PieceWork Magazine

August 5, 2021 1:42 PM

PieceWork Magazine "celebrates the rich history of needlework and makers from around the globe".

There is a lot of content online. Articles include:

* Not Just an Instruction Leaflet: the “social life” of a knitting pattern, by Ingrid Murnane
* The Case of a Sodha Rajput Masala Bag, by Chitra Balasubramaniam
* The Goddess's Seat: A Small Sujni Quilt, by Chitra Balasubramaniam
* The “Pin” Is Mightier than the Sword: Politics and Needlework Magazines in the Early Twentieth Century, by Mary Dickinson Bird
* Scottish Samplers, by Kathy Troup
* All the World Is Needleworking! Florence Yoder Wilson and America’s Immigrant Needleworkers, by Susan Strawn
* Treasured Bags from around the world, by Veronica Patterson
* A Most Valuable Fabric: Crepe Paper in the Early Twentieth Century, by Beverly Gordon
* Game of Kings: The Embroidered Caupar Game Board, by Chitra Balasubramaniam
* Carrying and Protecting Little Ones: Native American Cradleboards, by Beverly Gordon
* Let Us Keep Knitting and Crocheting for the Bazar, Sisters! (women's suffrage), by Katherine Durack
* “You’ve Got to Really Like Your Job”: Department Stores as Purveyors of Yarn and Knitting Knowledge, 1930–1960, by Susan Strawn
* Going in Circles: A History of Knitting in the Round, by Eileen Lee
* Ledra Quilts: Giving New Life to My Mother’s Sarees, by Chitra Balasubramaniam

There is an associated podcast; this episode has an interview with textile historian Penelope Hemingway. There is also an email newsletter.

posted by paduasoy (8 comments total)

Previously in a comment by dorothyisunderwood.
posted by paduasoy at 1:43 PM on August 5, 2021 [2 favorites]

So much good stuff! And a wide net - eg "Lice and the History of Textiles".
posted by clew at 5:35 PM on August 5, 2021 [2 favorites]

Marvelous stuff! The cradle- board article interests me as my mother did use a cradle board for me. It was an Alaskan Native one lined in wolf fur. I have always done beading and needle work. It is something I enjoy.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 5:44 PM on August 5, 2021 [3 favorites]

Thank you! I look forward to spending a lot of time on this site!
posted by pangolin party at 3:56 AM on August 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

The one about the department store yarn departments is fascinating.
posted by janell at 8:38 AM on August 6, 2021 [1 favorite]

The "knit things for the bazar" suffragette article is reminding me of the full-on mountain of non-profits and charitable organizations out there who have ongoing knitting drives, asking knitters to donate all kinds of knit stuff that they can distribute to those in need. And you can pretty much find a donation drive that benefits any cause you care about.

In the article they discuss the misconception that anti-suffragettes have about the suffragettes still doing "women's work" while they do other things -

"A man who edits a newspaper edits a newspaper. Between writing editorials he smokes his pipe. . . . The woman editor crochets edges on wash-cloths! Of course this is one instance only, but I see similarities all through business life. . . . The truth is wash-cloths in the process of making have no place in newspaper offices. And until a woman learns the fit place for everything and then puts the things she has charge of in those fit places, she is not fit for any particular place."

The counterargument from the suffragettes was that "[T]he writer does not seem to realize that a woman editor may find as much real relaxation in plying her knitting needles as any male editor finds in smoking his pipe." And that's just it - knitting is a relaxing and calming thing to do, but because it's a "women's thing" it was dismissed. And meanwhile you have all these armies of women who are knitting like crazy and need something to do with all the stuff they've knit. So they become cottage-industry things on Etsy, or fundraising things, or they are donated to NICU units or homeless shelters or animal shelters or any manner of places, who are short on funding but long on need.

When I moved recently, one of the few things I did not downsize was my yarn stash - because I'd decided that instead of giving away the yarn, I would start using it all, cranking out piles of hats and scarves and winter cowls and such for merchant seamen, or for former foster kids bound for college, or for homeless LGBTQ youth. I suspect that the kid who gets one of my hats won't really care about the politics behind it - they'll be glad they're warm.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:56 AM on August 6, 2021 [6 favorites]

It's worthwhile subscription. One of my favorite articles that isn't up online is the long piece about George Washington Carver's crochet hobby. He was a thread crocheter and did beautiful work that he apparently used at home and gave away to this students for gifts.
posted by blnkfrnk at 10:34 AM on August 6, 2021 [4 favorites]

(My Work Is That of Conservation has that and so much more about GWC. Big recommend.)
posted by clew at 11:55 AM on August 6, 2021 [3 favorites]