Some of us can find fiberarts anywhere

I was off the grid on a catamaran in the British Virgin Islands for the past two weeks, and the sun, islands, water, history and rum (oh, especially the rum) was beyond fantastic. I brought a knitting project, which actually went a little too fast, when it wasn't too hot to be working with wool in the first place.



On semi-deserted Cooper's Island, I found a whole new (but ancient) fiberart lurking in the form of a beaten-up paperback in the salty lazarette of a worn-out wooden boat:



Marlinspike Seamanship, or the art of knotting and weaving rope and canvas into decorative and utilitarian objects specifically to rig, furnish, decorate, or protect parts of a ship.




Some of the pieces are just insane - take this USMC emblem for instance:






This is what people do when you have a boatload of rope, a shortage of spare parts, and a hell of a lot of time on your hands.