With the The National Needlework Association (TNNA) show behind us, my daughter Eva and I had a day for shopping in Columbus, Ohio. We went to the famed Short North Arts District, on High Street, where the shopping was quirky and fun.
We traipsed into gift stores, fashion stores, and antique stores. One store window had a pretty plate with Turkish-style motifs. Oh. My. Gosh. It was an entire store of Turkish handcrafts! I love Turkish handcrafts!
Judging from some Turkish ceramic ware I have seen online, I thought I would never be able to afford Turkey’s traditional blue, red, green, and black motifs on white china. But at Karavan Treasures from Turkey, we found hand-painted Turkish bowls for a very reasonable price.
“These are çok güzel!” I said to the owner of the store. That means “very beautiful.”
We got to talking and I told him I was interested in the needlecrafts of Turkey, especially crochet. He knew exactly what I was talking about.
“Most people,” he said, “don’t know what goes into a crocheted piece. They don’t understand the time it takes to make.”
“Well, I understand,” I said.
He showed me this necklace with crocheted flowers. “A school-teacher made it,” he said. It looked great with my denim top that is embroidered with pink roses.
The other necklace, made by a lady in a village (I don’t know which), is needle-lace, made with thread and a needle with an eye. The little knots are tied over and over to create the two- and three-dimensional flowers. The colors and patterns are bright and happy.
Obviously, I need to go to TNNA again next year, not only for the yarny fun, but also so I can eat at the fabulous restaurants in Germantown and shop at Karavan Treasures.