with my hands.

Things I’ve either made or written over the years.

the world’s tiniest kitchen, 70s style.

| Betsy

1. Weird things happen when you’re at your parents house for the holidays and you start looking through old drawers and closets.

2. After finding my old dollhouse, I decided that a tiny kitchen needed to be built. You can tell the actual size by looking at the edge of the alarm clock on the right. And the “nut bowl” is actually the top of an acorn.

3. I really, really wanted that little plastic lady to be able to sit properly in that chair….then I realized that without knees, this was going to be a fool’s errand.

More late night childhood excavation over here on Flickr.

Want to win a free copy of Knitting for Good!? Go check out the details and enter the December Thrifty & Stylish Gift Wrapping challenge over at Craftster!

Also, the song Prelude for Time Feelers by Eluvium is so beautiful you just might keep it on repeat.

craftivism definition. (the early years)

| Betsy

My words about craftivism were used in a definition of the term the other day for Planetgreen.com’s Green Glossary. Reading it has been making me think of the exact origins of the term when I started wondering about it.

After kind of guessing when I started talking about craftivism, I looked through some old writing and discovered the following. The days when craftivism had 2 hits over on Google. (Those 2 hits were about a workshop being held by the Church of Craft.) I love that thousands of miles apart, “the word,” in 2002, was being thought about. That the combination of 2 disparate and negatively defined words were bubbling together in other minds than mine.

Now there are many, many more. I’m working on a history of things and it makes me so happy to know that what I wrote one morning many years ago wasn’t completely crazy. And: No, I didn’t get the internship and I’m still not the best sleeper. Yes, I still have giant unruly hair…and I still aspire to one day have a real beehive.

[As for the photos in this post, they are pages I made 4 years ago after taking some photographs of a London squat a friend was living in. The wordy bits were me trying to distill the idea of craftivism into as few words as possible. Clicking on the images will make them easier to see.]

11.26.02
Ow. My brain hurts. After 3 hours of sleep and much much coffee, I started to write a proposal for this journal I’m trying to get an internship with. Part of the application has to be a proposal for their forum.

So I started writing.

About Reagan-era music and Riot Grrrl, how if the past trends were true, then with a Republican in the White House, we should have some kickass music a la Bikini Kill, Tribe 8, the D[ead] K[ennedys]. So, where is it?

I proposed that craft is the new activism.

How the creation of things by hand leads to a better understanding of democracy, because it reminds us that we have power.

The problem is, I’m so tired that I can’t tell if this theory is full of shite or not. It might just be one of those things that only makes sense to me because I’m sleep deprived.

2.21.03
At last, it’s Friday. It’s so sad, I’ve been falling asleep at 8pm and sleeping through the night atleast one night a week. Don’t get me wrong, I always feel excellent the next day, but it’s cutting down seriously on getting things done.

Still obsessed with the craft and activism connection. Am I wrong in thinking that cross-stitching something like a throw pillow/t-shirt with “Attack Iraq? No!” or some such other slogan is a subversive act? I think that in taking the time to *cross-stitch* something rather than write it with a pen, you are making a statement. I could be wrong, though.

I am also still excited that I got my hair into a faux beehive last week. Need more big hair inspiration. If you happen to have a beard that you want to style, you can utilize equipment like Jaguar Hairdressing Scissors.

And….in book news, thanks so much for the kind words and emails, they have been so lovely! And so many great stories you have told me of knitting wonderful things for good!

Currently there is a signed copy of my book over at Linda Permann’s Etsy fundraising drive for Jasenn, her brother-in-law. Jasenn (who is 34 and has a wife and a toddler son) was recently diagnosed with stage IV kidney cancer. Do check out the shop, and purchase something to help Jasenn’s family Hope for Jasenn.

Among other wonderful things for sale, there are also signed copies of Susan Beal’s Bead Simple and Kayte Terry’s Complete Embellishing. Both of these books are by amazingly talented crafters who want you to know that yes, you can take back your wardrobe!

TODAY!

| Betsy

So I used caps up top because, this is a BIG announcement… the book that I have been working on for the last year and a half is out in the United States TODAY!

The book is about how you can use your knitting (or your creativity) to help yourself, your community and your world. It was so wonderful to have the chance to write it, and can’t believe it’s finally out! You can see more information here.

I couldn’t have done this without the help of the kind people at Shambhala, and everyone who contributed something to the book:

Patterns:
Katie Aaberg, Li Boesen, Janice Bye, Naomi Johnstone, Aneeta Patel, Fawn Pea, Linda Permann, Judith Shangold, Kelly Wooten

Pattern Illustrations:
Joy Gosney

Sidebars:
Sage Adderley, Susan Beal, Kate Bingaman-Burt, Heather Cameron, Cinnamon Cooper, Cathy de la Cruz, Donna Druchunas, Rayna Fahey, Kari Falk, Felicity (Felix) Ford, Sally Fort, (Sister Diane) Gilleland, Bryant Holsenbeck, Faythe Levine, Cat Mazza, Valerie Soles, Wendy Tremayne, Otto von Busch

Thank you all for all of your hard work, and for believing in the power in the handmade.

candy + craft = lovely.

| Betsy


The pretty little candies above were waiting to be eaten at a hotel I was checking into the other day. Even though they were almost too gorgeous too eat, I found a butterscotch one soon after I took this photo. Yum.

In talking to the desk clerk, apparently the hotel manager saw the candies at another rival hotel and liked them so much that she bought them for her lobby, too.

A few days earlier, in another hotel, I finished the above cross-stitch pieces for the show “Craftivism” at the Lawton Gallery at the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay curated by Faythe Levine. The show opened today and will be open until October 30th.

The pieces are #2 and #3 in my International Anti-War Graffiti Cross-stitch series. Although I still use lots of yarn in things, I do love the cross-stitch and the radical cross-stitchers who make lovely things with lots of teeny tiny x’s. The pieces above are around 30,000 stitches apiece!

And speaking of radical crafts, check out the new Holiday 2008 issue of Vogue Knitting for a lovely article by the amazing Shannon Okey called “The Politics of Knitting!” If you don’t feel like reading the paper version, you can read the article online here!

system down.

| Betsy

So a certain software update from a certain fruit-named company has wiped out the operating system on my computer, meaning that I’m computerless until I can archive the files and locate the install disks. Not having access to the files on your computer really makes you realize a) how important backing up your files are (yes, they’re backed up) and b) how frustrating it is not to have instant access to everything. Now, please.

It’s a good thing I have a lot of reading to do, as it’s given me a little bit of extra time to catch up on my reading, although somewhat by force…Over the past few days, I have been loving the style, photos and text of Handmade Nation!

It arrived on my doorstep last week and was the loveliest of things to come home to after a long week of traveling! I’m so happy to have an essay in this book, and keep flipping through just to read different artist’s profiles. So inspiring!

And if you can’t wait to purchase the book to see what Handmade Nation is all about, you can check out the trailer for the upcoming documentary of the same name here, which is amazing! The trailer is animated, leaving me gobsmacked at all the production it must have entailed. Wow!

Also on the reading list?
Neo Craft
The Object of Labor (Which I discovered via Heather)
World Textiles: A Visual Guide to Traditional Techniques
Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life

What’s on the top of your bookshelf lately?