Monday, November 12, 2012
Veterans' Day
Thoughts of you Dad.
You are a hero from World War who landed on Normandy Beach on D-Day and risk your life to make the world a better place!! You are very humble and don't like to talk about it much, but I know that I have every reason to be very proud of you and at age 92 you amaze me!
I wrote about patriotism and crochet in politics in my current Talking Crochet eNewsletter which is live now. You can read it here: http://www.crochet-world.com/newsletters.php?mode=issue&issue_id=548&department_id=5 AND just so you know, even though an image of a Barack Obama finger puppet is showing on the article, read on. I am not promoting one party or another. Just having fun trying to tie crochet to every aspect of life!
It has been a couple of busy weeks with many events relating to crochet that I was fortunate to be able to attend.
Vogue Knitting Live: Chicago.
I came up with the idea of the "Crochet Clinic' and Vogue supported us generously by providing us with everything we needed to have a professional looking booth
at the event. I coordinated three CGOA chapters to volunteer and to be available to any all all who had crochet "ailments". We were very well received by everyone and have been told they would like to work with us again next year. The chapter members who participated had a lot of fun being there, as well.
Crocheters of the Lakes Chapter
Chicago Connection Chapter
Packer Schopf Gallery: Jerry Bleem: "In Lieu of Other Forms of Aggression"
The Knit & Crochet Heritage Museum: A Work-In-Progress, Madison, WI
I attended this symposium this weekend along with some other very involved academics and museum types who really want to see a museum of some kind started to preserve our beloved heritage of crochet and knit. It is a monumental undertaking started by Karen Kendrick-Hands and that is why it is a WIP!
Karen Kendrick-Hands and Me
Before the meeting began, enough crocheters had come forward to urge the organizers to add the word "crochet" to the title because they were referring to preserving crochet but had chosen to not include it in the main title. Crocheters were greatly outnumbered by knitters at the meeting, as usual. One of the speakers even announced to all of us that she would be using the term "knit" as a generic term to include crochet. Apparently she didn't have the energy to spit out two more words, "and crochet." I was highly offended at this and once and for all, KNITTING IS NOT THE UMBRELLA UNDER WHICH OTHER FORMS OF NEEDLEWORK FALL! I DON'T THINK ANYONE WOULD ATTEMPT OR EVER DARE INCLUDE EMBROIDERY OR WEAVING UNDER THE SAME UMBRELLA, SO WHY CROCHET?
I've never been one to complain and then expect someone else to fix the thing I am complaining about, but it is a common human trait. I have been reminded of this from a conversation with Beth Casey, President of the Yarn Group of the National Needlework Association.(TNNA) Crocheters, I urge you to get involved whatever your interest in crochet might be. Put your money where your mouth is. If you want crochet to be included and to even be in the spotlight at this important time when it is being elevated in prestige and is highly popular, speak up and get involved! If you don't belong to CGOA because you think it offers you very little, then express your wishes to the board and be willing to chair a committee to develop your ideas. If you think there should be crochet swatches on the Great Wall of Yarn at TNNA, then volunteer to crochet some!Be willing to carry the weight of your conviction and be willing to roll up your sleeves and work.
This museum work-in-progress is a monumental task and the speakers shared their expertise and advice throughout the weekend:
Welcoming us: Ellsworth Brown, Dir. Wisconsin Historical Society
"The Knitting Image: Popular Media, Art, and Industry Look at American Knitters" presented by Susan Strawn, Professor, Apparel Design and Merchandising, Dominican University, River Forest, IL. Again, why didn't she include more crochet. She did have a couple of patterns which included both, but it was a minimal percentage of her talk.
"So You want to Start a Museum?" presenting by Melissa Leventon, Prinipal of Curatrix Group Museum Consultants.
"A Virtual Knitting (and Crochet) Museum? Exploring Form, Content and Partnerships" presented by Jennifer Lindsay, Program Coordinator, The Smithsonian Community Reef, a Satellite Reef of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef, Smithsonian, 2010-11.
I ran into several old friends at the symposium:
Karen Searle, artist,crocheter, author of "The Art of Knitting
Jack Blumenthal, Lion Brand Yarn and board member of the Crochet Guild of America.
A new friend: Sheryl Theiss, author of an upcoming book on slip stitch from Martingale Press.
Trisha Malcolm, Editor in Chief, Vogue Crochet magazine and Vogue Knitting
Also in attendance but not pictured were Nicole Scalessa from the Library Company in Philadelphia
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