Knitting for Good! by Betsy Greer

Author:Betsy Greer
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Shambhala Publications

HEATHER CAMERON IS AN ART THERAPIST AND ARTIST LIVING IN VANCOUVER, CANADA. ON HER WEBSITE, TRUESTITCHES.BLOGSPOT.COM, SHE WRITES ABOUT CRAFT AND COMMUNITY.

I have always made things. Up until fairly recently, however, I had only knitted, embroidered, or spun yarn on my own. I knew the pleasure and satisfaction that came from creating something with my own hands, had experienced the deep, peaceful calm of gentle, repetitive movements.

In 2002, I began training as an art therapist, which led me out of the solitude of the studio toward a more engaged social practice. With clients, I saw over and over how creative work is healing and life affirming, helping people of different ages and backgrounds to become happier and build better relationships with their families and communities.

My current work with Swap-O-Rama-Rama (a community clothing swap and DIY wardrobe refashioning event) feels like art therapy on a broader level. People who attend these events come out with more than just some new clothes. They learn skills like sewing and knitting and needle felting; find resources within their neighborhoods; make new friends; and most important, step away from being passive consumers and move toward being creators!

Another project—the East Van Revolutionary Knitting Front, modeled after Grant Neufeld’s Revolutionary Knitting Circle—was founded after a local school board trustee made a media splash when she appeared on the cover of the National Firearms Journal with her Colt .45 handgun. She was quoted as saying, “Some people knit. I like to shoot guns.” She also advocated that women should be able to carry concealed weapons for safety reasons.

Now I don’t believe that carrying a gun makes anyone safer. But I do know that knitting in public can start conversations and prompt smiles from strangers. I even once had a woman sitting next to me on the train give me a kiss on the cheek, saying it made her happy to see me knitting.

The East Van Revolutionary Knitting Front is intended to provide a relaxed, supportive place to meet and share skills, with a special invitation to community activists who may need to recharge their batteries and connect with each other informally. We also instigate public knitting actions as opportunities present themselves.

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