The TAFA Team's Catalog of Shops: Jewelry and Accessories

Freeform hats and bags by Rensfibreart

TAFA: The Textile and Fiber Art List was launched in February, 2010.  As it has grown, now over 200 members, so have the members who have Etsy shops.  About half of us use Etsy as our retail platform.  We decided to organize as an Etsy Team (a program Etsy has for sellers to organize under themes or locations) and set up a blog where we can talk about what is important to us and where we can show off our shops.  The blog has eight pages of shops, divided into themes and serves as our Team Catalog.  Although many of us sell things that do not fit neatly into those categories, most of us do have a focus.  I am introducing each of those categories here, hoping that this will encourage you to go over there and shop, shop, shop, until you drop!  These eight pages have over 100 shops, filled with wonderful eye candy that will surely delight anyone who appreciates all the many techniques and traditions that are found in the needle and textile arts. 

Today's focus:  Jewelry and Apparel

Vintage Miao textile incorporated into a bag, by dazzlinglanna

Picking images for this post is not an easy task as there are so many beautiful pieces in our Jewelry and Accessories page.  This is one of the places where you can really see how people are exploring techniques and interpreting them into their own designs.  You will find functional items like scarves, bags, purses, hats, cuffs, gloves, necklaces and bracelets.  Our members are felting, dyeing, painting on silk, reclaiming old textiles and fabrics, knitting, beading, weaving and of course, sewing.

Hagar of Gilgulim recycles old ties into beautiful jewelry.

TAFA is an international organization, exemplified by our members on this page.  Hagar is Israeli, Jutamas of Dazzling Lanna lives in Thailand, Rosemary of Plumfish Creations and Renate are both in Australia, Morgen of Inkyspider  is Canadian, Marina hails from Puerto Rico, Inese is in Latvia, Dolapo of Urban Knit is in the United Kingdom, Lilou works with weavers in Cambodia and so on.  Of course, quite a few are based here in the United States.  The diversity of our members, both in the techniques they are exploring and their cultural influences makes for a fascinating collection of colors, textures, and designs.

 Lilou, a fair trade group working with weavers in Cambodia.

The big challenge for all of us is that nobody really "needs" anything we are selling.  And, in this awful economy, buyers have been tightening their belts and holding on to their money.  Yet, is not beauty something that our spirits crave?  An accessory from one of our shops will certainly cost a lot more than a bauble that is sold at Walmart.  But, the right scarf, hat or necklace can not only finish off an outfit and make it complete, but also makes a statement of support for the worldwide handmade community.  It ties us to our historical roots represented by the techniques we promote through our work.  

 

 Wraps by Inese, our TAFA member in Latvia

 

Click here to visit our Jewelry and Accessories Page in our TAFA Team Catalog of Shops.

And, while you are there, click on the other tabs to see our other Team member shops.  We aim to be the best in textiles and fiber art on Etsy!

All TAFA Team members are also members of TAFA: The Textile and Fiber Art List.

Interested in membership?  Click here for more information.

The TAFA Team's Catalog of Shops: Jewelry and Accessories

Summer Art Project at The Williamson Art Gallery: Rag Rugging

Rag Rugging Project at The Williamson Art Gallery

by Alison Bailey Smith

The aim for the project was to produce a wall hanging for Wirral Methodist Housing using donated clothing with several tenants from the organization contributing to the creation of the piece. I decided that as the funding was coming from a housing association that a house would be a great communal theme to work on. At the same time as working on this project, I was also teaching a project with kids from 8 to 15 creating a Time Machine based on H.G. Wells' Time Machine.

Detail of Alison Bailey Smith's Rag Rugging Project

We have used a hessian backing and two different rag rugging techniques to create bricks to combine together into a house. I learned the rag rugging technique in the week before from the internet, from books , from advice from an old college friend and my second in-command fellow Oxton Artist, Janine Suggett, (we exhibit once a year in the Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead, North West of England). The idea of having individual bricks was to allow the women to work at their own speed, take the work away from the workshops to work on at home or to use a different technique, it also allowed the ladies to work without straining their backs or eyes. Many of these ladies remembered making rugs with rags after the war. Most of the ladies have picked up the technique easily, some had previously created rag rugs in slightly different methods and seem to enjoy the opportunity to do it again. Some with arthritis found it hard to keep it up for awhile, so tea offered a welcome break.

Assembling Alison Bailey Smith's Rag Rugging Project

I think the main benefits of the workshops were being able to sit together as a group talking and working on a collective project, providing health benefits - both mental and physical. Many of them have re-arranged plans to be there, as well as taking work away to be completed at home, contributing extra “bricks” in knitting and rag rugging.

Detail of Alison Bailey Smith's Rag Rugging Project

The concept of the house for the hanging was already vaguely in place prior to them arriving, it developed as we have discussed it to in-corporate other techniques than rag rugging, slightly faster techniques done at home. We also incorporated some of the donated clothing as appliqué (flowers from the wedding dress, some fabric as curtains), I later incorporated images of the ladies working on the piece into the wall hanging. During the workshop, one of the participants donated a fabric tape measure. I used it along with a tape measure from my Granny's things to edge a primed canvas that we put behind the door and all the participants later signed it. It was wonderful to combine everyone's memories from the clothes - political t-shirts, ties from weddings, hats from holidays, fabric from first homes etc.

Detail of Alison Bailey Smith's Rag Rugging Project

The group created everything we needed for the hanging to come together during the workshops but it took 3 more days of work to create it into the wall hanging. There were many components that needed to be attached to the backing and needed some creative thinking to get it to all work together, next time I would limit the colour palette available . The extra work was done at my house with lots of help from Janine Suggett, Cathy Warren, Sylvia Davie and Briget. Using many of my own resources at home, thread, fabric, printable canvas, sewing machine etc. Perhaps next time we could do it over 2 weeks, one to create the parts and the second to pull it together. As well as feeling very moved by all the ladies and their enthuisiasm, I also was very touched by being able to use many of my Granny's sewing things. She died in March and I asked my Dad if I could have her fabric and sewing things, she made many of her own clothes as many women did of her generation and took real care in looking after every scrap of fabric. I hope she would be proud of our project.

Alison Bailey Smith

Her work has spanned almost 2 decades and three different countries since leaving Edinburgh College of Art in 1990. The motivation behind Alison’s work comes from being the child of post war parents, Scottish thriftiness and an avid watcher of Blue Peter! Her need to re-use, re-develop and re-create can be seen in her wide use of ordinary materials with extra-ordinary results.

Although her training was initially in Jewellery and silver-smithing, she has crossed over successfully into the world of textiles, costume and fashion – evident in her numerous awards (Scottish Fashion Designer of the Year, Recycling Fashion Designer of the Year and various awards for Fibre in North America and Australasia).

Alison’s staple ingredient in her work is wire that she reclaims from old televisions, the older the better. She has found over a hundred different colours and hues of copper and aluminium wire. Lately though, due to the rate of development in technology, she is finding it harder to find the old television sets and has had to resort to buying various colours of wire! There is always a high component of re-used materials in her work - whether it is re-using charity shop finds or sweetie wrappers to get the right colour. She has become increasingly aware of how wasteful our society is becoming and has started working with plastic packaging with a range of "Junk Jewellery".

Visit Alison's website, blog, and her great collection of photos on Flickr!

Wire Hat by Alison Bailey Smith

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Summer Art Project at The Williamson Art Gallery: Rag Rugging

The Artist in Her Space: Creative Essence

Many years ago, my mother gave me a cute ceramic wall plaque that said something like "Creative Minds Mean Messy Spaces". Well, it's true in my case. I tend to let things pile up. And, I have a lot of stuff. Sometimes I think I would find freedom in just walking away from it all. If I did, I know that I would just start accumulating supplies all over again! A quilter needs her stash, a painter needs her paints, and we all find treasures that to someone else might just be trash.

I put the word out that I wanted to see people's creative spaces. I think it's important for everyone who is making things to have a space that is theirs for their work. I was extremely pleased with the response. It's so interesting to see how each woman (these all happen to be women) claim their corner, their room, their studio as her own. Some are neat and tidy. A few are so beautiful I would be afraid to sneeze in them. Others, like me, pile it up to the ceiling!

The photos are interspersed with quotes that have nothing to do with the images before or after them. I just thought it would be interesting to see these words on space and art mixed in, kind of creating a collage of thoughts and places. Visit the studio links to see what the final product is of each space! Can you guess what they make by how the studio looks?

Most of the photos will enlarge if you click on them...

Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.
Henry Miller (1891 - 1980)

ART CREATED BY AHNA & JIMI

Although I am no longer in this space, it is one that I loved for 2 years. What you don't see is the view onto my garden that I designed and created as well (rock walls and a small pond). The only down side was that this work space was in my bedroom that I took over for a small studio. I'm still in the process of moving so next time; new picture.

Links: http://ArtCreated.com
Location: Northern California, USA

Art is making something out of nothing
and selling it.
Frank Zappa (1940 - 1993)

There ought to be a room in every house
to swear in.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

KATHY MCNEIL

Well, it so happens that we are just finishing my new studio. You can see a large design wall in the back ground. There will be a light table and the cutting table will be on lockable wheels so it can move about the room. I will be teaching classes at home, so there is an outlet in the floor under the large cutting table where everyone can put their machines. Great lighting with track lighting and another wire fabric rack to still come.

Links: www.kathymcneilquilts.com
Location: Marysville, Washington, USA
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

At moments of great enthusiasm it seems to me that no one in the world has ever made something this beautiful and important.
M.C. Escher

CHARMAINE MANLEY DESIGN

As a firm believer in color therapy, I love my work space....bright, happy, and filled with artwork from women I admire. Sadly, it only looked this good for the photoshoot....normally it is chaos. When the desk is actually clear, I use it as my creative work space. Lately I've been messing around with jewelry, trying to figure out a good wire wrapping technique. The computer (an eight year old PC) sits to the right of the chair along with the printer/scanner/copier. Most of my correspondence and other computer work is now done on my MacBook found in the living room next to my favorite chair. With the addition of the laptop, the need to be in my real office has diminished considerably. It still makes me happy though.

Links: http://charmainemanleydesign.com
Location: Central Oregon
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

Believe it or not, I can actually draw.
Michelangelo

CATHERINE SALTER BAYAR/BAZAAR BAYAR VINTAGE TEXTILES & JEWELRY

I am definitely NOT a morning person. So, this light-filled, east-facing room with the adjacent outdoor terrace would fabulous to work in - IF I were truly awake and at my creative best! This room doubles as our living room, so imagine a sofa, table and overstuffed bookcases in the opposite corner of this 13' x 18' space. And plastic bins full of fabrics, beads, yarns and such stacked high behind a door in the next room. The old tile floors are great to spread things out on once I roll back the kilim, and that trunk in the corner is not usually that uncluttered! The worst thing about this room is that those double doors are the only source of natural light, so afternoons are too dark to work here. I don't open my shop in town until well after lunch, so I work here at home (along with a BIG pot of coffee) on various textile related projects til then. My Singer sewing machine, purchased here in Turkey about 8 years ago, actually has the option to run without electricity with an old fashioned foot treadle. Very handy if the power's out, or we decide to become real nomads one day and live in a goat hair tent...

Links: www.bazaarbayar.etsy.com
http://fiberfocus.blogspot.com/search/label/Catherine%20Salter%20Bayar
Location: Selcuk/Ephesus, Turkey
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

I see more and more that my work goes infinitely better when I am properly fed, and the paints are there, and the studio and all that. But have I set my heart on my work being a success? A thousand times no. I wish I could manage to make you really understand that when you give money to artists, you are yourself doing an artist's work, and that I only want my pictures to be of such a quality that you will not be too dissatisfied with your work.
Vincent van Gogh

CHRISSIE DAY

After years of finding space by an armchair or on a kitchen table whilst bringing up 2 children who seemed to take over ALL my house during there formative years I promised myself a studio in my garden with room for knitting yarn ,painting table ,etc etc you get the picture.

So now i have the studio in the garden the kids are grown i can Please myself what i do and guess where i do my best work ????? when sitting in my armchair or doodling at the kitchen table so there you go it makes a great store room but i do n ot work in there all the time .having said that i do love to be in there with the buttons ,silks, wools ,cottons, haberdashery bits ,jars of needles, sewing machines ,sketch books, paints and hearing the rain on the roof or the wind making the weeping cedar bang on the window and scare me.

'In truth be careful what you wish for you just might get it'

Links: http://www.chrissieday.wordpress.com
http://www.chrissieday.co.uk
Location: United Kingdom
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.
Twyla Tharp

ARTWORK BY SARAH

I had this studio space for 5 years, here in Melbourne, in the city. It took me those 5 years to get the space looking how you see it in the picture....a collection. Things I have received as gifts from people, things that I have found in junk stores & from my travels. I love opp shops & second hand stores. I collect sculptures from my travels...Mexico, Italy , Indonesia. (I lived in San Miguel De Allende in Mexico for 5 months. I brought back loads of trinkets depicting 'tribe'...papier mache, ceramics, drawings. I also love Bali. You can see the carved wooden flying mermaid suspended from the ceiling in the photo. The studio was a representation of me.... Much of the trinkets, dolls (I collect these too) are depicted in my paintings & drawings.

I had to shut studio in order to move on, to go overseas. I feel a need for new inspiration for my artistic endeavors.

I have an affinity for Mexico...I will be travelling back to San Miguel De Allende. I feel this way because I'm so drawn to the art & culture. I love the richness & opulence of the festivities. I had the priviledge of being part of the Day Of The Dead in Patzcuaro. I sat in the candle lit cemetary with the locals of the island of Janitizio, was incredible. I also took part in the 'Posada De La Navidad' in San Miguel DeAllende...a celebration of Christmas festival.These are the experiences which have influenced my artwork. My work is also very personal. I don't really consider it to be decorative so to speak....even though it may look 'pretty'. Its a depiction or interpretation of my childhood memories...ficticious/fantasy characters such as 'Merman'....I spent much time playing alone as a child, so I would sew & draw by myself. I also depict my loved ones, people in my life, my experience with them, happy or painful. My drawings& paintings depict feelings of happiness, grief, loss, & joy. So there you have it! This may give you some idea what I'm about....

Links: http://artworkbysarah.blogspot.com
www.flickr.com/photos/sarahs_artwork
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Very few people possess true artistic ability. It is therefore both unseemly and unproductive to irritate the situation by making an effort. If you have a burning, restless urge to write or paint, simply eat something sweet and the feeling will pass. Fran Lebowitz

JADED WOLF STUDIOS-CHRISTINA MARTINEZ

This is my humble and crowded studio I refer to it as the wolf den. My little studio is a 10x10 bedroom. I have supplies in here for everything from painting, drawing, digital work, sculpting, shipping, and paper supplies. I somehow managed to fit in a "dorm" sized recliner (which I'm hardly ever in!) and an Elliptical machine. I fit all my electronics like the computer, its equipment, and the TV, DVR, and Stereo into my little closet cove. I wish I had more room of course, a walk-in closet for storage, and larger windows for better light.... but it works!

Links: http://weblog.xanga.com/JadedWolfStudios
JadedWolfStudios.etsy.com
Location: Fresno, California, USA

What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit.
John Updike

PAM HEAVRIN

What I love most about my 12' x 22' studio work space is this very large table that my husband builtfor me 16 years ago. It's 4' by 10', there is a shelf under it the same size and floor space under that. I have concrete floors since it's a converted garage. So, for warmth in the winter months, I need carpet. Next on my wish list is to get new carpet. My other favorite things are the three cushionedmats I bought from a beauty supply business. They have made a difference in how my legs feel at the end of the day.

Location: Paducah, Kentucky, USA
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

Art is a kind of illness.
Giacomo Puccini

The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.
Rumi

OLIVE AND OLLIE

We live in a 100+ year old house. It still has so much charm and character, but it's been updated in all the right spots, like the kitchen and baths. My studio is in the dining room right now, so I can get some work done during the day while staying home with my two small children. Most of the time it's pretty messy, with piles of fabric and scraps around because I keep things out while I'm working, since I usually only have a few minutes at a time to jump on projects. But, I think it has just the right mix of traditional and modern, old and new that I instill in my creations.

Links: www.oliveandollie.etsy.com
www.oliveandollie.blogspot.com
Location: I'm just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

I don't believe in total freedom for the artist. Left on his own, free to do anything he likes, the artist ends up doing nothing at all. If there's one thing that's dangerous for an artist, it's precisely this question of total freedom, waiting for inspiration and all the rest of it.
Federico Fellini (1920 - 1993)

ADELE THOMAS TEXTILE ART

I used to have fairies at the bottom of the garden, they lived quite happily with my return to nature corner of the garden along with the butterflies and spiders. I then decided after a very long spell away, to return to textiles after a parenting class had taught me to do what used to make me happy. I had taken over the whole of the living room with all my bits and pieces when it became obvious I needed a separate workplace. So this is my shed at the bottom of the garden with the chaos of too many things being dumped after demonstrations and not enough time to tidy away. I love my own workspace but I have found being in my shed a little isolating from the rest of the family. I have a lovely view across fields to the Exe estuary though, I think I am quite spoilt. I try to post regularly on my blog with my latest creations and discoveries, especially now I have finished the City and Guilds course. Keep stitching , Adele X

Links: adelethomas.blogspot.com
Location: Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

It doesn't matter if people are interested. It's about you taking your stuff and shouting out into the void.
Jadelr and Cristina Cordova, 07-11-2006

LINDA LYNCH

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my studio! I am a compulsive organizer. I get crazed while creating and make a gigantic mess until I complete my project, and then it all gets put away, maybe not right away..... My studio is my "sanity site." I can be me without any holding back. I sew, I paint, I pound on metal, I knit, I collage, I glue, I scrapbook, I embroider, I felt, and so much more!

Links: www.lindalynch.com

http://wwwlindalynch.blogspot.com

http://www.picturetrail.com/lindalynch
Location: Couer D'Alene, Idaho, USA
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
Thomas A. Edison (1847 - 1931)

Lord Ronald said nothing; he flung himself from the room, flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions.
Stephen Leacock (1869 - 1944)

DREAMWOVEN

Space.............. the final frontier.

This is a collage of my space. This was prior to the 'big clean up". I had a studio built onto the house at the end of 2006, fully completed (with bamboo flooring, yum) by Feb 2007. Within a period of 3 months, I had outgrown it. Prior to that time, for at least 8 years, I had traveling studio space. It moved wherever I was comfortable, the dining room bearing the brunt of it. This last July I decided to split up my studio.... the real impetus was an 18 year old daughter who had vacated her room. I swooped in and made it mine. Now I have my studio where I do my paperwork and finishing work on my pieces as well as photography and shipping and I have a room for inventory and a wall to display a lot of the hand dyed yarns that I use. I am not a neat worker. In fact, once I cleaned up the studio and the inventory room, I could not create anything. Hence, my 'space' reference in the title. I work well with the "Big Bang Theory". As soon as I started bringing things in and laying them on the table in the studio, hanging them on hooks, placing them on cabinets, draping them on my chair, etc., pieces started to come together. If it is clean and tidy, I can't work. My brain is the same way. It is rarely, if ever, clean and tidy. It moves fast, makes connections on the cuff, searches out specifics and bundles ideas up so that I can use them. My work space is the same way.

Links: http://DreamWoven.blogspot.com
http://DreamWoven.com
http://DreamWoven.Etsy.com
http://DreamWovenSupplies.Etsy.com
Location: (She's in California, USA)
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind,
what is the significance of a clean desk?
Laurence J. Peter (1919 - 1988)

VICKI DUNK

I love that i have a space to mostly call my own, but it is too small, especially when the kids are in there with me. My hubby says to ban them from the room, at first I didn't do this, they make me feel so guilty when I don't let them in, but now I really have to - they just make too much mess and take up too much room and distract me way too much (again with the guilt).

My favourite things in the room are my sewing machine and the fold out table that my dad built for me. It is at bench height rather than desk height so I can stand up and work when I want too - I really need a drafting chair as well, but it wouldn't fit in the room.

My dream studio would have a table for the kids, heaps of storage and display space, room to spread out a whole quilt and some nice comfy chairs so that my husband could sit and have a cuppa with me in there. I think my hubby should get me that dream studio for my big 4-0 this year!

Links: http://fiberartsmixedmedia.ning.com/profile/VickiDunk
Location: Townsville, Australia

You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.
Franz Kafka (1883 - 1924)

CHRISTINA SILVERIO/HOYDEN DESIGNS

I love my workspace! It's right in the middle of all the family commotion. It's so inspiring for me to be with my family while I'm creating. The house we live in is a 1915 era cottage and all of the wodwork is original. The little table that I keep my newest paintings on is actually my grandmothers old sewing table, with some vintage luggage next to it that I store supplies in, and I have another corner by the window that I've placed a comfy chair and table that I can paint at. I really couldn't ask for more; I love it!

Links: http://www.hoydendesigns.com/
http://www.hoydendesigns.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=59651
http://www.cafepress.com/hoydendesigns
Location: I live in the San Francisco Bay Area (California, USA). It's busy, but there are so many wonderful things close by that you can always find something fun to do.

You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don't know what was in the newspapers that morning... a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. Joseph Campbell (1904 - 1987)

WATATU

As we have a web shop you can say our work place is mainly the cyber world. But we have an office, where we have the stock, and also in one corner a show room where our customers can come and try to see how to carry their baby. What we like most is when we go out and meet our customers during trade fairs or special events.

Links: www.watatu.com
Location: Vsterhaninge, Sweden
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.
Carl Jung (1875 - 1961)

CARYL BRYER FALLERT
/BRYERPATCH STUDIO

Caryl didn't submit a statement about her space, but she is a dear friend of mine and I know that this is her dream come true. Visit her website to see the rest of her wonderful space (and her gorgeous work!).

Links: http://www.bryerpatch.com/wkshops/BryerpatchStudioTour.htm
www.bryerpatch.com
Location: Paducah, Kentucky, USA
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

My holy of holies is the human body, health, intelligence, talent, inspiration, love, and the most absolute freedom imaginable, freedom from violence and lies, no matter what form the latter two take. Such is the program I would adhere to if I were a major artist.
Anton Chekhov, 1888

RAYELA ART

Well, finally there is my space. Hmmmm... that phrase has been taken, hasn't it? This photo shows what would have been the dining room in a "normal" house. Ha! This is where I sew and where I pack product from online sales. These plastic bins you see are in every room except kitchen and bath. The computer is in the bedroom. I share my space with four monster dogs. That's Juba, there. It's a constant war against chaos. Unlike DreamWoven, who says she thrives in it, if things get too out of control, I can't think straight. I long for a wall where I can pin up queen size fabrics, for a table big enough to spread a large quilt out and more than anything, a space which I can close the door on. I feel kind of guilty because so many people around the world have so much less and I want so much more. But, on the other hand, the whole state of Kentucky has less people than metro-Chicago, where I came from, so there is room to spread out here. All I know is that home is where my stuff is!

Links: http://www.rayela/etsy.com
http://stores.ebay.com/RayelArt
www. the page you are looking at (Fiber Focus)
Location: Paducah, Kentucky, USA
FIBER FOCUS MEMBER

Note: Whew! This took a lot longer than expected. Please let me know if I made any mistakes. It was a challenge keeping everybody's info straight!

The Artist in Her Space: Creative Essence

Freddie Robins Knits: Fear, Skin and Definition of Self

SKIN - A GOOD THING TO LIVE IN

2002 Machine knitted wool
2100 x 1900 mm

What happens when you take function out of a traditional skill like knitting? Or, for that matter, what does function itself really mean? Knitting represents warmth, covering, an embrace against the elements to me: hats, mittens, leggings, socks, booties, blankets, and all that good stuff. But, how about knitting something that cannot be worn? What then is the function? Hmmm... perhaps a bit of shock value to stimulate the senses? A little awakening? A protest pointing to the dysfunction of the "normal"?

Freddie Robins turns knitting upside down, inside out with her work. Once I was sitting in a train and a woman a few seats down from me dropped her ball of yarn right as the door closed on it. She held on to the piece she was working with determination as she watched the rows disappear under her fingers, hours of work unraveled. Freddie Robins unravels as she knits, deconstructing our social order with each stitch.

Language is as important in each piece as the work itself. Her description of "Craft Kills" classifies knitting as a dangerous art:

CRAFT KILLS
2002 Machine knitted wool, knitting needles
2000 x 680 x 380 mm

"Craft Kills" is a self-portrait based on the well recognised image of Saint Sebastian being martyred. Instead of arrows piercing my skin I have knitting needles. The title immediately brings to mind the old adage of "dying for your art" but what I am much more concerned with is the stereotypical image that craft, and in particular knitting, has, of being a passive, benign activity. How would it be if craft was considered as dangerous or subversive? Since conceiving of this piece the world suffered the events of September 11th and its aftermath. You can no longer fly with knitting needles in your hand luggage. Knitting is now classed as a dangerous activity.

(Statement written for "Flexible 4: Identities" catalogue.)

The empty body stuck with knitting needles evokes a primal figure to me that calls back to ancient African belief where the wisdom of the dead is recalled to provide healing and call for justice in the community.

Bakongo Nail Fetish

Freddie's path takes us into the dark realms of our collective consciousness. Her work demands the viewer to stop, take account and respond to society with honesty. "Look around, examine your soul. What do you see?"

BILLY WOOL
2001 Machine knitted wool
600 x 600 mm

Her statement on "Billy Wool":
"This piece is a natural progression for me. For the past couple of years I have been working on a series of distorted body pieces. These knitted "jumpers" have a sleeve instead of a neck, a spare torso projecting from the stomach, four shoulders with four sleeves and sealed cuffs for missing hands. The series culminates in two full bodies joined at the head. A piece which two people can enter but which otherwise lies or hangs like an empty skin. My research has been around the human body, medicine, disability and disfigurement, the freak show, taxidermy, mummies, religious iconography and other "curiosities". I find the medium of knitted textiles a powerful tool for expression and communication because of the cultural preconceptions surrounding the area. It is a "friendly" medium which can be used to engage your audience with a subject which might otherwise cause them to turn away."

ANYWAY
2002 Machine knitted wool
1650 x 3000 x 3000 mm
In the collection of the Castle Museum, Nottingham.
Purchased by the Contemporary Art Society.

Here we are, in "Anyway", connected by disconnection, upside down and inside out. Freddie Robins worked in traditional garment production for a time, but it didn't hold her attention. Any guesses out there as to why not? The mundane and the ordinary might be more readily celebrated if the dark corners of our society were not so prevalent. Freddie Robins enters those corners and sweeps them out. Not with a broom, but with needles.

She did a series of cute little houses, houses that any of us might want or pass by without much notice. Each house concealed a secret life of murders and intrigue, resulting in death by hanging in early 1900's England. These are the "Knitted Homes of Crime".

Charlotte 14 1/2 hours Coombe Farm Cottages, Sherborne, Dorset - 1935

"Charlotte Bryant, a 33-year-old illiterate mother of five, lived here with her husband Frederick. She enjoyed a drink and had a reputation as an amateur prostitute in the local pubs. Apparently her toothlessness and lice did not put the men off. Sometimes she even brought them home. One of these men was Leonard Parsons, a gypsy horse trader. Leonard became an occasional lodger in the Bryant household and Frederick did not seem to mind sharing Charlotte with him. Charlotte decided otherwise and started poisoning Frederick so that she would be free to marry Leonard. Frederick eventually died on 22 December 1935 after drinking a cup of Oxo containing arsenic. Charlotte was caught after the post-mortem on Frederick's body. A friend also told the police that she had seen Charlotte trying to destroy a tin of weed-killer. She was hanged at Exeter Prison on 15 July 1936."

Christiana
- 20 hours 16 Gloucester Place , Brighton, East Sussex - 1871 Mrs. Beard
- 21 1/2 hours64 Grand Parade, Brighton, East Sussex - 1871

"Christiana Edmunds was a 43 year old spinster who lived with her widowed mother. She had become infatuated with a married man, Dr. Beard. In September 1870 she brought a box of chocolates to the Beard's house and insisted that Mrs. Beard eat some over a pot of tea. Christiana had filled these chocolate creams with strychnine. Immediately after eating one Mrs. Beard became severely ill. As a result Dr. Beard accused her of trying to poison his wife. Christiana denied the charge and set about trying to prove that there was a poisoner at large in Brighton. She would pay children to buy chocolate creams from the same sweet shop that she purchased the box of chocolates for Mrs. Beard from. She would inject these with strychnine, then re-wrap them and pay another child to return them. The innocent shop-keeper sold on these poisoned sweets. On 12 June 1871 this activity resulted in the death of 4-year-old Sidney Barker. Christiana even sent poisoned cakes and fruit through the mail, addressing some to herself, to try to emphasise her innocence. She was eventually caught and sentenced to death but when it transpired that she was mentally ill her sentence was commuted and she was sent to Broadmoor. She died there in 1907 aged 79. It later transpired that no less than four members of her immediate family had died as a result of mental illness."

Death, disease, mutilation and social trauma are all themes Freddie Robins explores through the seemingly harmless craft of knitting. Feel a little chill going up your spine? Never fear. Freddie assures us that there is humor in this, too. But, the next time you see a beautiful woman sitting in a corner, using her needles with a little furrow in her brow.... prepare yourself. It might be a sweater, or, it might be something very, very subversive....

Freddie Robins by ladyfort

Freddie Robins Knits: Fear, Skin and Definition of Self

Crocheting? by Natalie Bates, Guest Artist from the UK

I thought that's what grannies did?

Hmm...I get that alot. I guess I'm not your usual crocheter (In the classic sense). I mean, I'm 22, I have piercings in places I shouldn't, too many tattoos and I listen to music that has lyrics that makes old ladies toes curl. Then again, I have a floral bedspread, I own at least one piece of pink clothing (shocking I know) and I don't feel the need to hurt small children.


Crocheting has always been there for me, fiber arts in general have always been a part of my life. My mum taught me how to cross-stitch and sew when I was very young. I never liked following patterns so I always just made my own up. When I was about 6 my grandma taught me how to crochet and I never stopped !


I feel lost if I don`t have at least one ball of wool and a hook with me at all times. I used to wear enourmous hoodies (in my goth days), but I`d stash a ball of yarn in the front pocket and walk round town crocheting !


Obviously I began with the usual, granny squares, granny squares and more granny squares (Yawn !). But I never got taught any more stitches, so I've kind of had to make my own way in crochet. By trial and error I've finally found my style, and it's...well...very me ^_^.


Much as I love the traditional view of crochet, I'm trying to find my own way, and bring my own style to my items. Which is where the mohawk hat grew from, basically, it's something I would wear! (and do).



I intend to carry on in this vein and increase my collection of punky crochet and make fiber arts appeal to members of society that maybe it wouldn't have done before, at least that's the hope !

Don't hug a hoody, give them a hook !

Talli not only crochets, but does photography and graphic design. This girl is going to go a long way! Here is where you can find her:

• Tallib on Etsy (yarn creations)
• Tallistreasures on Etsy (design and photography creations)
• Talli's Designs, website on photography and graphic design
• Talli's Designs, the blog (both design and yarn)

And, she is now a member of our Fiber Focus group and you can visit her page there, too!



Talli had this video on her blog and I asked her if we could share it here, too. It is her wish and mine to you:

Crocheting? by Natalie Bates, Guest Artist from the UK