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!
Hi there, I just recently found your blog and find it very insightful. =) I have a BA in sociology so I feel you when you talk beyond the hype of crafting for irony’s sake, but the real joy you have in crafting and feeling very much a part of a multi-generational community. I think it’s wonderfully real when women in my generation aren’t gossiping about people (quite so much ;) but talking about their creative endeavors and achievements– we’re contributing something positive and creative into the world and feeling empowered by a community that supports our work.
I think this strong wave of creative endeavors in tandem with the community bulletin board technology are part of a revolution of women empowering themselves to learn and teach themselves. I feel there’s definitely something notable in how we as females are socialized by family and schools to not to be nerdy, know the nitty-gritty details of how something works, or to be inquisitive. But now we’re asking questions, making declarations, sharing knowledge, and revealing heart-felt ideas in a supportive, somewhat global community. Now we’re taking the initiative to expand our knowledge and skill-base to analyze how clothing is made and sew or knit it ourselves, refinish old furniture, and to learn everything hands-on. I think women and men inherently need to participate in a community to feel connected to the world, and our community is one that’s sharing and acknowledging what we’ve made with our own hands.
That’s my two cents. =)
hello B
reading your last post and being not that academic
i was wondering when you speak of irony in craft, do the pair of “real” earrings i made reek of it? and if so is that bad…because most of everything i make is a happy accident.
i learned how to make stuff like that when i was a wee little boy. i lived with my grandparents and my grandpop and i would go down in the basement and he would make me rings out of copper pipe or cut little charms out of any scrap material he could find. he would let me help and show me how. looking back he gave me so much from those times taking the time to show a little kid the magic in creating and making someting of beauty out of almost anything. now that i’m grown up it was the greastest gift i’ve ever got. i love to make things it’s the best feeling in the world and giving the things i make is like connecting in the most sincere and deep level that i can.
hope all is well.