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Yellowknife gets crafty

It must be fall.

The leaves on the trees are turning brilliant shades of yellow and orange, there's a chill in the air and the craft fairs have begun.

On Saturday, the city's artisans showed off their creations at the Yellowknife Ski Club and the Baker Community Centre. Fur mittens, sealskin teddy bears, natural soaps and knitted, weaved and crocheted garments were on display.

Artisans shared a love for their craft and similar stories of how they got their start. Many began making crafts for their own enjoyment and were soon asked by friends and family to make some more.

Peter Workman was no exception.

“I lived in Nunavut for about 10-and-a-half years and realized there was no one making sealskin stuffed toys and I thought I want to make one,” he said of the start of his creative process. “I decided I'd make one and then friends were like, 'Well, you maybe should make me one.'”

Several artisans agreed making their crafts was relaxing and even therapeutic.

“This is my sanity and my passion,” said Nadia Lindsay, a mother of twin boys who sat spinning yarn with a traditional spinning wheel. Lindsay first learned to work with yarn at age nine – she was a homesteader in Ontario before moving to Yellowknife.