In the Loop, September 2021
New in CKC’s Crowdsourced Collection: Your item?
View our new, short video where Heather Hernandez adds her grandma’s crocheted blanket to CKC’s Crowdsourced Collection in just minutes, and learn how easy it is to add your hand knitted or crocheted treasures, loved items, photographs of makers in your life, and more, for others to enjoy and learn about. Why not create a digital record of your projects and heirlooms to preserve the personal histories and memories that are so central to our love of these crafts?
Do we want that baby item you made? Yes! Do we want that sweater that’s become your favorite? Yes! Do we want that thrift store item? Yes, please!
Questions? Just reach out via email to Heather Hernandez or to @igel on Ravelry.
CKC Board Members Speak at AASLH Annual Meeting in October
The Center for Knit and Crochet is a member of the American Association of State and Local History (AASLH) — a national organization for history professionals, local history museums, historic houses, and related cultural organizations. CKC is excited to be a part of this professional community, and to be participating in the AASLH 2021 Annual Meeting on “Doing History/Doing Justice.”
CKC President Jennifer Lindsay moderates “The Stories Behind the Textiles: Doing Justice to Underserved Voices,” a panel presentation that offers AASLH professionals strategies for uncovering the hidden histories of textiles. Lindsay addresses how craft- and community-centric organizations like CKC can help museum professionals learn more about the textiles in their collections and increase opportunities to exhibit those textiles by making richer connections with makers.
Presenters include Board Members Suzann Thompson (discussing her research on doily makers in rural Texas) and Callie Lasch (discussing lace collector Maria C. Vallejo and photographer George Leinonen’s efforts to prepare a collection of lace created by unknown makers for exhibition in CKC’s Crowdsourced Collection). Marian Ann Montgomery, Ph.D., Curator of Clothing and Textiles at the Museum of Texas Tech University discusses how intake policies and hands-on public programs can be specifically developed to preserve and share maker histories. Emily C. Bibb, Curator and Collections Manager of the Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art at the University of Alabama illuminates the work of contemporary artists who use textile techniques and references to domestic labor to highlight hidden histories, including the de-valuation of work by women and people of color.
The panel presentation, pre-recorded in September of 2021, will be available on demand during the AASLH 2021 Online Conference, with the opportunity to attend a Zoom discussion session with presenters on Thursday, October 14, 2021, from 2-3:15 PM Eastern time. To see a schedule of events, and to register for the Online Conference, visit the AASLH conference website.
Membership Corner
Just a few reminders!
Please don’t forget to volunteer! We need you! As a CKC Member you can volunteer on various committees. Not sure what you want to do but would like to help out? Contact Marina Scott, CKC Membership Chair, for more information and to learn about opportunities.
Need a gift idea for a birthday or upcoming holiday? A CKC Membership is a great gift! Click here to buy a membership for a friend or loved one!
Is your CKC Membership just about up? Click here to renew!
Thank you for being an important part of CKC!
Knitting and Crochet in the News:
Arne & Carlos visit Annemor Sundbø’s Museum Exhibit on Norwegian Knitting in New Video
Join beloved Scandinavian knitting designers Arne Nerjordet and Carlos Zachrisson on their YouTube channel for “The Sweater Detective,” a new episode in their series on Norwegian Knitting Traditions, where they visit with Annemor Sundbø, who has spent more than half her life researching, studying and documenting the cultural history of Norway through Norwegian knitting patterns and knitwear. In the Arne & Carlos video, Annemor Sundbø guides you through a recent exhibit of her work at the Setesdal Museum. To learn more about Annemor Sundbø, visit her website, and watch this video below, created by CKC in 2020 from Marilyn Huset’s photos and recollections of her 2017 visit to Ms. Sundbø’s studio.
Knitting and Crochet Featured at the Met Gala in 2021
Designer Katya Ekimian created a stunning knitted dress with crocheted flowers for Sandra Jarva Weiss to wear to the 2021 Met Gala. The dress is made with wool and lurex, and each flower is crocheted with wool from “a different American native endangered and heritage breed sheep.” You can find images of the dress on Ms. Ekimian’s Instagram, @katya.ekimian. This is not the first dress the Parsons School of Design graduate has designed for the Met Gala or for Ms. Weiss. You can read about their first collaboration in 2017 in the New York Times. After graduating from Parsons School of Design, Ekimian began a residency at Mama Farm in New York, established by Isabella Rossellini to conserve heritage breeds, including sheep. Ekimian’s designs promote the use of wool from heritage breeds, supporting the work of Mama Farm and The Livestock Conservancy, both sponsors of her thesis research. Read more about this collaboration in FashionUnited’s online article by Jackie Mallon, December 9, 2020, entitled “Fashion Graduate Takes up Residency on Isabella Rosselini’s Farm”
And in More News . . .
UKnitting
Heavy on the fiber! This afghan weighs 130 kilos: Royals unfurl giant art installation in knitting quest.
Elsewhere in the Isles
New life for an Old Knitting Factory?
The power of fiber
Researchers develop yarn that can detect temperature and generate power. So it’s only a matter of time before it can make me a cup of tea?
More powerful threads: A Whimsical Ad Uses Conductive Thread to Light Up Miniature Scenes Made of Yarn and Fabric.
Fiber arts are for all
Not your granny’s knitting? Nope, it’s gandpa’s. Taquile and its textile art.
It’s Not Just a Game Anymore
When playing the game isn’t enough. Animal Crossing Fans Are Crocheting Their Favorite Villagers.
Mac attacks!
Faustine Zweigenbaum’s macrame creations blur the lines between fiber and nature.
And lastly, a mac(aroni) attack.
Your Voice Matters!
We encourage all CKC Members to contribute to CKC’s monthly newsletter. Please email your inquiries, ideas, and stories to newsletter@centerforknitandcrochet.org. We hope to hear from you!
Look for our Newsletter Archive, coming soon!
September Newsletter Contributors:
Heather Hernandez, Anne Lies, Jennifer Lindsay, Marina Scott, Kay Simmons, Suzann Thompson
