Fiber Arts
When I'm not at the university, doing research, or out in the field, my "down-time" is usually spent with all things fiber. Read more about my journeys with a variety of handcrafts below.
Knitting
Knitting is my passion. I knit when I'm happy, sad, stressed, relaxed... all the time. It is a pleasurable workout for the brain, satisfying both the mathematical and the creative. I enjoy knitted objects that are rooted in cultural traditions, especially lace (Estonian and Orenburg) and colorwork (Scottish Fair Isle and Icelandic).
Knitting is my passion. I knit when I'm happy, sad, stressed, relaxed... all the time. It is a pleasurable workout for the brain, satisfying both the mathematical and the creative. I enjoy knitted objects that are rooted in cultural traditions, especially lace (Estonian and Orenburg) and colorwork (Scottish Fair Isle and Icelandic).
Embroidery
Embroidery was a fiber art that I first did when I was a child. I didn't know the stitches, but would practice drawing a needle and thread through a hooped fabric. When I finally learned how to work the stitches I was enamored by creating historical samplers and patterns, as well as researching the history of embroidery and cross-stitch. I specialize in blackwork embroidery (popular in 16th century England) and whitework embroidery, especially Schwalm Embroidery from a rural area of Hessen, Germany.
Embroidery was a fiber art that I first did when I was a child. I didn't know the stitches, but would practice drawing a needle and thread through a hooped fabric. When I finally learned how to work the stitches I was enamored by creating historical samplers and patterns, as well as researching the history of embroidery and cross-stitch. I specialize in blackwork embroidery (popular in 16th century England) and whitework embroidery, especially Schwalm Embroidery from a rural area of Hessen, Germany.
Bobbin lace
Since knit lacework is my favorite type of knitting, I decided to delve deeper into the various ways of making lace through history. Bobbin lace or pillow lace is an old world craft that reached popularity in the Elizabethan era and for various periods thereafter. Each place had its own style of bobbins, its own patterns, and its own style of creating the lace. The type of bobbin lace that I'm most comfortable with is Torchon, but I'm working my way through other types like Bedfordshire and Brussels. Basically, bobbins are wound with thread and hung in pairs around pins on a pillow. They are then crossed over each other in pattern to reveal a pattern.
Since knit lacework is my favorite type of knitting, I decided to delve deeper into the various ways of making lace through history. Bobbin lace or pillow lace is an old world craft that reached popularity in the Elizabethan era and for various periods thereafter. Each place had its own style of bobbins, its own patterns, and its own style of creating the lace. The type of bobbin lace that I'm most comfortable with is Torchon, but I'm working my way through other types like Bedfordshire and Brussels. Basically, bobbins are wound with thread and hung in pairs around pins on a pillow. They are then crossed over each other in pattern to reveal a pattern.
Spinning
It seemed very natural for my curiosity to move from knitting to the process behind creating materials of my trade. I wanted to learn how to spin yarn... not only that, but also how to process wool and other fibers into workable yarn for use in the fiber arts. I fell in love with the beauty of spinning while visiting the Shaker community in Hancock, Massachusetts. This trip was followed by a short trek through Pennsylvania's Welsh barony where I encountered the famous sheep grazing the graveyard at the historic St. Peter's Church in the Great Valley. Shortly after those trips, I ordered some raw fleece from a local shepherd and learned how to process the wool into yarn. A lot of baths for the wool in hot, soapy water and picking it clean of vegetable matter yielded something I could card and finally spin up. I first learned how to spin on simple drop spindles. They function like tops, spinning to add twist into the wool to strengthen the fibers by locking them together. It wasn't until later that I first bought a spinning wheel. Spinning fiber is meditative process. The rhythmic spinning of the spindle or the treadling of the spinning wheel, while focusing on drafting out the proper bits of fiber, clear the mind and keep the spinner in the moment.
It seemed very natural for my curiosity to move from knitting to the process behind creating materials of my trade. I wanted to learn how to spin yarn... not only that, but also how to process wool and other fibers into workable yarn for use in the fiber arts. I fell in love with the beauty of spinning while visiting the Shaker community in Hancock, Massachusetts. This trip was followed by a short trek through Pennsylvania's Welsh barony where I encountered the famous sheep grazing the graveyard at the historic St. Peter's Church in the Great Valley. Shortly after those trips, I ordered some raw fleece from a local shepherd and learned how to process the wool into yarn. A lot of baths for the wool in hot, soapy water and picking it clean of vegetable matter yielded something I could card and finally spin up. I first learned how to spin on simple drop spindles. They function like tops, spinning to add twist into the wool to strengthen the fibers by locking them together. It wasn't until later that I first bought a spinning wheel. Spinning fiber is meditative process. The rhythmic spinning of the spindle or the treadling of the spinning wheel, while focusing on drafting out the proper bits of fiber, clear the mind and keep the spinner in the moment.
