One of my goals for the indoor-outdoor yarn art exhibit I did at the Delaware Museum of Natural History in 2014-15 was to engage with the community from start to finish. The centerpiece of the work was a 40-foot yarn snake, dubbed "Yarnboa," to complement the exhibit "Titanoboa: Monster Snake!" I created a pattern for a yarn segment and invited crocheters to participate. From Delaware to Hawaii, they responded! Because I didn't specify a color, I received a rainbow of yarn segments, which I then assembled between the head and the tail. Yarnboa was stuffed with recycled plastic bags crammed with newspaper. The plastic bags kept newsprint off the inside of the snake, and also made for a smoother look. The names of everyone who provided a snake segment appeared on the signage next to the display.
Read MoreTeaching for Annie's
After months in the works, I had the opportunity two weeks ago to fly to Indiana and film an online class for Annie's. Most of you crafters will know Annie's for their catalog and craft supplies. They also have an impressive and growing line of classes. Instructors that have worked for them include Lily Chin, Ellen Gormley, Patty Lyons, and Rohn Strong, to name just a few. Anyway, late last summer I was approached by Susan Sullivan. Susan is now president of the Crochet Guild of America, and she works as a producer for Annie's. She and I met several years ago when she was with Leisure Arts; thanks to her, LA has published several of my crochet titles. Susan wanted to know if I was interested in submitting a proposal for an Annie's class that would be available online and via DVD. (You have probably guessed by now that I can't yet reveal the name of the class--sorry!--as soon as I get the okay I'll share the content with you.)
Read MoreBook Review, Hooked to Heal
When is a crochet book not exactly a crochet book? When it focuses on process and personal growth rather than patterns and projects. That’s the objective of Kathryn Vercillo’s new volume, Hook to Heal: 100 Crochet Exercises for Healthy, Growth, Connection, Inspiration, and Honoring Your Inner Artist. It’s a 254-page creativity exercise book that offers ways to use crochet to improve your life and develop your inner artist. Chapter topics include things like “facing fears” and “creating abundance.” Along the way, Kathryn shares her life and her research as a graduate student studying Integral Counseling Psychology, then she shares relevant exercises. For example, learning a new skill is a symbolic way to face one’s fear of change. Trading projects with a friend can be a way to cement connections. Each chapter ends with “Yarn for Thought” questions for readers to ponder or journal about. The focus of the book is to help you learn more about yourself and make strides in personal growth.
The exercises are derived from Kathryn’s experience into using crochet to heal. In a previous book, Crochet Saved My Life, Kathryn wrote about how learning to crochet helped her through a debilitating battle with depression. Since then, she has done extensive research into the ways that crochet helps people through myriad issues and life circumstances.
Read MoreNew book, "Crochet Refresher," book sale, late spring news
Have you gotten your copy of Crochet Refresher yet? It has just been published by Leisure Arts. I'm still waiting for my box to arrive--the author is always the last to see the book! I have, however, seen all of the photos and the front and back covers, and I'm very happy with the way the book looks. The working title had been Crochet for Grandbaby, but I guess that was too limiting. All of the projects are for babies, but they don't have to be made by grandparents! There are photos, tutorials, and video links for any lapsed crocheters who need a refresher. I can hardly believe that this is my eighteenth book! Two more are already submitted, and a third is due in September. Crochet Refresher is available here from Amazon. Here are some photos:
Read MoreHagley Museum Yarnbomb Is Up!
It's April 2nd, a warm, breezy day with crocuses finally blooming and daffodils considering it. What a difference from last week, when I installed the yarnbomb of Hagley Museum's gates and pillars. It was the culmination of months of planning and crocheting, weeks of help from Hagley's handwork volunteers, and four days of enduring freezing temperatures, snow flurries, fog, and rain to put everything in place. I had pictured myself like an artist hanging a gallery show, albeit outdoors, perhaps wearing all black clothing and a chic scarf, scrutinizing placement to see if a piece of art should be moved an inch to the left or right. Instead I was dressed for the arctic, complete with quilted ski pants and a hooded parka. Oh, the glamour! It was quite challenging to get my fingers to work. I had warming packets inside fingerless gloves and I could curl the fingertips in once in a while to warm them, but that was only partially effective. Day 1 was spent sewing all of the green stems around the iron bars. The needle kept getting tangled up in my gloves, slowly destroying them.
Here are some photos of the preparations and of the Day 1 installation (apologies for how these render--they look one way in Draft mode, another way in Published mode, and not right in either mode):
Stems in place
Stems ready to attach
Days 2 and 3 were for flowers and leaves, and the eagle filet crochet panel.
Small gate
Left-hand gate
Right-hand gate with peach blossoms
Finished left-hand gate 3-26 (Small)
Cattails 3-26 (Small)
Finished right-hand gate 3-26 (Small)
Fleur-de-lis panel 3-26 (Small)
Hagley crew helping 3-26 (Small)
Lily detail 3-26 (Small)
Portrait of the artist 3-26 (Small)
Roses closeup 3-26 (Small)
Yarnbombed gates 3-26 (Small)
On Day 4 some Hagley folks helped me out with two 8-foot ladders and some extra pairs of hands to get the fleur-de-lis panels in place on the large stone pillars. Nobody fell into the Brandywine, so the effort was a success!
This Monday I returned to Hagley to thank the handwork volunteers, to donate some books and lots of yarn, and to have our pictures taken at the finished gates. Hagley put up a really official-looking sign! The yarnbomb was written up in Chadds Ford Live here in a piece by Kathleen Brady Shea, and in the Wilmington News Journal here in a feature by Betsy Price. Both of them mentioned the exhibit "Unraveling Stories" that was the inspiration for the yarn art. It's wonderful to have this publicity--I hope it sends lots of people to Hagley!
Come on in
Hagley Volunteers
Signage
With that behind me, I turned my attention to finishing four projects (of ten) for a Leisure Arts book. The items needed to be sent to Arkansas for photography by April 1. Check! With the yarnbomb finished and the Leisure Arts things in the mail, it was a good opportunity for some spring cleaning and tidying-up. Now I can focus on the remaining six projects that are due May 1.
I'm working with Stackpole Books to figure out whether to attend TNNA in Ohio at the end of May. Might be the perfect opportunity to do a book-signing of Tunisian Crochet for Baby, which came out in January. I'd love to attend the designers' dinner that Marly Bird is arranging, too. I have two books for Stackpole in the works, and two for Leisure Arts.
My next task is to propose another large-scale installation to a local cultural institution. I'll let you know how it goes!
I loved writing this guidebook
Yarn Installation at Hagley Museum & Library Coming Up!
I'm fortunate to live in the Brandywine Valley, where Pennsylvania and Delaware meet. The region is rich in history, culture, art, and natural beauty. Longwood Gardens, Winterthur, and the Brandywine River Museum of Art (think Wyeth) are just a few of the many attractions.
Most of you know that I am a travel writer as well as a crochet author. In 2004 I wrote Brandywine Valley: The Informed Traveler's Guideabout the area I call home. One of my favorite sites is Hagley Museum and Library. As I was inspired to write in my book:
It's almost a shame to call Hagley a `museum,' since it's so much more than the term implies. Located on 235 scenic acres along the Brandywine River, on the site of the first du Pont black powder works, Hagley tells the story of life and industry int he nineteenth century through exhibits, tours, restorations, and demonstrations.
You can tour Eleutherian Mills, the du Pont family home; stroll through the French-style garden; use the interactive exhibits in the Henry Clay Mill building; immerse yourself in the lives of the workers on Blacksmith Hill; and simply enjoy a beautiful walk along the water near the sluice gates and millraces. (And for anyone planning a wedding, wow, Hagley does these well!)
(For all you punctuation and spelling sticklers out there, be aware that there are as many ways to construct "du Pont" as there are du Ponts. In general, du Pont family members use a lower case d and a space before Pont, except for Alfred I duPont, who dispensed with the space--and who, mercifully, is not part of our story today. Then there's the DuPont Company, which prefers the capital D and no space, unless it's the complete company name, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Inc., in which case the rules are reversed.)
Hagley has an upcoming one-object exhibition, "Unraveling Stories," which features a 10-foot x 12-foot hooked rug designed and created by Mrs. Edward W. Cooch, Jr., in 1950. The images in the rug tell the story of the du Pont family in the United States. In addition to visually representing history, the hooked rug is history: it is the first hooked rug made of nylon, a DuPont product.
Hand-hooked rug, 10 x 12 feet
As soon as I heard about the rug exhibit, I thought, "This is the PERFECT opportunity for a yarn bombing!" I saw a photo of the rug and could picture using the themes and colors in a complementary way elsewhere on the property. Hagley is just down the road from the Delaware Museum of Natural History, where my outdoor crochet art was exhibited in December and January, and where the 40-foot crocheted snake Yarnboa is still on display indoors because the Museum begged me not to take it down yet! Both sites are part of the Brandywine Museums & Gardens Alliance, a consortium of local institutions that work together to promote the region, so all of the directors, exhibits managers, and public relations people know each other. (Many of them know me, too, because I was the BMGA public relations liaison for several years.) Anyway, I guess I got a good recommendation because Hagley was very open to the idea of a yarn-bombing proposal, and they accepted my design with enthusiasm!
The idea is to decorate Hagley's imposing pair of gates at the main entrance, as well as the brick pillars that hold the gates and a smaller gate nearby. The yarn-bomb gets its inspiration from the rug, with fleur-de-lis and flowers.
A bare gate...but not for long!
We (I say "we" because volunteers from Hagley's handwork group, and possibly other volunteers, will be helping me) plan to transform the bars below the diagonal into a garden that matches the flowers in the rug. Above the bar will probably be fleur-de-lis and lace. I'll save the rest of the details for later, when I'm more certain of how the design will translate into reality.
Design concept for Hagley gate
I'm meeting with the handwork group next week to figure out how much they are interested in and capable of doing; Hagley volunteers knit and crochet a lot of items that they sell, using the proceeds for a scholarship fund, but I think they will be excited to spend a little time working on the yarn-bomb. It will give us a chance to connect with fiber folks in the Brandywine Valley and the larger area, including Philadelphia, and introduce them to Hagley Museum. People who have never been there won't believe what they've been missing!
Installation is scheduled for the week of March 23rd. I am very grateful that the staff has been so energetic and welcoming. I think the process will be a lot of fun and the results will be beautiful!