| I've always been stubborn. When I was a young | | | | But this was a conference sponsored by a guild, and |
| child, my favorite phrase was "Me do it," and I've | | | | the officers held tightly to their party line. They |
| only become more determined with age. | | | | wanted to quickly move crochet into professional and |
| I'm also a former scholar. So when I decided to | | | | artistic territory, but since I'm a populist at heart, I |
| seriously play with fiber, I set out to read everything | | | | wanted to decrease the competition and increase |
| I could find about it. I started out with teddy bears, | | | | the celebration of everyone's work. When I dared to |
| moved on to quilts and then crazy quilts, then to | | | | say so publicly, I earned the president's undying |
| embroidery and needlepoint, then to Kaffe Fassett, | | | | enmity. |
| then to knitting, and then to crochet. | | | | Don't get me wrong--I think professionalism is |
| I fell madly in love with crochet for three years, until | | | | admirable and artistic growth is sublime. But I also |
| my wrist gave out. (But, fortunately, it's finally | | | | think competition is brutal, and I'd hoped that a |
| starting to recover.) By then I was spinning wild yarn | | | | modern guild would want to encourage and celebrate |
| on a drop spindle, and since spinning is usually | | | | all of its members. |
| discussed with weaving, I found myself playing on | | | | I should have known better. Groups are also |
| simple frame looms. Although I'm not promiscuous, I | | | | inherently conservative and exist to further the |
| now love spinning and weaving as much as I love | | | | interests of the people who run them. |
| crochet. | | | | Creative independence is partly conservative, too, |
| I couldn't have done any of this without my beloved | | | | because we all draw on the past to learn skills. Many |
| books and magazines. Except for a few needlepoint | | | | of us also delve into the histories of the crafts we |
| classes and a crochet conference, I've learned just | | | | love to discover the work of our foremothers. |
| about everything I know from print and three | | | | But we become creatively independent when we |
| videotapes. | | | | absorb as much as we can and then move on to |
| About being taught...Before falling in love with yarn, I | | | | develop our own ways of working. In the Spring, |
| was an impassioned schoolteacher. I've spent some | | | | l998, issue of Interweave Knits, Linda Ligon writes |
| of the best times of my life in a classroom, usually as | | | | about Peruvian and Bolivian knitters. In her |
| a teacher and occasionally as a student. | | | | wonderfully witty way, she says she's mystified by |
| But the trouble with schools and classrooms is that | | | | how the women knit so creatively, using virtually |
| they are inherently conservative. They exist to pass | | | | every known knitting technique to make strikingly |
| on previous knowledge, and they are also used, | | | | beautiful and original pieces. |
| sometimes quite viciously, to socialize students. Unless | | | | There's really no mystery, of course. These women |
| the teacher is truly remarkable, students learn either | | | | are so thoroughly at home with knitting, so |
| to think like the teacher or to rebel like the other | | | | thoroughly skilled and confident, that it's second |
| rebels. | | | | nature for them to knit the way they do. |
| The same holds true for less formal fiber classes. | | | | Think about the great cooks you know. At one time |
| The woman who taught those needlepoint classes | | | | they followed recipes, like the rest of us, and for |
| taught to make us dependent. We each bought a | | | | many of them, reading cookbooks is a way of life. |
| different painted canvas, and then she would choose | | | | But they're so experienced that they're able to take |
| the fiber and tell us what stitch to put in what place. | | | | a little of this and a little of that and come up with a |
| No stitch guides, no discussion of design, not even a | | | | delicious meal with very little effort. |
| mention of needlepoint's glorious history--just "Do this | | | | Or so it seems...Because what we don't see is all the |
| here." | | | | thinking that goes on. And this is the key--first we |
| The crochet conference was a lot more fun. What | | | | become so skilled that our technique is almost |
| could be better than spending a three-day weekend | | | | automatic, so we can then put most of our effort |
| with hundreds of other people who share your | | | | into thinking. |
| obsession? I also had the very great pleasure of | | | | When I say "thinking," I'm actually talking about the |
| spending all of my class time with the brilliant British | | | | creative process. It can be as quick as stir-frying a |
| crocheters, Sylvia Cosh and James Walters. They are | | | | meal from leftovers or as complex as designing and |
| two of the remarkable teachers I talked about | | | | sewing a quilt. What matters is not that we become |
| earlier--although they teach the techniques they've | | | | Martha Stewart or Nancy Crow, but that we find an |
| developed, they also gently encourage individual | | | | authentic way to express ourselves. |
| experimentation. Just looking at their work up close | | | | This is the joy of creative independence. |
| was enough to send me home inspired! | | | | This is also a joy of being alive. |