PUDDLETOWN KNITTERS GUILD
  • Home
  • Guild Meetings
  • Guild Events
  • Guild Service Project
  • Guild Business Members
  • Sister Guild
  • Community Events
  • Membership
  • Business Memberships
  • Meeting & Event Recaps
  • About
  • Past Speakers
  • Newsletter Archive
  • Referrals
  • Shop

​Meeting and Event Recaps

June Meeting Recap: Sheep to Shawl at Black Sheep Gathering

6/29/2019

0 Comments

 
Thank you Celeste Percy for giving us a glimpse inside of the Black Sheep Gathering festival Sheep to Shawl Contest!
Picture
Each July in rural Oregon, Black Sheep Gathering brings together fiber enthusiasts, ranchers, farmers, and festival goers for a weekend. There are sheep and Angora goat shows, arts and yarn shows, and even fleece shows. One of the most compelling is the Sheep to Shawl contest. Celeste runs the content, and talked us through how it works.
Picture
A participant's loom with the freshly washed, spun, and un-dyed wool with dyed, plied yarn. There are strict rules on the fiber content allowed.
Five spinners and one weaver in each team of the Sheep to Shawl content work together to create a 1,440 square inch (or larger) woven shawl within five hours. Spinners start with washed, unprocessed fleece which is spin for the weaver to immediately incorporate into their warped and tied loom. You can imagine the tension as the weaver waits for the freshly spun wool.

One of the rules of the finished shawl is that there may be no "white" colored yarn used. Participants use the un-dyed, natural wool spun during the contest and other yarn of their choosing that meets the fiber content requirements. 

Of course, everything must only be done by hand. The only electrical equipment allowed by each team is a personal light if needed.
Picture
A team ties fringe on their nearly finished shawl. Fringe does not count into the 1,440 square inch requirement.
Participants are invited to the Black Sheep Fiber closing night potluck dinner and to model their masterpieces at the animal show.

Have you been to Black Sheep Gathering or even participated in Sheep to Shawl? Be sure to visit the festival this July 4th weekend, July 5-7 at the Linn County Expo Center in Albany, Oregon. Puddletown Knitters Guild will be there the 6th and 7th with project bag patterns to give away.

Thank you again, Celeste!
0 Comments

Knit Night: Our Conversations on Racism in the Knitting Community

6/10/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
If you follow knitting personalities, people, groups, and hashtags at all on Instagram, you must have noticed more content in the last six months about a hard topic: that in every aspect of our lives, racism is present. And, our knitting community isn't immune. This article sums up what occurred. BIPOC (black, indigenous, people of color) knitters all over the world have shared experiences on Instagram of being ignored or condescended to at local yarn shops, of feeling uncomfortable being the only brown person in a knitting group, of being told "I didn't think black people knit." This isn't the kind of knitting community we want.
View this post on Instagram

Hi, friends. The Puddletown Knitters Guild board members have been emailing back and forth all weekend. We talked about specific plans for what we will do to truly follow our mission. To recognize, support, and promote our diverse community here in the Portland area. Thank you @nerdbirdmakery, who asked us to have a conversation about representation and diversity at our next meeting, February 14th. At it, we'd like to share our action items and hear what feedback and contributions you have. For example, we'd like to know: Who would you like to see in our programing who identifies within BIPOC? Would you be interested in a periodic meet up aside from our monthly meetings to focus on tasks for inclusion? Just as much as you, we dearly love the knitting community. This guild was started because we wanted a welcoming place for all knitters. We mean it. Thank you. #portlandknitters #representationmatters #diversknitty

A post shared by Puddletown Knitting Guild (@puddletownknitters) on Jan 14, 2019 at 3:27pm PST

To provide a brave space for Portland knitters to talk, share, work out, and learn in person, we set up Knit Nights. We've been meeting every second Monday at FUMC. From August onward, we are considering new times and places to make it easier for people who are already booked on Mondays; look out for updates.

For those of you nervous about attending: please consider coming. Yes, it may be awkward at first. And, yes, we definitely want you to feel like you can join us.

It's awkward enough for some people to come into a new social group when the topic isn't about personal politics, deep self-reflection, and racism.

​But, we're a friendly and supportive group. We also talk about fun things. We laugh. We knit while we talk and talk about our knitting. Conversations meander. Many questions are asked rather than assumptions made. Challenges may be posed, but it's all up to you how you want to proceed or not. We're all vulnerable, we're all here for each other. No one will make you talk if you just want to sit, knit, and listen. 

Know that you're welcome and we appreciate you.
So, what have we been talking about at Knit Night? Here is a short summary in which we tried to capture some highlights, soundbites, and thought-provoking points. We hope that you bookmark this post to go back to when you need some grounding, some ideas, some help, and some guidance.
​

"Homework"
Each meeting, we try to come out with a "homework assignment" to spark discussion for the next meeting, like question prompts or reading suggestions. Here are some examples:

Make time to read/listen to a resource from our compiled list:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JKhBkscGduwzeIgMi_9ovkCi9geOEHARmqxVBD2Z_Rs/edit?usp=sharing
This list should be editable and sharable by anyone!

What common history do you remember learning in school that you later discovered had a different perspective?

What are some local organizations that are asking for knitting supplies for marginalized people?
Knitting was an easy access point to start putting action into a problem brewing for centuries.
A few conversation topics had:

How social media helps expose and challenge our awareness outside of our "bubbles". Some of us  grumble about how the Internet can be a negative place, but member Carol Hanna made a great point that it's also an opportunity to discover ideas and people in a good way. What do you think about that?

The democracy of knitting vs. exclusivity. Knitting can be an expensive hobby. What are some more economically inclusive ways to enjoy this hobby? Thrifting sweaters for their yarn? Upcycling/recycling other yarn? Alternative yarns?

While the Guild extends an invitation to anyone, not everyone has the ability to come. Transportation, child care, and other practical/logistical things can be bigger challenges to our neighbors than we assume. Different cultures may have different definitions of child care, for example. How do we be as inclusive as possible while providing a great experience?

Knitting was an easy access put action into a problem brewing for centuries. It's fortunate for us, as knitters, right here, right now, to be a part of the conversation and to take action. Why has it been the knitting community and not golf, yoga, or "white dominated" communities? Surely, other communities have. What are some examples?

A Few Links of Interest

To Read:
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir,
https://patrissecullors.com/call-terrorist-black-lives-matter-memoir/

Portland writer Mitchell Jackson: https://www.mitchellsjackson.com 

A Reading List for Ralph Northam: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/antiracist-syllabus-governor-ralph-northam/582580/

About Vanport, a forgotten Portland place (especially for transplants: https://www.pdx.edu/ourhistory/vanport-city

Alberta Arts:
http://www.albertaartworks.org/projects 

One of the MANY conversations that have happened on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwPtXhVJbcT/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=7i1ayop1swrc

Black artists of Portland: http://oregonhumanities.org/rll/beyond-the-margins/black-mark-black-legend/?fbclid=IwAR1HaOWEf58K-xeE9cCsS9zVTVr0oGjqlSV6emiHnUfy3Jiq5hp5brUJQpI

Waking Up White by Debby Irving (a self-described WASP's tough self-reflection and learning experience): http://www.debbyirving.com/the-book/

To watch:
Kristy Glass Knits This Is Us! A Fiber Friends Conversation. (A disarming and greatly informative conversation): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvLwaANQAM4&t=2106s 

More historically accurate documentary about Victor Green (recently highlighted in the Hollywood film The Green Book: https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/shows/the-green-book-guide-to-freedom/0/3467847

Regarding Vanport, OPB has an excellent documentary: https://www.opb.org/television/programs/oregonexperience/segment/vanport/

Seth Myers' "White Savior" skit: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1215682811924361

To Listen:
Good Ancestor: http://laylafsaad.com/good-ancestor-podcast

Seeing White: https://www.sceneonradio.org/seeing-white/

Black music by black artists from black Portland: https://thenumberz.fm

Comment with your suggestions for what to read/listen to/watch, and let us know what topics you'd like us to discuss. Please comment with your questions, as well. Hope to see you soon!
1 Comment

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

The Guild

About
Membership 
Guild Business Members

Meetings

Meetings
Past Speakers
Blog

Events

Guild Events
Community Events
Service Project
© COPYRIGHT 2018. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • Guild Meetings
  • Guild Events
  • Guild Service Project
  • Guild Business Members
  • Sister Guild
  • Community Events
  • Membership
  • Business Memberships
  • Meeting & Event Recaps
  • About
  • Past Speakers
  • Newsletter Archive
  • Referrals
  • Shop