In the Loop, March 2021
OTN: “Lunar Fade” Shawl, a Larissa Brown Knitting Design. Yarn: Nature’s Luxury. Bowl: Mark Shapiro.
Photo & Knitting: Jennifer Lindsay.
What are you working on? Share your projects with us so we can feature them here!
CKC Board and Member News
CKC Featured at “Textiles From Home” Digital Conference
CKC President, Jennifer Lindsay, and CKC Social Media Coordinator and Secretary, Suzann Thompson, were featured speakers at the March 14-20, 2021, digital conference Textiles From Home: Local Crafts, Global Conversations. This lively event, coordinated at the University of Wisconsin-Madison by Professor Marina Moskowitz and students in the Design Studies Department in cooperation with the University’s Center for Design and Material Culture, featured speakers around the globe and across textile disciplines.
Jennifer Lindsay’s talk and tutorial, The Center for Knit and Crochet: Digital Strategies for Preserving and Sharing Our Knitting & Crochet Histories, can be found in the March 16, 2021, session entitled “Learning from Collections”.
Suzann Thompson’s talk, Round and Round in the Art, Craft, and Culture of Doilies, can be found in the March 17, 2021, session entitled “Making Textiles with Family”.
You can find a full conference schedule here, and all the recorded sessions here
Opportunity to Serve on CKC’s Board of Directors!
CKC is seeking two Board members to lead its growth in several key areas including fundraising/development, membership, and exhibitions and public programs. We also welcome other applicable experience and talents.
CKC’s Board of Directors is an all-volunteer, nine-member, working Board (https://centerforknitandcrochet.org/our-team/) that meets at least once each month via conference call. As a CKC Director, you commit to lead and/or support specific projects or initiatives for CKC. Directors will be elected for three-year terms at the Annual Meeting on May 5, 2021, or as needed throughout the year.
Please contact the Nominating Committee at info@centerforknitandcrochet.org with any questions about Board service. To apply, please submit a letter of interest, with a resume or summary of pertinent experience to the Nominating Committee. You must be a current CKC member to serve. We hope to hear from you!
Please share news of this Board opening with anyone who might be interested.
CKC Member Profile
Anne Lies joined CKC in September 2020 during a Zoom presentation CKC President, Jennifer Lindsay, gave for the Madison Knitters’ Guild. Starting in February 2021, Anne began contributing news items for CKC’s monthly newsletters.
Anne has been a dedicated fiber-fanatic since her grandmother taught her to crochet at about age 10. Knitting, weaving, spinning, dyeing, sewing, and too many other passions to name would follow. If it can be built from yarn or fabric, she’s all in! Anne has taught knitting, crochet, and other fiber arts to children and adults for over 20 years. She worked in the costume shop for the Minnesota Opera Company and as a performer and costumer for Ethnic Dance Theatre in Minneapolis. Anne is also a member of the Madison Knitters’ Guild, and a master gardener; if her fingers aren’t wrangling yarn, chances are they’re digging in dirt. By day, Anne is a professional editor and writer.
She is drawn to the confluence of art, craft, and scholarship at the heart of the Center for Knit and Crochet’s mission, and she’s excited to be able to contribute to the CKC’s work! On Ravelry: anchen On Instagram: @angry_origami
CKC Digital Collections Spotlight
New in CKC’s Crowdsourced Collection
20th Century Crocheted Baby Shoe
Heather Hernandez recently contributed images and recollections of this charming, crocheted baby shoe or sandal, ca. 1915-1979, made by her grandmother, Maria Antonia Ludovici Martinez (1905-1991). Find out more about Heather’s family treasure, now in CKC’s Crowdsourced Collection, here: Crochet Baby Shoe by Maria Antonia Ludovici Martinez, San Francisco, California, USA.
Modular Knitted Jacket
CKC Member, Angharad Thomas, recently contributed images of this couturier garment in modular knitting by designer Alison Ellen. Angharad attended CKC’s founding symposium in 2012, bringing a collection of Sanquhar gloves for all to admire. These gloves inspired CKC’s exhibition, which Angharad, an expert in Sanquhar knitting techniques, co-curated with Beth Brown-Reinsel, entitled Sanquhar Gloves: A Living Scottish Tradition. Angharad Thomas serves as the Archivist for CKC’s sister organization in the UK: The Knitting and Crochet Guild. You can find out more about this garment, now in CKC’s Crowdsourced Collection, here: Hand Knitted Jacket Designed by Alison Ellen. You can connect with Angharad Thomas here.
Show and Share!
April Collections Challenge: “Daisies and Diamonds”
Card Case, early to mid-17th century. Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. Previously owned by José A. Weissberger (Spanish, d. 1954); silk, gold-colored foil-wrapped around silk core thread; H x W (closed): 9.8 × 14.6 cm (3 7/8 × 5 3/4 in.); Gift of Alice Baldwin Beer; 1974-50-2. More information at https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18483393/. Public Domain.
We found this beauty – a 400-year-old diamond-patterned card case — in the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum by searching for “diamond” in CKC’s Library and Museum Collections (hosted from Digital Public Library of America). In honor of April’s birth flower and birthstone, we challenge you to upload a related item to CKC’s Crowdsourced Collection – a digital archive of knit and crochet treasures made by you!
Maybe a pair of argyle socks with their colorful diamonds? Maybe an afghan with daisy-motif squares? We look forward to seeing your sunny, sparkling knitted/crocheted treasures in our digital collection.
When you add your treasures to CKC’s Crowdsourced Collection you are taking action to preserve and share your craft history and your love and knowledge of knitting and crochet now and for future generations. It’s easy to add, but please get in touch if you need assistance! Email us at info@centerforknitandcrochet.org
Knitting and Crochet in the News …
News:
Vice President Kamala Harris honored by yarn-bomber London Kaye for International Women’s Day. She might have been able to do it herself, if her schedule weren’t so full.
Black Women Are Knitting Their Way Into History. “The discussion of who knits and why needs to be reimagined.”
We knew Michelle Obama took up knitting during her COVID year, and it looks like she might be taking it with her into retirement.
Cottage industrialists revive a Vermont woolen mill, banking on millennial makers.
Knitting from the bottom of the world: The Antarctic Artists and Writers Collective presents Adequate Earth. The exhibition features works by Michelle Schwengel-Regala, a mixed-media artist specializing in scientific illustration and sculpture.
This crochet artist created crocheted garments worn by British rock royalty
Trending:
According to Esquire there is actual “cable knit discourse” in the fashion world, and it is currently centered around the upcoming film House of Gucci. Looks like Adam Driver will be picking up where Knives Out and The Mandalorian left off.
It only took nine years, but the blanket-scarf (or blarf, as some lovingly call it) is finally trending. Just in time for… spring? Blanket scarves on Ravelry.
Your voice matters!
All CKC Members are encouraged to contribute to CKC’s monthly newsletter. All issues will be archived after three months on our website to make them easily accessible to CKC Members, followers, and the public. Please email your inquiries, ideas and stories to newsletter@centerforknitandcrochet.org. We hope to hear from you.
March Newsletter Contributors:
Content: Marilyn Huset, Anne Lies, Jennifer Lindsay, Suzann Thompson
Editors: Jennifer Lindsay, Kay Simmons
Outreach: Callie Lasch
Tech Support: Rebecca Keyel
