My name is Ariel
Pond and I am currently a Sophomore Fibers major with a Printmaking
concentration and a strong interest in Interdisciplinary Sculpture. This past
spring I was the intern for the Neighborhood Fiber Co. NFC is a small yarn
company that specializes in producing hand-dyed yarn, creating colors that are
inspired by neighborhoods that owner and artist Karida Collins has lived
around.
I discovered the
internship opportunity at the NFC through my advisor, Nicole Evans. Knowing my
interest in the Fiber arts, especially my interest in hand dyeing processes,
she suggested I contact Karida Collins of the NFC, which I did immediately.
Karida was very excited about my interest and enthusiasm in the position and
redirected me to micanetwork.com. After I applied for a job, I was interviewed
by Karida and her co-worker Becky and after talking I was given the job on the
spot.
What
really attracted me to the NFC, besides my interest in dye processes, was the
community arts project that Karida was heading, the Baltimore Satellite Reef.
This project is part of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef, which has been
exhibited around the world for several years now, to bring awareness to the
destruction of the coral reef. By involving the community in this project, not
only is this awareness spread, but a unity within that community is enhanced
through crochet.
Along
with Karida, I assisted in teaching community members how to crochet hyperbolic
planes through crochet workshops that happened regularly twice a week. Once an
individual learns to crochet, s/he participates in creating ‘coral’ pieces out
of the hyperbolic plane technique. Karida and I collect these pieces in order
to install them in Studio CA for the exhibit opening in the first week of May.
We are very excited to see the final product.
Besides
assisting with the Baltimore Satellite Reef, I assisted Karida in prepping the
yarn for the dye baths by winding off skeins of the large assortment of yarn
she offers. I also assisted with the dye process, even learning the formulas of
each color. When a mistake in the color of the yarn was made, I learned how to top
dye the yarn in order to correct the color. After the dyeing was complete, I
would twist up the dried skeins and label them for sale.
Another
big part of my internship was regulating the online store. As that is where
most of the NFC’s business is done, it is very important to have an efficient
website. In order to make the website more cohesive, I shot new product
photography of the yarns and edited the photos so that potential customers
could see exactly what color yarn they were ordering. Nothing is more
frustrating than ordering one color of something and receiving a totally
different color in the mail, all because of poor lighting and a lack of proper
editing. I would also package the skeins for shipment to these online
customers.
In
addition to these routine tasks, I also attended a yarn show with Karida and
Becky, Homespun Yarn Party. This was an event where yarn venders from all
around Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C. put their goods on display for
potential customers. I assisted in packing up the yarn to take to the show and
for assembling the space and organizing the yarn once we got there. I also was
there to answer any questions the customers might have, give suggestions, and
to ring up their orders. It was a great experience, to be able to help these
yarn lovers out!
Overall,
I am most proud of my work with the Baltimore Satellite Reef. Being able to
teach people how to crochet was really rewarding, as I was able to see their
progress and interest increase from week to week. Being able to get the
community together in this way is pretty amazing. This internship, more than
anything else, made me realize how important knit and crochet is to me, as well
as to the community as a whole. In the future, I hope to expand these interests
into my art making processes, possibly as a pattern designer or something to
that effect.
