Threadstack January Wrap-Up: Hyperbolic Crochet Art Show, Upcoming Offerings, and Links From the Yarn/Fiber Community
New: Give a shoutout to someone else in the community whose work you're especially loving!! The more we weave together, the stronger we are.
Hello creative friends. I miss you! I wonder how you’re doing, what you’re feeling, what you’re making with your hands, how the supplies in your space are helping your heart.
My January didn’t include nearly as much writing or connecting in the THREADSTACK community as I had hoped, due mostly to health stuff and life stuff imposing a slowing down which I shared with my Create Me Free community yesterday:
At the beginning of this month, I let you know that I’d be launching a Craft to Heal yearlong program at the beginning of February. Make that the beginning of March! I have been putting together all of the notes and materials for it, researching the best methods of information delivery and community sharing, and I am very excited. So excited that there’s this temptation to just launch it today as is. Except that it’s not ready and I’m not ready and I’m also looking forward to letting the juices its marinating it make it a little bit stronger for a March launch date. So stay tuned still for those details; they’re coming soon.
Hyperbolic Crochet Curtain and Vessels at CCA Playspace
I am thrilled to share that three of my crochet art pieces are currently installed at the CCA Playspace Gallery in San Francisco. I had truly limited energy this month and I was grateful to use the bulk of what I did have to finish a few of the pieces, install them, and stop by the opening. It was special.
Here’s the info about the show:
Here are the three pieces that I contributed:
Suspended Tendrils, Crochet - upcycled/secondhand yarn, mixed fibers, 120" x 44' x 4", 2024
Contained Multiplicities, Crochet - upcycled/secondhand yarn, mixed fibers; 18 assorted upcycled vessels (glass and ceramic vases, metal containers, wicker baskets), Misc. sizes, 2022-24
Weave Yourself In, Crochet - upcycled/secondhand yarn and fabric, mixed fibers incl: ribbon, cord, trims, 48" x 34" x 2.5", 2023
I was very excited to be able to hang the tendrils in such a tall space, as I’ve never actually seen the longest ones hanging up until now. I enjoyed putting together the vessels and seeing them dispersed throughout the space in conversation with everyone else’s pieces. But my favorite piece for this particular show is the last one, which I created as an interactive experience.
I believe that the touch of our creative hands infuses objects with a powerful beauty and energy. I believe that when more people add to the same handcrafted piece, the piece takes on a life of its own in the most magical way.
I wasn’t sure if visitors to the gallery space would take my offer to use the materials provided to add their own touch to the wall hanging, so I was humbled and honored and happy when I arrived at the opening reception and saw that many already had. I look forward to seeing what the piece looks like when I pick it up at the end of the installation.
More Photos:
So, that’s what I’ve been making with yarn and hook this month. What have you been making?
New in the THREADSTACK Directory
Welcome
of to the THREADSTACK directory. Find Izzy in the embroiderers category, although Izzy enjoys knitting, sewing and collage including stitched collage, mixed media textiles, feltmaking too. Izzy says:“I write about my creative practice in textile art and teaching through the lens of someone with ADHD. I talk about motivation, procrastination, imposter syndrome, organisation and clutter - all the good stuff that goes with having a creative, neurodiverse mind! I also teach online courses in machine embroidery, which participants have described as among the best they’ve taken.”
What Izzy most hopes to get out of joining the THREADSTACK directory:
“I’d love to connect with other textile art enthusiasts here on Substack, especially new neurodivergent ADHD and AuDHD friends.”
Reminder that you can join the directory if you write regularly on Substack about anything yarn and thread, fiber and fabric.
THREADSTACK Community Links
Nobody submitted their own links this month. Here’s a reminder that you can do that here.
NEW: Pay it forward by sharing a link to someone else’s work!!
Maybe you don’t feel comfortable sharing links to your own work on Substack for one reason or another. But wouldn’t it be nice if someone else saw your work and thought it was so wonderful that it must be shared? Introducing community shoutouts.
Here are a few of the pieces from our community that especially inspired me this month:
I encourage you to visit just one or two of these, leave a comment, start a conversation, connect with other crafters.
Threadstack’s directory, essays, interviews and links will always be free and public.
However, you can sign up for a monthly or annual subscription to support this work.
As extra perks, paying subscribers will get discounts on workshops and books, occasional snail mail from me (small crochet art pieces and handmade cards, mostly) and the joy of knowing that you’re a patron of the fiber arts.
Thank you so much for sharing a link to my post, that's so kind! I'm excited to have found you as of course, more yarny content is definitely what I'm looking for!
Fabulous especially the tendrils. Well done