A little over a year ago I travelled to Reading for a confab with my friend Felix. We’d had an idea to work on a project together with our mutual friend and colleague, Mel, and wanted to thrash things out. By the time I was heading north again, we’d come up with a plan: to create a blanket together, exploring our own feminism and celebrating 30 of the diverse creative women who’d inspired us.
At the conclusion of our recent club, some members of the KDD Ravelry group got together to set up “Square Share:” a thread for swapping designs for blanket squares, sharing ideas, and supporting each other’s creative process. This is precisely the spirit behind the blanket that Felix and Mel and I conceived last year, so we felt it was the time to tell you a bit about the project, as well as to make the basic chart we used to design each square freely available, so that you can all take the project forward in your own ways, creating squares about the people, things, and issues that inspire and challenge you. (You can now download the blank chart template and basic blanket square pattern on Ravelry).
Our simple idea was that Felix and I would develop and design 15 individual squares each, and that Mel would then knit them up. When we began, none of us had a sense of just how much work was going to be involved, or how very emotional that work was going to be. For all of us, the project was very personal as well as deeply political. As friends, we are continually enthusing with each other about things we love and enjoy, and we wanted to use this project to focus some of that enthusiasm on sharing the stories of those whose lives and achievements had become important to our own stories, and whose work we found consistently inspiring. We also felt a strong sense of wanting to express our connection to the diverse women who’d inspired us through our own making.
So I was able to bring my favourite poet, Adrienne Rich, to Mel and Felix’s attention . . .
While Felix introduced me to Rocky Rivera (Krishtine de Leon)
Learning about the lives and achievements of a diverse range of creative women through each other’s affinities with them was a wonderful, mutually educative process. I discovered much more about Felix and her distinctive creative life through her choices of inspiring women, and in turn, I was able to go away and enrich my own creativity by listening to new music, reading some new books, and appreciating some new-to-me art.
. . . such as that of Alma Thomas.
Before we developed our designs, we also spent a long time reflecting on the particular kinds of stories we wanted our blanket to tell. Often, rather than summarising a life, our designs focused on particular incidents, which told suggestive stories about women’s material connections, or the things and objects with which their lives had been associated.
(the cranes of red Clydeside featured in my Mary Barbour square)
For example, I wanted to commemorate Beryl Gilroy, a trailblazing novelist, memoirist, and children’s writer who, 50 years ago, also became Britain’s first black headteacher at a school in Camden. When Dr. Gilroy came to the UK from Guyana in 1951 to complete her teaching studies, she brought with her a wardrobe of brightly coloured tailored clothes. London was both much more chilly and more somber than Guyana, and Dr Gilroy creatively mixed up the bright corals and oranges from her wardrobe with two-tone monochrome woollens. I’d read about a dogtooth tweed coat bought by Dr Gilroy when she first arrived in London in Carol Tulloch’s great book about black British fashion, The Birth of the Cool, so I thought I’d try to commemorate that garment – which spoke to me very powerfully about how textiles redefine identity, and how cloth mediates the way one is forced to adapt to new situations, new environs, and how one finds and expresses oneself in those new places.
The design is plain and simple–like Dr Gilroy’s coat–and that is kind of the point.
Many of my squares were inspired by particular moments in the work of women writers whose work I love. This one, for example, represents a moment in Head Above Water, the important memoir of Nigerian-British author, Buchi Emecheta, when the writer recalls her grandmother’s call songs.
Felix and I researched our stories, we developed our designs, and in doing so we thought a lot about many complex issues: what did our choices say about our own identities, our own places as white English and Scottish women, who’d developed our own particular kind of feminism? To me, intersectionality has always been about respect, dialogue, and the hopeful possibility of further dialogue, and one of the best things about working on this project together was how we were able to thoughtfully challenge each other and interrogate ourselves about our politics and positions. There were other considerations too. Some of the women we wanted to celebrate were also alive — was it appropriate for us to represent them, or to commemorate their work, in this context? In some cases, it proved useful and heartening to be able to have respectful conversations, and in that process, other connections were also made.
The months went on. Felix and I kept on designing, Mel kept on knitting (and helping us to refine our square designs). This blanket is around 5 feet by 4 with 30 different separate elements — it took 6 months to create from October 2018 to March 2019) and theres a lot of thought and knitting in it and an awful lot of slow time – in the thinking and the making, and indeed in what came after. The rest of the KDD team –Tom, Sam, Jane, Claire and our tech editor Frauke, were involved in the project’s final stages, and, after completing the photography of the blanket for International Women’s Day in March, we had our own small celebration.
This project is very much about what we all do, as makers, and as businesses, at KDD and Knitsonik — and it has nothing at all to do with generating income. The purpose of the blanket is educational on the one hand and celebratory on the other: so we’ve set up a website where you can learn more about the stories of each individual commemorated in the blanket, and we’ve shared the basic pattern freely to enable any knitter who’d like to to take this project forward in their own way.
Having enjoyed the process of developing and making our squares so much, we are also finding our own ways to take its project forward, and have recently received some very exciting news about the blanket, which we will be able to share with you in a couple of weeks time.
In the meantime, keep an eye on Felix’s blog (where she will be saying more about her own experience of working on the blanket), and I’ll be back here in a couple of days time to share more about my actual design process when creating the squares (which may help those of you who are developing colourwork charts for the first time)
Links
Explore the blanket website
Download the Square Share pattern for free on Ravelry
Square Share group thread
I love this project. Congratulations on creating it and making it accessible to the public.
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Dear Kate,
Congratulations to you and Felix on winning the International Women’s Day Best Practice award. You are a constant source of inspiration to me.
Thank you for all you have given us. I look forward to what the future will bring.
Best wishes,
Bordergirl
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thankyou! x
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Kate, I am just speechless at the creativity, thoughtfulness, and work on display here! I would love to see the blanket myself, and hope it will make appearances at fiber festivals or museums here in the US. Until then, I am thoroughly enjoying learning more about many women represented here whose names are new to me. Thank you so much for this huge contribution. You and your team are an inspiration!
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Hi Kate
I was going thru the squares and the women who you are celebrating and all of a sudden was the name Alma Thomas! All the way from Scotland! My family is from DC where my Mom studied painting and knew Alma Thomas. This unexpected but wonderful connection made me teary and happy, as you can imagine. What a flood of memories………….
Thank you
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Sybil! How lovely to hear this. Thank you!
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I think this is such a lovely blanket and such a lovely idea. Currently I’m reading Jonathan Safran Foer’s new book “We are the weather. Saving the planet begins at breakfast” and in the beginning of that book he mentions Claudette Colvin, who, at the age of fifteen, on march 2. 1955, was the first african woman to be arrested for refusing to change bus seats in Montgomery, Alabama. I think she too deserves a square in your blanket.
All the best
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This is the most wonderful and positive thing I have seen for what seems like a long time. It’s an idea that I love so much it made me cry in a cafe. I can’t wait to start designing my own remarkable women blanket. Thank you.
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This is a truly marvellous blanket which must have been a wonderful project to work on. I have loved reading about all the inspirational women it celebrates (several of whom I already know of and so read about with a smile of warm recognition whilst details of others have sent me racing to learn more). It reminded me immediately of a deeply moving quilt which was sewn in Zambia in the late 70s (I think) of squares in memory of members of families, lost to AIDS. The collaborative quality in both the making and the thought processes behind quilts and blankets such as yours is very moving – I trust your beautiful example will be widely displayed and generate much interest.
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The blanket is amazingly beautiful as are the thoughts and the people behind it. I am touched by what you wrote, Kate, but also by many of the comments. Thank you Kate, Felix, Mel and the commenters for adding meaning and joy to my day.
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The blanket is so beautiful it took my breath away. Then I got really excited when I thought you were actually going to share this pattern. Only to be incredibly disappointed to find the “pattern” is a blank square… why did you even bother?
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The idea of sharing the instructions to knit the squares, together with the chart that’s laid out to record your own ideas, is to encourage knitters to explore and take the project forward in their own ways, designing and collaboratively creating their own squares and blankets.
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This is splendid on so many levels. Thank you!
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I had the opportunity when I was in college (University) to hear Adrienne Rich. I have always been a great admirer of hers. I also grew up listening to Switched on Bach by Wendy Carlos. It is still one of my favorite albums ever. Thanks for the reminder of these two wonderful artists as well as others whom I do not know.
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Beautiful in all sorts of ways. I can’t wait to explore the stories behind it and i can almost imagine how it would feel to the touch. Thank you for sharing the creative process too, you are all so talented and inspiring. I just love the idea of life stories in knitted squares. I can’t stop looking at it!!
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Beautiful. Inspirational. Emotional. Educational. Generous. Powerful. So much more than the sum of its parts.
Thank you for sharing with all of us. I’m looking at my own (very small) knitting in a new way, and seeing more potential.
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What a fabulous body of work—truly breathtaking. I look forward to reading much more about the blanket and the process od its creation. Kudos to you all!
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Thank you all so much for sharing. I appreciate this so much – the squares are so different from each other and speak so powerfully, some of women I know and some that suggest exciting women who I can discover now!
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By far the most impressive piece of knitted art I have had the privilege to view. I am only on my iPhone right now but I will send more time reading and viewing on my computer today. I am truly overwhelmed.
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Gobsmacked. Thank you.
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Thrilled to see and savor this project! Not only is Adrienne Rich on my own list of Greats, but I’m excited to add new names to the list through learning more about the squares shown here. The motivation and method of producing the blanket is something that’s been appealing to me more and more lately. I love woolens, I’m a moderately swift knitter, and I’m living on a modest budget. I want to use fine, ethically sourced materials, and I must work within my means. All of this means that I will be working more deliberately, taking a careful look at the patterns I choose and the purpose in making them up as garments. Working in more of my own creative spark and honoring my own heroes seems like a logical extension of these first steps.
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Just when I believe you have reached your limit, you go on to not surprise me but blow me out of the water. I had tears in my eyes as I read this post. Can’t decide which is more beautiful, the blanket, or the story. Anyone wrapped in this will truly be wrapped in a history of women few even know exists. I am inspired to knit it for my 4-year-old granddaughter just so she can know who has come before her. Thanking you seems so feeble, but know that I will share this with friends to continue to weave your and their stories in more lives. I hope you will take a moment to reflect on the effect you have had on so many lives, Kate. It will take your breath away. Godspeed.
Linda D.
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I am so moved and deeply touched by your project. You created an incredibly beautiful work of art. You celebrated other important women – I look forward to researching them since most are unknown to me. You collaborated as creative, strong women with a powerful voice. You shared deeply of yourselves with each other. There is a joining and circular motion here both literally in joining all those squares, and metaphorically amongst all the people involved in the making as well as those who inspired you. Wow. So very inspiring. I’m sure this work will ripple out into the world way beyond what you imagined when you began.
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Kate, Mel and Felix, Thanks for creating this exciting challenge. Peace to you.
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I am stunned by both the beauty of the blanket and the heart and soul that went into its creation. Well done you three.
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Wow! What a fascinating idea. I am working my way through each square and particularly enjoy hearing about how each pattern reflects the life and experiences of the woman who inspired it. Thanks again for another lovely and thought-provoking project!
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Truly wonderful, for so many reasons. I found the background stories for the squares fascinating – so many of them introduced me to people I wasn’t previously aware of, who have lived (or are living) extraordinary lives.
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This is so amazing on so many levels……..awe inspiring……a magnificent idea and project.
Also I LOVE to colour palette…….so beautiful.
Jane
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Stunning 😎
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Oh my word this is AMAZING. I want to look at this again and again. And the stories. Well done to all involved x
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Thanks for sharing this, it is so interesting. I would really like to read the women’s stories for each square especially as I’ve been guessing who is commemorated by certain designs. Unfortunately, the link to read the stories doesn’t work. Is it not finished yet?
Best wishes, Lorna
>
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the link is here, and it is live https://www.balanceforbetterblanket.com/the-blanket
click on each image to learn more about each of the women
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Just wonderful !
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Wow! Thank you 🙏
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i am a bit overwhelmed by this! my first reaction was : waw! how and when am i going to knit (and spin) this. but after reading the whole post a bit more slowly (the first time i scrolled quiet fastly through it because i wanted to know about the release of the patterns), i see it now as a piece of art, that i should enjoy looking at and reading about and not wanting to copy. – i have not yet knitted anything from Knitting Season, so there is enough in my queue. great project! (does it have a name?)
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we called it the “Balance for Better” blanket, to reflect the theme of International Women’s Day, 2019, which we engaged with while creating it. Perhaps you’ll hope you enjoy developing your own design from the template?
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My aunts close friend lost 2 sons in the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting almost exactly a year ago. Yarns by Design in Pittsburgh, collected and assembled hundreds ( at least) Tree of Life squares for blankets to be given to the families who lost family members. Collectively making and giving blankets, be it for an illness, support, comfort is something done I think quite often. My point is that I had NO idea how emotional designing, making, contributing to this blanket would be. We were given guidelines for our squares, but I very much wanted to symbolize the loss of both sons in 1 square. I knitted 2 halves of the TOL, so when put side to side, would make a complete tree. The emotional component was really incredible . I believe that family received the blanket with my square ( no small feat from YBD). A collaborative blanket, regardless the reason, is a meaningful, creative effort that benefits many. Not just the recipient.
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very well put
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Congratulations. A splendid project. Looking forward to this being celebrated far and wide!!
Sent from my iPhone
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This is extraordinary! Wonderful. I’m totally gushing but I am knocked out by the beauty of the concept and the design. And I am so late for all the things I was supposed to do today. Thank you Kate and Felix, and Mel for the peerless knitting.
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Oh that is so lovely. A simple concept but with so many stories and skills and emotions knitted into it. Just beautiful.
A few years ago my craft group created a blanket for a friend who was ill, she was having chemo and couldn’t come or accept visitors for months. While it did not have the artistry and beauty of this, each one of us knitted a few squares and our love was knitted through it, so that she could know we were with her in spirit. despite being a bit wobbly it was beautiful in its own way.
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I’m sure your friend loved and appreciated your work immensely – there’s nothing like a collectively-made blanket for making you feel better
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This is incredible. What talent you each have and combined, this is the amazing result.
I can only imagine what it would be like to see it in person, the photo of the blanket.
It leaves one with a comfort.
Often when there are many different squares, my brain gets overwhelmed, definitely not the case with this blanket.
This is a work of art.
Thank you
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