1 Knitting in Australia: artefact & exegesis Sue Green Approved for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Swinburne University of Technology August, 2018 2 3 Abstract This project, undertaken by artefact and exegesis, draws together a book about knitting in Australia intended for a general readership, with a scholarly framework. The exegesis arises from issues identified in producing the artefact, an interview-based, non-fiction publication, Disruptive knitting: how knitters are changing the world. Its nine themed chapters are created through autoethnographic, Practice-Led Research based on reporting and interpreting 87 interviewers with knitters and related interviewees. This includes their knittings’ relevance to key social issues such gender, women’s role and social inequality. It enriches the discussion of how, for many, knitting has become a tool for rebellion, art making and activism on feminist and political issues. It examines and demonstrate knitting’s ability not only to reflect the wider Australian society, but to influence that society through both individual and collective acts of knitting in the context of the gendered nature of the craft. Central to this artefact production and its exegetical framework are two complementary questions: How has the traditional craft of knitting, stereotypically a woman’s hobby for the purpose of producing utilitarian items including garments, evolved to become a tool for numerous other purposes including political protest, reinforcement of and rebellion against traditional gender roles, and the creation of fine art? What does the practice of knitting reveal about Australian society and how has it influenced events in that society since World War II? This project brings together insights into creative work that has largely been isolated as women’s craft, created by labour regarded as having no calculable value. The exegesis aims to provide a context and scholarly framework for the artefact, illuminating the gendered practice of knitting through the prism of Feminist Standpoint Theory (FST). It addresses a gap in the publication of works about the social and cultural impact of knitting and brings creativity as knowledge into the Academy. Continuing a trend to identifying knitting as a suitable topic for research and scholarship, it illuminates the practitioner scholarship of the artefact, thus bringing new scholarship to the topic of knitting. This project is fully engaged with contemporary developments, in particular the repositioning of the traditional gendered nature of knitting and the influence of contemporary political developments, the Internet and social media on it and its influence on and ability to disrupt them. 4 Acknowledgements Without the knitters this book would not exist. I’m indebted to you for opening yourselves to my scrutiny, not only telling me about your knitting, but about your lives. You shared with me stories of discrimination, of fighting for social change, struggles with physical and mental illness, personal trauma and grief, homophobia and bravely challenging the way society says a man should live. Thank you so very much to (in order of appearance) knitters Julia Billings, Lynn Berry, Jane ‘Queen Babs’ Balke Andersen, Rhiannon Owens, Ruth Oakden, Candace Gibson, Helen Lovitt, Linda Cooper, Bluey Little, Stephen Lawton, Susan Campbell-Wright, Peter Jobson, Luke Shilson- Hughes, Meg Gadsbey, Jac Fink, Loani Prior, Alison Ayers, Marilyn Healy, Karen Corrie, Lizzy Emery, Anna Barton, Nonna Reckless, Annette Fitton, Clare Twomey, The Stitch, Sofia Cai, Mary- Helen Ward, Barbara Schembri, Liz Saltwell, Win Bucknall, Lurline Stuart, Nancy Sheppard, Isabel Foster, Flora Westley, Deb Rhodes, Meredith Atilemile, Marg Knight, Kath Schroder, Adrienne Morton, Robyne Conway, Shay Zhang, Ruth Power, Cynthia Mulholland, Lise Chambers, Valerie Elliott, Kirrin Lill, Fiona Wright, Ros Rogers OAM, Dawn Toomey, David Reidy, Kevin Richards, Peter Muir and Wolf Graf. Poppy knitters Hazel Flay and Lisette Dillon kindly gave permission for their dedications to be included. My 87 interviewees from all states and territories are the backbone of this book. Most were knitters, but my grateful thanks also to artists (and, mostly, knitters) Roisin O’Dwyer, Elizabeth Barnett, Casey Jenkins, Lars Stenberg, Ruth Marshall, Makeda Duong, Jim Pavlidis, Lex Randolph, Jude Skeers, darcy t gunk, Brett Alexander, Kate Just, Kate Riley, Ruth Halbert and Vishna Collins, artists and textile designers Kaffe Fassett MBE and Jenny Kee, and photographer (and knitter) Marilyn Healy. Thank you for valuable information and insights to yarn store owner (and knitter) Tash Barneveld, curators Karina Devine, Corinne Ball and Paola Di Trocchio, Royal Melbourne Show arts, craft and cookery curator Annette Shiell, craftivist and academic Tal Fitzpatrick, sustainable lifestyle advocate Tracy Bourne, social and political researcher and leading feminist Eva Cox AO, Professor of History Joy Damousi, former Premier of Victoria and chair of the Victorian Anzac Centenary Committee Ted Baillieu, psychologist Meredith Fuller, nurse donation specialist Joanna Forteath, Knitted Knockers Australia president Cheryl Webster, craft curator and 5 commentator Dr Kevin Murray, art critic John McDonald and textile arts pioneer Janet De Boer OAM. This book was written as part of a PhD project at Swinburne University of Technology and my principal supervisor, Professor of Writing Josie Arnold, not only offered invaluable suggestions and advice, she was my chief cheerleader, encouraging me and supporting me every step of the way from an idea and a blank screen to the final fullstop. Thank you too for very helpful suggestions and feedback to my supervisors Dr Nanette Carter, senior lecturer in design, and Associate Professor Andrew Dodd, then-head of Swinburne’s journalism program. The Handknitters Guild library was a treasure trove and volunteer librarians Barbara Bugg and Susan McDougall provided many useful books, with Susan taking enormous trouble to research wartime knitting patterns and magazines. Swinburne University’s interlibrary loans librarian Mez Wilkinson saved me a fortune by summoning books from around the world. Thank you, too, to the knitters of Victoria’s Handknitters Guild for 22 years of encouragement, support and good times. A PhD is a long, rather lonely journey and few things are more companionable than a Sunday afternoon cuppa and a knit at the guild. Abby, the assistant editor who has her own chair at my desk, provided furry, purry company when it all seemed too hard. 6 Disruptive Knitting: How knitters are changing the world 7 Declaration I declare that the examinable outcome: 1. contains no material which has been accepted for the award to the candidate of any other degree, or diploma except where due reference is made in the text of the examinable outcome; 2. to the best of my knowledge contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text of the examinable outcome. The in-text references and reference list of this exegesis have been professionally copy edited by Dr Rachel Le Rossignol, according to the Australian Standards for Editing Practice. The standards applied relate to appropriate academic editing, including ensuring the document meets the examining university’s formatting requirements. The full document, excluding the reference list of this exegesis, has been read for typographical errors because, due to arthritis/RSI in her hands, the candidate uses Dragon voice activated software of necessity and speech recognition errors occur. It has been proofread by professional editor and publisher Annie Hall, of independent publisher Threekookaburras, a member of the Institute of Professional Editors. She has proofread in accordance with ASEP standards, using the Australian Style Manual for reference. Susan Jennifer Green Melbourne 25 May 2018 8 9 Contents: Artefact Preface 9 Introduction 11 Chapter 1: Global Threads 15 Chapter 2: Bombs Away 59 Chapter 3: Designing Change 95 Chapter 4: Women on Top 127 Chapter 5: Thanks Girls and Goodbye 161 Chapter 6: Connecting with the Past 197 Chapter 7: Knitting in Mind 227 Chapter 8: Blurring the Boundaries 268 Chapter 9: I Know I Like it – But is it Art? 305 Reference List 350 10 11 Preface Knitting has been part of my life since just hours after I was born and lovingly dressed in a white, lacy layette of matching garments handknitted by my mum. Never mind that each of those tiny pieces – dress, jacket, bonnet, booties and even mittens – and all the others I wore during the cold New Zealand winter would have to be hand washed. Never mind that my mother was also a schoolteacher, Sunday school teacher and worked on the farm. Knitting was what women did in the evenings – whether they liked it or not. Knitting was a necessity: No knitting, no winter jumpers and cardigans, no hats and gloves, no school or football scarves. Many men back then could also knit, having learned during World War II, but most didn’t. That had been an exception for an exceptional time, not one to be carried over into ‘normal’ life. This story of knitting and its power to change lives is, in essence, my story. Born into post-war austerity, I was taught to knit at age six by my mother and grandmothers, all of whom, luckily, loved knitting and were expert at it. Ever since, it has been an integral part of my life. I have lived through the social changes to which knitting responded in New Zealand, where I was born and raised, and Australia, where I have lived for most of my adult life. As I document here, I have seen knitting influence the way women are pressured to conform to society’s stereotypes as wives, mothers and crafters, their skills denigrated or simply ignored. But I have also seen it alter the way their lives are lived as women discover themselves and their voices with their knitting as an agent of change. While not a memoir nor a first person story, this book is influenced by my personal experiences and my use of personal contacts to find interviewees, record knitters’ experiences and historical perspectives.