I founded and co-run a group on Ravelry that was, back in the beginning, very loosely based on Hogwarts. We've since moved away from the Potterverse model and are rather unique, I think.
The group is going on 8 years old, and is still fairly active. The regulars have all become quite the digital family. We've supported each other, and charities, as well as had a lot of fun.
I've been on Ravelry since 2008! It's been a lifesaver for me, both emotionally and knit-wise, for the entire time. I'm nowhere near designer-level, but Rav is where I get 99% of my patterns.
Love hearing that it was life-saving emotionally as well. The craft community, mostly digital, has been such a lifeline for me and for so many others that I know as well. <3 <3
Thanks so much for kicking off this conversation! I used to use Ravelry a lot for a while there, although mostly to find patterns. I did start a Crochet Saved My Life group there but it never took off too much. Still, what a special place. And the groups that do work like yours are so so special. Digital family makes a lot of sense to me.
Hey y’all! I’m Jeremy. I’m a quilter living in Chicago Il! I’ve started taking some hand piecing projects to bars and parties lately. I’ve found there’s always a fiber artist around that strikes up a conversation with me about their most recent projects. Taking up quilting has also helped me repair my relationship with my mother—we don’t have much to talk about a lot of the time, but there’s plenty of memories of quilting in our family. :)
Hi Jeremy - I love that you take your work to bars and parties. I've done this few times - most memorably knitted a Christmas stocking at a fairly intimate concert in a little town called Zeeland in Michigan. The singer called me out, didn't like that I was knitting while he was singing, and made up a song on the spot about people who "knit shit." The audience sang along. I kept knitting.
How great that quilting has helped your relationship with your mother! The craft is a conduit.
Yeah I feel like some people view it as anti social behavior but it’s really a more genuine invitation for connection. Those who get it, get it! That’s so rude about the concert 😂 lol I really don’t see the problem. I think I’m actually more engaged when I’m listening to music while my hands are busy
So sorry that the singer called you out. So glad you kept on knitting. I have crocheted in so many public spaces and in basically every class in my frist graduate program and most speakers/teachers haven't cared but a coupl notable exceptions did. I had to explain to one teacher why I focus better on her with the work in my hands due to anxiety and she didn't really get it which was a bit ridiculous since this was for a counseling psychology degree. But that's okay. We agreed to disagree. I made a blanket by the end of that course :)
Thanks. Your comment about having a blanket by the end of the course prompts me to ask: did you keep the blanket, and did you find comfort in it, or did it hold the anxiety of that course? I’m asking because I worked on a lace scarf while my dad was in the hospital several years before he died, and I never finished the scarf; every time I tried to work on it I made a mistake - for years. Mistakes are usual for me but not repeated mistakes on a simple pattern. I felt like that yarn picked up the “sickroom” energy in spite of how pretty it was, and I ended up throwing the yarn away.
I finished that particular blanket but donated it.
I also worked on a thick scarf in the hospital room when my dad was dying. I never finished that one. It's in a box waiting to be dealt with some day when I'm ready. <3 <3
Public crafting is always such a great way to start up conversations. It gives people an entry point into an interesting conversation with a stranger. Plus I have found that it really brings together people with diverse interests and backgrounds and gives something to connect around in a way that typical "hot button" topics do not.
Totally relate that to that about your mother. That's really special. <3 <3
I’m Elaine in Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK. My friends Vicky and Grace taught me to knit a few years ago to help with joint pain. I have a turbulent history with fabric (triumph/ disaster/ wandering off mid project) but knitting and crochet have saved my sanity during a decline in health. I’m heading back to my sewing machine, my unfinished quilt and into embroidery. Online community is wonderful when I can’t make it out of the house.
Like Jeremy, I find it connects me with my mum, she is bedbound now and her concentration and memory are variable but she likes to hold the yarn and watch ( and make rude comments about my colour selection) and this keeps our conversation connected .
Love that! I recently joined an online quilting community (https://quiltynook.zakfoster.com/) --and this conversation comes up a lot! There's something magical about fiber arts in how they connect people across generations.
So glad that you were able to find crochet and knitting in this new helpful way. Curious if either one seems more or less helpful when it comes to the joint pain?
I love that you also have this connection with your mom in that way. When we can find ways to connect despite all of these barriers, it's pretty magical.
With the joint pain, I find knitting gives me better posture, so my shoulders are happier. Crochet is easier to do in bed, especially at the moment as I am making lots of mini granny hexies for a honeycomb blanket and can scatter them around when napping.
I like knitting patterns so as to keep from over-repeating movements.
I'm Caro, and I took up crochet during lockdown. I connect with my lovely next door neighbour, who taught me. We've continued to meet up for a two-person crochet-and-catch-up session every now and then. And she's always on call for advice, bless her, for I am novice, unskilled, and really not very good at this. I do it for the peace, to avoid screens, and to produce gifts (socks and beanies for everyone haha). I also go to a queer and neurodivergent inclusive craft space in my home town where I meet the most lovely people. And cats. https://www.facebook.com/groups/420006860822014/?ref=share
Love this!! The craft space sounds terrific and how wonderful your town has it but especially I love that you had a 1:1 connection during lockdown through crafting. That must have been so incredibly vital at that time!
I'm Jennifer. I sew by hand. Just simple pieces. (I need to practice my stitches.) I sell what I make online and at the occasional in person show.(My fibromyalgia limits how much hauling and set up/take down I can do.)
I guess my sewing connects me to others when I share my projects and sell or gift them. I don't currently have an in person community around it.
I'm interested in learning to hand quilt. I really don't enjoy using a sewing machine. I don't currently own one.
Hi Jennifer, I'd love to see your work. Do you have a website? (I agree re: the sewing machine. I tried to tell people that I couldn't wrangle one because I'm left-handed, and that worked until a friend told mer her left-handed mother handled her machine just fine. Ha. Now I have no excuse.)
Yep, as we've shared with each other before, I don't like sewing machines either :)
I appreciate that you brought up how sharing, selling and gifting our projects is a form of connection. I truly believe that we put a little piece of ourselves into each tangible object and it goes off with the recipient and they get to carry that with them.
Hi, I’m Starbie! A friend of mine hosts crochet/knit circles at an art museum in my city. They pick a painting and crochet/knit something that’s inspired by the painting. I practice most fiber crafts, so I’ll probably bring some embroidery or punch needle with me to the next meetup. I also collaborate with friends and other Black fiber artists in my city to make collaborative pieces. One of the last times we collaborated, we spent the day learning history and embroidering in one of the first Black cemeteries in the US. There is a long history of fiber arts being used in Black liberation spaces and to elevate ancestors so I’m honored to keep the tradition going.
Starbie!!! So nice to meet you. I love the idea of a crocheting/knit circle at an art museum?! The blending of high/ "low" art is a personal passion of mine. I love it when "craft" breaks through the glass ceiling of fine art. It's all the same thing. :) May I ask how this got started? I'd love to see something like this happen in Chicago.
I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about fiber art being considered a “low” art in the fine art world because it’s not “low” at all. The fact that many consider it to be “low” art is wrapped up in gender, accessibility, and utility, but that’s a whole other conversation lol.
My friend has been crocheting since childhood and has been a community organizer and artist in our city since we were kids. He recently started working in our local government’s arts and community department and started the program through the many friendships and connections he made before working for the arts and community department. He’s not new to this, but true to this lol. He put in decades-worth of work and this is a beautiful culmination of it.
Yeah, I know! Me too, hence the quotations on the word low. I'm trying to find a better language for that, but because that's generally how the language is used in the "fine" art world, I don't really know how to start that conversation without talking about a high/low divide. I know it doesn't exist. It's an illusion. This is actually a subject I try to tackle a lot in my writing--how art is a birth right, and a transcendent experience often denied to those of us in poverty, who are marginalized, etc.
So much to say about this topic. Inserting artforms usually thought of as craft is so powerfully subversive in museum spaces. I think a lot about how the Gees Bend quilters had a show at the MoMA and brought the biggest turn out for an exhibition in years. There's also an artist I really like named Joyce J Scott in Baltimore who hung a beadwork sculpture of Rodin's "The Thinker." If you haven't heard of her you should watch this!
Thanks for sharing those! I’ve seen both exhibits and I’m going to Joyce J Scott’s exhibit again with friends before it closes. I feel really blessed and lucky to have easy access to so many Black fiber art communities. Faith Ringgold is my favorite artist because her artwork is so expansive and transcends boxes and I wish I could’ve met her before she passed. I was lucky enough to see pieces from her private collection at The Glenstone a few years ago and saw her work again in conversation with Betye Saar at UMD.
I’m so glad we connected on here and I’d love to keep chatting with you and reading your work! I feel like we have some similar thoughts about craft and it’s always good to meet more like-minded artists!
Ahhhh I'm so jealous I'd have love to see those in person. :') RIP Faith ! I actually signed up for a quilting class after I saw her exhibition here at the Museum of Contemporary Art here in Chicago. I'd been painting for a long time and felt so dissatisfied with it. When I saw her story quilts they rocked my world. Her work really demystified art for me. It shows how art can be intimate, sincere, and reflect the artist's personal narrative. I left and signed up for a quilting class that night. Forever grateful for that show.
Yes me too it sounds like we have a lot to discuss :) I look forward to reading yours, too!
I know that’s right! Faith Ringgold’s work has that effect lol! Her work is so inspiring. I couldn’t stop talking about her work after I saw it. I knew her as a quilter, illustrator, and writer because I read Tar Beach as a kid, but had no idea she also did life size soft sculpture and a lot of political and spiritual craft through her artwork until I saw her pieces at Glenstone. I was floored!
I recently watched a webinar with punch needle artist Sahm Jalbert and really want to try it! I have a very clear idea for a large rug but should probably try it out on something smaller like a pillow.
I do a combination of keeping things in my head and sketching them. I have way more ideas than I can actually make so whatever rises to the top or I get obsessed with in any form is what I focus on. I try to only have one project in each medium going at a time so I don’t get overwhelmed!
Just FYI, her names Aliyah Salmon! I know it’s confusing because of her Instagram handle 😂😂
I love that you try to only have one project in each medium at a time. That’s such a good idea for managing my magpie tendency to pick up every shiny new skill and craft lol!
I'm really interested in art as a form of liberation - I definitely feel it has been for me. I also love the idea of bringing a fiber craft to a museum in a group setting. That's one place I wouldn't have thought of, but I think it makes so much sense.
To be clear, when I say Black liberation I’m not talking about the ways art can make individuals feel liberated. The work we’re doing is in the same tradition of crafts like sewing, embroidery, and quilting for collective Black liberation. We’re not making art just for our personal, individual freedom of expression (though that’s definitely part of it) but to hold the stories and experiences of the collective. Our art tells stories of the ways our Black diasporic ancestors resisted enslavement and oppression and connects that to the ways we continue to resist today. Our work is rooted in the artisans who came before us like the Gee’s Bend quilters, Faith Ringgold, and the Order of Tents, just to name a few.
Thank you, I didn't mean to minimize your work by suggesting that my personal experience is the same, only that it helps me connect with the ways in which art can liberate on a systemic level. I appreciate you sharing more about it, and especially the artisans you've mentioned. I'm looking forward to learning more about them.
Gees Bend Quilts blew me away! Behind the “make do” philosophy was an incredible art community with their own grammar and standards. Whenever I need some creative “ juice” I look at them again.
No I haven’t, but even glancing at this site has me intrigued! Thank you so much for sharing. I know what I’ll be researching for the rest of the day 😂
I feel very lucky to have so many friends who are also spiritualists and fiber artists! Fiber and weaving holds so much spiritual medicine and memories and I’m grateful to be able to work with like-minded people who I deeply love.
I love this concept about fiber holding spiritual medicine. I don't think I've heard it phrased quite that way but I have definitely had so many anecotal conversations about exactly that.
Hi, I'm Emese. I've been knitting and crocheting for most of my life. I travel a lot (I'm a travel writer), and I always carry a small project on long plane rides. On my latest flight, it connected me with a stranger, another knitter who sat near me. There is something about pulling out a yarn project that makes others who also love it strike up a conversation.
Years ago, I used to meet up with friends at coffee shops for knitting and conversation, where we deepened our connections.
But my main connection while knitting, crocheting, or working on any other needlework project is to the memory of my grandmother who taught me, who always had a project in her hands, and while teaching me a yarn craft she told me stories that also taught me about life.
Hi Emese - I'm intrigued by the fact that you knit or crochet on planes. I hardly ever fly because - well, I'm not exactly afraid of flying, but I'm very very anxious when in the air. Maybe knitting would help.
Hi Cate :) Knitting might help, if it generally helps you with anxiety. It always helps calm me when I am anxious. I noticed lately quite a few people crochet (sometimes knit) on planes. Since it's still relatively rare, I feel a connection to them, even if I don't get to talk to them. It helps pass the time, and forget about the tiny seats we're stuck in.
Crochet is a little easier that way because the hooks are less likely to draw attention. Using plastic or brightly colored aluminum ones instead of sharper-looking metal helps too :)
I felt that way the first time I flew with a knitting project; I looked up all the rules, and I didn't find anything against them. I don't carry scissors, and never had a problem with knitting needles (I carry circular needles that I don't care too much about if they get confiscated), and crochet needles are even easier, since they have a hook, they are not sharp. But I always count on the possibility, so I don't take anything I would be too sad about loosing.
I don’t know too many people who have had issues with it. Usually it’s happened when flying internationally since some places are stricter than others. As you said, more likely with needles. I don’t carry scissors either but those who need them for their projects can bring one of those cute “yarn cutter” things instead that just look like jewelry.
I’ve been knitting and crocheting since childhood and continued off and on through young adulthood but about 15 years ago I discovered knit blogs. And then started one of my own. Through that blog I met a lot of great people, some who are close friends today. I also got the opportunity to design and have them published in magazines and books (always a thrill to see my work on the cover). I haven’t been knitting or crocheting so much lately but I’ve acquired so many new skills that it’s been exciting. My job is pretty technical and I sit in front of a computer all day so anytime I can spend working with my hands is a positive.
So great to have that counterbalance of working creatively with your hands. Most of my digital connection has also been through the craft blogs. I really loved those early days of blogging when it wasn't so much about social media but instead about connecting in the comments. Come to think of it, this thread feels a little like that!!!!
I’m Lia and I mainly embroider and do visible mending. I mostly embroider anatomy themed pieces as well as illustrate my chronic illness symptoms in thread and sharing these pieces has meant I’ve connected with the SciArt community online and with other chronically ill people who share my symptoms. Some people have even brought screenshots of my work to their doctors to help describe their symptoms. I’ve also helped people with visible mending techniques online and I’ve joined a monthly webinar series via Digits & Threads where we share our WIPs after the webinars. Embroidering in medical waiting rooms sometimes also starts conversations about stitching! I don’t get out of the house much because of illness and disability so most of my community is online.
I'm hoping to find time to learn needle felting so I can do some visible mending. It's really a way of personalising and beautifying a loved old garment.
I’ve done a little bit of needle felting! Some for mending and some small sculptural pieces. It’s a lot of fun but definitely takes a bit more energy than embroidery or other needlework.
Looks messy too, from the videos I've watched! I was wondering whether to cheat by felting a crochet shape then just sewing it on over the moth hole...
I haven’t found it too messy but I’ve only worked very small. The wool sticks really well to other wool very quickly, but it takes a lot of stabbing to give it a smoother look
I love what you're doing with your work. It's so important. Much of the connection I've made in crafting has also been online especially at first when my depression was so debilitating that I couldn't even consider something like going to an in person craft group.
I love that you mentioned, too, that you've helped people with visible mending techniques. We all bring something to the table and it is a key form of connection when we can teach to others.
Thank you! There’s such a welcoming community in chronic illness circles in my experience.
I forgot to mention above that I’ve also become the mending person for my family and my nieces especially seem to appreciate my skills. One of them has even started embroidering so she can decorate her clothes. That makes me so happy!
I'm really interested in visible mending. I love the sustainability aspect but it's also just visually interesting.
I've found that there's a big overlap between people who do fiber arts and people with chronic illnesses, and I think that makes it easier for many of us to find community.
LOVE that you mentioned this link. It’s absolutely true. Many times crafting helps with some of our symptoms or helps distract us from those symptoms but more than that it gives us something we can contribute (beauty, useful items, whatever it is) when it can feel like we are losing our capacity to contribute in other ways because of illness.
I’m Barb and I’ve been crocheting dog sweaters, which I love. I’m involved in the animal rescue community and plan to donate the sweaters to a shelter in the fall.
Oh I love that so much. I used to crochet dog sweaters a lot for the small dogs people in my life had. My dogs are giant and I'm not sure I want to tackle that :)
A friend of mine that I consider a close friend although we've never met IRL crochets pet blankets for rescues and we've had long conversations about the the healing nature of that. You're making something that allows you to give a little to the animals in a different way ... animal rescue can be so exhausting and sometimes so heart-defeating and it's those little ways of staying connected and "in it" that are so important.
I handsewed a cat pad out of a burlap coffee sack. It’s so easy to wash by hand and dry on the line. Cats love the sun-dried scent. I handsewed several more for neighbors' cats, and they all adore them..
When I was quite small, I watched my mother and grandmothers knit, crochet, and embellish fabric in what seemed to me to be wonderous ways. I begged my mom to at least teach me how to embroider. She finally gave in, gave me a small hoop, a scrap of cloth, and the biggest, dullest needle she could find and taught me to make a stitch without wrapping the thread around the hoop. I was four years old. The fascination with all threads, all colors, all patterns and techniques has never left me. I knit, sew, needlepoint, do black work, white work, and pulled thread. When I was younger, I was a member of my local stitchers guide, and eventually was program chair for a year. After that, life pulled me away, but I am still drawn to all things connected to needlework. I am delighted to find this group. Petrena
Hi Petrena - your mention of black work, white work, and pulled thread reminds me of the Crewel World mystery series by Monica Ferris. If you're a mystery lover I recommend it for you! I won't lie; whenever I recommend this series I'm a little envious of the reader who gets to start at the very beginning. :)
Thanks! I will look for those! I enjoy good mysteries. Right now, I am on Substack to find a safe place for all the poems I have written through the years. I almost lost all my written manuscripts two years ago when the tub in the condo above me flooded my apartment. Many of them were still handwritten. I seemed never to have time to type them into my computer. It was a wakeup call. I call my stack “Picking Up the Pieces of Me!” Those pieces include needlework and the friends I have made in needlework groups. I would never have found this group if my ceiling hadn’t leaked!
Thank you so much for sharing this. Those memories of how the craft was passed down to us are one of my favorite forms of connection. <3 <3 I learned the basics of crochet from my mom as a child then didn't do anything with it for a long time and then when I re-learned as an adult, I re-taught my mom and she started crocheting a lot again then.
Hey! I’m a lifelong maker of stuff, but more in a serial kind of way. Knitting got me through menopause quite well, but my actual job as a maritime cover maker ruined my arms for any more of that. I see some Ravelry folks here, which is where I found the true nurturing of a committed craft community.
"I found the true nurturing of a committed craft community." I love this phrase so much.
I would love to hear more about knitting getting you through menopause. I am in perimenopause myself and it's other women who are helping me understand it all.
I used to say in a flippant way “ it’s better than chainsmoking!”
It fits with my anxious self, to be doing something with my hands, and with my engineering self, to see the structure of a garment emerge from a piece of string +sticks. I’m not quite so neurotic, though, that I’ll do it ‘till it hurts!
Hi I am Bree, a natural fiber lover & a newbie crafter. Nice to meet y'all!! My grandma was an avid knitter and sewer making all my clothes (sweaters, beanies, skirts, and even shoes) during my childhood. I picked up a thing or two about knitting and hand sewing from her. Back in her day, there was no polyester; she saw it as an industrial material and preferred pure wool and cotton. Her love for natural fibers rubbed off on me. Sadly, she passed away before I could afford to buy her the nice sweater she always wanted. She was frugal and never bought herself one. Whenever I see yarn, it brings back fond memories of her, and sometimes I can't help but get a bit teary-eyed.
My grandma sowed the seed of my love for natural fiber, and now I want to grow it into a big evergreen tree, like a cedar or blue spruce, by knitting a large afghan blanket that I can use every day to honor her.
I love how fiber can connect us to family. My mom taught me embroidery and I've always connected with my aunt over sewing. My grandma taught me crochet basics when I was a kid and the muscle memory of the basic stitches stuck, if nothing else. I really love working on projects for my kids now.
I absolutely will, if they'll let me! I think it'll be easier for them to find specific projects of interest to learn with/work toward so hopefully it won't take them ~30 years to realize how much they love any particular craft.
Embroidery has always stuck with me since I was little, even though it's been picked up on and off since then, but I only recently picked up crocheting again and really did anything with it, and I learned knitting for the first time just a couple years ago. I wish I could go back and tell myself how much I'd love it all so I could've started sooner.
I totally get that but also I think that there’s something so special about how the spark gets planted young and then we return to it exactly when we need it most.
Hey! I’m Elin, professional embroidery artist among other artsy things and threads have connected me to people from all walks of life in the most beautiful ways ✨ it’s a medium that goes beyond borders, demographics and HISTORY- I never feel as connected to makers as when I stitch and feel the thread and textures in my hands 💖
I absolutely love this response that emphasizes how simply the act of crafting by hand, doing this thing that people across the world and generations have done for so long, is a form of connection.
I'm Cate, and I knit. I tried to teach myself how to knit when I was in kindergarten, using some red yarn and two "pick-up sticks" (remember that game?), but as you can imagine, I was not successful. My neighbor, who was left-handed (as I am), taught me when I was about eight. I forgot about it until I was in my 40's when, as the manager of a bookstore, I had access to many knitting books, and I re-taught myself. I'm 62 now and I've never looked back, after at least twenty afghans, countless dish cloths, and dozens of scarves, hats, shawlettes, shawls, mittens, and socks. Turs out it doesn't really matter if you're left-handed; the process is the same (for me anyway).
Knitting has connected me with others in two ways: I've taught many people to knit, and I've given many knitted objects as gifts. I've found that teaching others is a sometimes tense experience, although I teach in a very relaxed, process-centered way that sets the new knitter up for success. A woman whom I taught at least fifteen years ago recently told me, out of the blue, that I changed her life! I've seldom felt that I have made an impact in this world, and I was absolutely flabbergasted and had no idea how to respond - I didn't even know how to arrange my face. Surprise? Gratitude? Joy? I think the result was just a blank, surprised stare. Unfortunate.
Giving a knitted object has been a much more spontaneous way for me to connect with others, although with varying degrees of gratification on my part. My 33-year-old son asks me for a new afghan every couple of years; he recently moved in with his boyfriend and showed me a photo of their new bedroom furniture, including my latest effort spread across the foot of the bed. My husband has never worn a single thing I knitted for him (I stopped some time ago).
Two of the shawls I've knitted, along with my son's afghan, are featured in photos on this post, which addresses connection betwee crafter and recipient in a profound way: https://bibblio.substack.com/p/good-yarns
I loved that post. The stories of the pieces and the relationships around them spoke right into the heart of what these crafts can mean for us. Your dad's purple shawl is an image that's staying close.
Thanks so much for sharing all of this Cate. Love love love.
I smiled when you mentioned pick-up sticks because I definitely remember and they're totally like little baby knitting needles :)
I, too, learned (crochet) around eight years old then forgot then came back to it although I was in my late twenties. I was mired in terrible depression and I read somewhere to try going back to things you loved as a child and for some reason crochet came to mind and it really helped pull me out of my own head.
I think it's so wonderful that your son continues to ask you for new afghans. That touched my heart.
You needed to hear that Cate (your impact) I feel.
Love that your son asks (my 31-year-old does too and sends photos of them being used). I've never crocheted anything for my husband. I did crochet a hoodie for my 28-year-old son (at his request and he chose the yarn) but it sits on top of his wardrobe each winter. He gets hot very easily and I think he asked for it to please me ...
Your sons sound lovely. Maybe some recipients get just as much pleasure from the act of our creating something for them as they would from use of the finished object. I imagine your 28 year old feeling the warmth of your love just from knowing that the hoodie is there on top of his wardrobe.
Hello, I'm Claudia, Chilean textile creator. I live traveling through Europe in a motorhome with my family. My main activities are weaving and knitting. I also share our trip on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@diarioviajero2.0) Working with threads has connected me with incredible people. It is definitely the best job in the world.
Sixty one year old trans feminine person. I grew up with my great grand mothers taking over the entire living room with their quilting stands and very practical sewing on a treadle machine (which I very much coveted but so did a few other relatives).
I've always done some practical sewing of camping/skiing gear.
I recently took a four week course on garment sewing. The instructor was incredible, taking time to help me with a number of pattern alterations and corrections needed to fit my not traditionally feminine nor traditionally masculine body.
I've now begun working with her to create a class focused on the unique needs of trans people.
I don't know how it's going to go but so far the response from the community has been wonderful.
Thanks for reading and thanks to Kathryn for creating this space.
I’m Kim. Creativity has been part of my life forever. Stitching is only a small part of that, mostly via sashiko. I made one of my dogs a coat this week, and now need to sew another for my other dog! I’m interested in using my sewing machine to free form stitches, as a way of expressing my emotions, which I plan on tackling soon. I do other creative pursuits but I’ll leave them out of this comment, as they are not stitching related
Well Kathryn, my list of creative pursuits is long!
My big love is photography, I’m slowly working towards building a pet photography business, focusing on dogs although I’ll photograph other pets if people aren’t dog owners.
I love to draw, sketch, paint with oil pastels, make tiny sacred journals & felt hearts. Lots of things that help my anxious mind.
I also write on SubStack & host a podcast called The Art Supply Posse :)
I've been taking photo walks this summer as a way to both get my feet moving more and to get my eyes looking at new things. I pick a theme and walk until I have ten photos that I like on that theme.
Pet photography seems like it would be so much fun.
That’s a lovely thing to be doing. There is so much beauty to be found, if we look for it. Even things that aren’t traditionally thought of as beautiful can be, if they are viewed with the right eyes.
Hi Kim, I'm part of a large and growing community of dog people who compete in 'Dock Diving.' It can get a bit like 'Best in Show' because we're all a little dog obsessed. My point being that, if you're interested,' these amateur "dog" competitions are always looking for ways to memorialize and inject fun and often that means photographers. And maybe it's just me but I love watching talented dogs and people working together.
I have heard of Dock Diving Shayne. It sounds amazing. To my knowledge it’s not done where I live (small regional Australian town) but every time I hear about things like this it makes me smile.
We come on to the dock at about the 7:35 mark. Watch through our jump, the dog after us (also named Scout) and the "jump-off trophy presentation" and you'll get to see Scout biting down hard on his throw lure AND my hand and then when I try to pull my hand out of his mouth he thinks we're playing "tug" and he bites down harder and shakes his head trying to win the game and take the lure (and my index finger). As soon as I yelped he realized he had my hand and released. Still, ouch!
We both love our dock time. Being around all of the different people and dogs has been great for him.
Hi I'm Shaz and live on the south coast in the UK. My inspiration was my mum (who taught me to knit, crochet and sew). I was a knitter until about 9 years when I picked up a hook again and something clicked ... I've been obsessed ever since and about three years ago, turned my hobby into designing and sharing those patterns for free on the blog (with PDFs in my Etsy and Ravelry stores).
For the past two years I've been leading (voluntarily) a craft club for a charity. We meet at a local cafe (designated a 'chat cafe' where people can come if they are feeling lonely and want to be with others) and have regulars as well as others who drop in and out (which is fine). There are two knitters and two who embroider who come regularly. Despite the name, 'Winton Woolies,' any craft is welcome! Cafe users are drawn to ask what we're doing/making and we're all passionate about what we do and can talk for ever :)
Great question - if nobody chimes in here maybe I'll ask again in a future thread. Lots of us have been in groups both online and in person but I wonder how many people have run groups.
I love the intention here that "people can come if they are feeling lonely" and I find that craft groups are great for that because you can talk or not talk so it's low pressure compared to some other groups (such as book clubs)
I do make it clear from first visit that if they don't want to join in conversations, no-one is judging. No pressure. Also they don't have to stay for the whole time and can leave whenever they want, no questions asked. There's no expectation for coming every session either. Some share personal experiences and ask for social care help and are signposted to services. Craft groups are more than the doing :)
Hi Shaz! I don't necessarily run a group, but along with another member, we worked with the senior staff of our local library branch to keep our longtime stitch group's library sponsorship going after our most recent library staff person was unable to keep running it. (Without the sponsorship, our group would lose priority on the meeting room where we meet. Since we're the only stitch group in our area that meets in the evening that would quickly become an issue.)
Like your group, our group also welcomes any craft and we have crocheters as well as knitters who are regulars. We also have some folks who do embroidery and needlepoint. I'm glad we were able to keep the group going because, thanks to the evening hours, we've attracted a couple new younger members on a semi-regular basis over the last several months.
It's great you could work with senior staff to keep the group going Joan. Love that you've attracted younger members with the evening hours. We've had a couple of younger people (ours is in the afternoon) on their non-working days or while they're between jobs but not consistently. Totally understandable when there's so much to fit into daylight hours! and I guess traditionally, we associate relaxing in the evening :)
I'm Carol and my mom taught my sister and I to embroider as kids then I did counted cross stitch for years. I learned to crochet in Girl Scouts but then didn't crochet again for 40 years. When mom was declining - she couldn't see well anymore so no more crafting - and her memory was failing, I found some yarn in her house and we spent hours winding yarn. I started to crochet again and would plan projects, or just take yarn to her assisted living home, and we would wind more yarn. This brought a smile to her face and she'd ask me about my project so I'd tell her what I was making and she'd ask again. It was simple. It was poignant.
I miss her.
I'm still crocheting and every single day I'm grateful she taught me about thread and yarn.
I am so sorry for your loss and so glad that you were able to connect in this way. Elaine also mentioned something similar with her mother in this thread and it absolutely makes sense to me.
Hi! I'm A. I live in upstate New York, and I love lots of fiber arts. Currently, I knit, crochet, and embroider. I can sew but I don't have my machine set up. I'd love to get into swing by own garments and quilting, and I'm interested in weaving, spinning, and yarn dyeing. I just like fiber😅.
A couple of my friends and I have a craft club at our local library, where we can bring any current project, and most recently I started knitting my first pair of socks with one of our regulars, who is doing two-at-a-time socks for the first time alongside me.
Have you been to any fiber festivals? Somewhere in the recesses of my memory I’m thinking that there’s at least one big one somewhere in the upstate NY area …
I just went to Rhinebeck with my friend (who taught me to knit) last year! I wish it were a bit more accessible - next time I'll bring a rollator in case I'm feeling POTSy - but it was fun! A bit of a drive for us, I'm in the not-NYC-but-not-near-Canada part of upstate. We might try a smaller one this year or next.
Yes - Rhinebeck was totally the one that I was thinking of. Never been but know it’s a huge one. I’ve only been to smaller ones which I think might be better anyway.
I think smaller probably suits us better as well. I got a bit overwhelmed at times. It was interesting seeing people I recognized from instagram or YouTube, but I was too nervous to talk to them anyway, so it didn't really do much for me.
Hi I’m Becci, living in gorgeous north Wales. I was taught to knit as a child by my grandmother and mother, and to this day, every time I knit I feel that connection with my childhood. I used to run a small business sewing repurposed leather bags but gave it up when churning out items one after the other became tedious. It was nice connecting with customers, but the business took the joy out of making. I now mostly knit for myself and have connected with so many likeminded people - online and locally, and I love how genuinely excited we get about each other’s projects!
I can absolutely relate to the whole thing about the thing you love becoming a job and inherently changing it. I think it's beautiful to think of the ways that you did connect with your customers. And it's also beautiful that you let that go when it wasn't right for you anymore. <3
Maternal grandmother, the person who saw and loved me best. She was tough, creative and product of the times she grew up in. Born in 1912 she could crochet anything, never used patterns. I can remember her turning old bread bags in to coat hanger covers. When in hospital she would whip up bed jackets for any woman in her ward constantly. As I’ve aged I’ve grabbed her tools and offers of service, crocheting scarves with no patterns and building on my own experience. I give these to everyone I care about and have even sent one to my favourite author. I have many things she made and have labelled them so my kids understand their significance. I’m picking up other fibre based creativity, weaving ( we are from Lancashire on my maternal side so this resonates in my soul) and embroidery
My name is Ellen, and I'm mostly a crocheter. It connects me to others if I go to events where other crocheters will be. Some of my most memorable pub nights have been with a stitching group. And countless stitches has sure helped with my mental health.
I founded and co-run a group on Ravelry that was, back in the beginning, very loosely based on Hogwarts. We've since moved away from the Potterverse model and are rather unique, I think.
https://www.ravelry.com/groups/ilvermorny-school-of-witchcraft--wizardry
The group is going on 8 years old, and is still fairly active. The regulars have all become quite the digital family. We've supported each other, and charities, as well as had a lot of fun.
Anyone else on Ravelry?
I am. In fact I was one of the first beta testers! I’m not quite active anymore but I still purchase patterns and have posted designs over the years.
What a fun fact being one of the beta testers!! How did that come about?
I met Jess, the co-creator, thru other knitters I’d met. We belonged to the same knitting group.
Awesome. Another thread of connection.
I am!
digital family - love this word!
Me too!!!
I've been on Ravelry since 2008! It's been a lifesaver for me, both emotionally and knit-wise, for the entire time. I'm nowhere near designer-level, but Rav is where I get 99% of my patterns.
Love hearing that it was life-saving emotionally as well. The craft community, mostly digital, has been such a lifeline for me and for so many others that I know as well. <3 <3
Thanks so much for kicking off this conversation! I used to use Ravelry a lot for a while there, although mostly to find patterns. I did start a Crochet Saved My Life group there but it never took off too much. Still, what a special place. And the groups that do work like yours are so so special. Digital family makes a lot of sense to me.
I'm on Ravelry, but don't use it too often. I will be keeping your group in mind if I start picking it up again. Thank you for sharing!
Hey y’all! I’m Jeremy. I’m a quilter living in Chicago Il! I’ve started taking some hand piecing projects to bars and parties lately. I’ve found there’s always a fiber artist around that strikes up a conversation with me about their most recent projects. Taking up quilting has also helped me repair my relationship with my mother—we don’t have much to talk about a lot of the time, but there’s plenty of memories of quilting in our family. :)
Hi Jeremy - I love that you take your work to bars and parties. I've done this few times - most memorably knitted a Christmas stocking at a fairly intimate concert in a little town called Zeeland in Michigan. The singer called me out, didn't like that I was knitting while he was singing, and made up a song on the spot about people who "knit shit." The audience sang along. I kept knitting.
How great that quilting has helped your relationship with your mother! The craft is a conduit.
Yeah I feel like some people view it as anti social behavior but it’s really a more genuine invitation for connection. Those who get it, get it! That’s so rude about the concert 😂 lol I really don’t see the problem. I think I’m actually more engaged when I’m listening to music while my hands are busy
"The craft is a conduit" is such a great phrase.
So sorry that the singer called you out. So glad you kept on knitting. I have crocheted in so many public spaces and in basically every class in my frist graduate program and most speakers/teachers haven't cared but a coupl notable exceptions did. I had to explain to one teacher why I focus better on her with the work in my hands due to anxiety and she didn't really get it which was a bit ridiculous since this was for a counseling psychology degree. But that's okay. We agreed to disagree. I made a blanket by the end of that course :)
Thanks. Your comment about having a blanket by the end of the course prompts me to ask: did you keep the blanket, and did you find comfort in it, or did it hold the anxiety of that course? I’m asking because I worked on a lace scarf while my dad was in the hospital several years before he died, and I never finished the scarf; every time I tried to work on it I made a mistake - for years. Mistakes are usual for me but not repeated mistakes on a simple pattern. I felt like that yarn picked up the “sickroom” energy in spite of how pretty it was, and I ended up throwing the yarn away.
I finished that particular blanket but donated it.
I also worked on a thick scarf in the hospital room when my dad was dying. I never finished that one. It's in a box waiting to be dealt with some day when I'm ready. <3 <3
I’m sorry. It’s so interesting how handwork informs all of our life expereinces.
YES YES YES. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Public crafting is always such a great way to start up conversations. It gives people an entry point into an interesting conversation with a stranger. Plus I have found that it really brings together people with diverse interests and backgrounds and gives something to connect around in a way that typical "hot button" topics do not.
Totally relate that to that about your mother. That's really special. <3 <3
I've started carrying emotional support projects with me the same way I did with books when I was younger. It helps!
I’m Elaine in Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK. My friends Vicky and Grace taught me to knit a few years ago to help with joint pain. I have a turbulent history with fabric (triumph/ disaster/ wandering off mid project) but knitting and crochet have saved my sanity during a decline in health. I’m heading back to my sewing machine, my unfinished quilt and into embroidery. Online community is wonderful when I can’t make it out of the house.
Like Jeremy, I find it connects me with my mum, she is bedbound now and her concentration and memory are variable but she likes to hold the yarn and watch ( and make rude comments about my colour selection) and this keeps our conversation connected .
Love that! I recently joined an online quilting community (https://quiltynook.zakfoster.com/) --and this conversation comes up a lot! There's something magical about fiber arts in how they connect people across generations.
So glad that you were able to find crochet and knitting in this new helpful way. Curious if either one seems more or less helpful when it comes to the joint pain?
I love that you also have this connection with your mom in that way. When we can find ways to connect despite all of these barriers, it's pretty magical.
With the joint pain, I find knitting gives me better posture, so my shoulders are happier. Crochet is easier to do in bed, especially at the moment as I am making lots of mini granny hexies for a honeycomb blanket and can scatter them around when napping.
I like knitting patterns so as to keep from over-repeating movements.
I love the portability of those small square projects.
I'm Caro, and I took up crochet during lockdown. I connect with my lovely next door neighbour, who taught me. We've continued to meet up for a two-person crochet-and-catch-up session every now and then. And she's always on call for advice, bless her, for I am novice, unskilled, and really not very good at this. I do it for the peace, to avoid screens, and to produce gifts (socks and beanies for everyone haha). I also go to a queer and neurodivergent inclusive craft space in my home town where I meet the most lovely people. And cats. https://www.facebook.com/groups/420006860822014/?ref=share
Love this Caro! It's all about the cats. :)
Love this!! The craft space sounds terrific and how wonderful your town has it but especially I love that you had a 1:1 connection during lockdown through crafting. That must have been so incredibly vital at that time!
I'm Jennifer. I sew by hand. Just simple pieces. (I need to practice my stitches.) I sell what I make online and at the occasional in person show.(My fibromyalgia limits how much hauling and set up/take down I can do.)
I guess my sewing connects me to others when I share my projects and sell or gift them. I don't currently have an in person community around it.
I'm interested in learning to hand quilt. I really don't enjoy using a sewing machine. I don't currently own one.
Hi Jennifer, I'd love to see your work. Do you have a website? (I agree re: the sewing machine. I tried to tell people that I couldn't wrangle one because I'm left-handed, and that worked until a friend told mer her left-handed mother handled her machine just fine. Ha. Now I have no excuse.)
Ha! I'm left handed, too!
You can see my work at Ko-Fi.com/sagealleyarts.
Wow, beautiful work!!
OMG. Thank you so much!
Yep, as we've shared with each other before, I don't like sewing machines either :)
I appreciate that you brought up how sharing, selling and gifting our projects is a form of connection. I truly believe that we put a little piece of ourselves into each tangible object and it goes off with the recipient and they get to carry that with them.
Absolutely.
Hi, I’m Starbie! A friend of mine hosts crochet/knit circles at an art museum in my city. They pick a painting and crochet/knit something that’s inspired by the painting. I practice most fiber crafts, so I’ll probably bring some embroidery or punch needle with me to the next meetup. I also collaborate with friends and other Black fiber artists in my city to make collaborative pieces. One of the last times we collaborated, we spent the day learning history and embroidering in one of the first Black cemeteries in the US. There is a long history of fiber arts being used in Black liberation spaces and to elevate ancestors so I’m honored to keep the tradition going.
Starbie!!! So nice to meet you. I love the idea of a crocheting/knit circle at an art museum?! The blending of high/ "low" art is a personal passion of mine. I love it when "craft" breaks through the glass ceiling of fine art. It's all the same thing. :) May I ask how this got started? I'd love to see something like this happen in Chicago.
I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about fiber art being considered a “low” art in the fine art world because it’s not “low” at all. The fact that many consider it to be “low” art is wrapped up in gender, accessibility, and utility, but that’s a whole other conversation lol.
My friend has been crocheting since childhood and has been a community organizer and artist in our city since we were kids. He recently started working in our local government’s arts and community department and started the program through the many friendships and connections he made before working for the arts and community department. He’s not new to this, but true to this lol. He put in decades-worth of work and this is a beautiful culmination of it.
Yeah, I know! Me too, hence the quotations on the word low. I'm trying to find a better language for that, but because that's generally how the language is used in the "fine" art world, I don't really know how to start that conversation without talking about a high/low divide. I know it doesn't exist. It's an illusion. This is actually a subject I try to tackle a lot in my writing--how art is a birth right, and a transcendent experience often denied to those of us in poverty, who are marginalized, etc.
So much to say about this topic. Inserting artforms usually thought of as craft is so powerfully subversive in museum spaces. I think a lot about how the Gees Bend quilters had a show at the MoMA and brought the biggest turn out for an exhibition in years. There's also an artist I really like named Joyce J Scott in Baltimore who hung a beadwork sculpture of Rodin's "The Thinker." If you haven't heard of her you should watch this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5HOlU8A8Xg
Thanks for sharing those! I’ve seen both exhibits and I’m going to Joyce J Scott’s exhibit again with friends before it closes. I feel really blessed and lucky to have easy access to so many Black fiber art communities. Faith Ringgold is my favorite artist because her artwork is so expansive and transcends boxes and I wish I could’ve met her before she passed. I was lucky enough to see pieces from her private collection at The Glenstone a few years ago and saw her work again in conversation with Betye Saar at UMD.
I’m so glad we connected on here and I’d love to keep chatting with you and reading your work! I feel like we have some similar thoughts about craft and it’s always good to meet more like-minded artists!
Ahhhh I'm so jealous I'd have love to see those in person. :') RIP Faith ! I actually signed up for a quilting class after I saw her exhibition here at the Museum of Contemporary Art here in Chicago. I'd been painting for a long time and felt so dissatisfied with it. When I saw her story quilts they rocked my world. Her work really demystified art for me. It shows how art can be intimate, sincere, and reflect the artist's personal narrative. I left and signed up for a quilting class that night. Forever grateful for that show.
Yes me too it sounds like we have a lot to discuss :) I look forward to reading yours, too!
I know that’s right! Faith Ringgold’s work has that effect lol! Her work is so inspiring. I couldn’t stop talking about her work after I saw it. I knew her as a quilter, illustrator, and writer because I read Tar Beach as a kid, but had no idea she also did life size soft sculpture and a lot of political and spiritual craft through her artwork until I saw her pieces at Glenstone. I was floored!
Loving everything about eavesdropping on this conversation between you two :) All resonates. All important. <3 <3
You had me at punch needle! I've always wanted to try this.
It’s so fun and meditative! I highly recommend it. I love being able to “paint” with fiber by using punch needle and embroidery.
I recently watched a webinar with punch needle artist Sahm Jalbert and really want to try it! I have a very clear idea for a large rug but should probably try it out on something smaller like a pillow.
Omg I love that and I’m gonna look up Sahm Jalbert! Aliyah Salmon has been a major inspiration for my punch needling. I love how she tells stories and plays with color in her work: https://www.instagram.com/tyrabanks_official?igsh=cTE3bmptbGhua3h6
When you have ideas do you sketch them out or keep them in your head until you craft them?
I’m following Tyra now! If you couldn’t find Sahm on IG here she is: https://www.instagram.com/kussenandkiss?igsh=MXFwMTM5ajUxN3l4aw==
I do a combination of keeping things in my head and sketching them. I have way more ideas than I can actually make so whatever rises to the top or I get obsessed with in any form is what I focus on. I try to only have one project in each medium going at a time so I don’t get overwhelmed!
Just FYI, her names Aliyah Salmon! I know it’s confusing because of her Instagram handle 😂😂
I love that you try to only have one project in each medium at a time. That’s such a good idea for managing my magpie tendency to pick up every shiny new skill and craft lol!
That sounds like a really cool experience!
I'm really interested in art as a form of liberation - I definitely feel it has been for me. I also love the idea of bringing a fiber craft to a museum in a group setting. That's one place I wouldn't have thought of, but I think it makes so much sense.
To be clear, when I say Black liberation I’m not talking about the ways art can make individuals feel liberated. The work we’re doing is in the same tradition of crafts like sewing, embroidery, and quilting for collective Black liberation. We’re not making art just for our personal, individual freedom of expression (though that’s definitely part of it) but to hold the stories and experiences of the collective. Our art tells stories of the ways our Black diasporic ancestors resisted enslavement and oppression and connects that to the ways we continue to resist today. Our work is rooted in the artisans who came before us like the Gee’s Bend quilters, Faith Ringgold, and the Order of Tents, just to name a few.
Thanks so much for adding this to the conversation. Powerful, important work.
Thank you, I didn't mean to minimize your work by suggesting that my personal experience is the same, only that it helps me connect with the ways in which art can liberate on a systemic level. I appreciate you sharing more about it, and especially the artisans you've mentioned. I'm looking forward to learning more about them.
You’re welcome! I’m excited for you to learn more! The Order of Tents had me down a rabbit hole for days when I learned about them.
Gees Bend Quilts blew me away! Behind the “make do” philosophy was an incredible art community with their own grammar and standards. Whenever I need some creative “ juice” I look at them again.
Do you know the work of Billie Zangewa?
https://www.sartle.com/blog/post/billie-zangewa-thread-for-a-web-begun-at-the-museum-of-the-african-diaspora
No I haven’t, but even glancing at this site has me intrigued! Thank you so much for sharing. I know what I’ll be researching for the rest of the day 😂
I stumbled upon her work on that visit to MoAD and there was so much to love about it. <3
"ART as a form of liberation"!!
That sounds like such a wondeful craft group! I've never heard of an approach quite like that before and I love it!!!!
I feel very lucky to have so many friends who are also spiritualists and fiber artists! Fiber and weaving holds so much spiritual medicine and memories and I’m grateful to be able to work with like-minded people who I deeply love.
I love this concept about fiber holding spiritual medicine. I don't think I've heard it phrased quite that way but I have definitely had so many anecotal conversations about exactly that.
Hi, I'm Emese. I've been knitting and crocheting for most of my life. I travel a lot (I'm a travel writer), and I always carry a small project on long plane rides. On my latest flight, it connected me with a stranger, another knitter who sat near me. There is something about pulling out a yarn project that makes others who also love it strike up a conversation.
Years ago, I used to meet up with friends at coffee shops for knitting and conversation, where we deepened our connections.
But my main connection while knitting, crocheting, or working on any other needlework project is to the memory of my grandmother who taught me, who always had a project in her hands, and while teaching me a yarn craft she told me stories that also taught me about life.
Hi Emese - I'm intrigued by the fact that you knit or crochet on planes. I hardly ever fly because - well, I'm not exactly afraid of flying, but I'm very very anxious when in the air. Maybe knitting would help.
Hi Cate :) Knitting might help, if it generally helps you with anxiety. It always helps calm me when I am anxious. I noticed lately quite a few people crochet (sometimes knit) on planes. Since it's still relatively rare, I feel a connection to them, even if I don't get to talk to them. It helps pass the time, and forget about the tiny seats we're stuck in.
I've often thought that opening a yarn store inside of a big airport would be a genius idea.
I haven't thought of it, but you're right! It would be a great place for one :)
There is an extra dollop of anxiety while flying, that your sharp sticks and hooks will be confiscated by some officer with too much authority !
Crochet is a little easier that way because the hooks are less likely to draw attention. Using plastic or brightly colored aluminum ones instead of sharper-looking metal helps too :)
I felt that way the first time I flew with a knitting project; I looked up all the rules, and I didn't find anything against them. I don't carry scissors, and never had a problem with knitting needles (I carry circular needles that I don't care too much about if they get confiscated), and crochet needles are even easier, since they have a hook, they are not sharp. But I always count on the possibility, so I don't take anything I would be too sad about loosing.
I don’t know too many people who have had issues with it. Usually it’s happened when flying internationally since some places are stricter than others. As you said, more likely with needles. I don’t carry scissors either but those who need them for their projects can bring one of those cute “yarn cutter” things instead that just look like jewelry.
I always have a crochet project with me when I travel. It makes me a lot more patient when there are delays :)
I’ve been knitting and crocheting since childhood and continued off and on through young adulthood but about 15 years ago I discovered knit blogs. And then started one of my own. Through that blog I met a lot of great people, some who are close friends today. I also got the opportunity to design and have them published in magazines and books (always a thrill to see my work on the cover). I haven’t been knitting or crocheting so much lately but I’ve acquired so many new skills that it’s been exciting. My job is pretty technical and I sit in front of a computer all day so anytime I can spend working with my hands is a positive.
So great to have that counterbalance of working creatively with your hands. Most of my digital connection has also been through the craft blogs. I really loved those early days of blogging when it wasn't so much about social media but instead about connecting in the comments. Come to think of it, this thread feels a little like that!!!!
I’m Lia and I mainly embroider and do visible mending. I mostly embroider anatomy themed pieces as well as illustrate my chronic illness symptoms in thread and sharing these pieces has meant I’ve connected with the SciArt community online and with other chronically ill people who share my symptoms. Some people have even brought screenshots of my work to their doctors to help describe their symptoms. I’ve also helped people with visible mending techniques online and I’ve joined a monthly webinar series via Digits & Threads where we share our WIPs after the webinars. Embroidering in medical waiting rooms sometimes also starts conversations about stitching! I don’t get out of the house much because of illness and disability so most of my community is online.
I'm hoping to find time to learn needle felting so I can do some visible mending. It's really a way of personalising and beautifying a loved old garment.
I’ve done a little bit of needle felting! Some for mending and some small sculptural pieces. It’s a lot of fun but definitely takes a bit more energy than embroidery or other needlework.
Looks messy too, from the videos I've watched! I was wondering whether to cheat by felting a crochet shape then just sewing it on over the moth hole...
Messy as in a messy process...
I haven’t found it too messy but I’ve only worked very small. The wool sticks really well to other wool very quickly, but it takes a lot of stabbing to give it a smoother look
Oh this is encouraging, thanks. A lot of stabbing lol. Maybe you have to be in the right mood to do it?!
I love what you're doing with your work. It's so important. Much of the connection I've made in crafting has also been online especially at first when my depression was so debilitating that I couldn't even consider something like going to an in person craft group.
I love that you mentioned, too, that you've helped people with visible mending techniques. We all bring something to the table and it is a key form of connection when we can teach to others.
Thank you! There’s such a welcoming community in chronic illness circles in my experience.
I forgot to mention above that I’ve also become the mending person for my family and my nieces especially seem to appreciate my skills. One of them has even started embroidering so she can decorate her clothes. That makes me so happy!
Oh I love that so much!
I'm really interested in visible mending. I love the sustainability aspect but it's also just visually interesting.
I've found that there's a big overlap between people who do fiber arts and people with chronic illnesses, and I think that makes it easier for many of us to find community.
LOVE that you mentioned this link. It’s absolutely true. Many times crafting helps with some of our symptoms or helps distract us from those symptoms but more than that it gives us something we can contribute (beauty, useful items, whatever it is) when it can feel like we are losing our capacity to contribute in other ways because of illness.
This, 100%. I lost the capability to do most things when I got ill but fibre work feels like a real contribution to bettering the world.
It truly does better the world. I believe in that.
Absolutely true
Yes and yes and yes!
I’m Barb and I’ve been crocheting dog sweaters, which I love. I’m involved in the animal rescue community and plan to donate the sweaters to a shelter in the fall.
I love this so much.
Oh I love that so much. I used to crochet dog sweaters a lot for the small dogs people in my life had. My dogs are giant and I'm not sure I want to tackle that :)
A friend of mine that I consider a close friend although we've never met IRL crochets pet blankets for rescues and we've had long conversations about the the healing nature of that. You're making something that allows you to give a little to the animals in a different way ... animal rescue can be so exhausting and sometimes so heart-defeating and it's those little ways of staying connected and "in it" that are so important.
I handsewed a cat pad out of a burlap coffee sack. It’s so easy to wash by hand and dry on the line. Cats love the sun-dried scent. I handsewed several more for neighbors' cats, and they all adore them..
What a cool idea!
That is an awesome idea.
When I was quite small, I watched my mother and grandmothers knit, crochet, and embellish fabric in what seemed to me to be wonderous ways. I begged my mom to at least teach me how to embroider. She finally gave in, gave me a small hoop, a scrap of cloth, and the biggest, dullest needle she could find and taught me to make a stitch without wrapping the thread around the hoop. I was four years old. The fascination with all threads, all colors, all patterns and techniques has never left me. I knit, sew, needlepoint, do black work, white work, and pulled thread. When I was younger, I was a member of my local stitchers guide, and eventually was program chair for a year. After that, life pulled me away, but I am still drawn to all things connected to needlework. I am delighted to find this group. Petrena
Hi Petrena - your mention of black work, white work, and pulled thread reminds me of the Crewel World mystery series by Monica Ferris. If you're a mystery lover I recommend it for you! I won't lie; whenever I recommend this series I'm a little envious of the reader who gets to start at the very beginning. :)
Thanks! I will look for those! I enjoy good mysteries. Right now, I am on Substack to find a safe place for all the poems I have written through the years. I almost lost all my written manuscripts two years ago when the tub in the condo above me flooded my apartment. Many of them were still handwritten. I seemed never to have time to type them into my computer. It was a wakeup call. I call my stack “Picking Up the Pieces of Me!” Those pieces include needlework and the friends I have made in needlework groups. I would never have found this group if my ceiling hadn’t leaked!
A winding path for sure!
What a beautiful way of looking at it!
Thank you so much for sharing this. Those memories of how the craft was passed down to us are one of my favorite forms of connection. <3 <3 I learned the basics of crochet from my mom as a child then didn't do anything with it for a long time and then when I re-learned as an adult, I re-taught my mom and she started crocheting a lot again then.
Hey! I’m a lifelong maker of stuff, but more in a serial kind of way. Knitting got me through menopause quite well, but my actual job as a maritime cover maker ruined my arms for any more of that. I see some Ravelry folks here, which is where I found the true nurturing of a committed craft community.
"I found the true nurturing of a committed craft community." I love this phrase so much.
I would love to hear more about knitting getting you through menopause. I am in perimenopause myself and it's other women who are helping me understand it all.
I used to say in a flippant way “ it’s better than chainsmoking!”
It fits with my anxious self, to be doing something with my hands, and with my engineering self, to see the structure of a garment emerge from a piece of string +sticks. I’m not quite so neurotic, though, that I’ll do it ‘till it hurts!
I've interviewed people who did use it to stop smoking.
It's truly amazing to see "string+sticks" become clothing, art, home items.
Hi I am Bree, a natural fiber lover & a newbie crafter. Nice to meet y'all!! My grandma was an avid knitter and sewer making all my clothes (sweaters, beanies, skirts, and even shoes) during my childhood. I picked up a thing or two about knitting and hand sewing from her. Back in her day, there was no polyester; she saw it as an industrial material and preferred pure wool and cotton. Her love for natural fibers rubbed off on me. Sadly, she passed away before I could afford to buy her the nice sweater she always wanted. She was frugal and never bought herself one. Whenever I see yarn, it brings back fond memories of her, and sometimes I can't help but get a bit teary-eyed.
I hope that you buy/make your own self the really nice things that you want in honor of that. <3 <3 <3
My grandma sowed the seed of my love for natural fiber, and now I want to grow it into a big evergreen tree, like a cedar or blue spruce, by knitting a large afghan blanket that I can use every day to honor her.
I absolutely love this description.
I love how fiber can connect us to family. My mom taught me embroidery and I've always connected with my aunt over sewing. My grandma taught me crochet basics when I was a kid and the muscle memory of the basic stitches stuck, if nothing else. I really love working on projects for my kids now.
Do you think you’ll pass the basics down to your kids as well?
I absolutely will, if they'll let me! I think it'll be easier for them to find specific projects of interest to learn with/work toward so hopefully it won't take them ~30 years to realize how much they love any particular craft.
Embroidery has always stuck with me since I was little, even though it's been picked up on and off since then, but I only recently picked up crocheting again and really did anything with it, and I learned knitting for the first time just a couple years ago. I wish I could go back and tell myself how much I'd love it all so I could've started sooner.
I totally get that but also I think that there’s something so special about how the spark gets planted young and then we return to it exactly when we need it most.
Yes! That's definitely true.
What a beautiful connection across generations. It really feels like an heirloom!
Hey! I’m Elin, professional embroidery artist among other artsy things and threads have connected me to people from all walks of life in the most beautiful ways ✨ it’s a medium that goes beyond borders, demographics and HISTORY- I never feel as connected to makers as when I stitch and feel the thread and textures in my hands 💖
I absolutely love this response that emphasizes how simply the act of crafting by hand, doing this thing that people across the world and generations have done for so long, is a form of connection.
I'm Cate, and I knit. I tried to teach myself how to knit when I was in kindergarten, using some red yarn and two "pick-up sticks" (remember that game?), but as you can imagine, I was not successful. My neighbor, who was left-handed (as I am), taught me when I was about eight. I forgot about it until I was in my 40's when, as the manager of a bookstore, I had access to many knitting books, and I re-taught myself. I'm 62 now and I've never looked back, after at least twenty afghans, countless dish cloths, and dozens of scarves, hats, shawlettes, shawls, mittens, and socks. Turs out it doesn't really matter if you're left-handed; the process is the same (for me anyway).
Knitting has connected me with others in two ways: I've taught many people to knit, and I've given many knitted objects as gifts. I've found that teaching others is a sometimes tense experience, although I teach in a very relaxed, process-centered way that sets the new knitter up for success. A woman whom I taught at least fifteen years ago recently told me, out of the blue, that I changed her life! I've seldom felt that I have made an impact in this world, and I was absolutely flabbergasted and had no idea how to respond - I didn't even know how to arrange my face. Surprise? Gratitude? Joy? I think the result was just a blank, surprised stare. Unfortunate.
Giving a knitted object has been a much more spontaneous way for me to connect with others, although with varying degrees of gratification on my part. My 33-year-old son asks me for a new afghan every couple of years; he recently moved in with his boyfriend and showed me a photo of their new bedroom furniture, including my latest effort spread across the foot of the bed. My husband has never worn a single thing I knitted for him (I stopped some time ago).
Two of the shawls I've knitted, along with my son's afghan, are featured in photos on this post, which addresses connection betwee crafter and recipient in a profound way: https://bibblio.substack.com/p/good-yarns
I loved that post. The stories of the pieces and the relationships around them spoke right into the heart of what these crafts can mean for us. Your dad's purple shawl is an image that's staying close.
Thanks Caro - I wish I’d taken a photo of the Ann’s shawl as well, but it left my hands very quickly.
touched by your post. Beautiful afghan, like a piece of wall art.
Bree ,thank you so much!
Thanks so much for sharing all of this Cate. Love love love.
I smiled when you mentioned pick-up sticks because I definitely remember and they're totally like little baby knitting needles :)
I, too, learned (crochet) around eight years old then forgot then came back to it although I was in my late twenties. I was mired in terrible depression and I read somewhere to try going back to things you loved as a child and for some reason crochet came to mind and it really helped pull me out of my own head.
I think it's so wonderful that your son continues to ask you for new afghans. That touched my heart.
You needed to hear that Cate (your impact) I feel.
Love that your son asks (my 31-year-old does too and sends photos of them being used). I've never crocheted anything for my husband. I did crochet a hoodie for my 28-year-old son (at his request and he chose the yarn) but it sits on top of his wardrobe each winter. He gets hot very easily and I think he asked for it to please me ...
Your sons sound lovely. Maybe some recipients get just as much pleasure from the act of our creating something for them as they would from use of the finished object. I imagine your 28 year old feeling the warmth of your love just from knowing that the hoodie is there on top of his wardrobe.
I believe that is probably true too. Maybe he doesn't want to wear it much but he still knows mom made it for him.
Hello, I'm Claudia, Chilean textile creator. I live traveling through Europe in a motorhome with my family. My main activities are weaving and knitting. I also share our trip on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@diarioviajero2.0) Working with threads has connected me with incredible people. It is definitely the best job in the world.
It is such a beautiful job! I would love to know how people respond when they see you weaving and knitting in different parts of your travels?
Hi, I'm Shayne.
Sixty one year old trans feminine person. I grew up with my great grand mothers taking over the entire living room with their quilting stands and very practical sewing on a treadle machine (which I very much coveted but so did a few other relatives).
I've always done some practical sewing of camping/skiing gear.
I recently took a four week course on garment sewing. The instructor was incredible, taking time to help me with a number of pattern alterations and corrections needed to fit my not traditionally feminine nor traditionally masculine body.
I've now begun working with her to create a class focused on the unique needs of trans people.
I don't know how it's going to go but so far the response from the community has been wonderful.
Thanks for reading and thanks to Kathryn for creating this space.
Hi Shayne, thanks for being here. Love that memory of the living room filled with quilting!!
Did you see Caro's post above about "a queer and neurodivergent inclusive craft space" ... maybe there are some ideas to connect with there?
This just might be the push I've needed to go on Facebook. So many great LGBTQ+ spaces. I've held out now for 20 years!
I've been on and off it all of these years. Never loved it but sometimes tolerated it and occasionally found amazing spaces there.
I’m Kim. Creativity has been part of my life forever. Stitching is only a small part of that, mostly via sashiko. I made one of my dogs a coat this week, and now need to sew another for my other dog! I’m interested in using my sewing machine to free form stitches, as a way of expressing my emotions, which I plan on tackling soon. I do other creative pursuits but I’ll leave them out of this comment, as they are not stitching related
Dogs are the best.
I have seen people using their sewing machines to create astounding works of art in that freeform stitching style. It awes me.
I'm totally here for all parts of you if you want to share the other creative things you're into. <3
Well Kathryn, my list of creative pursuits is long!
My big love is photography, I’m slowly working towards building a pet photography business, focusing on dogs although I’ll photograph other pets if people aren’t dog owners.
I love to draw, sketch, paint with oil pastels, make tiny sacred journals & felt hearts. Lots of things that help my anxious mind.
I also write on SubStack & host a podcast called The Art Supply Posse :)
I've been taking photo walks this summer as a way to both get my feet moving more and to get my eyes looking at new things. I pick a theme and walk until I have ten photos that I like on that theme.
Pet photography seems like it would be so much fun.
That’s a lovely thing to be doing. There is so much beauty to be found, if we look for it. Even things that aren’t traditionally thought of as beautiful can be, if they are viewed with the right eyes.
Pet photography is great, I love it so much
Hi Kim, I'm part of a large and growing community of dog people who compete in 'Dock Diving.' It can get a bit like 'Best in Show' because we're all a little dog obsessed. My point being that, if you're interested,' these amateur "dog" competitions are always looking for ways to memorialize and inject fun and often that means photographers. And maybe it's just me but I love watching talented dogs and people working together.
So, FWIW, and the very best of luck to you!
Dogs in action! Love it! There’s a dog surfing thing here every year.
I have heard of Dock Diving Shayne. It sounds amazing. To my knowledge it’s not done where I live (small regional Australian town) but every time I hear about things like this it makes me smile.
Thank you for your well wishes, I appreciate it x
I wasn't able to post a short vid I have of Scout and me at the pool but this links to one of the "splashes" we competed in this last weekend:
https://www.youtube.com/live/TpmPZvUcKlk?si=5X732TEVQaCqp01J
We come on to the dock at about the 7:35 mark. Watch through our jump, the dog after us (also named Scout) and the "jump-off trophy presentation" and you'll get to see Scout biting down hard on his throw lure AND my hand and then when I try to pull my hand out of his mouth he thinks we're playing "tug" and he bites down harder and shakes his head trying to win the game and take the lure (and my index finger). As soon as I yelped he realized he had my hand and released. Still, ouch!
We both love our dock time. Being around all of the different people and dogs has been great for him.
That is so cool! Thank you for sharing :)
Hi I'm Shaz and live on the south coast in the UK. My inspiration was my mum (who taught me to knit, crochet and sew). I was a knitter until about 9 years when I picked up a hook again and something clicked ... I've been obsessed ever since and about three years ago, turned my hobby into designing and sharing those patterns for free on the blog (with PDFs in my Etsy and Ravelry stores).
For the past two years I've been leading (voluntarily) a craft club for a charity. We meet at a local cafe (designated a 'chat cafe' where people can come if they are feeling lonely and want to be with others) and have regulars as well as others who drop in and out (which is fine). There are two knitters and two who embroider who come regularly. Despite the name, 'Winton Woolies,' any craft is welcome! Cafe users are drawn to ask what we're doing/making and we're all passionate about what we do and can talk for ever :)
Anyone else run a group?
Great question - if nobody chimes in here maybe I'll ask again in a future thread. Lots of us have been in groups both online and in person but I wonder how many people have run groups.
I love the intention here that "people can come if they are feeling lonely" and I find that craft groups are great for that because you can talk or not talk so it's low pressure compared to some other groups (such as book clubs)
Thanks Kathryn.
I do make it clear from first visit that if they don't want to join in conversations, no-one is judging. No pressure. Also they don't have to stay for the whole time and can leave whenever they want, no questions asked. There's no expectation for coming every session either. Some share personal experiences and ask for social care help and are signposted to services. Craft groups are more than the doing :)
"Craft groups are more than the doing." YES YES YES
Hi Shaz! I don't necessarily run a group, but along with another member, we worked with the senior staff of our local library branch to keep our longtime stitch group's library sponsorship going after our most recent library staff person was unable to keep running it. (Without the sponsorship, our group would lose priority on the meeting room where we meet. Since we're the only stitch group in our area that meets in the evening that would quickly become an issue.)
Like your group, our group also welcomes any craft and we have crocheters as well as knitters who are regulars. We also have some folks who do embroidery and needlepoint. I'm glad we were able to keep the group going because, thanks to the evening hours, we've attracted a couple new younger members on a semi-regular basis over the last several months.
Love that you were able to step up and keep that going!
It's great you could work with senior staff to keep the group going Joan. Love that you've attracted younger members with the evening hours. We've had a couple of younger people (ours is in the afternoon) on their non-working days or while they're between jobs but not consistently. Totally understandable when there's so much to fit into daylight hours! and I guess traditionally, we associate relaxing in the evening :)
I'm Carol and my mom taught my sister and I to embroider as kids then I did counted cross stitch for years. I learned to crochet in Girl Scouts but then didn't crochet again for 40 years. When mom was declining - she couldn't see well anymore so no more crafting - and her memory was failing, I found some yarn in her house and we spent hours winding yarn. I started to crochet again and would plan projects, or just take yarn to her assisted living home, and we would wind more yarn. This brought a smile to her face and she'd ask me about my project so I'd tell her what I was making and she'd ask again. It was simple. It was poignant.
I miss her.
I'm still crocheting and every single day I'm grateful she taught me about thread and yarn.
I am so sorry for your loss and so glad that you were able to connect in this way. Elaine also mentioned something similar with her mother in this thread and it absolutely makes sense to me.
Hi Carol, I’m at that stage with my mum. Her delight at the feel of yarn is so beautiful.
Hi! I'm A. I live in upstate New York, and I love lots of fiber arts. Currently, I knit, crochet, and embroider. I can sew but I don't have my machine set up. I'd love to get into swing by own garments and quilting, and I'm interested in weaving, spinning, and yarn dyeing. I just like fiber😅.
A couple of my friends and I have a craft club at our local library, where we can bring any current project, and most recently I started knitting my first pair of socks with one of our regulars, who is doing two-at-a-time socks for the first time alongside me.
Have you been to any fiber festivals? Somewhere in the recesses of my memory I’m thinking that there’s at least one big one somewhere in the upstate NY area …
I just went to Rhinebeck with my friend (who taught me to knit) last year! I wish it were a bit more accessible - next time I'll bring a rollator in case I'm feeling POTSy - but it was fun! A bit of a drive for us, I'm in the not-NYC-but-not-near-Canada part of upstate. We might try a smaller one this year or next.
Yes - Rhinebeck was totally the one that I was thinking of. Never been but know it’s a huge one. I’ve only been to smaller ones which I think might be better anyway.
I think smaller probably suits us better as well. I got a bit overwhelmed at times. It was interesting seeing people I recognized from instagram or YouTube, but I was too nervous to talk to them anyway, so it didn't really do much for me.
I imagine it was a good experience to have but perhaps not the right one for the future.
Hi I’m Becci, living in gorgeous north Wales. I was taught to knit as a child by my grandmother and mother, and to this day, every time I knit I feel that connection with my childhood. I used to run a small business sewing repurposed leather bags but gave it up when churning out items one after the other became tedious. It was nice connecting with customers, but the business took the joy out of making. I now mostly knit for myself and have connected with so many likeminded people - online and locally, and I love how genuinely excited we get about each other’s projects!
I can absolutely relate to the whole thing about the thing you love becoming a job and inherently changing it. I think it's beautiful to think of the ways that you did connect with your customers. And it's also beautiful that you let that go when it wasn't right for you anymore. <3
Crocheting connects me to my
Maternal grandmother, the person who saw and loved me best. She was tough, creative and product of the times she grew up in. Born in 1912 she could crochet anything, never used patterns. I can remember her turning old bread bags in to coat hanger covers. When in hospital she would whip up bed jackets for any woman in her ward constantly. As I’ve aged I’ve grabbed her tools and offers of service, crocheting scarves with no patterns and building on my own experience. I give these to everyone I care about and have even sent one to my favourite author. I have many things she made and have labelled them so my kids understand their significance. I’m picking up other fibre based creativity, weaving ( we are from Lancashire on my maternal side so this resonates in my soul) and embroidery
I love that you are preserving that legacy and passing it forward!
Oooh, Threadstack!
I’m a knitter in Sydney, Australia — but I’ve never thought about writing or posting anything about my yarn craft.
Knitting puts me in touch with smart, creative, generous people.
Tho I admit I lost my knitting mojo a few years back & I’ve been trying to get back into it — in fits & starts.
Nice to meet you all!
My name is Ellen, and I'm mostly a crocheter. It connects me to others if I go to events where other crocheters will be. Some of my most memorable pub nights have been with a stitching group. And countless stitches has sure helped with my mental health.
Love that about pub nights.