Lion Brand Notebook
News, Ideas and Information for Crafting with Yarn
Lion Brand Notebook
News, Ideas and Information for Crafting with Yarn
This is a guest post from our friend, Travis Meinolf, public textile artist and teacher. Travis’s current project can be seen at the Museum of Craft and Folk Art, in San Francisco, CA, from now until January 24th, 2010. If you’re in the area, we hope you’ll stop by, add your own piece to the weavings and interact with textiles in a new way.
Open Source Embroidery is a group art show; the running theme of the works in the show, curated by Dr. Ele Carpenter, is how current open source programming and high-tech philosophies intersect with contemporary and historical craft production practices. My installation in the show, a continuation of my Social Fabric/Weaving Place projects, is a space with small, simple-to-use looms I have designed, materials generously provided by Lion Brand Yarn, and chalkboards, for people to write notes about what it is they would like to be producing in the space.
Previously I have asked for people to spend their time producing material to be made into blankets for people on the streets and in shelters, but this time, I thought I would let it be completely open to suggestion from the participants. Only time will tell what the outcome will be, but the process will be one of absolute agency of the producers. Anyone who participates is invited to direct their action and suggest direction for the group, based on the simple strips of cloth that they can make. I will update as the project progresses. Hopefully the system I have put in place allows for freedom but is a space for structured, productive play, resulting in a true “dialectical material”.
Thanks go out to Lion Brand, who made me feel like a kid on Christmas opening boxes of skeins and skeins of beautiful yarns to provide a truly sensual and mesmerizing weaving experience for museum-goers, again…
Travis J. Meinolf
action weaver
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Posted in Crafting, Yarniverse | 2 Comments »
I always love to see how the fashion world takes crafts like crochet and knitting and reinterprets them in unexpected ways. This simple, oversized crochet chain as necklace is such a fun pop of color from German design duo Gabriel & Schwan. Sehr schön!
Via Oh Joy!
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Posted in Crocheting, Yarniverse | 5 Comments »
I was in mid-town New York City last weekend and saw a striking crochet art exhibit in the window of the Roger Smith Hotel. There will be a performance on several upcoming evenings that integrate dance in this crochet setting. If you are in New York City it looks like something you won’t want to miss. The performances are 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. September 18, 21, 23 and 25.
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Posted in Community, Crafting, Crocheting | Leave a comment »
I always find it inspirational to see what’s happening with the world of fiber arts. I spotted this giant wall installation by Craftwork on MoCo Loco. Made with wool and aluminum, Craftwork describes this 2-piece series, Wool Works:
Using aluminum and natural wool top slivers, each screen is a collection of long hanks of wool hand made and twisted into rope. These rope strands are bound together by combining knotting and held in place with powder coated / mirrored aluminum tubes. Craftwork signature Pompoms punctuate and locate the macrame knots woven through. In these beautiful works, there is a strong visual interplay between graphics, materials and textures whilst fusing large scale textile design with jewelry.
It reminds me (of course) of yarn, but it also has a beautiful, modern, architectural quality to it. A very cool piece that any fiber lover will enjoy.
Via MoCo Loco.
Posted in Yarniverse | Leave a comment »
On the latest episode of YarnCraft, my co-host Liz and I explore the topics of yarn as art (and even yarn as graffiti), and what it means to express yourself through the creation of objects as an artist and as a community.
We talk about groups like Knitta Please, artists like Robyn Love and some of the great fiber arts exhibits that have been taking place around the country, as well as organizations like Keep the Fleece, whose longest scarf project supports Heifer International, a non-profit aiming to end world hunger through self-reliance and sustainability. Since yarncrafts are most often thought of as home-arts suitable for making useable projects, it was interesting for us to think about yarn as a means to express oneself. In this episode, we also interview Brooklyn Tweed’s Jared Flood about blog as a vehicle of expressing himself through his knitting and photography. Click here to listen to this episode now [MP3].
We have previously featured art projects here on the Lion Brand Notebook, and it’s always interesting to see what people have to say. What do you think? Is there value to yarn used purely for art? Or do you feel that yarn should be used solely for things like garments? Share your thoughts here in the comments.
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Posted in Community, Crocheting, Knitting, YarnCraft Podcast, Yarniverse | Leave a comment »
It’s almost hard to believe that these “paintings” were made with a crochet hook and yarn.
Posted in Crocheting, Yarniverse | 9 Comments »
Check out these amazing photos on Art MoCo of artist Kwangho Lee’s latest exhibit of his beautiful knitted light fixtures. Lee is a Korean artist who learned to knit from his mother and has created some incredibly beautiful things by working knitting into his pieces.
For more artwork made with yarncrafts, see below.
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Posted in Knitting, Yarniverse | 2 Comments »
Watch “Social Fabric,” a short film about our friend Travis Meinolf, an artist who uses weaving in public to advocate weaving and the personal production of blankets and cloth goods as an empowering act. Click here to see it on YouTube.
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Posted in Community, Yarniverse | 4 Comments »
This is a guest post by Travis Meinolf, a public textile artist and teacher in San Francisco. He has presented his work at numerous art shows and workshops, as well as taught and published pieces on weaving and fiber arts. His newest project, the Weaving Place, allows visitors to learn weaving and produce loom woven pieces.
The Weaving Place is an installation I was invited to bring to the Vancouver Art Gallery in Canada by my friend, artist Kai Althoff. It is a room with six stations for a sculptural weaving device that I have been working with, which is made from a piece of laser-cut plexiglass. Kai made some instructional drawings, which are enlarged and mounted around the room so that people can learn to weave using the looms, spend some time enjoying that process, and either take home what they’ve made or leave it to be stitched into patchwork wool blankets to be distributed later to people who might need them. Basically, I want to provide this experience of production for its own sake, understood as leisure but also realizing something that will actually function to keep somebody warm.
Sherry Stewart and Kathleen Lemieux at the Vancouver Art Gallery have been really helpful in involving their volunteer and public programs departments. They have recently informed me that participation is so great that they are running out of the yarns that I collected, including a generous donation from Lion Brand! This is just another example of how people coming together can make connections, both physical and social, that enhance our lives.
The show runs until February 15th, and for more information you can visit Vancouver Art Gallery’s website at vanartgallery.bc.ca. To see some pictures of the space see flickr.com/weavingplace, and for more examples of my work go to actionweaver.com. (I will be installing more little looms for 4-10 year-olds at the Children’s Discovery Museum in San Jose on January 17th!)
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Posted in Yarniverse | 3 Comments »
One of the great things about yarn is that it can be used for so much more than just clothing or afghans. Yarncrafters around the world use yarn for art and sculpture. At the Lion Brand Yarn Studio, we will be regularly featuring fiber artists.
Our first featured artist is the incredibly talented Emily Barletta. Emily received her B.F.A. in Fiber Arts from The Maryland Institute College of Art in 2003. Since then, she’s been very active within the artistic community, exhibiting her work in almost twenty shows. Much of her work is crocheted or felted into abstract, intriguing pieces.
Many of her pieces are reminiscent of shaping in nature, particularly coral. Her piece Horizon, made of old felted sweaters, is currently on display in our Studio.
For more fiber artists, visit the Lion Brand Yarn Studio and check out its gallery wall throughout the year.
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Posted in Lion Brand Yarn Studio, Yarniverse | 1 Comment »
