Art vs. Artisan Craft vs. Craft Supply: The Debate Continues
Posted on October 6, 2008
Filed Under yarn philosophy, yarn, art | Leave a Comment
There is a long-running debate about whether handspun (or handdyed) yarns are ‘art’, ‘artisan craft’, or merely ’supplies for a craft’. Though there are many layers to the discussion, the main three camps are the ones I just mentioned.
The ’supply’ crowd believes that while yes, handspun yarns are pretty, they are a means to an end, not the end itself. A yarn is a tool. It is made to be made into something else. It is not meant for display, nor does it have a use in and of itself. It is comparable to well-made or attractive pins, or maybe a piece of cherry wood, or a spool of wire.
The ‘art’ crowd, on the other hand, holds that handspun yarns are not necessarily meant for further use. Yarn might contain huge pieces of flower-shaped felt, or fishhooks, or buttons, or simply be too weak to go through the stress of knitting. Color and texture and the inclusion of unusable accents turn the yarn into something specifically to be displayed. This would be the comparison to sculpture, paintings, and ‘true’ art.
The third crowd sees yarn as a craft, but a fine one that requires skill and attention. This is an ‘artisan craft’, in which there is artistry but the final product is usable in some way. Yarn must stand up to use in some fashion, but can also stand alone in its beauty and craftsmanship. Think of a beautifully-carved table or chair, or a painted clay pot, or a woven basket.
I put handspun yarn into the third category, with a little bit of the second. I don’t consider my stuff to be just a ’supply’. While it is intended to be turned into something eventually, the yarn itself IS, in many ways, the garment/item/accessory/finished object. Yarn–especially heavily textured or colored yarn–is chosen very carefully by the user for whatever qualities it possesses that they need. It may be arrayed in a different fashion than when it is bought (knitted, crocheted, woven as opposed to balled or skeined) but it is still the same yarn. The play of color, the twist, the texture is all very important to the user. This is what sets it apart from being just a ’supply’. A silver t-pin is a silver t-pin no matter who makes it; there is no sign of a single creator when you buy a box of them. Yarn, however, (as well as spinning fiber) is extremely personal and reflects the artisan completely. It cannot be compared to commercial yarn in that each handspun or handdyed skein is unique.
At the same time, yarn has a purpose. Even if someone decides not to use it in a project, the possibility is there. One could take a piece of pretty fabric and put it in a frame, or they can make it into a bag. The same goes for yarn: you might choose to knit or crochet or weave with a ball of yarn, or you might just put it in a bowl on display on your coffee table and never use it for anything. That is your choice, though, as the owner. The possibility is always there.
Before anyone gets upset about me dissing their art yarn, remember that I’m musing about my own work and what you do is your own thing. Personally, I would be disappointed if I couldn’t use my own yarn for whatever reason; obviously, though, there are a lot of folks out there making art yarn for art’s sake. By all means, go ahead. It’s your yarn.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, I do believe there is yarn that truly is a ’supply’. Most commercial yarn (like Lion Brand) IS a supply, something to be purchased en masse, something completely predictable and with no discernable characteristics that show any artistry or actual person behind its creation. I’m not talking about the ‘fine’ yarns that feature hand dyeing or handspinning; I refer here to the mass-produced stuff that fills the shelves of JoAnn’s and Michael’s and Hobby Lobby. This stuff is the yarn equivalent of a pair of plain canvas sneakers or a pack of plastic beads. Can you create beautiful things with it? Definitely. Is it anything unique or special on its own? Most likely not.
Where you fall in the debate depends on your personal feelings about yarn. It’s one thing to decide for yourself; what about when you are faced with a website that isn’t run by people with the same feelings? I belong to two communities that regularly revisit this question from time to time. One, a shopping site, sees yarn as a craft supply and lumps all yarn into that category. This means that when a shopper is browsing for yarn, they will find handspun yarns listed right next to commercial ones. Many of us don’t like this–generally, if someone is looking for handspun yarn, they don’t want to slog through commercial listings as well.
Politics
Posted on October 6, 2008
Filed Under personal, general | Leave a Comment
I’m not going to talk about my personal leanings. Though the astute will be able to figure out where I stand, I am not the kind of person who really discusses how I’m going to vote come November. What I really want to address is how I feel about the way my friends and family talk about politics to me.For years now, I have believed that many people think I am apolitical at best, uninformed at worst. My dad definitely seems to think I am ready to simply follow whomever he opposes! This isn’t necessarily true in theory, though in practice it often turns out that way. (Sorry, Dad!)
The truth is, I don’t like to talk about it at all. I will occasionally offer a viewpoint or shake my head in disagreement, but my politics are very private. Like religion, I believe that your politics are extremely personal. You know what you believe. You also know that the moment you disagree, someone is going to try to convince you to change your mind. I receive mail and phone calls from several people who try on a regular basis. They seem to think that if they present this negative anecdote or that unflattering tidbit, I will suddenly jump up and say, “Oh, I was wrong all along. You are right!”
Unfortunately, I tend to delete emails that promise a charged viewpoint, and while I won’t hang up on a friend or relative, I will usually just smile and nod until the anecdote or tidbit is done, then pointedly change the subject.
My beliefs are mine, and they are only mine. I will not try to change your mind beyond the occasional counter argument (again, sorry, Dad) and I ask the same of you. I’ll discuss issues sometimes, but I won’t debate. So please don’t try to bait me, as it just makes me tired and sad that it has to be discussed at all.
Isn’t It Funny
Posted on October 3, 2008
Filed Under personal | 1 Comment
How do I phrase this…hmm.
Like everyone, I have my problems. Ever since I was in high school, I have been a fairly closeted worrier. Meaning, I don’t tend to let it show, but I worry about things to the point of sleeplessness, panic attacks, and dread. To illustrate, when this all started, I would have horrible ‘daymares’ (as opposed to nightmares) of a nuclear bomb going off while I walked home from school. I would wake up at night, crying and afraid to go back to sleep. My parents probably saw this as avoidance behavior; I wasn’t doing well in school and they would pretty much roll their eyes at my ‘acting out’. I think this is a big part of why I didn’t do much in the rebellion phase of my teen years. I was too exhausted!
Getting older and moving out on my own caused the doomsday fears to get buried under the more immediate worries about putting gas in my car, finding a job, staying afloat in college, and figuring out how I would eat the next day. It’s hard to be concerned about imagined threats when there’s a real threat of losing the roof over one’s head. The nightmares and daymares stopped almost completely when I was insecure and insolvent.
The fact that they’ve come back a little tells me a lot about myself. Mainly, it illustrates that I’m happy, I’m secure (as secure as anyone in this financial climate can be) and I’m on the right track. If my brain isn’t taken up by thinking of ways I can afford to pay rent, then it’s free to worry about climate change. If I’m relaxed because I don’t have to spend every waking moment either studying or working, then it’s quiet enough in my life to remember that there’s a war on, and that there are bad guys out there and there are scientists with big scary machines and OMG WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE WORLD AND WHAT IF I AM EATEN BY A SHARK AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!
And that’s ok. Not the eaten by a shark part. The worrying part.
It took me a long time to realize the correlation between the nature of my fear and my actual situation in life. I think the fear affects me so much because I’m a very imaginative person, and I tend to visualize things quite vividly. This makes the fear MORE potent, because my creative mind adds all sorts of terrible, colorful details.
Here’s the funny part, though. That fear? That worry? That night terror that turns me into a quivering mess? Guess what makes it go away. No, seriously, guess. I bet you’ll NEVER FIGURE IT OUT.
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What’s funny about all this is that I have never found something else that behaves the way yarn does for me. I read a lot, but it’s just white noise over the fears clamoring in my mind. Once I put the book down, the fear is still there. Drawing was actually terrible because my mind tends to empty when I’m physically working on a drawing, thus opening me up to worse and more ridiculous fear. Watching TV or movies or surfing the ‘Net are worst of all, because my mind is empty AND whatever I’m watching is serious white noise. It may stave off the fear for a while, but only until the show ends or I turn off my computer. However, something about the state my brain enters when knitting or spinning helps me easily defeat and resolve those same stubborn fears.
So are there big, scary things out there? Of course! There will always be problems I can’t solve, and bad and sad things happen that are out of my control. It’s life. But realizing what yarn does for me in terms of how I deal with fear makes me understand why I have been so drawn to the textile arts. I joke about my ‘high-fiber diet’ and how ‘magical’ handknit socks are. I know that even some of my yarny friends wonder if it’s healthy to be quite AS obsessed with yarn as I am. But I am completely serious about this.
Understand, yarn isn’t a substitute for everything. The love and support I get from my husband can’t be replaced by yarn. The warmth and companionship of my friends or my cat far outshine what yarn does for me. The rewarding feeling my job gives me is better sometimes than even a blue ribbon for spinning. But still…the yarn serves its purpose. Something about spinning and knitting and crochet and weaving and embroidery and on and on–something about all that is soothing, centering, and protective. I never thought of yarn like that before I was a knitter or spinner, so I don’t know where this feeling comes from. But it’s there.
So while the worries and fears remind me that I’m actually happy and on track with my life (as much as one can be), the yarn eases those worries and fears and lets me put it all into perspective. I am truly thankful that I have found a way to put my fear in its place. Whoever or whatever is out there, watching over us, thank you for guiding my hand toward this craft and its product.
And Now I Weave! Sorta.
Posted on October 1, 2008
Filed Under weaving, yarn | 2 Comments
Yes! A loom!
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It’s the first one of two that will be arriving this week. :D I have been bidding on looms on Ebay for some time, but I keep missing them at the last minute. However, in a move reminiscent of my first wheel acquisition, I managed to both bid AND WIN on a loom AND discover someone who was willing to send me one of hers. This one is a 1972 Yarnbenders rigid heddle loom that came without instructions. I found most of a tutorial on this blog that described how to warp a similar loom, used my inkle loom as a warping board, and I was off and running!
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Unfortunately, the tutorial stopped just shy of how to actually attach the bundles of warp to the loom, but I kind of shouldered through and made something up so I could get to weaving. I’d like to find more information if I could, so if any of you know where I can find either a step-by-step tut or a booklet that describes how to warp a Beka or Yarnbenders loom, please tell me. I would be forever thankful!
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The second loom, the one I actually won on Ebay, hasn’t arrived yet. This will get me started, though, and I am happy to know I will have two looms to play with. It’s a tabletop loom as opposed to the lap version I have here, so the experience will be a bit different. Eventually, I plan to use this one as a ‘travel’ loom since it fits into a large tote bag. If I can get the info I need to warp it properly, I want to make a scarf out of some of the alpaca/silk laceweight I got at WEBS recently.
It’s NANOWRIMO TIME
Posted on September 30, 2008
Filed Under personal, writing | 1 Comment
Yeah, it’s time again–get yer writing butts over to the NaNoWriMo website and sign up, ya pansies!
I am actually kind of fired up about it this year, more so than other years. Like, I always look forward to it, but this year I’m facing it as a catalyst for my nearly dead writing mojo. I’ve got a great story (*I* think) and some great ideas, but I’ve been lacking the drive to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. But if I can get 50k words out of my head, maybe…just maybe…I’ll feel the old magic once more.
Heck, even if I don’t, I’ll still have 50k words written that I didn’t before! :D
Oh, and I’m Chocobo Goddess (two words) on the site. FRIEND ME OMG.
PS: FUN FACT: This will be my 6th year participating. Dude.
Shop Update and More Finished Stuff
Posted on September 29, 2008
Filed Under shop, organization, yarn | 2 Comments
Lots of yarn here, folks, so hold onto your hats!
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First, the shop update. I will be adding both of these yarns in the next day or so, so please watch for them! The pink is a wool/silk blend spun as a thick & thin single. I named it Flamingo for obvious reasons. Next to that is a muted yellow yarn I’m calling Dog Star, because it’s not bright enough for summer and not varied enough for autumn, so it kind of fits in the Dog Days of August, those in-between days.
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On the left we have one project I’m delighted to have finished: the blue yarn for my friend Signe. It’s a 3ply merino/silk/firestar blend from Abby’s batts. This skein has 360+ yards in it, more than enough for a nice pair of socks! I bit the bullet and just finished spinning & plying it while at the Big E. It also was the last of my Tour de Fleece yarns that needed to be finished. On the right, you see some Wensleydale wool from Juliespins on Etsy, in her Sun colorway. It glows in the sunlight!
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This yarn is the one from the video I posted a few days ago. Another Abby batt, an alpaca/baby camel/silk/yumminess blend.
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And here’s a little experiment I spun on my Kundert drop spindle. I split out half of the colors from some leftover Tango (from The Painted Sheep) BFL. Next to it is the cowl I knitted for myself out of the Daffobun yarn from a couple of posts back. It’s merino/angora, with two vintage buttons from my mom’s stash.
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Over on Ravelry (if you’re not there yet, WHY NOT??), there’s a group called Spinners’ Central. I kind of watch in an offhand way, but today I found a thread about an Autumn Sweater Spin-along. I have this gorgeous emerald green Rambouillet/kid mohair/silk blend that I got at this year’s CT Sheep & Wool festival, and I’ve planned all along to spin it for a sweater for me. The spin-along is just the right motivation I need to get myself going on it! I’m spinning it with a long draw, fairly fine, and will ply it when I have filled four bobbins. Then I’ll start all over again.
As I recall, the dye ran TERRIBLY when I washed the sample skein a couple of months ago. The color didn’t change at all, so I know it’s just excess dye, but still. I will have to do something to take care of all those skeins when this is done! In the end, I think I’m going to knit a Rogue sweater or something similar. It depends on my gauge.
What are you working on for autumn? It’s going to get cool out there pretty soon, my dears! How will you keep warm this winter?
And Because I Am Enchanted With Myself…
Posted on September 28, 2008
Filed Under general | 1 Comment
Two more pics, graciously taken by my Bunny:
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Ahem. Now back to your regularly scheduled, uh, whatever I do regularly here. ;)
Another Project Done
Posted on September 27, 2008
Filed Under yarn philosophy, yarn | 5 Comments
Believe me when I tell you that I can hardly believe it myself. The Bamboo Socks are FINISHED. I’m pretty satisfied with them. Proof:
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They’re toe-up with a short-row heel and a folded-over picot cuff. I designed them from scratch using a lace pattern from one of my stitch libraries, and of course the yarn is my handspun bamboo (seen recently in this entry). I finished them last night but wanted to take the pics today in daylight, but then it was rainy all day, so what the heck. I’ll get some better ones later; I just want to show them off now.
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While the socks are a bit shorter than I had planned–I didn’t take into account the fact that lace would stretch horizontally and lose height–I kind of adore them. They look sweet with my green rain clogs and the feet fit just perfectly.
These are the last of the projects-in-progress that have been weighing on my mind. You know what I mean, right? They languish in your workbasket and stare accusingly at you when you choose something else. They are important enough to you that you want to finish them but at the same time you’re bored with them. You want to work on them but something stops you from actually picking them up.
Well, I got tired of waiting for them to knit themselves. Between finishing these socks and spinning a bunch of stuff from my stash, I feel energized and ready for more. Wait ’til you guys see all the spinning I got done during my Big E demoing! It’s crazy!
OH…and a big ol’ HELLO to the new folks who have been stopping by. Thanks for visiting, and I hope you stick around! Toss me a comment sometime and let me know what you think!
ACTION POSE!
Posted on September 25, 2008
Filed Under video, personal, yarn | 4 Comments
Ugh, I hate how I look from the neck down, but my hair is pretty freakin’ cute if I do say so. :)
Video of me, spinning at the Big E on Tuesday. I’m talking to a woman who was off-camera, who had no clue what an alpaca was. I went with the super-simple explanation rather than getting into, yanno, animal taxonomy.
For the curious, I’m spinning long draw with what I THOUGHT were some random alpaca batts I’d grabbed on my way out the door that morning, that turned out to be ABBY BATTS from last August. The resulting yarn is thick, fluffy, and NOTHING like what I tend to spin for myself. I will probably make something warm and delicious with it.
Looks like I know what I’m doing, doesn’t it? XD
A Winner is Me…Again!
Posted on September 24, 2008
Filed Under shop, yarn | 1 Comment
While my domain was being held hostage, the worst part for me was that I suddenly had a ton of things to blog about, and no blog. :( I made do with my LJ, which was better than nothing, but it just wasn’t the same. So here, let’s catch you up on what’s been going on, shall we?
As I mentioned in my last post, I entered my yarn into the Big E’s skein competition again this year. There are two separate contests: one is in the Creative Arts department, where I demo, and the other is in the Fiber Nook under the auspices of the Agricultural Department. I missed the deadline for the CA contest but squeaked into the FN one instead. Good thing I tried–I think I cleaned up pretty well!
It’s Peachy, Hanami, Glamour Bunny, and a skein of Wensleydale went in, and all four of them won ribbons. The Wensleydale earned a 4th place (so now it’s won twice, as it got 3rd at Cummington this spring), and Hanami got a 2nd place. Glamour Bunny and It’s Peachy both won 1st place in their categories, and best of all, It’s Peachy garnered the Best of Show rosette!
Proof:
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If you click on the pics, you’ll see the notes on the Flickr page. I’m going to take much better photos when I get these skeins back.
In other spinning news, I blocked a LOT of yarn a couple of weeks ago. My husband was a bit taken aback when he flicked on the bathroom light one evening to see this:
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That’s 22 skeins of yarn, hanging up to dry. Granted, the ones in front are pretty small, but still. 22 skeins.
Speaking of excessive amounts of handcrafts, this is what I did two weeks ago:
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No, I’m not obsessed, why do you ask? Actually, these stitch markers are all for sale. I’ll be offering them through Yarny Goodness, so watch for them in the next couple of weeks! :D I’m going to try doing some handspun and note cards there as well. Here’s hoping it works out!
I missed my blog, and I seriously missed you guys, too. Thanks for sticking by me! I’ve got even MORE stuff to talk about, but it’ll keep ’til later. Watch for some more “This Yarn Taught Me”, some Guild stuff, and even a video from one of my Big E demos!
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