england.

After living in Norwich, Watford, London and Sussex and visiting often since 1995, it deserved its own category.

Craft + DIY = Punk?

| Betsy

Below is the most visited post in my archives, one from March 23, 2004 called Why Craft = Punk Rock. In 2004, I was living in London, getting my MA and had just started writing and researching about craft and community. It was before all the press and essays and was a true time of discovery. It was the beginning of the press frenzy and interviews at the start of UK’s finding craft as a subversive act.

Fast forward 5 years, and I think of all the places craft has brought me and all the wonderful people it has allowed me to meet. I never would have thought that the tenets behind this post would influence, well, everything that followed. Everything. Where did your craft spirit originate? What gives you fire in your belly? As I’m in the process of changing gears, looking for work* that helps women find their creative spirit in developing countries, I’m reminded of this post below. And I’m wondering where this new journey will take me, who I will meet, and held safe in the knowledge that my belief in the power of craft and creativity is real and deep and pure.

*

Living in London, I’m constantly amazed by the fact that the so-called ‘subversive craft scene’ is non-existent. In the U.S., it is everywhere you look and it’s not so much a ‘call to arms’ as it is an expression of something I/you/we can do with our own hands to make our own lives as well as the lives of others a little bit better in the chaos of life around us.

Currently I’m helping out with an event called V&A Museum here in London.

There is a press frenzy surrounding it and I’ve been dealing with people who are calling knitting a ‘trend,’ a ‘fad,’ a ‘craze’ and I can’t help but get a little but frustrated by it all yet continually finding it all naive. Both my reaction to the press interest as well as their wanting to just find a creative angle to fit their byline.

I don’t do my various crafts because it’s ‘trendy,’ although I do sometimes have crafty dreams that include everyone turning off their televisions and making stuff, whether it’s knitting a sweater or making macaroni necklaces or screenprinting fliers for a local demo. Anything as long as you are letting your passion be your guide rather than what’s seen a ‘popular for the moment.’

I’m fascinated by the emails I get from people in regards to their pure love of various crafts. Some of them are confused about what I’m trying to do here with this blog or in various work I do. I want to be a resource for people that want to help other people with their various crafty endeavours. Maybe I’m helping to fill that void, or maybe I’m just taking up more space on the interweb, I’m not sure most days.

No, everything I make doesn’t go to charity. but some of it does.

The other part of my crafty dream is that everyone becomes conscious of all of their actions. By asking things like: Do I need this? Do I want to support this company? How can I help? Where does my passion lie?

It is all quite emo and I’m sure my parents would conclude that I’m now a hippie.

But it’s about more than that.

My background is firmly entrenched in punk rock. I was always cutting and pasting my own little zines (and then hiding them under my bed because I felt they were crap) or daydreaming about playing drums in the next Bikini Kill.

But I never felt like i was good enough at anything really to make my mark. It was only when I started learning to knit, crochet, embroider, screenprint, make books, felt, etc etc that I regained my own sense of self and that fire that punk rock put in my belly when I was 16.

Craft to me is very punk rock and it’s hard to read article after article about how craft is just for ‘grannies.’ I love my grandmother who knits, she is kickass, but I’m also inspired daily by the way that punk rock influences my own brand of activism and craft. craftivism, if you will.

Who knows, maybe you feel the same way, maybe not. But I can never ignore how punk rock shaped my crafting. I owe my creativity to it, and it’s so not just a trend. And some days I get homesick for people who understand that.

xo

*Yep. Got any ideas of anyone who might be looking to hire someone with these interests? Get in touch!

A Few Questions With.. Just Work Economic Initiative.

| Betsy

The Just Work Economic Initiative works to employ individuals who can’t find “traditional employment.” They recently answered a few questions for me about the work they’ve been doing!




Q: How did this all come about?

A: Through our work as volunteers in the community we heard a common concern amongst those who regularly frequent soup kitchens and other charitable organizations seeking help. While they were able to meet some of their basic needs for food, clothing and housing they were unable to find work. Hearing this, members of Grandview Calvary Baptist Church developed the idea of JustWork as a way to offer employment opportunities to individuals who would like to work, but may otherwise be seen as unemployable. JustWork officially began in February 2004 with a four-pronged strategy to assist those on the margins – offering employment counseling, a job-match program, support for those with dreams of starting a small business, and social enterprise development for individuals facing major hurdles to the workforce.

Since the last half of 2005, JustWork has focused most of its time and energy on the development of social enterprises. They wanted to assist those in their midst facing the most daunting challenges to finding work, and social enterprises seem to be the best tool available for this task.

Before the development of JustWork, a pottery studio in the basement of the church welcomed local people who weren’t able to afford classes or other studios. An open drop-in time began for people to learn play with clay and work on their own projects. The studio’s mission is to foster community, healing, acceptance dignity and creativity.

The pottery business started with the idea that it would use the existing studio and people would get paid for their pottery work. This would bring in an income as well as foster community and dignity.

Q: Why pottery? What are the benefits that people get from working there?

A: Clay is one of the easier and accessible forms of art. It is creative and completely hands-on. It is dirty but satisfying. When we don’t have much control over our lives, we can see that we can have lots of control over the clay and can make something from start to finish. We can imagine something and make it within and month-long period. This is the gift of clay, the therapy of clay.

The benefits of work here are the community that is formed as they work together, creating in a small space, the dignity that is gained from seeing their pieces bought and loved by others, and being able to work well, contributing to good work for the income.

Q: Two of the biggest rewards of working with clay?

A: We have control over the clay, as I mentioned above, that the process and the control and the molding is up to us, and that we can be creative in this process.

It is also hands-on…working with the hands and the body is both redeeming and healing.

Q: Do they find that despite their varying living conditions or situations, they connect via the pottery…not only the learning experience, but also in the craft itself?

A: There is a community that is forming in our studio. They talk as they work together about their plight, their struggle, their daily needs, their recovery. They have become friends with each other and see each other outside of the studio and work. They worry about each other and try to take care of one another.


For more information about Just Work, check out their Etsy shop and blog. Just can also follow them on Twitter over here.

Casting Off the Monday Tuesday Morning Blues.*

| Betsy

This adorable video was something I saw on Cinnamon Cooper’s blog, and I thought that since Mondays Tuesdays** aren’t known for their enthusiasm, this might put a little spring in your step?

Oh, and the weirdest thing I’ve ever knitted? I can’t remember what it was originally supposed to be, but I can say that it was turned into a pair of knickers at a Birmingham LadyFest a few years ago…

*Get it? HA!
**Sometimes Tuesdays feel like Mondays…

Another Knitted Wedding. And Newsworthy Sheep.

| Betsy

Ok, so The Sun newspaper is not known for its hard-hitting journalism like some of the UK broadsheets. But what it does manage to do superbly is remind the world that people can do some pretty fantastic things. I’ve copied and pasted the text (and a photo) from the article here, as there was no way that I could beat their original crackin’ choice of words:

A SHEPHERDESS got married in a wedding dress made entirely from the wool of one of her flock.

If you’re planning to get married real soon as well, it’s best to find the wedding ring that you’re dying to wear for the rest of your life, such as those antler wedding rings for sale online.

Louise Fairburn, 38, designed the outfit, made from the fleece of a rare Lincoln Longwool called Olivia. Groom Ian, 42, wore a woollen waistcoat. If you’re looking to tie the knot soon, Award winning wedding planning company in Toronto city offers luxury destination weddings by Designed Dream in Dominican Republic and Mexico. A day-of coordinating service is included in the all-inclusive package offered by Designed Dream if you’re looking for Toronto wedding planners.

Louise, of Market Rasen, Lincs, said: “I’m sheep-crackers. I want to prove wool is not just something for knitting bobble hats.”

Sheep breeder Ian, who first saw the dress as Louise walked down the aisle, said: “I took one look at her, my lip curled like a young sheep’s does and I started blubbering.”

Lovely. You can find other photos at coverage over at The Daily Mail and The Telegraph.

Lest this recall another knitted wedding, you might be thinking of Cast Off’s knitted wedding for the marriage of Freddie Robbins and Ben Coode-Adams. Clicking on the photo of them pedaling off in wedded bliss will take you to their wedding photo gallery. To read the new adventures of one of the forces behind the happiness that is Cast Off Knitting Club for Girls and Boys, check out the magical world of the shop Prick Your Finger! Their always interesting and amusing blog is over here.

EVEN MORE SHEEP NEWS!
Also, remarkably in sheep news today in The Sun: “Ram-bo slides down high wire,” ram gets caught on zipline by horn. No, really.

Is It the “Real Truth?” Or Is It Just A “Yarn?”

| Betsy

One of the coolest things about having this blog and writing about craftivism is that people send me amazing links, stories, and photos they think I’ll like. And they are, without exception, all incredibly inspiring and awesome. This one got eaten by my inbox for a bit, but nonetheless, wanted to share it with you. The photo and article come from here. I wish I knew more about the person who sent me a very mysterious email about it, but, for now, it shall remain a mystery! Have anything craftivism-related or inspiring to share? Get in touch!

Politics/conspiracy theories aside, read about what he’s doing if you don’t agree why. The what part is why I’m posting it. I’m staying out of it and loving the engagement of the community and quest for open dialogue.

There were conspiracy theories abound in Stroud town centre today, as a street performer encouraged shoppers to question the ‘truth’ behind the war on terror.

The performer, who lives in the Stroud area, held a ‘truth’ sign as he worked an old wooden spinning wheel to symbolise the difference between the ‘real truth’ and the so-called ‘yarns’ that were spun after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in America. Wearing white face paint, a brown leather jacket and a black top hat with feathers, he said the point of the exercise was to test people’s reaction and inspire others to debate the issue.

“Really it is just a visual pun,” he said.

“But I hope it encourages inquisitive people to question the war on terror because it is something that is going to affect us all for a very long time to come.”