A Book Review of How to be a Craftivist by Sarah Corbett

I realized I was a craftivist three years ago discovering "Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism" by Betsy Greer on a "new and notable in the 700s" display in Houston Downtown Library. Shortly afterwards I was fortunate enough to hear Betsy speak, on the topic, at our fantastic Houston Centre for Contemporary Craft. (I love this place and really don't visit it often enough!) I know we even spoke briefly but I really can't remember what I said now. It was something disappointingly inane because I was feeling so inspired by the talk. The book and Betsy's lecture changed the way I viewed my craft. Craftivism is "using your creativity to make the world a better place" (Betsy Greer, craftivism.com). I realized that I was making a difference and it was a wonderful feeling.

I teach crochet and knitting and I can see the positive impact this has on my students firsthand. I run a yak and yarn group where we hook items for local charities. I make items for larger craftivism projects to raise awareness of social issues. I buy local, independent and sustainable yarn whenever I can (that's a lot of buying). But I've realized I have become too comfortable with my definition of craftivism. So I supported and bought a copy of "How to be a Craftivist" by Sarah Corbett on Unbound because I hoped that reading this book would help me to become a more effective craftivist.

And it has been just the book to take my craftivism to the next level. It's a very practical book aimed at "everyone who wants to help improve our wonderful world in a beautiful, gentle and loving way". That's me! Yes!

The definitions at the beginning of the book are extremely useful. Sarah provides a valuable insight with her background in activism and the nonprofit sector.

I kept reading. So many ideas! Here's an excerpt from the book on Slow Activism. Read it! It's so good! The case study on #imapiece - jigsaw pieces crafted for the Save the Children "Race against Hunger" campaign was the one to convince me that craftivism can effectively tackle social injustice.

This amazing book has shown me that craftivism can be more effective and powerful than I'd realized. My advice would be to read the book, take it all in and join the collective too. Buy a hard copy here on the Craftivist Collective website or an Ebook edition here on the Unbound website. Then report back and tell me what you think! 

Listen to the Audio Podcast

The Craftivism Manifesto

My name appears at the bottom of the Craftivism Manifesto as a contributor. Yay! I discovered the Craftivism movement around two years ago finding Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism by Betsy Greer on the "new and notable in 700s" display stand in the downtown Houston Library. Sometimes you read a book and it subtly changes the way you think. And then things are never the same again. Reading that book changed the way I thought about my craft.

I am maybe getting a little ahead of myself. I know my mum is going to ask me what this is, just as I had to explain to her what a podcast was. The word craftivism derives from the combination of the words: craft + activism = craftivism A craftivist is anyone who uses their craft to help the greater good.

 

I teach people and see their joy in mastering a skill, I run a craft group and we make things collaboratively for local charities. I make gifts for people that I care about - sometimes they even like what I make for them!

Back to the manifesto. You can find this on Betsy Greer's website (btw Betsy is godmother of Craftivism). I am not going to read the Spanish version. I am learning Spanish but I'm just not that brave yet.

Here are links to two additional recent craftivism items:

Betsy was interviewed by the marvelous Vicky Howell super famous crafter and broadcast personality, who lives in nearby Austin, Texas on her Craftish podcast series so check that out here.

And I spotted a recent article in Molly Makes (wonderful British craft magazine) Making Good: Five Ways to be a Craftivist - an interview with Sarah Corbett the founder of the Crafivist Collective in the UK.

Enjoy! And do let me know if you're thinking of yourself as a craftivist now! Comment below or contact me on Instagram or Twitter. I'm @craftyescapism

Here's the Audio Podcast

 

Hooky hat wearing weather

Hats have dominated the last week or so. I had my first Yak & Yarn meeting of the year and had a tip off that a new member had made numerous hats (while I was away she emailed me to ask if she could bring them to my house - this was a bit of a giveaway). I had to stop making my second Take Two Crochet project and hook up a few hats for the homeless to show willing. She made sevens (yay!) and I managed three. I'm not competitive, honestly! 

 

I received an e-newsletter from the inspirational Betsy Greer, the godmother of the Craftivism, who I have met in person and written about here. She interviews fellow craftivist heroes on her blog (love it!) and sends links to related projects. Anyway, one of the links was to the Pussy Hat Project so I've found some pink yarn in my stash and selected the crochet pattern with the cable ribbing. I'm just about to  join up the sides with crab stitch, my favorite seaming stitch, which is functional but decorative. And I should meet the deadline to mail it to Washington for the march. I do like taking part in a Craftivism project for a good cause.

I love seeing something in the crochet world go viral in the world of non-crafters. Right now  it's all about the Messy Bun Hat or Ponytail Hat. Last week a non- crafter was in the yarn store where I work looking for yarn for a friend to make one for her. I've also spotted it coming up on my Twitter feed. I have short hair but if I can see my daughter looking gorgeous in one of these free crochet patterns: It's All About the Messy Bun by June Nemeth!

Anyway, I do hope you're having a wonderful week y'all whatever you're crafting!! If you don't want to miss my blog articles and you're reading on your desktop computer please do sign up to receive an email with a link. It should be top right. And I'm on Twitter and Instagram too. If you've been making hats this month please do let me know in the comments below!

My Review of Hook to Heal

Have you ever read a book and felt compelled to place post-it notes in it because you know you want to return to many of the pages? Hook to Heal makes me want to do just this. It's a creativity exercise book that offers suggestions for using crochet to improve all aspects of your life - exactly my kind of thing!

I read Hook To Heal over the holidays and thought I'd share a review with you. It's written by Kathryn Vercillo of Crochet Concupiscence, a specialist in the area of the health benefits of crochet.

 

Each chapter covers a different area such as "facing fears", "mindfulness crochet" or "giving back" and starts with Kathryn’s own experience and research as a graduate student studying Integral Counseling Psychology. Then she shares exercises for using crochet to work through some of the issues related to the area.

There are a grand total of 100 exercises to try! As I read through the book, I could put the exercises into three categories:
1 "Yes, that would be useful. Wow. I'm going to try this." <Insert post-it note.>
2 "I've done this before and there are even more suggestions for me to try here. Excellent! <Insert post it note.>
3 "Oh no, I don't want to try that. Even the thought of it makes me feel uncomfortable. Why am I feeling so uncomfortable? I must examine this further." <Insert post-it note.>"  

I particularly like the exercises under the Self-Esteem topic on turning negative crafty talk into positive affirmations. I practice yoga and have tried unsuccessfully over the years to meditate, attempting to observe and chase negative thoughts from my mind. I just can't do it and it makes me feel even more of a failure than when I started out! I find that replacing the negative with positive is so much better for my self-esteem. And reading Kathryn's crafty spin on this is just marvelous!

Affirmations are also the subject of a current craftivism project "You are So Very Beautiful" by Betsy Greer, godmother of Craftivism and Mary England. (I've written about meeting Betsy in person here. I'm a big fan.) Betsy writes that:

"Craftivism is about healing ourselves as we stitch, and then healing the world with the product, so this project is about taking a microstep to help other people, to let them know that they are so very many wonderful things. And to remind ourselves that we are so many wonderful things."

Handmade signs are being left out for free in Baltimore, Vancouver and London on February 9th. Find out more about the project on Betsy's Craftivism site.

Anyway, back to Hook to Heal before I get too sidetracked! I can see this being a really great book for people who already crochet and find it relaxing and want to get more out of their craft. I can also see this being a good book for people looking for a new relaxing hobby because the exercises are suitable for beginners to the craft. And finally the book would be a useful resource for those who practice crochet as therapy in a professional capacity.

Head on over to Createspace or Amazon (paperback or Kindle) if you want to get your own copy!

Craftivism lecture by Betsy Greer

I attended a lecture by Betsy Greer, the "Godmother of Craftivism", last month at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. Betsy gave a slide show with an explanation of craftivism followed by a number of diverse global examples, large and small, and then gave suggestions of how to find a way that we could practice craftivism too. Here is Betsy's super website if you haven't already been there.

I first found out about craftivism, the movement that Betsy started 12 years ago, in Houston's main public library downtown picking up her book of the same title on the "new and notable in 700s" display stand. Since reading the book I have recommended and bought it for several friends. I have paid attention to other crafters with #craftivism in their tweets, subscribed to her newsletter, contributed to the manifesto and reflected on how I could make a difference through my love of craft. 

Her lecture was on the final day of the Crafting a Continuum show which contained many thought-provoking exhibits. My absolute favorite was by Mark Newport (http://www.marknewportartist.com/) a knitted superhero costume that questions gender roles and masculinity in contemporary culture. I was delighted to see his work featured on the show flyer and found an immensely amusing video on YouTube of Mark knitting dressed in one of his hand-made suits:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX8MxiV3zqE