everyone is connected (even knit warriors!)

Our knitlab had a wonderful experience at SHoP (Southside Hub of Production) at 5638 S. Woodlawn. It was a place where we learned how to use new tools and help out with "The Red Thread Project." We learned how to use knitting looms, which are kind of like a special kind of knitting stencil. I say this because we learned how a man with no fingers could use this tool because you don't need the knitting sticks.

The website describes the project like this:
"The Red Thread Project is community art made by the community for the community. Hundreds of youths and adults knit and crochet hats; attach the hats to a ½ mile long knitted red thread; wear the hats in a simple performance / dance; exhibit the hats and, finally, donate the hats to local charities including those assisting cancer patients, foster children, the elderly and the homeless."

We also helped knitting the red i-cord that hold the hats together, we modeled the hats that were made, and talked a lot about the whole idea behind why all the hats are connected. Ms. Obermeyer talked about how she had cancer when she was only seven and the doctors told her she had a certain amount of months to live; and she talked about how everyone started helping her out by donating blood. So to sum it up, she believes everyone is connected in some type of way, and this is why all the hats are connected by the i-cords.

So on the behalf of our knitlab, I want to thank Ms. Obermeyer for letting us share these experiences with her. You can visit her web site at http://www.theredthreadproject.com/welcome.html


- Tequila Mckay




Epilogue:
Ms. Karen went to the culminating performance of The Red Thread Project this past Saturday at the Chicago Cultural Center. One of the hats our knitlab donated (the dog hat that Sierra made) was the first hat on the rope!

IT'S THE BOMB

Knit Bombing is an exciting way to make your city or hometown bring smiles to people's face.

 Magda Sayeg is the creative women who started knit bombing which she shared with other people and different locations like paris, and the national gallery of australlia. Knit Bombing is different types of colorful design put together to form into one design. My first experience with knit bombing was when me and my unique knit warrior team combined our knit projects into one and hung it up on the wall for show. It was fun and exciting.

Look What We Are Doing

 In this picture Ms. Karen was giving out instructions on making bows. 

They were working on there bows in special effects.

Ashante and Ariel were working 

Jayria was working on a BIG red bow.

Most people were working on hats using the knitting loom

      This is a closer picture of the hat on the knitting loom

This is a hat crocheted by Jayria and Takeema.

artist profiles

Ashante profiled two artist that work with textiles, including knitting and crocheting to let our readers know  about current innovative people working with some of the techniques we're doing.

I'm reading about Xenobia Bailey http://xenba.blogspot.com/ and Josette Villeneuve (J Villeneuve's translated website) about what they are making. I read on Xenobia Bailey's blog that she is creative person who also uses knitting as a ways of  expressing herself.  Here is one of her pieces:

She also does a lot of other things like plantings, making shoes, and outside projects. She has many different kinds of themes like Bold Money, Super Rich, and All Natural.


Now I’m talking about Josette Villeneuve she is a creative lady also. She takes tags off clothes and makes maps out of them. She makes clothes too. Her maps are very big and they hang up on walls. 

These two ladies make a lot of things and they are very talented. Josette started doing label tagging because poor materials "appeared to her extremely rich and sumptuous." "Each fragment is collected and gathered itself--the mark of a place of work, know-how." Josette Villeneuve made a lot of things with these labels, maps and clothes. 


These two artists did two different things but they are the same in a way because they both made clothes.

knitting and crocheting basics

Knitting and crocheting have differences and similarities. One difference between knitting and crocheting is that they use two different types of needles. Knitting uses two knitting needles and crocheting uses a single crochet hook. The other difference between the two is the type of stitches: knitting only has two main stitches, while crocheting has many more.

Knitting and crocheting also have things in common, for instance, they both begin with a slip knot. When making a slip knot, first you make a loop on two fingers, second you pinch the tail while holding they other end of the yarn in your other fingers, third you pull the pinched part through the loop and tighten around needle or hook.

In knitting, knit and purl are the main stitches. For knitting you use the right needle to pull a loop of yarn toward you through the stitch on the left needle then move the stitch on the left needle to the end and drop it off. For knit stitch you insert your right needle into the stitch on the left from bottom to top and front to back. The purl is the second basic stich you need to produce knitted fabric, and it is the reverse side of knit stich. When purling a stich, the right needle pulls a loop of yarn through the stiches on the left needle just as in knitting. The difference is that you hold the working yarn in front of needles instead of behind them and insert the needle down from back to front and top to bottom. These are the two main stiches in knitting and you use knit and purl in various patterns to create different patterns in the knitted fabric.

In crochet there are more main stiches. They are single, double crochet, 1/2 double crochet, and triple crochet. These are the steps to do these stiches

chain stitch … First, you start with a slip knot just like with knitting. Then wrap your working yarn around your needle and pull the top loop through the bottom loop using the hook on the end. Repeat the steps until you have enough rows for your project.

For a single crochet you turn back on your chain and insert the hook in the next stitch. Yarn over and draw through 1 then yarn over again and draw through 2. Repeat until you get to the end of your chain. Turn, repeat, etc.

For half double crochet, you yarn over then insert the hook in the next stitch yarn over again and draw through 1. Yarn over again and draw through the remaining 3.

For double crochet you yarn over, insert the hook in the next stitch, yarn over again and pull through 1. Yarn over again, draw through 2, yarn over again, and finally pull through 2 again.

Lastly, for a triple crochet, yarn over twice, insert the hook into the next stitch, yarn over again, and draw through 1. Yarn over again and draw through 2, yarn over again and draw through 2 again, and yarn over for the last time and pull through 2 again.

These are the 4 main stitches in crochet and how you do them.

The Big Fire and Gender Inequalities in Labor!

As part of our unit on entrepreneurs, business, labor and capital, the UKW watched a film about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 that prompted many changes to our concepts of labor and worker's rights, but also showed how clothing and textiles had begun to be mass produced and the effects this type of production had on people.

Watch the PBS American Experience film on the Fire here

Ariel responded to this film:

As I watched this film and they talked about the fire, the only thing I could do was open my mouth. Why?Because all of these ladies died young with teenagers and all. The fire started because someone dropped a cigarette in the building. They never found out who dropped the cigarette. The laws got changed after the fire because part of the cause was that the bosses had all the exit doors locked. 

Some of the people had to jump out of the window and died, while some others got out. In less than 5 minutes after the alarms, hundreds of people were outside of the building watching the fire. One girl watched her sister burn in the fire after she tried to pull her out with her, but it was too late. Some workers were burned so badly they didn't know who they were and they had to find out by their mouths and teeth.

I learned that as a worker today, I have protections. Mrs. Karen, being my boss, knows to have doors unlocked at all times and a way to get out if something goes wrong. I feel like some of the men could have  helped them out and were really selfish for that. Some people were outside of the building yelling to help their kids or their babies. Many of them were not even over 21 yet and died for no reason.

Knit Warriors on the Road

It all started when we had to get on the little white BBF bus... Miss Barbara was a patient driver who got us there and back safe and sound.

Our first field trip took us to Renegade Handmade, an arts and crafts store that sells all kinds of stuff that is handmade. The employee Kevin was a friendly, fashionable host.

Everyone was surprised by how high the prices were at this store. We learned that the prices are set by the artists, but they have to be reasonable so they can sell. The store sells the artists' crafts on consignment. We learned that this meant that they don't pay the artist for their work until it sells and then they get a percentage of the price. So both the store and the artists are motivated to set the right price. This means that the prices can't be too low because both the store and the person who made it need to get a cut.

The store got started from a craft fair that began in Wicker Park where everybody brought their handmade items for sale. The craft fair spread to other cities in the United States and now even to London. Eventually, in 2001 the craft fair opened the store on Division near Damen. Ever since the craft fair started the mascot was an owl. The sign outside the store has an owl, as well as all the craft fair posters, which are displayed inside the store. The owl makes a theme for the store and fair so that they'll be known and recognized kind of like a store logo like Target, Burger King or McDonalds, school mascots, car company hood ornaments, or even gang signs. Another interesting thing we learned is that you don't necessarily have to go to college for four years to start your own business in the arts.

Next we left Renegade and headed for an art business and legal seminar in Logan Square in an art space called I Am Logan Square (2644 N. Milwaukee Ave). Michael Schlesinger, a lawyer from John Marshall Law School who presented was explaining how to start art businesses. Florence Pittman, who also spoke from the Law School, explained that artists should be given credit for their creations. This can be done through copyright, which can be registered or not. If not given credit, artists can sue.

We were lucky because Florence actually owned her own knitting business online at www.remixboutique.com, so she could give specific advice on how to make money through knitting and crocheting. She provided personal knitting or crocheting lessons, sold materials, and also hosted knitting parties. She explained some of the details of accounting and starting up a business. Thanks also to Natasha from I Am Logan Square for helping us organize this visit.

We had fun riding the bus around different neighborhoods, tweeking off the people on the streets. Jayria was having whole conversations with people at the corner through the bus window.

Some of the things we learned were pretty interesting even if it was hard to sit through some of the more complicated legal questions. We liked our first field trip and look forward to going on the road again.