#feministfriday episode 470 | the happy hook
Kia ora my fine #FemFri fellows. Today I was talking about how relaxing I find crochet, a hobby I took up approximately nine months ago and have been insufferable about for at least eight and a half of them. My friend told me that we have a lot of relaxation acupuncture points in our hands, which might explain why the repetitive motion can feel like having your psyche washed, ironed, and hung out to gently dry in the sun.
For today’s newsletter, let’s get loopy with three contemporary crochet artists.
Lissy Robinson-Cole: “Transforming intergenerational trauma into deeply felt joy one crochet loop at a time”
Along with her husband Rudi, Lissy Cole has dedicated her art practice to crochet at a grand scale. Using bright fluorescent yarn, mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge), and commitment to their creativity and community, they are working on a project called Wharenui Harikoa (house of joy), entirely hand-crocheted. Lissy only began crocheting in 2017, and says “I can’t remember what drove me to buy a crochet hook and wool, but I do feel that crochet found me. I learned how to crochet from YouTube and I was immediately obsessed with what you could create with a simple strand of wool and a hook.”https://thespinoff.co.nz/partner/24-08-2023/lissy-and-rudi-robinson-cole-are-shaping-their-own-empire
Emani Outterbridge, AKA Emani Milan: “I took my skill and turned it into a business when I was 15 years old, when I was in school.”
A vending machine that dispenses yarn seems like such a simple idea - yarn is a shelf-stable product, and knitters and crocheters are notorious for compulsive material buying. But it took a broken foot and a brainwave for Philadelphian Emani Outterbridge to invent the world’s first, which is a stunning pink and sells her own range of brightly-coloured stretchy acrylics. Outterbridge, who designs under the name Emani Milan, couldn’t sell her yarn in person after injuring her foot, so came up with the idea of the machine and quickly hustled to fundraise it. She has been crocheting since she was 12, when she was temporarily housed in a residential facility due to truancy: “All we could do there was watch the world news or crochet.”
She did both, and was inspired to use her skill to start a business. How’s she doing? Well, after Cardi B wore her designs on social media, Emani’s Instagram account crashed with the influx of new followers.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/ncna1247450
Birgitta Bjerke: “I have no patterns, I do it all straight out of my head!”
Birgitta Bjerke may be one of the most influential crochet designers that no-one has heard of. Back in the 60s, she set up in King’s Road in London and made custom pieces for various rock stars, but unlike most of them she never let her art grow stale and get stuck in an era - instead she travelled the world, living off of her crochet, and then becoming a costume designer for flicks like Paris, Texas and Dances with Wolves. Now she lives in New Mexico (with forays to Sweden to restore an old house) and is finally getting her flowers for her work. Exhibitions of her “revolutionary crochet” have been shown in galleries and museums from the V&A to the Museum of Arts & Design in New York.