misc.

Yet to be categorized.

down with irony!

| Betsy

Lately I’ve been seriously entertaining the idea of persuing my PhD in either cultural anthropology/sociology/cultural studies.

I want to have the chance to research the issues surrounding craft, domesticity and modernity from a historical perspective in order to figure out what is happening in the present.

Because on the one hand, it seems like it’s just about the teeny tiny world of craft and the current resurgence, but when you look at the other, there’s a whole wealth of history holding up the present pillar. Crafts have been something that humans have always done, given a bit of free time and spare materials.

Sometimes I worry that women my grandmother’s age view this current re-interest in crafts as just a trend based on irony. Lately I’ve become sick of irony, and how irony has become the cornerstone of our wardrobes, leisure time and vocabulary. I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to actually meet people who are real. And who have genuine interest in things, and genuine passion for it.

There is nothing I love more than when I am crafting in public and someone my grandmother’s age comes over and tells me stories about how she (or he!) used to knit/crochet/embroider. I want them to teach me all the skills they have learned before the current upswing where every town had numerous knitting circles. I am craving learning those skills that are passed down from generation to generation not passed down via printed pages on a book.

In researching knitting for various projects over the past few years, that’s what I have come to be most endeared by. The lack of pretension, the eagerness to share and communicate and the pure love of the craft. And no, I don’t think that irony is something just in the world of craft, in the past few years it’s inundated more than a few facets in my life.

I just want to return to the real.

Oh, and speaking of the ‘real,’ there’s nothing better at making you feel more connected locally if you volunteer! So go see who needs your help in your area, thanks to volunteermatch.org!

tandem.

| Betsy

Sometimes I wonder, am I the only one that ponders about the connection between craft and academics?

Or is it just a complete flight of fancy?

Despite all the different theories I have that may or may not be valid, I still am in awe of the way that even the simplest knitted piece of cloth can hold such a sense of beauty.

Nothing fancy or complicated, just knit one row, purl the next, held up to the light.

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And how amazingly similiar to a generalized plant cell at 200x magnification.

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And sometimes there’s nothing more beautiful than simple.

Or maybe I’m just a weirdo for seeing the connection.

oh, canada.

| Betsy

Baby, it’s cold outside!

And up here in the north where I am for the week, we’re about to get hit by some more snow! While the Southerner in me loves it, I realise that I’m lucky to be in a place with heat and insulation and to be wearing warm clothes.

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There is a charity called Blankets for Canada dedicated to making blankets that keep people toasty up in the Great White North. Here’s a bit from their website:

“Just spend at least 8 minutes a day crocheting or knitting and soon you will have an 8″ x 8″ (20cm x 20cm) square. When you sew 48 squares together you have a blanket 48″ x 64″ (120cm x 160cm). To be given FREE to organizations who care for those who have no shelter or are in need of warmth.

Strips can be made instead of squares so less sewing together is required. Just make the strip 64 inches long (that is 8 squares) and as wide as you want – 8″, 12″, 16″ or 48″. It makes for a lot less sewing together and less sewing in ends.

Making the blanket is fun to do and a good way to use up those scrap balls of yarn that are laying around the house. Squares can have many different colors in each one. This makes for a very colorful blanket too! You can use any stitch you want. It’s a great way to try a new pattern.”

Often when I’m sitting around in my house idle I forget that I could just take a few minutes and make a square here or there that will eventually add up to a blanket. That sometimes the simplest things provide more comfort than the most complex.

Lately in some circles there has been much talk about moving to Canada, what about making blankets to keep Canadians warm instead?

baaaaa.

| Betsy

Today I found myself alone in a stable with 100 sheep.

At first I started giggling because all these little sheepy heads turned to watch me as I walked in the door. Then I looked to my immediate left and saw a group of ewes and newborn lambs. I knelt down and said hello as all these wee wobbly lambs came closer to investigate.

I’m visiting my aunt in upstate New York, and she took me to a local farm with sheep. I was hoping to talk to someone about organic wool production, but it had just snowed and there was no one around. Keep in mind, this farm was huge and had dairy goats as well, which is why there were newborn lambs teetering around in the hay, not really sure how to use all four limbs at the same time.

Mu aunt was walking her dog around the farm’s perimeter and suddenly peeked in to see what was taking me so long. And there I was kneeling and cooing and tearing up over these cuddly woolly wobbly lambs that were so new and excited about their surroundings.

I went down the length of the stable and turned back, only to catch out of the corner of my eye, a lamb that had just been born, still wet and slimy. (So slimy!) The tears that I was already holding back burst through as the lamb turned to me and tried to take her first step. (So wobbly!)

And it reminded me how my goal with my knitting is to eventually only use fiber that is produced ethically and by farmers who know their sheep by name and not by number. Eventually my aunt coaxed me out into a whole nother stable with several enclosures holding ten slightly older lambs each.

I could barely contain myself as I knelt down and suddenly 20 little eyes were right in my face, wiggling their wee tails, and anxious for some attention. Snow had just fallen outside, so there was no other sound other than the pitter patter of tiny little hooves on hay coming over to investigate this new human in a bright pink winter coat.

And kneeling there in that barn, I just wanted to breathe it all in, the history and the future of craft and farming with the little lambs and the big machines, it was like momentarily standing in both past history and the present moment. Perfect.

nice isn’t always alright.

| Betsy

One of the best things about crafts for me is that I can personalize them however I want. As I’m making something by hand, I can personalize it with whatever I choose. There’s a huge sense of liberty in this. And I’ve been taking notes from Deviant Goods’ Fuck Cancer hats and Planet Cancer’s wares.

Because all too often in this world we’re so worried about being nice and offending someone, when all you really want to do is scream and say, ‘this sucks!’ That’s what I feel like yelling everytime someone I love gets sick when all that comes out of my mouth is ‘I’m so sorry. I will be with you each step of the way.’ Suddenly I get angry and scared and just want to hug them and tell them everything will be okay.

But I want to be strong and supportive, so I just say the nice things. But cancer isn’t nice.

For Christmas, I made knitted my grandfather a hat in the hopes that if he’s feeling low, he will put it on and know that it was knitted with all my heart and wishes that he get better and stronger faster. He’s been through so much the past few months, I wanted to give him something that was something close to a hug even though I wasn’t always close by.

Someone I told about the hat asked, ‘can’t you buy one that’s storebought?’ I answered, ‘yes, but that’s missing the point. The point is that everything I make was crafted with my own two hands and on purpose and with emotion. Something storebought might be less time-consuming, but it’s not made with love and strength and hope.’

Sometimes the right way isn’t always the nice one.