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Unusual program teaches finer points of needle arts
By Carol Biliczky
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Monday, Jun 22, 2009
Ten years ago, Lori Henry walked into a yarn shop on a whim and got hooked on knitting.
Now she's part of a University of Akron program that may be the only one of its kind nationwide.
Henry is among 11 students who are studying knitting, crocheting, cross-stitch, needlepoint and embroidery at UA with an eye to jobs in those industries.
Students from UA and other universities spend three weeks on the Akron campus learning the needle arts. Then they intern for specialty yarn makers, shops, crafters and pattern makers for eight weeks in London, Montreal, rural Virginia and many points in between.
''We have more places that would like to take an intern than we have students,'' said Sandy Buckland, a UA professor of fashion merchandising who helps to teach the program. ''It's a huge industry and our students are missing the boat if they don't tap into it.''
UA's fashion merchandising program offers Pathways Into Professional Needlearts in cooperation with the NationalNeedleArts Association of Zanesville, which represents about 2,000 wholesalers and retailers.
Interest in the needle arts has surged, with sales growing 45 percent between Sept. 11, 2001, and 2005, association spokeswoman Sherry Mulne said. She chalks the climb to the tie between the historic needle arts and community and traditional values.
By 2007, the needle arts had grown to a $1.4 billion industry, Mulne said, quoting a survey conducted for the association two years ago.
Sales may be down now because of the economy, she said. The association won't commission another study until next year.
But a bigger challenge may be its aging clientele. The consumers who buy the pattern books, embroidery floss and needles tend to be in their 50s or older.
''We need to bring in people with unique ideas who can connect with younger consumers,'' Mulne said. ''It's about building the industry from the inside.''
Buckland, the UA professor, said it's hard to sell students on the needle arts, as they picture their grandmothers knitting afghans or crocheting toilet cozies.
But the needle artists of today use new novelty yarns and natural fibers from plants and animals in complex patterns.
''There are lots of opportunities — from manufacturers' reps who travel all over the country to fine artists who paint needlepoint canvases that others can stitch,'' Mulne said. ''Ten years from now, they're going to be the leaders. The 70-year-olds are going to be gone.''
Most of the students in the UA program do not even know how to knit, by far the most popular of the needle arts, when they walk in the door. So Buckland and associate professor Teena Jennings provide three weeks of on-campus training in the fundamentals of the five arts that the association requires them to teach.
Then they send the students out to internships, where they may be paid or may get free housing in exchange for their work.
Last year, Medina native Katie Simmons had one of the more exotic internships: the Misti International alpaca farm in Arequipa in southeastern Peru.
The trip refocused the interests of the UA graduate student from metalsmithing to alpacas. She's doing her thesis in clothing, textiles and interiors on the Ohio alpaca industry, the largest in the United States, and plans to open a mill to process and clean alpaca fiber and spin it into yarn.
The internship ''completely changed the direction of my schooling,'' she said.
As for Henry, what started as a hobby has grown into a career. She is so good at knitting that she has won knitting competitions and designed and sold her own patterns.
She returned to UA for a second bachelor's degree, this one in clothing, textiles and interiors, with an eye to what she could do with her talent with needles.
After she completes her internship at Fine Points, a yarn shop on Cleveland's East side, and graduates from UA next year, she wants to start her own knitwear design company and sell her products to upscale department stores.
''I just love knitting,'' she said. ''No one in my family did it. But it just comes easily to me.''
Students get six college credits for the class and internship, but some walk away with a renewed sense of direction, too. Buckland wishes more students would look at the opportunities.
''We're trying to inform students,'' she said. ''They don't know what is out there.''
Carol Biliczky can be reached at 330-996-3729 or cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com.
Ten years ago, Lori Henry walked into a yarn shop on a whim and got hooked on knitting.
Get the full article here.
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