As an addicted knitter and crocheter, lover of textiles and enthusiastic visitor of museums, I have frequently attempted to combine my passions. Repeated disappointments have long caused some serious musing:
Why are knitting and crochet so often treated like the illegitimate stepchild, the crossed-eyed cousin concealed in the attic? As I have plunged into the world of Museums, I am learning there are very legitimate reasons: lack of resources, backlog of objects waiting for processing, different criteria for cataloguing, costume vs textiles expert . . . .
But the gnawing question was: Can this be addressed and resolved somehow?
My answer: The World Needs a Knitting Museum!
I am planning to use this blog to focus on the process of creating an entity to collect, preserve, document and share our knitting and crochet heritage, and record my journey of exploration. I hope to gather the talents of fellow travelers along the way. I hope you will engage with me in this conversation and process.
I visited a museum focused on the history of the city in which it was located. The name and location are irrelevant to the experience. My husband and I had a special opportunity to get behind the scenes ( lucky us!) With little notice, we dropped by for a mini tour.
We met with a staffer long involved with exhibits there, and during the conversation, I mentioned my interest in establishing a Knitting Museum. She paused, pondered, and replied definitively “Well there aren’t any Knitting Museums,” as though there never could be either. Bemused, I responded: “My point exactly!”
We actually got to see the Costume Department. The development coordinator, had forgotten to give our guide advance warning when we made our visit plans. Our guide apologized for not having prepared, and gamely offered to find a couple of knitted pieces in the collection to share with me on short notice. We followed her down to the basement; – though the development coordinator had worked for the Museum for six months, he had never been down to the Costume Department.
Our guide searched through several drawers, and then triumphantly pulled out her favorite, red wool scarf: fringed, with a reindeer and the name “Robbie” cross stitched on the surface – “P L A N A H E ad” style. It was quite charming. Poignantly, however, it wasn’t knitted. It was made using another technique called “Tunisian Crochet” – a crochet technique, performed with an extra long crochet hook. Those who don’t indulge in either knitting or crocheting would not be vexed by this. To fans of either one, there is a crucial distinction, and I was both disappointed and triumphant: the encounter proved my case that knitting just wasn’t getting the respect I believe it deserves.
Our guide was a great sport about it. She had, after all, accommodated my request to look at “knitted” items without any prep time, and she had acknowledged that, though her mother was an ardent knitter (of dishcloths), that she didn’t know anything about it. I had a hook and yarn with me, so as we talked, I worked up a swatch in Tunisian Crochet to demonstrate how it differed from knitting. The guide and I will try again, on another visit with much better advance warning.
I share this account of my visit, because it so perfectly illustrates what motivates my yearning for knitting and crochet to have a place of their own. The experience has left me with a big smile, to be handed such a perfect example of what knitters experience when they try to interact with textile collections. For me, it underscores the need to change the way knitting is collected, documented and shared with the public.
Has anyone else experienced this? I look forward to your input on the need for a Knitting Heritage Museum.
Please note, because we are in the process of preparing our application for tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, donations to the CKC are not tax deductible at this time. Donations are still needed and greatly appreciated so that we can continue to move our work forward. Thank you!
March 31, 2012 at 2:08 am
Check out the page belonging to The Institute for Figuring.
There is a coral reef that was crocheted by a woman wanting to explain the math of the structure of the reef! What a great idea!
August 9, 2012 at 10:20 am
One of the speakers at the Symposium – Knitting Heritage Museum: A Work in Progress, Jennifer Lindsay will be speaking about “A Virtual Museum” led the creation of a reef by the local community using the same model.
Nov. 8-10, 2012, Madison WI
Registration for the Symposium
March 29, 2012 at 11:04 pm
What a great way to share history with all kinds of people and in the process reignite the craft. Form a non-profit and for sure have an educational arm, apply for grants. I love the idea, and so would my mother, who taught me to knit and crochet. One of my daughters is an independent fiber and yarn artist who hand dyes several different types of yarn.
February 24, 2012 at 11:34 am
I have 2 computer paper boxes FULL of patterns dating from 1911 to present. My mother is 96 and bed ridden. When she passes I would be happy to donate these to you.
August 7, 2012 at 12:38 am
Sorry for the long silence. I have been preoccupied with organizing the Symposium to discuss making sure there will be a place for pattern collections like your Mom’s. One of the goals of the Knitting Heritage Museum is to provide a home for long out of print historic patterns. Thanks for your interest in sharing It may be a while before we have a physical space to collect such treasures.
July 11, 2011 at 1:26 am
How eloquently stated.
July 10, 2011 at 4:44 pm
The idea of a museum focused on the art and craft of knitting is long overdue. As one who started knitting the moment I could figure out how to hold needles in my hands, and who won a blue ribbon in high school for a complicated fair isle design pullover, hat and mittens (and who has the prized knitting pieces carefully stored away to follow me everywhere I have moved throughout this wonderful country, and as one who truly believes in the saying “the one who dies with the most yarn wins” by amassing magnificent examples of hand spun and dyed yarns, I stand at the ready to join the opportunity to see a museum dedicated to this age old craft created! It is time for the world to celebrate the reality that knitting stands at the very core of civilization as early woman (and man) learned how to make use of animal fur and plant fibers for creation of body covering.
Kathleen