Author: Betsy

Crafting therapy in Boston homeless shelter

| Betsy

Have you seen this article about the homeless shelter in Boston that uses crafts as a therapy? And the article opening to get you clicking over…

Hers was purple, pink, and green with ruffled edges. Ina Kelley had to show off the shawl she crocheted for a daughter, because after a year of living between homeless shelters and the streets, it’s one of the only things she truly had.

“I’m still working on my blanket,’’ the 46-year-old said, dressed in nightwear and sandals, opening a bag full of colored yarn. “Being stressed, depressed with being homeless on the streets, it helps with your mind.’’

For more on the work of the Barbara McInnis House, please see their website.



Some other recent crafty links you might like:
*Alabama weaver who took inspiration from a Colorado rodeo
*Incredible Lady Gaga petit point by Francesco Vezzoli (via Jafabrit)
*Lovely post from The Textile Blog on traditions of Navajo Spinning & Weaving
* CRAFT: post from Average Jane Crafter on Small Notebook’s 4 Generations Quilt
*Results of study show that women have better sense of touch than men (thereby making them better at embroidery?)

Travel Knitting in Indonesia & the Awesomest House in London

| Betsy

Ok, so I totally have a new dream. To take my knitting on a trip to Indonesia. We could drive around, go to workshops, see a concert, pay some road tolls. Not only would it be awesome, but then my knitting could trade stories with the knitting from this video.

The shots of the knitting workshop in this video made me tear up in happiness, reminding me why I fell in love with knitting, craft and all their possibilities. The spirit of DIY in other countries makes me so very happy, and makes me think I need to start working on planning some workshops. The past few years have seen me uninspired by public work, but I think this is about to change. This reminds me how wrong I am and just how jaded I’ve gotten, and that there’s still work to be done! Got any places that could use a little DIY craft workshop? I work better with parters in crime, so let’s plan something awesome!

In case you missed the first video and in order to see the finger knitting, please go to The Man Who Knit. The finger knitting video, with the usual badass musical soundtrack from these knitters, coaxes you along the steps to began your rise to finger knitting conqueror! Be prepared to rock out, be inspired, and start to wonder what grand adventures your knitting has just been yearning to go on.

Alternatively, you can go check out the work done at MuTATE Britain. This project, done by the amazing outlaw ceramicist Carrie Reichardt, is also something that has inspired me to no end this week. For more about Carrie, go visit her website, where you’ll see she has the coolest house in the universe, pictured above.


P.S. In the travel video, there is sunrise knitting. In Indonesia. On a cliff. With a rooster crowing in the background. Hello, awesome.

Crafting the Whole World: Craft + Race

| Betsy

For the past few days, there’s been a bit of an online kerfuffle about race and craft and the group Knitta, Please. As a result, the Knitta, Please website now defaults to MagdaSayeg.com. Here’s a link to a post about it on my friend Cinnamon’s blog because she provides the Cliff’s Notes version with links. My ears perked up at a mention of the craft world being all white. And yes, the indie/DIY craft world is really really white. Do I think that it’s on purpose? No. Indie/DIY craft may have started a craft resurgence, but that doesn’t mean the story of the resurgence is over. How wonderful would it be to have another craft wave where we all started learning more about craft history or different cultural techniques?

Over a decade ago, there was a similar kerfuffle about Riot Grrrl. There’s even a really amazing article about it, Riot Grrrl: Revolutions From Within by Jessica Rosenberg and Gitana Garofalo. There’s an even more amazing online perspective of Riot Grrrl.

The difference between the two? It can be argued that the history of feminism is all white. It cannot, however, be argued that the craft world is all white. That’s one of the most beautiful things about craft, that it’s found in every culture existing now or previously. There needs to be more online about it, and it’s a project I’ve been working on… but without funding, it’s a beast (and slow!) to tackle. Here are just a few examples of craft in different cultures out of the thousands.

So, I say, bring it. Evoking a challenge a wider range of craft coverage online, in fairs and on bookshelves. Bring it on. Please.

Felting in Iran
Batik from Ghana
Tibetan Butter Sculpture
Chinese Woodblocking Prints
African Cloth about Culture and Politics
Chilean Political Tapestries by the Arpilleristas
Lots of Native American craft links! Beads! Weaving!
WarRug.com: Afghan made rugs (Political motifs? Bonus!)
Palestinian Embroidery Techniques: Dresses That Tell Stories
History and Glossary of Traditional and Contemporary African Textiles

(Photos, top to bottom: Tibetan butter sculpture, Afghan war rug, felting in Iran)

Back to the Beginning (Revisiting Home Ec)

| Betsy

This year for the holidays I’m going down to my grandparents house, and it got me thinking about my grandmother’s college major, home economics. All I remember from my home economics class in 9th grade was that I learned how to make a pineapple upside-down cake. There was also some really weird lesson where we took tests to see what blood type we were, which still doesn’t make sense as to why it was in the curriculum. I’m not sure if they even have home economics classes now, but if they do, chances are high, they, too, have devolved from the time when my grandmother studied it.

So, I took a look online at the history of home economics, and came across several interesting databases and archives regarding women’s history. Some of them are databases of women’s history and others are based on purely home ec, but either way, they’re not only a great source of knowledge, but might also help stir up holiday conversation if you find yourself with your grandmother and unsure of a topic. Try asking her about what she studied at university, what she hoped to be at your age, or what her career aspirations were. You might not only be surprised, but you just might come away with more respect for home ec, and the lesson it’s passed on through the years.

Most of these are American, but that’s mainly because they were pretty easy to uncover. Have any from other countries? Let me know! Some of them you have to dig around for images, but they are all amazing resources!

*The Making of a Homemaker
*Home Economics to Human Ecology
*The Northern Great Plains: Women Pioneers
*American Women’s History: A Research Guide
*Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture
*The Schlesinger History of Women in America Collection
*Quilts as Visual History in 19th and 20th Century America
*The History of Household Technology with Constance Carter
*From Domesticity to Modernity: What was Home Economics?