Shelly McSweyn is an organizer of the Columbia Pacific Fiber Arts Festival.

She acknowledges that people in the craft world took different paths, but often with common elements.

“I learned to crochet when I was 10 years old,” she said. “My grandmother and my aunt taught me, as they were both very good at it.

“It was clear to me then that using my hands was something that came pretty naturally to me and also something that I really liked.

“My father bought me a sewing machine when I was 16 so then I taught myself to sew and embroider.

“In my 40s, I finally decided to try knitting and have been working to get better at it ever since.”

She savors the calming element. Now retired, she recalls coming home from work and feeling accomplishment even if she only completed one row.

“I work on some piece of handwork every day of the week, no matter what. It makes me calm down if I have had a stressful day and it makes me happy on any given day.”

Sharing is another element, bringing joy to others.

“I have found that most people who are involved in handwork are usually pretty generous and inclusive, they love to share their knowledge, techniques, patterns, materials,” she said. “And they love to share their finished products.

“It’s pretty normal to hear a handwork person admit that they rarely end up keeping their work — they usually give it away as a gift to a lucky recipient. At a knitting table, it’s not uncommon to hear someone ask, ‘Is that for you?’ because often, it is not for the person making the item.”