Have you ever wondered what it is about the crafting world (and crafters) that seems to give us common threads (no pun intended) across large swaths of time and distance? What holds us together, even in different regions? What the differences are in a punk rock stitch & bitch in Seattle versus a small prayer shawl ministry in the heart of the south?
This summer, from July 5th to the 26th, Craft Culture is putting rubber to the road to find out the answers to all of those questions, and more.
Over most of July, Dani will be visiting SIX CITIES across the eastern USA, talking with YOU about your crafty lives and groups! This leg of what will eventually be a worldwide tour is focused primarily on knitting and spinning, and Dani plans to visit with local yarn stores, stitch & bitches, knit nights, prayer shawl ministries, and knitters on the street (among others). That means YOU could be a part of this tour!
She’ll be blogging her progress as she travels from pristine Anchorage, Alaska to Greensboro, North Carolina, as well as doing videos and podcasts highlighting her adventures. And it’s all for a good cause — the data she collects will be used for either a section of an upcoming book or a book in its entirety about the sociological and cultural impact of modern handcrafts. We’ve always known, as crafters, that what we do can impact and change both ourselves and the world around us, and now, Dani’s looking to document it firsthand.
Just in case you’re here from a link, here’s a short video that she put together by way of introduction, both to herself and the Craft Culture World Tour project:
This is bound to be an EPIC first leg of the Culture tour! Keep reading to find out how you can help and/or get involved!
This beautiful city is where Dani grew up. Having lived in Las Vegas, NV for the past 7 years, Dani has now returned to her home town to finish her education, spend time with her family and to begin her Tour! Full of winding bike trails, hundreds of drive thru coffee shops and what Dani considers the Best Book Store on the Planet (Title Wave Books), Anchorage is a lush landscape in the summer time and a beautiful proving ground for handknits in the winter.
Who wouldn’t want to visit the hometown of Oprah, President Obama and more importantly Dani’s favorite band; Alkaline Trio? Nestled in that cozy spot along the side of Lake Michigan, “The Windy City” is a strong hold of both Democrats and brave souls willing to knit themselves through those long hard winters. Dani is still searching for a host family in Chicago. .
Located at the tippy top of Ohio along the edge of Lake Erie, Cleveland is another city with thriving culture, art, a wide variety of people and more importantly Shannon Okey of Knitgrrl Studio. Dani fully intends to stalk talk to Shannon while she’s in Cleveland. Also, it’s the “Rock n Roll Capital of the World”, neat!.
This tour date was put here specifically to route Dani through New Jersey so she could meet up with Jesh (of JeshKnits) a past Craft Culture contributor and all around awesome gal. The culture of Newark seems fairly hard to define, but Jesh has promised both kittens and cakewaffles with ice cream while Dani is here.
The capital city of the Commonwealth of Virgina, Richmond is a sprawling city of cultural diversity and if the internet is to be believed; giant massive churches. Dani is currently still looking for a host home in this great Southern city and a local yarn shop to have her as a guest.
Northernmost part of the “genteel south”, North Carolina is home to many diverse and talented fiber artists. Dani will be touring through Raleigh and Greensboro’s fiber culture, and finding out why people who live in such a warm climate still like wool.
Do you live in one of the posted cities on the tour date schedule? Are you a non-smoking household? (Pets are ok.) Are you free July 1 – 24th, and not the crazy axe-murdering type?
WE NEED YOU.
On several of the tour dates, Dani is in need of a place to stay. She’d prefer to be in a local home rather than a hotel or hostel, primarily for the benefit of getting to see how an average fiber-person lives in the region they’re in. (She is, after all, an ethnographer at heart.)
If you’re interested in hosting Dani, see this page for more information and a form to fill out. She’d love to see you!
Don’t live in one of the posted tour date regions? We’d still love to hear from you!
Take photos or video of your local fibery culture. Stores, stitch & bitch meetings, events or ministries — tell us what makes YOUR town, your region, your local group so special, and we’ll be featuring them on the Craft Culture blog and site as things progress. You may even be mentioned in the book, or be the catalyst for future tour dates.
Tell us who you are!
