{"id":8090,"date":"2022-05-28T09:06:53","date_gmt":"2022-05-28T07:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=8090"},"modified":"2022-05-28T09:06:56","modified_gmt":"2022-05-28T07:06:56","slug":"sloyd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/sloyd\/","title":{"rendered":"Sloyd"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sloyd. Ancient, smart, thrifty. The crafting of everyday objects with natural materials, your hands and simple tools. To me sloyd is also something that I can do sitting on a rock in the woods should I choose to. Just a pair of hand cards or combs and a spindle and I’m happily sloyding away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other day I got a fresh issue of Hemsl\u00f6jd magazine in the mail. My heart sings when I get it. It is such a smart magazine with so much reading to dive into, so many crafters to admire and be inspired by. Brilliant people making beautiful objects and utensils with simple tools and natural materials. On the cover of this issue is Kristin Sundberg, a crafting friend of mine. I’ll get back to her in a minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sloyd<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The word hemsl\u00f6jd<\/em> means something like simple crafting for your household needs. The word sl\u00f6jd<\/em>, or sloyd, is one of the few Swedish loanwords in English. Sl\u00f6jd<\/em> comes from the word slug<\/em>, which means sly, skilled or handy. Sloyd is smart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I’m practicing my nalbinding needle carving skills. These are from my first and second sessions this spring. My favourite shape is the leftmost needle. Sadly it cracked down the middle as I drilled the hole.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sl\u00f6jd<\/em> is also a subject in Swedish schools. It was was established in the Swedish school system in 1878 and is still a mandatory subject. Until 1962 girls learned textile crafts and boys wooden crafts, but since then all children learn to sloyd both soft and hard materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I eBayed handwoven tea towels and stitched initials for my son’s friends for their graduation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Every now and then debates about the right of this school subject to exist emerge. Why spend time sewing and carving when you can focus on more important subjects like history or maths? This is a common argument. What would happen though, if we didn’t learn how to make things, how to mend, create or see the potential in a piece of cloth, fiber or wood? How would our brains look if we didn’t nurture what I believe is an inherent need to create with our hands, not to mention survive?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I streamlined the process of nalbinding carving for my third session. Still. I enjoyed every minute of it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2018 a doctor concluded that the medical students’ dexterity in stitching up patients <\/a> had decreased significantly during the past few years. He believed the reason to be too much swiping and too little fine motor crafting skills. Again, sloyd is smart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The magic in the making<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Back to the Hemsl\u00f6jd magazine. Kristin Sundberg on the cover of the latest issue is the most sloyd I know. I met her at S\u00e4tergl\u00e4ntan when I was teaching supported spindle spinning a few years ago and she was my student. She was a total beginner at spinning. Crafting runs in her veins and she developed her skills remarkably during the five-day course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kristin’s main material is wood, though. On her YouTube channel she copies old objects that are mainly seen in museum these days. For Kristin the making and the love for the sloyding is more important than the skills in the techniques. She sees magic in the making, in the sloyding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kristin Sundberg with her copy of a birch bark rain hat. Kristin is so sloyd.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kristin is such an inspiration to me and so many others. You can watch her videos on her YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sloyd process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are so many things I love about Kristin’s approach. The love for the material and the making. The story the material tells you if you take time to listen to it. To me the finished object, yarn in my case, is beautiful, but also so much more than an object.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A stick, a weight and some wool and I’m home.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

My skeins remind me of all the time I have spent with the material, the techniques and the process. All the mistakes I have made, all I have learned and all the thoughts that have gone through my mind during the process. It also reminds me that the sloyd is in me. With my body I control tension, speed and the quality of the yarn. Through my body I communicate with the material and melt into its will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Left: Just a few finishing touches on these before they are ready for some nalbinding.<\/em> Right: Finished! They are definitely not perfect, but I made them with love.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Today the need to make things for your household needs may not be as obvious as it once was. But I believe we still need to make, with emphasis on make. Perhaps we need the process of making and creating to instill a sense of self-sufficiency. I can make, therefore I can survive. I may not need more nalbinding needles, but I need to make them, to feel the wood in my hands, to see the transformation from stick to a tool for more crafting. And who knows, I may give some of them away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yup, sloyd is smart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My nalbinding needles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is how I made my nalbinding needles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n