Spot the Frippet: craft.

Craft is a confusing sort of a word.

Does it describe something made skillfully? 


carved fruit in Thailand. Photo from Wikimedia Commons by ศีลงูสาวสวยปาแหวน

Or does it describe something designed to deceive and trick - something crafty?

It's usually the former in modern English, but both are well worth noticing.

Where will you find your nearest piece of craft? At the moment I'm wearing some lovely warm mittens knitted by my good friend the writer and broadcaster Adèle Geras. I'm sitting between a couple of interesting acrylic paintings; just through the doorway there's a bowl of wooden fruit made in different woods, and it's sitting on my grandparents' hand-made oak bureau.

When does craft become art? 

When the maker steps beyond what he knows, I suppose.

But even so, he doesn't necessarily have to leave craft behind.

Spot the Frippet: craft. This word comes from the Old English cræft, which means skill.

And, for those of you with no interest in anything even vaguely arty, there are always boats and air- and space-craft to spot.