Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

I am on a bunch of e-mail lists. One of them — I don't remember which one — recently mentioned the book Bog Fashion by Nicole DeRushie. I was intrigued, so I ordered a copy. The About the Author page near the back of the book says, "Nicole DeRushie is a Canadian historian and educator based in the UK."The Acknowledgements page near the front thanks people at the Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen, as well as the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. In the foreword, Ms. DeRushie mentions studying for a Public History MA at Royal Holloway, University of London. The book is published by ChronoCocia Publishing AB in Furulund, Sweden. Ms. DeRushie writes about bog finds in both the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. She includes a timeline for both Celtic and Nordic peoples. Thus, this book is about the textile material culture of northwest Europe in the bronze age and iron age — think Celts and Vikings. The book is a wonderful mix of scholarship and craft techniqu...

On Saturday, I traveled to the Georgia Museum of Art on the campus of the University of Georgia to tour "Crafting History: Textiles, Metals and Ceramics" at the University of Georgia. The tour led by curator Ashley Callahan was organized by Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance . I hadn't given academic crafting much thought. The exhibit tells the history of craft instruction at UGA. If you attended the university or are familiar with craft history in Georgia, then I think you will enjoy the exhibit even more than I did. Teaching craft is often about innovation. Innovation comes from play. Expanding your skills within your craft often means learning and exploring new techniques. Students and instructors ask, "What if . . . ?" In a group environment, you can crowd-source the solution as different people explore different possibilities. Wiley Devere Sanderson Jr. yardage, no date (1950s?), detail Touring with a group also taps into group knowledge. For example,...