ABSTRACT
Mary Andrews encourages readers to “Quit Your Day Job” in a series of Etsy blog posts that provide information about sellers. For instance, she introduces readers to slippedstitchstudios who took “her career into her own hands after being laid off” during a “maternity leave.” 1 Andrews associates the transformation of slippedstitchstudios into a stay-at-home mother and Etsy seller with her independence. Andrews also links this change to the productive and physical properties of slippedstitchstudios’ hands and computer and Internet technologies. Etsy and members use narratives about hands as a means of referencing the experiences of being in control, touching, being touched, connecting, and making things by hand. Etsy members further highlight the affective, social, and tactile aspects of hands by choosing such member names as AtHome Hand Made, From My Hand To Yours, and The Hand Stamped Heart. 2
