Image of the cover of Mrs. I.J. Gaugin's Lady's Knitting, Netting & Crochet Book

In the Loop, September 2022

CKC In the Loop Header
September 2022

Board Member Search

CKC currently seeks a Board member with knowledge of museum cataloguing tools and software, and familiarity with digital rights management and copyright to help CKC forward its collections development goals.  We also welcome all other applicable experiences and talents, including but not limited to exhibitions, fundraising, and communications.  

You are invited to submit a letter/email of interest, with a resume or summary of pertinent experience by October 31, 2022.  We hope to hear from you!  Please share this announcement with anyone you think might be interested.  The term of service is through May 2024.

If you have any questions about Board service or the application process, please contact CKC’s Nominating Committee chair, Marilyn Huset, at mhuset@centerforknitandcrochet.org.  

All CKC Board Members serve in operational roles. Our nine-member board (http://centerforknitandcrochet.org/our-team/) meets at least once each month via conference call.  Time devoted to the CKC will vary based on individual responsibilities, including serving as an officer or leading specific projects and initiatives.

Membership Corner

Thank you to all our current volunteers.  We couldn’t do it without you! 

Did you know that you can give the gift of a CKC Membership? You can send a gift membership to anyone you’d like. To purchase a gift membership, Click here 

Just a few reminders!

  • 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 you would like to help out? Contact mscott@centerforknitandcrochet.org for more information and to learn about volunteer opportunities. 
  • Is your membership just about up? Don’t forget to renew!  Click here

Share your news with CKC Members!

  • Do you have some news you would like to share with other CKC Members? We will be spotlighting members so we can all get to know each other. If you are interested in being featured, or have some news to share, please click this link or contact us at newsletter@centerforknitandcrochet.org!

Learning from Collections:

In the August newsletter we shared a crocheted afghan that Heather Hernandez added to CKC’s Crowdsourced Collection.  Heather wrote that her grandmother made the afghan using a pattern known as “Venetian Squares” and cited several ca. 1900 printed pattern resources.

Detail; Crochet Coverlet by Maria Antonia Ludovici Martinez, San Francisco, CA, ca. 1915-1979.  CKC Crowdsourced Collection, #2021.008

After the newsletter circulated, we received the following comment from Lita Rosing-Schow of Denmark:  “I just saw In the Loop August 2022 [included] a bed throw made of white crochet squares called Venetian crochet.  I have just been sitting here in Denmark doing the same crochet squares.  I got the explanations for the crochet when I visited Sweden this summer. They call it “the Bohusruta,” — ruta meaning square — working it in white linen thread. Bohuslân is the region in Sweden also known for the Bohus knitted sweaters in fashion in the 1930s.”  Lita suggests that Swedish immigrants may have brought this pattern to the United States. Certainly a potential research project!  

Lita volunteers that she is the author of Strik far Verdens Tag (Knitting from the Pamirs), Forlaget på Tredje, Sakskøbing, Denmark, 2018, which explores late-nineteenth-century knitted stockings from an area that includes Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, China, and Pakistan. The book is printed in both Danish and English.

Make it With Wool!

CKC will sponsor a Needlework Award in the Make it with Wool National Championship, January 2023, Fort Worth, TX.   To participate in the National Championship, you must first enter a competition in your state. Find a list of state contests by visiting the Make it with Wool website, here. If your home state does not have a contest, you can still participate in the “At-Large” contest described here.  We hope supporting this contest will bring new audiences to CKC.  We will keep you posted about this year’s winners, and please let us know if you participate!

Visit A Treasure Trove of Vintage Patterns

CKC Member Kay Simmons recently shared her discovery of the Knitting Reference Library, a trove of books, exhibition catalogs, knitting patterns, journals, and magazines collected by well-known knitters/historians Montse Stanley, Richard Rutt, and Jane Waller that has been digitized by the University of Southampton Library Digitisation Unit.  The items in the Knitting Reference Library currently date from 1840 to 2012, and are regularly augmented with new material.  You can discover these treasures for yourself at https://archive.org/details/knittingreferencelibrary. 

Image of the cover of Mrs. I.J. Gaugin’s Lady’s Knitting, Netting & Crochet Book, published by Ackermann & Co., Edinburgh & London, 1845.  Find this cover image and the original full text at Internet Archive (archive.org) here. This image is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

Knitting & Crochet in the News

By Anne Lies

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month:

  • Knitted Knockers Support Foundation is a nonprofit organization that connects volunteer knitters and crocheters with breast cancer survivors to offer free, handmade breast prostheses to any woman who wants them. On the Knitted Knockers website you can find patterns, videos, and information about volunteering and contributing.

Around the World:

And at the U.S. Open: 

Just When You Thought Your Home Had Everything:

Creative Thinking:

When Yarn and Higher Math Collide: The many dimensions of knitting and crochet!

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!

Please visit CKC’s Newsletter Archive!  

MONTH Newsletter Contributors:

Anne Lies, Jennifer Lindsay, Marina Scott, Carol Slotkin.