My first subscription issue of Craft: arrived, and I was impressed! Its subtitle is “transforming traditional crafts,” which it does right there on the cover, with the completely silly and fun knitted Crime Scene Scarf.
Wide-ranging projects include woodworking, metal-working (making a copper button), knitting a rug with hay-baling twine, sewing car seat covers, and recycling sweaters. A long article on natural dyeing fit right in with a lady who makes costumes for hula-hoop performances, including her own. A doggie pirate costume (how-to included) followed a piece about people who dress in their favorite anime characters.
It’s a good-looking, hefty (176 pages), small format (6-5/8″ by 9-3/8″) magazine with an eclectic mix of articles and projects. I’m glad to report that men are well-represented as subjects of articles as well as authors.
The whole magazine has what I would call an urban craft sensibility: the fearless do-it-yourself ethic (which means you do it yourself, even if it’s something difficult and you need special tools and you have to learn new skills); AND a strong emphasis on recycling.
That do-it-yourself/recycling philosophy has been around a long time, in people of many ages and lifestyles. Craft: celebrates those people and their work.