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Busy making beaver scarves Northern News Services Published Monday, October 24, 2011
"I get up really early in the morning to tan muskox hides, seal skins, and beaver pelts," Wolki said. "If I'm not tanning I'm sewing. I'm busy from when I get up in the morning until I go asleep. Besides that I have to cook and clean, too." In addition to preparing a number of hides for her craft-work last week, Wolki completed a pair of beaded muskox mukluks and a pair of beaded slippers. Wolki hand-knits qiviuk gloves, mitts, socks, and slippers from the comfort of her living room couch, and uses two knitting machines, one electric and one pedal-powered, in one room of her two-bedroom home to make sweaters, scarves, neck warmers, wrist bands and other garments. She also makes polar bear and sealskin pants, Mother Hubbard parkas, and muskox dolls. "You name it, I make it," she said. "I've been getting orders from Cambridge Bay and Whitehorse and from all over - Churchill, Man., Norman Wells, Inuvik, and Banff, Alta." Sarah Colbeck, manager of the Great Bear Gallery and Gift Shop in Norman Wells, said Wolki's work sells well to southern visitors. The shop carries Wolki's neck warmers, toques, gloves, and mitts. A whimsical pair of multi-coloured qiviuk gloves and purple-dyed mittens sold recently. "The qiviuk mitts are extremely soft - softer than cashmere," Colbeck said. "They're very elegant pieces." Wolki plans to work on an order of scarves for Just Furs in Yellowknife later this winter. "I haven't made them yet; I'm so busy," Wolki said. Wolki has spun her own wool for many years, but recently she began sending muskox fur to be spun into qiviuk by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. "I get behind when I am spinning myself," she said. Wolki, who turns 70 in March, has a number of images of her work featured on her Facebook page. "My daughter, Bridgette Wolki, puts my stuff on Facebook and people see it and I get some orders," she said. "I have no time for Facebook. It's kind of boring. I'm really lively. I'm moving all the time. I don't like sitting around. When you don't do nothing it's boring, but when you're busy it's fun. No time to be bored." Last winter Wolki taught sewing in the community, but this year she chose to focus on filling her many orders. "I quit that because I have not got enough time for myself, so I am working on my own again," she said. "I usually go to Christmas craft sales, but I'm too busy now." November will be an even busier month for Wolki because the community plans to embark on the muskox hunt on Nov. 1, if there's enough snow for the Ski-Doos to travel on. Wolki used to help with the hunt by sheering, but this year she is preparing to stay home and cook lunches for the hunters. "There's a whole lot of stuff I'm doing right now," Wolki said. "It's lots of work but I am enjoying what I'm doing."
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