Throwback: Craftgression

Yellow Pompom Scarf
double crochet stitch

It's always interesting for me to see how any artists craft progresses the more involved they become. I have been rediscovering some of the old things I had made and forgot to share! I went through a pompom scarf faze a couple of years back and I made this one here for a close friend of mine. This is what I like to call a throwback craftgression (craft progression) this is one of the first few things I had ever made! You've seen where I am, now see where i was!

Smies :)
Tuly Maimouna

Uchungu na Tamu: Life Lessons

This has been a very interesting week that has brought about a lot of reflection on the people around me, family, people who say they are my friends, those who are my friends and those who have come into and left my life. Through this reflection I have leaned that life can have a harsh way of providing us with lessons, and you can only learn these lessons through the mistakes you have made along the way...but from mistakes arise new opportunities. If you choose to ignore the omens placed before you or doubt your intuition, ultimately you are the only one who will suffer from regret or loss.

So onto my not so new creation. I made this scarf a while ago and I got really upset because after I washed it, it stretched about three sizes and didn't look all that good anymore. My mom and I went out for dinner one day and when she put in on I realized it looked amazing as a shoulder poncho!  I added a button to the front that works to adjust the size of the poncho at the neck...I also thought it looked really cute! So this once scarf that I though I had mistakenly ruined provided an opportunity for my 'newest' old creation to come to fruition, which left me thinking of the kiswahili proverb:

 Mla cha uchungu na tamu hakosi: he who eats bitter things gets sweet things too

Uchungu na Tamu
Shoulder Poncho with button
$35.00

Life is an interesting experience and sometimes the lessons we learn leave us thinking of what we should have, could have or would have done...the thing is we have to be able to translate these lessons into our existing relationships and en devours. Otherwise we are at risk of living in vain and rendering those relationships (or in this case a scarf) meaningless. 

I guess we can only know sweetness through tasting bitterness. 

Smiles :)

Tuly Maimouna

Tulysikia Joto

-Tulysikia Joto-
 rope chain infinity scarf
 material: %100 acrylic size: o/s
length: 35" width: 8"

When I was in high school I found a pair of my Maitus (mothers) knitting sticks in the closet and asked her to teach me. As is somewhat typical of me, the frustration of not being able to do it and the esthetically appalling rhombus shaped scarf defeated me and I gave up. She offered crocheting to me as an alternative - which to me at the time kinda seemed like the not so cute sister between the two- and despite my initial prejudice towards crocheting I really got into it!

I now make and sell handmade crochet jewelry and accessories. Initially, I only made things for myself inspired by, one the thinness and often emptiness of my wallet, and secondly driven by "...(laugh) why would I pay that much for something I could make myself?." I decided to start selling when random people would stop me and ask me where I got my things from, and it's been an uphill process since then.

My name is not Tuly, it is actually the well thought out result of combining the first two letters of my first and surname, and Maimouna is a childhood nickname that only up until recently I have come to adore. So Tuly Maimouna is the name of my side hustle. My actual name is of Kiswahili origin, a language that is a combination of Arabic, Bantu dialect, and more recently English, originating from Tanzania in East Africa. Tuly is a play on words, in swa (swahili) tuil [too-lee] is the prefix for 'we', and from that I name my creations ex. Tulysikia [too-lee-see-ki-yuh] Joto [joe-toe]  meaning; we feel warm.

Not only do I use the art of crochet to make money, but I also use it as an education tool. For many years I have been heavily involved in HIV prevention and awareness in my community and facilitate workshops where we make crochet condom cases as a way to normalize condom carrying, and make it more fun and personalized. I love to crochet, I love making jewelry, and more over I love the work that I do. I am thankful that I can indulge in both my passions, and use them as tools of expression and education.

Keep posted to peep more creations to come!

Smiles :)

 Tuly Maimouna