Craft Activism

grab your needles: mittens & socks needed!

Calling all craft activist knitters* ! Our friends at afghans for Afghans have a quick campaign on right now, with a call for wool socks and mittens  for young people ages 14-21. 

The Sleight of Hand mitts give you a good basic mitten shape. You can mix & match the repeating charts as much or as little as you wish, thanks to designer Mary Lou Egan's cleverness. If time is tight, you could colorwork the cuff and do the rest solid.

The deadline, according to their website: "Best if your item can arrive to us by January 24. Please check back for updates."

* Nothing against the crocheters amongst us. You know we carry a torch for the granny square! Crocheted mitttens should be just fine. Not so sure about crocheted socks though....

Starting Young

This is a good time of year to be looking forward, and I’m going to interpret that as thinking about future crafters. A friend recently told us about the Needle Arts Mentoring Program (NAMP), which is dedicated to passing on knitting, crochet, and other needle crafts to youngsters. Facilitated by the Helping Hands Foundation (HHF) and supported by TNNA, whose members generously donate supplies, NAMP now involves more than 5,000 children in 36 states.

A Red Scarf Project* knitter in Vermont, at K Yarns.

            For any of us who remember being taught to knit or needlepoint by a mother, grandmother, aunt or anyone else for that matter, and want to pass that feeling forward, it’s not hard to start a program. All that’s needed is a group of kids, mentors, and a place to meet. NAMP can provide startup supplies and mentoring materials. photo courtesy of NAMP

            Says Penny Sitler, executive director of HHF, “Many mentors share stories about the benefits of NAMP as they find that the needle arts improve reading and math skills, the ability to focus and follow directions, and self-esteem. NAMP is the perfect way to teach a whole new generation the needle arts. People are continuing to return to the basics, which translates into working with their hands.”

            For more information, go to www.needleartsmentoring.org.

            And here’s to a crafty new year!

 * It's just a bit past the deadline but you can still send a red scarf in to Foster Care to Success for this year's care packages.

highlight of the High Line

While Gale was out yarnbombing on WorldWide Knit in Public Day, I was in New York, sans needles, meandering along the High Line (an unparalleled achievement in urban life, imho).No wonder Gale chose the elevated park as a backdrop for the Craftitude Vest photo shoot. an out from the shoot above, and a little behind-the-scenes, below

There's always a wealth of sculpture tucked among the greenery along the way, but since April the works of art have featured a series called "Lilliput," which includes a lanky metallic creation by Alessandro Pessoli, entitled Old Singer with Blossoms,

And that – appropriately enough for my WWKIPD stroll – just happened to be festooned (by the sculptor himself) with a knitwear bonnet and streamers. Alas my iPhone photo makes the charming work look more like a giraffe in a mob cap, but you can get a better look at Scoboco's Flickr site or on the High Line's page about the Lilliput project.

And I can take inspiration for some future yarnbombing foray.

-posted by Joan

Craft Activism at the Arkansas Lit Fest

What a joy! Here's the yarn bombing at the Arkansas Literary Festival as part of the our book's inclusion, earlier this month. So many photos I want to share that I'm embedding a slideshow. I was so honored to be a guest author!  Details of my adventures, and how we planned the yarnbombing, blogged here . Enjoy!

I need to give credit for inspiration for this to our  Craft Activism book subjects, the JafaGirls and Crispina ffrench.  (I may have channeled some Kristin Nicholas, too.)

-posted by Gale

Rooms With a View(point)

I always like to read about London's Craftivist Collective, which has the catchiest of mottos: A spoonful of craft helps the activism go down. In the past they've used sewn banners large and small, instead of knit or crochet tags, to get their messages into the public eye. Hanky-panky stitching they call it.

Embroidery art Jafabrit a.k.a. Corrine Bayraktaroglu

Evidently their "mini protest banner" project inspired a blog follower in Devon to take on a craft activism project of her own—putting up a Be Kind banner in her village bus stop shelter, where hopefully the gentle message infiltrates the mundane schedule listings and posted notices about things for sale.
It also reminded me of an early JafaGirls project, in which they turned a public Yellow Springs lavatory into the Chamberpot Gallery. I guess it has something to do with the captive audience factor. Anyway, the JafaGirls (aka Corinne Bayraktaroglu and Nancy Mellon) have moved on to scores of other yarnbombing projects, often involving other members of their community. Spring is coming. Is there a place for Flower Power in a bus stop near you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nancy & Corrine with Mr Plato, in Yellow Springs OH.

A Warm Appeal

Crafting for Charity was one of the first categories Gale and I thought of when we were researching Craft Activism, and we were thrilled to highlight the group called afghans for Afghans in that section of the book. Their next campaign for knit and crocheted objects – due date FEBRUARY 29 – is on, and a4A founder Ann Rubin has been kind enough to do a guest post for us:

Dear Craft Activists,

We'd love to have you join the afghans for Afghans project's campaign for youth in the schools run by NGO Help the Afghan Children!

Our call is for newly knit and crocheted WOOL blankets, sweaters, vests, socks, mittens, and hats for ages 7-16. The girls and boys need to be dressed properly for class so they can focus on their studies and not the cold. Our blankets and garments are practical gifts of friendship and respect during wartime.
In Kabul, a handmade wool blanket warms a child in a hospital.

Campaign details are here for your review —
http://www.afghansforafghans.org/currentcampaign.html

Our due date is February 29. With time running short, consider making mittens or socks (no crochet socks, please) or a hat. It's easiest enough to whip up one of these items (during the Super Bowl?) and pop it in an envelope to us.

Let us lead you to community knitter Elizabeth Durand's very reliable knitting pattern for 4-needle mittens, and she also provides an on-line tutorial—
http://www.afghansforafghans.org/mittens.html

Please send only what is requested in our guidelines. Overseas cargo space is precious, and we can only send what is specifically requested and needed in Afghanistan. The current campaign will get to Kabul in time for next winter.
Volunteer Emily packing up mittens at our AFSC Collection Center in San Francisco.

This is a special opportunity for us — we're not sure how the rest of the year will unfold because our relief agency partners work in very unstable conditions, which makes planning for reliable transit and distribution very challenging.

afghans for Afghans — in partnership with the American Friends Service Committee — started as a response to the war that unfolded after 9/11. Ten years later, our wool blankets and garments are still needed, and we're determined to continue remembering the Afghan people with the work of our hands and hearts.

Our volunteers meeting with Suraya Sadeed in San Francisco; her schools in Afghanistan will receive our handmade wool gifts.

Each garment means one more child suffering under conditions of war in one of the poorest countries in the world will have a new gift for her or his very own and be warmer and more comfortable in Afghanistan's harsh winter. Our people-to-people project welcomes new participants to keep up the momentum after all these years!

Tashakor, friends,
Ann at afghansforAfghans.org

Thanks, Ann, And, of course, you can also follow one of the Sleight of Hand mitten patterns in Craft Activism. Just be sure to use a variation with a ribbed cuff, since the extra warmth is crucial!

chuffed as mintballs

That's what Corrine, of the JafaGirls said in a FB post to me earlier this week. Chuffed as mintballs! Here's Corrine, on the right, with Nancy and Mr Plato for the book in Yellow Springs OH.

Corrine's from a region of the UK that  produces fabulous artists and colorful phrases. Here's a list of what's leaving me chuffed as mintballs:

• both Library Journal and Amazon chose Craft Activism for their Best Books of 2011 lists. Cool beans!

• a visit to the radio station in Northampton MA as a guest on ReadySetKnit with Kathy & Steve Elkins from Webs. Joan joined us by call in. I love a real radio station. You can hear the episode, here. Fun fact: when Steve talks about a yarn, he actually brings it to the recording studio and puts the skeins out in front of them to discuss. I don't know why but I love that.
• Joan made a granny square scarf. She didn't crochet much until we were getting ready to do some book appearances ..and..well..you know what happens. Those granny squares are ridiculously addictive. Love her scarf, based on the  Granny Greenbags squares.

• Last Sunday with Ann Weaver was a very good time. We chatted, we sold books, we chatted, I sold a large framed photo (super chuffed over that one), we chatted, we analyzed the colors in the knit kits she put together for her Albers cowls using Karida's yarns (you can still get them from Ann and at the shop ) Detailed review of the day here.

So..what's chuffing your mintballs? And why does that sound slightly dirty?

- posted by Gale

location photography has its benefits

When indie knitwear designer Ann Weaver said she'd model her Lounge Act cardigan for the book, we decided to shoot outside an alt music venue, in keeping with her inspiration*. We hit Central Square in Cambrdge MA, for its murals and music act flyers plastered all over.
Not to mention the unpredictable. In this case, a beer soaked, shirtless Southie sure he was getting his break into modeling. **

Ann is am amazing talent: she's got tons of ideas and energy, two collections of knitwear designs in self-published books, mad knitting skills and a fabulous sense of color. You should meet her. OH WAIT! If you are anywhere near Connecticut this weekend you can, she and I will be at The Griswold Inn , in charming Essex CT for a special weekend event celebrating handmade in America. On Sunday Dec 11th we'll have our own showroom, with our books (I'll have both Craft Activism and the now out of print Shear Spirit), trunk shows, yarn, some framed photos of woolly creatures. Come sit, knit, chat & shop a little too.

I'll do a small talk about Craft Activism at noon and 3, but mostly its a casual gathering, so stop by, bring your knitting. And bring your cameras! Essex is uber-photogenic, especially this time of year.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

* Ann designed this cardigan with her memory of seeing the Kurt Cobain video for Smells Like Teen Spirit in mind. In the book, we have this fitted version for women and a mens version,  in dark green, for men.

**Yes, he signed a model release. No, we didn't use the photo in the book. Yes, we love it.

posted by Gale

Ummmm, Don't Try This at Home...

Do you remember when you learned to knit and it seemed like you didn't have enough hands to control the needles and the yarn. (Truth to tell, I still feel that way when it comes to stranded colorwork, but that's another story). Thank goodness we now have videos to help us through the rough spots. (Thanks to http://www.youtube.com/user/dantuty for the invaluable tips!)  

posted by joan on Tuesday, Nov.  29

sunflower yarnbombing & a book giveaway

If you aren't already a major Kristin Nicholas fan like I am, then one glance at this photo, of her yarnbombed sunflower field, should do it:                            photo by Kristin Nicholas

Head straight over to her blog and look at some of the other photos from this bit of whimsy. While you're there, enter to win a copy of Craft Activism. (which you can see, from that link, is on Amazon's list of Best Books of 2011. Seriously!)

Krisitn had to wear the ocelot scarf from Craft Activism , once she showed up in those glasses. Perfect!

One of the huge perks of having the book come out has been meeting people I admire while we promote it. I had the best time yapping away with Kristin and her daughter Julia at Webs in Northampton MA. She makes me want to try all kinds of colorful combinations of knitting, stitching andrejoicing in the juiciness of textiles. Go look at these patterns and tell me you don't feel the same way?

posted by Gale 11-11-11