what to do with it ...

We are hoping that by and by you, you budding makers and you profi makers, will find out about this exciting opportunity in Penicuik to generate genuine wealth in our midst:

Learn and share what you learned, sharing resources response-ably.

And gathering in the community, in different places and for different activities, inspiring each other

wi

to transform fibres into fabric...

The lustre and colours of wool fibres have proven to be especially verdant for the fire of creativity, but we are open to expand the range of crafts in the future, if someone is contributing their maker's gifts.

March 2011:

A lot has happened since last August and autumn - if you like to catch up at a glance, try viewing our photoalbums https://picasaweb.google.com/the.weaver.here and/or go through the labels on the right side of the blog.
If you become a follower of our blog you will be quickly updated, or if you 'like' us on facebook.

Above all, we would be interested to hear from you and - see you join in?