Knitting
Can knitting change the world?
I read an article about “relationship marketing” this morning. I hate buzzwords, but I like the idea of relationship marketing, that is, remembering that customers, readers, knitters, and clients are human beings and we need to treat them with respect and compassion. They are not just sources of income, drones we need to convince to buy our products so we can get rich.
I love this because it reminds me of the old mom & pop shops when everyone was a human being! I think we need to go in that direction again. I’m not really a nostalgic person (nor conservative/reactionary) but I do think there have been some serious mistakes made in the market economy that can’t or won’t be redressed by large corporations.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and how women seem to be taking the lead in this new, personal, small, community direction. I get so pessimistic about not being able to make big changes in the world, but I wonder if we tear it up bit by bit from the ground up and create something new (even if it hearkens back to the old in some ways, it won’t be old because of the internet and technology and communications etc.)….
I wonder what we can do as women solo-preneurs and artists?
There’s never been a time before where women held the power in society—or at least not in the several thousand years since the patriarchy was formed. It is something I find interesting to think about. What if women were to become the most influential and powerful force in making the rules, running politics, creating an economy, and giving direction to society? What would happen?
What if our rulers and leaders looked like this?
Instead of like this?
A cousin of mine posted an article on Facebook a few weeks ago by a woman author who thinks if women had been in charge, society would still be in the stone age, or even in the hunter-gatherer stage. This author seemed to think that war and violence and manly bravado are what caused society to grow. Maybe that’s why we have a society where war and school shootings and swat teams seem normal. I don’t know. I got so angry, I couldn’t finish reading the article and I had to shut down Facebook before I posted a really mean comment to my cousin, who is actually a very nice guy if (in my never very humble opinion) deluded about certain issues.
These ideas are also related to the glass ceiling and women getting positions high up in multi-national corporations and governments. If they have to act like men to get these positions, I’m not sure that it’s a great accomplishment. That is, yes, we want more women in these positions. But I think our goal should be to change the organizations to be more human centered, more tolerant, more compassionate. We need to change the model of communication from debate and argument to discussion. We need to replace competition with cooperation. Putting on a virtual penis to play with the big boys is not the answer. Not in the long term, anyway.
(Side note: I love that so many gay men are involved in the knitting world, because they don’t play the stupid manly-man games either.)
I have been thinking about this topic for years and haven’t written about it because my ideas are very loosely connected and not organized. But I’ve decided lately that the way I figure out what I think about things is by writing. So I’m going to be writing essays and journal entires and blog posts about all kinds of things I don’t know what to think about yet, in an attempt to figure them out.
This year I joined an online support group called The Progress Lounge that is “A Peaceful Business Sisterhood for Introverted Women Solopreneurs.” I want to see what and how other women are growing their businesses—the kind of business that enables us to make a living and a life that we love—and how we can use those businesses to change the world from the ground up.
I think knitting designers and authors are in the forefront of this movement, and have been for several years. I love watching the trends of indy dyers, small local yarn shops, designers, and writers in our industry. There are so many exciting business models on the horizon. I am excited by watching younger women entering the field with enthusiasm and attitude, as well as by the maturing businesses of long-time greats in our field. There is so much creative energy! I hope we can cooperate and thrive on sharing our excitement and creating something that can rescue the world from the economic, social, political mess that it has become in the last couple of decades.
Will you join me? I’d love to hear your ideas.
Experience level – advanced beginner
After I finished my Arctic Lace Knitting Book, I finally allowed myself to explore the world of lace knitting and discovered that is is much more varied and elaborate than I could have imagined. Around the world and over time, knitters in different countries and regions have developed unique styles of lace knitting that range from easy-intermediate (like the knitting of the Oomingmak knitters) to advanced-insanely- difficult (like some of the Victorian patterns designed by English knitters). Other lace styles are used in Estonia, Russia, South America, Lithuania, Germany and Austria, and New Zealand. I’m sure there are even more, but these are the styles I’ve explored so far. – Donna Druchunas –
Experience: All skill levels, basic knitting skills required.
Have you ever wondered why some people can read charts easily and others find them incomprehensible? The truth is, charts are written in a code that can be deciphered by knitters who learn the symbols on the page and in their knitting. Charts do not use arbitrary symbols, but each symbol includes the instructions on how to make the indicated stitch! In this class, you will learn the secrets of interpreting chart symbols for texture and cable stitches.
I have been thinking this for years. I frequently discuss this with my husband, other family members, and friends. I think that a world where women (or Knitters/hand crafters) had more influence the world would be a completely different place. We see the world different, we approach the world different, we are more service and peace oriented. I truly believe that in a world where serving others rather than bribing, coercing, or even manipulating people would be a MUCH better society to live in. I know that I find the sales tactics of the average store to be annoying and even offensive at times. Which is one of the main reason I hate shopping anymore. I like to shop the farmers markets, craft shows, etc because there is a completely different way of approaching customers for the most part.
On a side note, I think that the indie dyers, designers, etc are having more of an impact on the big corporations lately that we realize. This past holiday season I noticed in several stores many of “our” ideas for clothing, accessories, colors, etc were showing up as mass produced items. “We” are being watched. I noticed this trend first a few years ago when yarn companies started featuring “kettle dyed” yarn colors and “hand dyed” yarn colorways in an effort to compete with the indie dyers. Now we have the big corporate stores trying to copy our hand made designs.
For my own efforts to bring about this change I have quit supporting as many of the large corporate stores as possible. Even in our small town where Walmart has almost completely eliminated all of the mom and pop stores my husband and I have been able to find what we need without going there. We believe that as long as these businesses are receiving our money they will continue to thrive and grow and push to extinction the mom and pop stores and their ideals. I didn’t spend one penny this holiday season for gifts at a corporate store. All my gifts were either hand made or purchased from small locally owned businesses. If we could get every knitter and hand crafter to do this we would start to see some real changes.
I have been thinking this for years. I frequently discuss this with my husband, other family members, and friends. I think that a world where women (or Knitters/hand crafters) had more influence the world would be a completely different place. We see the world different, we approach the world different, we are more service and peace oriented. I truly believe that in a world where serving others rather than bribing, coercing, or even manipulating people would be a MUCH better society to live in. I know that I find the sales tactics of the average store to be annoying and even offensive at times. Which is one of the main reason I hate shopping anymore. I like to shop the farmers markets, craft shows, etc because there is a completely different way of approaching customers for the most part.
On a side note, I think that the indie dyers, designers, etc are having more of an impact on the big corporations lately that we realize. This past holiday season I noticed in several stores many of “our” ideas for clothing, accessories, colors, etc were showing up as mass produced items. “We” are being watched. I noticed this trend first a few years ago when yarn companies started featuring “kettle dyed” yarn colors and “hand dyed” yarn colorways in an effort to compete with the indie dyers. Now we have the big corporate stores trying to copy our hand made designs.
For my own efforts to bring about this change I have quit supporting as many of the large corporate stores as possible. Even in our small town where Walmart has almost completely eliminated all of the mom and pop stores my husband and I have been able to find what we need without going there. We believe that as long as these businesses are receiving our money they will continue to thrive and grow and push to extinction the mom and pop stores and their ideals. I didn’t spend one penny this holiday season for gifts at a corporate store. All my gifts were either hand made or purchased from small locally owned businesses. If we could get every knitter and hand crafter to do this we would start to see some real changes.
Oh don’t get me started on Walmart! They want to build one about 25 minutes from here. There’s a quaint little town on a lake. No one seems to realize that once Walmart comes in, it starts a snowball effect and everything just gets more and more expensive. I don’t think just because house prices (and the prices of everything else) goes up, that equates to a better standard of living. Plus, when this inflation wave hits, store rents will go up too, and all the small local mom & pop shops will get pushed out. In fact, just today I found out the local book shop / cafe will be closing next week. The owners can’t afford to stay in business any more so the husband took a job in California. Fortunately for them, they have family there so it will be a good move. But a sad move for the town. And I just expect to see more and more of this happen after Walmart is built (it’s been approved so it will happen and a lot of local people are happy about it because they don’t realize how it will fuck up everything.)
Oh don’t get me started on Walmart! They want to build one about 25 minutes from here. There’s a quaint little town on a lake. No one seems to realize that once Walmart comes in, it starts a snowball effect and everything just gets more and more expensive. I don’t think just because house prices (and the prices of everything else) goes up, that equates to a better standard of living. Plus, when this inflation wave hits, store rents will go up too, and all the small local mom & pop shops will get pushed out. In fact, just today I found out the local book shop / cafe will be closing next week. The owners can’t afford to stay in business any more so the husband took a job in California. Fortunately for them, they have family there so it will be a good move. But a sad move for the town. And I just expect to see more and more of this happen after Walmart is built (it’s been approved so it will happen and a lot of local people are happy about it because they don’t realize how it will fuck up everything.)
P.S. About this:
Now we have the big corporate stores trying to copy our hand made designs.
Yeah, they don’t get that it’s not only the designs we like but the HAND MADE part of the equation!
P.S. About this:
Now we have the big corporate stores trying to copy our hand made designs.
Yeah, they don’t get that it’s not only the designs we like but the HAND MADE part of the equation!