Like me, HD makes the occasional perusal of newspaper obits to find out who has died.
Rather than focus on how sad it is when a life ends, I prefer to keep in mind that these people actually LIVED.
Newspaper in hand, and opened to the obits, HD asked me this morn if I'd ever heard of Mary Walker Phillips. 'She died recently. She knitted neat stuff. Do you know who she is?'.
I said no.
The obituary was titled: 'In Mary Walker Phillip's hands, knitting was art'. Apparently she was something of a knitting artiste.
I read the obit through and decided to post the subject to my blog.
(I can remember something much better (and longer) if I write a bit about it.)
Several Google links later, I realize that in fact, I do know of Mary Walker Phillips.
Phillips wrote one of the definitive books on macramé, which was published in 1970. Back then, those of us who found ourselves tangled in yards of cord and twine as we struggled with fashioning half-hitches and the like - referred to Phillip's macramé craft book as our knotting bible.
Besides macramé plant hangers, there is so much more to Miss Phillips and her involvement in tactile textile craftiness. She took all manner of natural and man-made material to the needles and created artwork. Talk about knitting outside-of-the-box!
Phillips' pieces can be found at the Museum of Modern Art, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago.
A long life immersed in creativity.
Time well spent, I should think.
2 comments:
I appreciate the info. Thank you.
Don't you think all us knittery types might consider putting Phillip's 'Creative Knitting' book on our holiday wishlists?
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