Little Updates

I have been away for a week on holiday so I haven't had a chance to update this blog in a while but so much has happened and there is lots of great news to report. I'll make sure I write updates for all of my exciting news over the next few days but for now I'm going to keep this update fairly light and talk about some of the books which have influenced me in regards to my crafting and subsequently my research.

The first is DIY: the Rise of Lo Fi Culture by Amy Spenser, I read this before I started my research and is an inspiring account various sub cultures:

When I first started to knit nearly two years ago, I bought this book called Stitch and Bitch by Debbie Stoller and then Stitch and Bitch - The Happy Hooker for crochet. There are a few things which are amazing about these books, firstly is the humour, smart mouth Stoller is so entertaining to read, she's totally relate able and makes knitting and crochet super cool.
The second inspiring thing about these books are the feminist spin she gives to the craft. In my slightly younger days I was led to believe that these crafts were representations of female repression, that they were part of the problem and not the solution. However, Stoller eloquently points out that the reason why knitting and craft was looked down upon is because it was traditionally done by women and that it was only male activities that are respected and seen as worth while. Stoller then explains how important it is to embrace feminine traditions so that they can get their recognition that they deserve. There is also the argument that creating objects for friends family and loved ones should be considered to be a symbol of strength and not of feminine weakness. this book is extremely influential and means a lot to me:

Another book which has influenced my way of thinking is Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together, this inspired me to start my knitting group plus introduced me to the idea of collaboration and working together: