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Princess Revives Swati Culture One Stitch at a Time

The intrigue of hand-made

Through my travel journals, I have observed that in many souvenir booths and shops, hand-made crafts are the most celebrated and successful. Why is this? I'll admit I used to scoff at the knitted goods on the souvenir strips in Nha Trang, Vietnam (where Miss Universe was hosted in 2008) because I thought knitting was such a normal, easy craft done everywhere---why would you get a knit purse here and not home? As we've reflected on our own knitting projects, I'm starting to see the intrigue in hand-made knits created by people of different cultures and lifestyles. One, it's a great, non-flashy remnant of whatever place you bought it from. Two, it's hand-made and an inherently one-of-a-kind craft that you likely only have one opportunity of obtaining.

Throughout this semester, when visiting small cities in the south and midwest, I found myself scouring for hand-made crafts. I would wonder aimlessly around shops and stands until I realized, I was subconsciously headed straight towards the hand-made crafts section. Being in the role of the maker this semester of course has encouraged me to continue to make, but I've found I have more appreciation for other fellow/experienced makers. I find other people's crafts to be inspirational as well as unique and intimate. Whether they produce things out of necessity to make money, or as a hobby that they can cash on, I'm getting a glimpse of their life and know a little bit of what they do outside of standing at this booth, wrapping up my souvenir.

Crafting for money!

Although most of us in Craft-Wisely knit for enjoyment and relaxation, I have recently observed many people who do it for extra cash. When knitting for hobby as opposed to knitting for a second income, is quality or work ethic compromised? At first, I believed it was but upon further pondering, I decided the answer is situational. Obviously, when you're getting paid to knit you want to do a good job to satisfy your customers, to build your clientele, and to ultimately make more money. This promotes better quality of work and better work ethic. However, in hobby, I think if you knit for yourself and for friends/family, you try to anthropomorphize. The value you place on your crafts' recipients drives your work and its quality.

I have a friend who is moving to Asia to do missionary work this coming summer. She had been really stressed and stumped as to how she would raise enough money for the next year she spends volunteering. One day, watching her grandmother knit at her retirement home, she came up with the idea to knit headbands for funds. Priced at around $10, she had had so many orders of these headbands, she's already raised about a month or two of rent when she moves.

The vastness of ways that needle-crafts can affect service projects and organizations is still amazing to me. Before Craft-wisely, it NEVER crossed my mind that people knit to have craft-ins to promote a local organization, or people knit scarves to strangers as part of a motivation/care package, or people knit to raise money to go to a third-world country and help them find spiritual guidance. This class has opened my eyes to think out-side of the box when brainstorming ways to help/impact our community.

The Craft Wisely Podcast, Episode 12: Reaching Outward and Upward

Each week, a group of students from the Craft Wisely course will invite listeners into the discussions taking place in our classroom. The conversation starts with ideas derived from our texts and our practice, and ranges into the podcasters' interpretations and experience.

The Bitches on Stitches celebrate the completion of service projects and mull over the role of craft in forging relationships -- including between people often marginalized or forgotten. We also discover what the students are making for holiday gifts, and how they think knitting and crocheting will continue to be a part of their lives. It's an energetic conclusion to a semester of growth, conversation, and integration.

Download the podcast here. To subscribe to the podcast, add the Craft Wisely podcast feed to iTunes or your favorite podcast reader.

The Craft Wisely Podcast, Episode 11: Ability, Genius, and Quality Work

Each week, a group of students from the Craft Wisely course will invite listeners into the discussions taking place in our classroom. The conversation starts with ideas derived from our texts and our practice, and ranges into the podcasters' interpretations and experience.

In their final podcast, the Arachnias muse on the conditions under which quality work can be done. Is it a matter of inherent talent or developed skill? Ella describes the genius factor; Kate reflects on the role played by equality of access and opportunity; and Natasha discusses how experience combined with reflection leads to learning.

Download the podcast here. To subscribe to the podcast, add the Craft Wisely podcast feed to iTunes or your favorite podcast reader.

Christmas Knitting

For my Core I paper, I wrote a "This I Believe" essay about the magic of Christmas. My thesis statement was "I believe in the magic of Christmas, which makes people grow in their relationships, in their beliefs, and in their sense of self." It's a pretty big deal to me because this time of year has always meant family, cookies, wrapping, spending time with my loved ones, and thinking up new and better ways to make them smile through personalized, thoughtful gifts. This year, my roommates and I decided we would only give each other handmade presents, not only to cut down on cash but to really make it personal.

I, of course, chose knitting. I trolled Ravelry for days looking for hat patterns that perfectly matched their personalities. I can't say too much because two of my roomies are in the class and have access to this blog. I can only say about Kate's that it perfectly matches her inner eco-freak. Sarah was hard because I had to design a brand new hat, I used a few different colors, and it took me four tries to get the sizing right (and it's really kinda epic). That's all I can say about their presents, but I can tell all about Megan's (as long as you promise to keep it a secret).

Megan coveted my entrelac hat, which uses different colors and a special technique to make it look like strips of knit fabric are criss-crossing over themselves like a basket. Her favorite color in the world is teal, so I found a soft teal yarn and paired it with black and white (to match just about all of her clothes). I made it slightly larger than my own head, and it will have a little bit of a slouch. Here's a picture.


She's gonna love it.

I am really enjoying making Christmas gifts this year. Certainly, not everyone gets a knit object for their presents, I'm buying stuff offline and in stores as well. But by knitting these presents, I spend hour upon hour thinking about how much their going to love it, what their face will look like when they unwrap it, how they'll proudly put their new hat on their head and model it for the whole world to see, grateful and happy because I put in the extra effort to get their present just right. By knitting these presents, I am extending my Christmas season, stretching it out as long and as happily as I possibly can.

Reaching Out with Knitting

Like many others in this class, I had never knitted before the class began. Over the summer, I awkwardly handled my needles, trying so hard to ward off the frustration of not being good at something. Looking back, I think the reason I struggled so much with knitting is because I tried to do it somewhat detached, not putting my whole self into it. I saw it as merely homework that I needed to complete for a grade. I didn't realize that I was learning a powerful skill that would give me the ability to create my own articles of clothing or even objects for the needy. I did not become aware of the power of knitting until I really allowed myself to lose myself in it and experience it without judgment or expectations.

The red scarf I began over the summer had a width of 24 inches. I had no idea what I was doing. I was just trying to knit a scarf. After spending copious amounts of time knitting a scarf with a width of 24 inches, I realized I was getting nowhere. Two weeks of knitting had gotten me around 8 inches in length. One day I showed my freakshow beginner scarf to my godmother, Aunt Carole, desperate for advice. My godmother talked sense into me, informing me that I was wasting time by creating way too much work for myself to enjoy what I was doing. That night, at her house, we ripped out the entire scarf. I felt as if I was destroying my past feelings of frustration and defeat. Then, my godmother and I knitted together. She taught me how to count stitches, and I started my red scarf over (with a width of 8 inches) while she began a beige scarf. We talked and knitted together that night for a few hours, and if felt so good to share that connection with my godmother. She told me about how she knits all of her socks and scarves for herself and others. Her spirit and drive to create was so inspiring.

After my visit with my godmother, I had a completely changed perception of knitting. Instead of homework, I saw it as potentional and options to help others and myself. It's hard to give to charities when all they want is money because I'm a broke college kid. I can barely take care of myself. However, knitting gives me the ability to help out with projects like the Red Scarf Project and the Conway Cradle Care service project by giving my time, efforts, positive energies, and abilities. This handcrafting class has seriously been one of my favorite classes in college, and I feel like I've learned so much...not just because I learned how to knit, but I also learned how to relate such crafts to myself, my community, and the world.

I finished my hat for Conway Cradle Care today, and in the pictures below, I am wearing it along with the red scarf that will be donated to the Red Scarf Project.

In between those two projects, I had made another red scarf identical to the first one which I to La Lucha for their fundraiser to become a non-profit organization. La Lucha is a community space open to all members of the community for creative expression (music shows, art displays, poetry readings, etc.), fair-trade coffee, and meals prepared with local food. It is all ran by donation and aims at educating people about the importance of being conscious of what we consume. I'm excited that my second red scarf was able to contribute to such a wonderful cause!