This page features some of the facts we have found in research of fiber arts. From how yarn made, the sustainable community of wool and cotton internationally, ethical practices of sheep farms, the use and health effects of knitting, crochet, and weaving, new knitting communities (prison knitting) to historical knowledge…Sojourner Truth was a knitter!
Schools of Craft
- Penland School of Crafts. Penland is an international center for craft education dedicated to helping people live creative lives. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Penland offers one-, two-, and eight-week workshops in books, paper, clay, drawing, glass, iron, metals, photography, printmaking, letterpress, textiles, and wood.
- Kawashima Textile School. Located in Kyoto, Japan, KTS has continuously educated with focus on the individual student learning weaving, so that each person can have the opportunity to use the techniques and gain the ability to express themself through weaving. Esteemed adult education for Japanese and foreigners.
- Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Located in Maine, people come to Haystack to develop and discover skills, to nurture their creativity, to ask questions, to reassess their work, and to push into the unknown.
Medknitation Part I: How Are Meditation and Knitting Related?
This is the first in a series of three guest blog posts by Suzan Colón, a New York City-based yoga instructor, writer, and knitter. Read on to learn about the science behind therapeutic knitting. Visit Suzan’s website at www.suzancolon.net to learn more.
Prison knitting class imparts empathy, life lessons, and accountability
In a library room with bare shelves, Lynn Zwerling dumped balls of yarn, needles and scissors onto two folding tables and sat down to knit with her class. A new student entered the room: peach fuzz on his chin, temple fade haircut, wearing a gray Department of Corrections sweater. As he sat across from his 20 classmates, Reggie Della, 55, told him to “pick up some yarn and needles. Then you can be a knitting homie, too.”
At Dorsey Run Correctional Facility in Jessup, Md., one of the most popular recreational programs is a weekly Thursday afternoon knitting class created by Zwerling, 69, designed to teach more than two dozen inmates discipline, empathy, patience and a professional work ethic through the slow, quiet practice of turning balls of yarn into colorful creations.
Fiber With A Cause 