About Gigi

I am a 60 something grandmother (of 6 wonderful grandkids, and hopefully more) that raised 4 kids and worked fulltime in health care for 30+ years. When my husband and I decided to retire to Beech Mountain, I had the time to begin creating handmade products. I started knitting and then one thing led to another and there were bees, and beeswax, and lotion bars. If you know a crafter, you know that many of us have a bad habit of buying the components of our craft but being unable to finish what we had hoped to create. A family member has stores of vintage wool yarn, that would otherwise end up in a landfill somewhere. They were kind enough to donate it to me, and I am creating hats with this warm wool.

The lotion bars came about as a result of making lemonade out of lemons. We raise bees, and we had 2 hives that decided to swarm in the fall, and we had many frames of comb, with nowhere to store it. I discovered a recipe to make lotion bars, and made them for Christmas presents, and they were a great hit. Doing more research, I discovered that lotions are mostly made of water and lots of chemicals like Phytosphingosine (and other unpronounceable ingredients) and the packaging is almost always plastic. Currently most of us have the equivalent of a credit cards worth of plastic in our bodies and every bottle of lotion we use and dispose of just adds to the pollution. When we buy bottles of lotion, we are paying mostly for water and creating more plastic waste. By using lotion bars, we are getting more product for our money, and as our packaging is compostable, the bar and the package are ecologically friendly.

My knit products are made mostly from Vintage Yarn. Many yarns were gifted to me by elders in my family and community and I also buy my yarn from thrift shops. Like with the bars, I am trying to keep our earth safe by keeping usable items out of the landfill. By making products from these found yarns I give them new life. I prefer to work with natural fibers, such as wool, alpaca, and silk. These fibers are stronger and longer lasting than acrylic yarns and breathe to make the wearer more comfortable. I make items based on the amount of yarn I have, so I make things as small as hair scrunchies to as large as blankets. I choose the pattern for each item based on how I feel the yarn would best show its beauty. I also combine small leftover lengths of yarns in products, such as hats, mitts, mittens, and socks, to reduce wastage, making unique color combinations for one-of-a-kind items.

I hope you enjoy my crafts.