history « Handmade Librarian

Crowdsourcing Fair Isle.

Last month I learned the basics of two-color knitting at Vogue Knitting Live. Instructor Amy Detjen was practical, helpful, funny, and skilled. I was able to leave class with the foundations of understanding how to wrangle two colors at a time while knitting, and I’m now furiously collecting colorwork knitting patterns on Ravelry. And I

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MoMA’s Art for Beginners.

I recently added How to Make Modern Jewelry to my home library, and while reading it the last couple of days I was fascinated to learn this interesting bit of museum history: MoMA’s campaign to immerse returning World War II veterans in the world of art and artisanship.

The Committee on Art in American Education

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Schnacke’s American Folk Toys.

I’ve owned the little Jumping Jack pictured here as long as I can remember. Until a few months ago, all that I knew of his past was that I acquired him when I was quite young, while my family and I lived in West Virginia. But now I understand a bit more of his

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LSU’s Textile & Costume Museum.

Last week I spent four days in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, attending the ALA’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Section Preconference. RBMS preconference is worth attending for lots of reasons: sharing ideas with colleagues, catching up with friends, considering new ways of tackling common challenges, and learning new skills. It’s also a time to get to know

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