I Do It in Public

People always think of grandmothers and knitting like they are peanut butter and jelly. Great conversations are started about grandmothers and their impact on our lives. I went into Midas for a routine oil change one day and took my knitting inside with me while I waited for them to service my car. An elderly man walked in the store ten minutes later and made arrangements for his brakes to be checked and then sat down a couple of seats away from me. At first he just sat and read the newspaper that had been lying on the table in front of us, but it wasn't long before he noticed me and my knitting. He watched me for a few moments and then smiled and chuckled slightly at a memory that had made its way back to his thoughts. After a moment longer he turned slightly toward me and told me a story about his grandmother. She had been a charming old lady who's passion was knitting. Whether it was a pair of socks or a hat or a vest, she was always hastily chugging away at a project with a crinkle on her brow from the concentration and a slight smile on her face. When he would visit her, she would be sitting in her favorite dark brown, wooden rocking chair knitting away. A blue and white checkered quilt would hang on the back of the chair and a white cushion with a large blue flower on it was attached to the seat with strings tied underneath the chair. When she rocked, you could hear the chair creak with old age and extensive use. He told me how he loved to visit her and sit in front of her chair, just listening to the creak of the chair, the quiet clack of the needles as she knit, and the stories she told of her adventures from when she was "his age". 

He laughed as he told me she loved to tell the same stories over and over again, but somehow the stories always got more exciting and outrageous with each telling. I sat and listened to some of the stories his grandmother had told him, but it wasn't long before one of the mechanics came by and informed me that my car was ready. I reluctantly paid for the service and said goodbye to the old man who had kept me entertained with stories of his grandmother's wild youth. This is what happened to me one seemingly ordinary day not just because I knit, but because I do it in public. I will never forget my experience that day and how I reminded a stranger of someone he loved very much. 

Yarn, I like the Fuzz

Knitting is often a light-hearted activity, and I often count yarn time as some of the dependably enjoyable moments of my day. Fascination with knitting is contagious, and like all bugs, it spreads rapidly in families. Not only do people desire hand-knitted items, I have found that friends and family members soon become fascinated with the strange possibilities that knitting offers for creativity. Over the fall break, my younger brother texted me a picture of himself in his friend’s knitted beard hat. The outgoing pair had been making a stir among the other freshmen. What an ice breaker!

When I had gone camping with my family a month ago, my littlest sister, Ella grabbed my face in her doll-sized hands, looked me in the eyes, and whispered, “You drink too much coffee. You are going to grow a beard, and Mommy will braid it and put bows in it.” And thus was born a new long-time joke between me and my sisters. After Jake sent me the next, I decided to write about the escapade in a letter to my three siblings at home. I included a sketch of three of them with their future knitted beards. Anna, had a long flowing beard, like the mains of the horses she loves. Josh had a curly black goatee to sport when he was a master spy plotting against his arch enemy. Ella, the baby of the family, had whiskers that were larger than life. The kids loved the drawing. Dad had just read The Hobbit to them, so I plan on making them bearded dwarf helmets before they end the series. When I talked to Anna on the phone, she wanted me to make a little beard for the cat, Sparkles Elizabeth Diamond Castle Pitts. What a hairy feline!

Although it is strange, I look forward to learning the knitting techniques for pulling together a few of these bearded monstrosities. Wayne and I talked about wearing them as our costume for a climbing event we plan on going to next year. I admit, this is a strange kerfuffle of events, but all of them centered on a very beautiful thing, my family’s laughter. (And with Ella’s plotting smerf giggle, that is something special indeed). I love the beard pattern, and I am looking forward to making several for my family and friends. They are not exquisite like scarves or “cool” like funky hats, but they are undeniably fun. It is a hat for kids in which to play pranks, host a nerdy Lord of the Rings Trilogy, dance to crazy music, or amuse your friends. It is a hat that is as irresistible as a ghoul mask at a cheap thrills store. People want to pass it around so that they laugh at themselves and others when they look like Gimli or a lumberjack.

To join the Ravelry Beard Group click here!

stereotype hype

I believe that crafters and artists hold a crucial role in society. Not only is this role necessary, but it is beautiful and respectable. My classmate Eric blogged about his hesitancy to knit in public as a male. I don't feel that a handcrafting hobby of any sort should be looked down upon in any context, whether the creator is male or female. Class topics such as craftivism reinforces my thoughts on crafting. It is important for society to consider that men might perform stereotypically feminine tasks to prove a point or to stand up for something that they believe in a way that might not be easily understood. Art and crafting gives us an outlet by which we may express ourselves in a productive, non-violent way.



Coming from an environment that embraced creativity and crafting, until this point I don't feel that I have ever considered any stereotypes that I might have toward people who craft and create. However, after entertaining this question, I have concluded that I lump artists and crafters into one category in my mind. I believe these people to mold the world that we live in.

Consider what the world would be like with no one that created. We would not have snazzy looking iPhones. We might possibly possess the concept, but with no designers these handy inventions would not be nearly as attractive as they are in our society. Consider jewelry and clothing without the weavers, knitters, crocheters, or jewelers, we would have neither of these goods. In fact, if we examine how most of today's goods are made, we would see that there is still some human element required in most of production.


If we search back in our history books to when people had to be self sufficient, we will see that it was crucial for people to create with their hands to survive the elements. If we were to lose machines and cheap foreign labor, we would be forced to once again return to creating for ourselves. Many people who craft for themselves today do so as a form of protest against the machines and unfairly treated laborers. I cannot find a reason to cast negative judgment upon these people.

The Craft Wisely Podcast, Episode 7: The Arachnias' Workshop

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.

Natasha and Kate explore our relationship to objects both as workers in structured settings of production, and as consumers. Our things have religious, political, and emotional meanings. How do we deal with them when we are placed in predetermined positions to things by our jobs and by our overwhelmingly economic society? The Arachnias suggest that we prioritize based on the creation of meaning and the spreading of sovereignty widely throughout our communities, and that we be careful of layering unrealistic personal goals onto our work for others.

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

Embrace the Self, Burn "The Man"

In last night's reading, "Arts, Crafts, and Socialism," author Sheila Rowbotham explains Ashbee's social ideals. Rowbotham writes, "These new social relations for Ashbee were not just about external change, they involved inner, spiritual, and personal sentiments (49)." This quote really spoke to me because I had an experience last August in which I was surrounded by people who embraced radical self-expression, self-reliance, and the positive power of community in a place where there were no intolerances. I was in a place called Black Rock City, Nevada, a city that only exists one week out of each year in the middle of the Black Rock Desert. This week long event is an experiment in temporary community within a harsh environment. More than 50,000 people from all over the world come just to experience the community for a week. During this week, Black Rock City is the 3rd largest city in Nevada. There are industrial buildings there. During the week of the city's existence, there are many art installations, giant artistic structures, and huge sculptures with fire and lights. However, when the week is over, there is no trace left behind of the city because the strict "carry in, carry out" policy.

This experiment of temporary community is also known as the Burning Man Project. Participants must bring all of their own water, food, and supplies to build a living structure for the week made to withstand the harsh desert storms. Survival is not hard, however, because people help each other out. Radical self-expression is encouraged within this city as well as informality and collective effort. There are small communities within the city in which people hold craft fairs, yoga sessions, meditation classes, environmental education classes, discussions of feminism, discussions of gay rights, classes on organic gardening, etc. There is no government in this city. The power lies in the people who live there. There are no rules other than to respect one another and the earth. Burning Man offers a different experience from the norm of a world shaped by insitituions, service workers, and commercial transactions. Black Rock City is a place of sharing and free exchange within a gift economy, thus there is no money allowed. In Black Rock City, people are just people. The entire Burning Man experience reminds me of Ashbee's social ideals because Burning Man first encourages radical self-expression. Within our modern society, our "selves" are often stifled by what commercial society tells us we should be. Thus, we are disconnected from ourselves, creating dissonance between ourselves and the world, other people and within ourselves. Once we are able to embrace our individualities, we can once again connect with ourselves and connect with the world around us. Social relations are not entirely external because it really takes each individual to first become mindful and conscious of his/her self. Then, we can connect with others, creating strongly bonded communities.

A Question of Appreciation

I’ve done numerous crafts over the years, but none of them have engendered such a good response from those around me as knitting. When I showed my family my first scarf, they were instantly curious, asking how I did it, how long it took, and what other patterns I knew. Though predictably, my little brothers were only interested in how fast I could work the needles. My grandparents were even more thrilled, and they wasted no time in giving me ideas for things to knit for them. Each member of my family is eager to receive a knitted item, even going so far as to encourage me to learn faster so that I can make them blankets and night caps.

I’m not sure what it is about knitting that fascinates people who aren’t involved with the craft, but they seem to regard it as a novelty, a unique skill that, while they don’t practice it themselves, is interesting and compelling. Rarely do I see my family members get worked up about factory-made clothes. Their reaction was solely reserved for my handmade clothing, and this makes me feel that more people appreciate handcrafts than we think.

Many of us are concerned about the prevalence of factory-made products and people’s willingness to rely on these things. But I don’t think we’re giving them enough credit. How many of them have immediate access to homemade crafts? Sure, they can buy pretty much anything off the internet, but people have come to expect their commodities to be immediately accessible. Convenience is key. How can we make handcrafted items more readily available to those around us? That’s a question I think we should all consider.

Good from Grief

This week, I learned that a Residential Mentor from my high school, the Arkansas School for Math, Sciences, and the Arts (ASMSA), passed away. His name was Dan Benton, and he was a great, funny guy who loved watching movies and listening to music. He's pictured here on the left in a pink pastel vest and tie that he wore to my senior prom. We called him "Dan-ger" and "Dan the Man," and he always, always, always had a smile on his face. Thursday morning, he got into a head-on collision driving back to Hot Springs. And I can't believe he's gone.

When I found out, I started crying and felt really lonely. So, the first thing I did was hop on Ravelry to find the perfect grieving pattern. Yes, I knit when I feel sad; my addiction has gone that far. I wanted something colorful, slightly challenging so that I could focus on something but not so hard that it would frustrate me (because I didn't need frustration on top of my grief). After looking through the prayer shawls, I thought they were all too stuffy to fit Dan's carefree personality, and I finally decided on this great pattern called "Simple Fair Isle Hat." It's been in my queu for a while, but I never found the inspiration to make it. I chose my colors (two blues, a grey, and a beige), and cast on, gauge be damned!

Between classes, hanging out with other ASMSAers, and sleeping off my tears, I finished the hat in just over a day. Gathering the stitches at the top and weaving all the colored ends in, I felt peaceful. I no longer felt the need to be sad over Dan's passing. I know that he's gone. But I knit all my sadness, all my grief, all my loneliness, and all my shock at the face of death, into this colorful hat.

And as I finished it off, tried it on for the first time, and took pictures, I listened to a song by Yellowcard. It's one of my favorites, and the in the lyrics they say, "I'm sure the view from Heaven beats the hell out of mine here." Ain't that the truth.

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Note: I'm having a hard time attaching the photo of the hat to this post because it's a huge file, so I'll try to attach it at a later date, in case it's just my computer screwing up, but if you would like to see a picture of it, you can click here. That should take you to my Ravelry project for the hat, which I titled "Mad Hat-ter."