Traditional Handcrafting
Haste makes Waste
It was already during the Youth Exchange in August that the idea came up - I was very curious about all the different handcrafting techniques Ica (pronounced: Itza) knows and Ica enjoyed having someone there she could practice speaking English with.
Still, it took until November before we actually managed to find a date that works for us both. The fact that there is less to do on the campsite in winter played quite a significant role in that, too.
And thus I now spend a few hours every Tuesday afternoon in Kápolnásnyék, trying out different handcrafing techniques.
English and Hungarian
Ica and I have the same problem, but in different languages. She knows a lot of English words and can name things correctly, but she never really learned to build sentences in English and hold a normal conversation.
By now, I already know a few words of Hungarian, but my study guides don’t really help to learn how to hold a conversation, except for the usual commonplace phrases.
So the companionship of the other one helps us both to learn a little more about the structure of the other language and how to build sentences for conversations.
Braiding, weaving, stitching
Ica owns a workshop where we can work in peace, equipped with workbenches, all sorts of tools, materials and literature about handcrafting techniques.
The first few weeks we changed what we were working on every time - weaving by hand, braiding with more than three ribbons, stuff like that. Always small pieces so they were finished in the few hours I was there.
Now, shortly before Christmas, we started a slightly bigger project - we’re sewing a Hungarian winter cap, made from fur and leather. And that is a lot more work than I expected it to be in the first moment. It would probably be a lot faster if we used a sewing machine, but I want to learn __hand__craft, so the sewing is from hand, too.
I have already learned a few interesting tricks that I will - hopefully - be able to use at some point when I’m back from Hungary again. And I am already very curious what we will do after finishing the cap. The possibilities are nearly endless.
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