#feministfriday episode 246 | Knot my problem
Kia ora all! While our fearless leader is on hols, the FemFri baton has been briefly passed to me, Margo, writer of not-entirely-fortnightly newsletter Three Weeks and big fan of fun facts. Fr'instance, did you know that there were hedgehogs in prehistoric times, nuzzling dinosaurs and rustling ye olde hedgerows? This is not relevant to today's subject but don't act like you're not happier for knowing it.
Here's a fun fact about me: I cannot knit for toffee. While I can knock out a batch of scones, backstitch like no one's business, and papier-mâché like the devil, I've always been a multitude of thumbs when it comes to yarn. I've been lucky enough to know many knitters and crocheters, and my sock drawer is grateful for it.
However fibre artists aren't just about keeping you warm and looking winsome on Insta. They are out there fighting systemic racism, climate change, scientific ignorance, and the pox of open plan offices.
Picture via @arohaknits https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsoi9iAH5Kx/
There have been knitting controversies as long as there have been needles to poke people with, with this year starting off with a wide-ranging discussion of racism in the community after a blog post by a celebrity knitter (yes, they exist) blew up. For Francoise "Frenchie" Danoy, knitting is a way to explore the intersection of making with identity, which has led her to design using themes from her Maori heritage, become a professional designer and coach, and fight to make knitting spaces more inclusive. https://www.ravelry.com/designers/francoise-danoy
She also has a quiz on her site to discover your "inner fibre muse" and if there's one thing I love more than fun facts, it's a Sorting Hat: https://www.arohaknits.com/discovery-test
Australian twins Margaret and Christine Wertheim have taught over 10,000 people the principles of hyperbolic geometry through their collaborative art project, the Crochet Coral Reef.
https://crochetcoralreef.org/index2.php
Margaret Wertheim points out that "women who'd been crocheting and knitting ruffles for hundreds of years had inadvertently been crafting hyperbolic spaces…They'd literally been doing mathematics with their hands."
The reef has travelled the world, including a residence at the 2019 Venice Biennale, connecting the spheres of art and science (the twins are professional specialists in both), while raising awareness of the devastation of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef. https://ideas.ted.com/gallery-what-happens-when-you-mix-math-coral-and-crochet-its-mind-blowing/
As the research pours in on how awful open plan offices are, not to mention the auditory neglect in other public places (I am all about the current wave of loud restaurant shaming), Dutch artist Petra Vonk has come up with a portable knitted solution. https://www.dezeen.com/2019/03/10/plectere-petra-vonk-acoustic-curtains/
Her knitted felt works can be pinned to a wall, hung from the ceiling, or in the most attractive user case scenario, stand alone to create separate pods surrounding someone just trying to get through a call without having to listen to their colleague's debate politics or play funny videos or, god help us all, BANTER. https://www.petravonk.nl/#/white/
I'll be dreaming of my own felt igloo of solitude. Stay cosy out there.