One of the most important bands in my life has got to be Huggy Bear. Their album “Taking the Rough With the Smooch” made me finally realise that I wasn’t alone and that real art (craft?) doesn’t have any formal constraints even though you may think it does.

So with that album title in mind…

As for the absence, well, lately it’s been all about two things: moving (again!) and libraries.

Currently I am at a very temporary abode surrounded by stacks of craft supplies, books and stripey articles of clothing. Besides working on my near-constant plan of world craft domination, I am knee-deep in storylines, research proposals and random xeroxed pieces of paper.

Happily, Craft Revolution has evolved, giving credence to the hope that people will start thinking a little more and consuming a little less. If you’re entirely ready to put this thought into action, then you could do no better than having a little fun with microRevolt’s knitPro. It is my new favorite thing, as I just used it to show how I could knit Colonel Sanders, so watch out!

It makes me unduly happy to see all of this interdisciplinary thought between art, craft, politics, materialism, ad nauseum- because it’s not about getting back to basics, it’s about learning from the past in order to chart your future.

Which is why I’ve had my head down researching the past lately. Because nothing gives me more energy and inspiration than taking something that at first seems so humbling (mainly knitting) into a larger conceptual mode of thought.

My old housemate was from Northern England, and I remember coming home one evening and hearing this really strange folk song which to my ears appeared to be sung by the oldest and most tone-deaf people on earth. Well, they were old and tone-deaf, but they also kicked ass. It was a video about the handknitters of the Dales. Many times I passed the book, (The Old Hand Knitters Of The Dales by Marie Hartley & Joan Ingilby, 1951) on the kitchen table immediately thinking about the aural assault that I heard that night.

Like I previously was scared by my local co-op by all the hippies* on the front lawn, I finally realised that just because it at first seems a bit creepy, that generally the problem is that you’re just not looking in the right place. Once I finally braved the mass of hippies, I discovered the best steamed greens and vegan double chocolate cookies in the world. And likewise, people like Clara Sedgwick have now become my crafty heroines instead of Lily Chin.

Go Clara!

*Okay, all hippies aren’t that bad. Just a bit scary to me en masse.