knitting.

I like knitting, you like knitting, the world likes knitting.

Knittin,’ ‘Innit?

| Betsy

Last weekend there was a lovely piece in The Guardian about “yarn storming,” written by a reporter who had seemingly never knitted anything in his life, but was along to see what all the fuss was about with a knitter from Knit The City. After you check out the article, here are some lovely videos of the Knit The City ladies yarn storming around London.





Surely you’re familiar with the US knit graffiti crew Knitta, but what about people that are yarn bombing (storming?) farther afield? Many of the groups knit-tagging all over the world can be found in Yarn Bombing the book, which was released earlier this fall…a book I’ll be reviewing later on this week. (Meanwhile, check out the Yarn bombing Flickr pool!)


Speaking of public acts of craft, as of last Friday 6 of my cross-stitch pieces will be shown throughout November at Cafe Helios in downtown Raleigh, NC!

“We’re Rock and We’re Knit”

| Betsy

Even though I’m not entirely sure what is going on, words cannot fully express how much I love this video. Dudes, yarn, rock. Basically all you need, no? Just kidding. You also need coffee. But anyway, I like that this video shows Indonesian men crafting and enjoying the heck out of it. Bonus points for their t-shirts that say “The Man Who Knit.” Brilliant!





Want more craft from Indonesia?

Tobucilhandmade.blogspot.com is a great place to start. They can be followed on Twitter here.

A little bit about Indonesia & craftivism: More than a year ago, I got an email from a PhD student asking if I knew anyone in Bandung, as they were working on some sort of library/community center. While I’m not sure it’s totally true, but when he wrote, “I thought it would be neat to know that you are inspiring young people in Indonesia,” I was gobsmacked. He was referencing an interview with Tarlen Handayani, which if you read Malay, you can read here. The center he was referring to was Tobucil & Klabs, which is the website listed above and where the video is from! Small world!

The blog has put together a lovely list of international crafty links here but it’s a shame there isn’t more craftiness online from places like Indonesia. Or is it that I just haven’t found them yet?

*Although, I will say that the book Yarn Bombing exposed me to so much international knitting groups. More to come on that soon.*

Game Knitting!

| Betsy

I met Lee Meredith, or Leethal, this past spring in Portland and was oh-so-happy to be lucky enough to receive one of her craftgasm patches! This alone was reason enough for a complete craft crush, and then I discovered Bad Movie Bingo, the amazing game she made with her hubby-to-be, Pete Bejarano, which makes really bad movies even better, helping them to fully embrace their badness full on!

And last week, Lee self-published her own e-book, Game Knitting, chock full of projects you can knit in between turns of Clue or Battleship. Color me amazed. Again. At 65 pages for only $9, it’s a steal, and with it you get the added bonus of being the craftiest game player in the room.

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For those crafty folk in the DC area, chances are you were at Crafty Bastards yesterday! After spending a few hours helping people make buttons* at the good ship Hello Craft, I bought three things from vendors I’ve swooned over for years: toast plush from My Paper Crane, a fascinator from Giant Dwarf and a Supermaggie.

In case you missed it, check out the photos over here on Flickr. Be sure to check out the b-boy battle photos, too! Apparently if you want to get me to not move for an hour and a half, you must bring a breakdancing competition that reminds me of my childhood. Seriously. It was awesome.

*I made a button for myself that said, “Ask me about my job search,” which kept me giggling despite the somewhat depressing and confidence crushing job hunt that so many of us are on these days. Have yet to wear it out in the non-crafty public. Keep your eyes peeled, DC area people.

Histories, Knitting and Kindness.

| Betsy

The woman knitting above is Selma Miriam, a co-owner of the restaurant Bloodroot in Fairport, Connecticut. I had heard about Selma from my friend Dayna Mankowski, the Crafty Scientist, years ago and have been wanting to go to the restaurant ever since. After finding Bloodroot’s history and philosophy incredibly inspiring, I was saddened to read that someone recently broke in and robbed the restaurant. And to add insult to injury, they stole Selma’s knitting bag, but not until after she bravely tried to get it back… from an armed man. She’s offering a reward for its return as it (and the contents) hold memories of her work with fiber, scissors from one trip, yarn from another. The bag itself is a creation of Selma’s, and I was touched by this article** as she explains why she wants the bag back. You can read more about Selma over here, too.

Reading about Selma’s love for all those individual supplies and what they mean to her, makes me ask myself some questions. What would happen if someone stole your knitting/craft bag? What would be lost? Would you pay to get it back? As currently, my knitting projects are taking over my house and not my handbag, I don’t have to answer those questions today, thankfully. I’m crossing my fingers that someone returns Selma’s bag with its contents in full, not for the reward, but because it’s just the right thing to do. And thank you, Selma, for living a life true to your ideals, full of creativity and completely immersed in kindness and love.


And lately, some interesting articles:
*Yoga for Crafters
*Africa’s first eco-town (made possible by microfinancing)
*Amnesty International trains young Moroccans in cyber-activism
*Fundraising + knitting: helping to buy livestock row by row (literally!)
*106, and still knitting for charity (Way to go, Olive, a true inspiration!)
*From a bank cubicle in London to a farm in Accra…for belief in microfinance

**This article isn’t linked because The Connecticut Post has taken this (a 2 month old story) offline. Although it can be purchased for $2.95. It’s a shame, too, as the article was well-written, and now the author won’t be getting much credit, given that you now have to pony up for each article. I understand why a publication would do this, but I also think that it’s no good for those who contribute to the paper. Lesson learned: Get a clip (.jpg or otherwise) of your work online, or else it may just disappear.

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!