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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple id="role_body"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> Blindhands@aol.com [mailto:Blindhands@aol.com] <br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, April 05, 2012 5:25 PM<br><b>To:</b> erival@comcast.net; ckuell@comcast.net<br><b>Subject:</b> In the Braille Monitor this month<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Chris , maybe you can reprint this for our state newsletter. I can givve you contact info if you need to contact Ramona.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'><a href="mailto:ramona.walhof@gmail.com">ramona.walhof@gmail.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> NFB Krafters Division<br> Satisfy Your Artistic Flair or Make Some Extra Money<br> by Ramona Walhof<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>>From the former Editor: I can't count the times that I have spoken with a<br>newly blind person who laments the loss of crafting as an inevitable<br>consequence of blindness. I know that this does not have to be true, but,<br>except for knitting, I am not an arts-and-crafts person, so I can give<br>little hands-on advice or help. Ramona Walhof is a longtime Federation<br>leader who has always enjoyed sewing, knitting, and other handcrafts. In<br>the following article she describes the work of one of the NFB divisions<br>with which she is active. Some readers will be interested in becoming<br>members, but all of us should know about the Krafters' work so that we can<br>pass along the information to those who need to know about their work and<br>learn how to keep active with the crafts they love. This is what Ramona<br>says:<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> Although only three years old, the Krafters Division of the NFB is<br>probably the most active of the thirty NFB divisions. Federationists may<br>wish to know more about its activities, and some may wish to join.<br> President Joyce Kane from Connecticut has done crafts all her life.<br>She knits, crochets, makes clothing and quilts with her sewing machine,<br>does safety pin beading, and is interested in all sorts of other arts and<br>crafts. Joyce lost her vision fourteen years ago and began looking for and<br>creating techniques to do the things she had always enjoyed in order to<br>continue doing them without vision. She joined the Federation and was soon<br>elected to office in her chapter and state affiliate. She was president of<br>her chapter in southern Connecticut for eight years. Joyce made contact<br>with other blind crafters and found that most had experience and ideas to<br>share. Several years ago she contacted President Maurer about forming an<br>NFB division. He recommended she hold an organizing meeting at the 2008<br>convention.<br> Before that meeting Joyce had recruited officers and board members<br>from all over the country. Dr. Maurer asked me to help the group write its<br>constitution along the lines customarily followed by NFB divisions. I<br>didn't think I had time for one more activity but was elected to the board<br>and now serve as secretary. This division is different from others in which<br>I have been active, and it is a lot of fun.<br> By the time of the organizing meeting in 2008, Cindy Sheets of<br>Kentucky had agreed to develop a website: <<a href="http://www.KraftersKorner.org">www.KraftersKorner.org</a>>. Laurie<br>Porter of Wisconsin and some others had agreed to teach classes by<br>conference telephone. Diane Filipe of Colorado brought handmade ceramic<br>Braille pins to sell at the 2009 convention as the first division<br>fundraiser. Before organizing, the group had already begun holding Monday<br>night chats by conference phone calls each week, and in 2012 these chats<br>continue.<br> The listserv, nfb-krafters-korner was established before the division<br>was organized. Today approximately 150 people are subscribed to this list,<br>and it is one of the most active of all the nfbnet lists now in operation.<br>>From 15 to 40 messages may appear on this list most days. Topics cover<br>crafts from quilting to pottery, from crocheting to weaving, from making<br>Christmas decorations to using the sewing machine. Some of the topics<br>discussed during December of 2011 were candy wreaths, blocking knitted<br>items, crafts that can be done one-handed for someone about to have surgery<br>on her shoulder, crocheted cupcakes, snowmen made on the knifty knitter<br>loom, gumdrop trees, sewing rags for rugs, and on and on. To join this<br>list, go to <<a href="http://www.nfbnet.org">www.nfbnet.org</a>> and select the link entitled Join or Drop<br>NFBnet Mailing Lists.<br> President Kane is always eager to recruit volunteers to teach<br>classes. Frequently three or four classes are taught by conference phone<br>call each week. Some classes are complete in one hour, while others stretch<br>over three or four lessons, each lasting from one to two hours. During 2011<br>twenty-nine classes were offered and completed. Anywhere from three to<br>fifteen students can be in a class.<br> As usual Joyce was recruiting teachers and students last fall. After<br>some thought I realized there might be some interest in machine sewing, but<br>we had to find out whether members had access to sewing machines. It turned<br>out that some people did. They had to learn how to thread their machines<br>before the class began. We couldn't teach that by phone to people using a<br>variety of machines. Each student in that class now has a new apron. Both<br>Joyce and I were very pleased that we could explain the techniques by<br>phone, and the students were also happy. As you might guess, Joyce is<br>encouraging me to teach another class, this time on making T-shirts as a<br>means of teaching techniques used to sew knitted or stretchy fabrics.<br> On the listserv, problems are posed and answered by other crafters.<br>Members have learned new crafts and new methods. Newly blind people have<br>gained confidence and ideas for pursuing the craft activities they wish to<br>master.<br> We have heard many stories of individuals who have conquered fears or<br>other problems. One member, Jewell Boll from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, sold her<br>sewing machine when she lost her sight and is now excited about taking up<br>sewing again. She wants to tell those who are newly blind not to become<br>angry and frustrated. She says that, if she had been in touch with more<br>blind people when she became blind, she would have done things differently.<br>She is looking for a machine to purchase and has sought opinions on the<br>listserv about various models.<br> Another member, Lynda Lambert from Pennsylvania, was a painter and<br>was depressed and angry when she became blind about four years ago, but she<br>is now enthusiastically producing large and beautiful pottery and beaded<br>items. She held an art show displaying her work last fall and received<br>compliments from those who visited. She also sold several pieces at<br>satisfactory prices. You may wish to check out her website,<br><<a href="http://lyndalambert.com">http://lyndalambert.com</a>>. Lynda has a lot of ideas, and she entertains<br>other listers as she shares her experiences. She says an artist just can't<br>stop being an artist, even when she has to turn to a different art. Her<br>standards are high, and that will not change. Lynda also knits and does<br>other arts and crafts.<br> Another painter who lost her vision continued to knit dish cloths<br>while recovering from her surgery, but this was not enough of an outlet for<br>her love of art. After some training at BLIND, Incorporated, in Minnesota,<br>Jeanny Nylander returned home to Lacrosse to find that her husband had<br>bought her a potter's wheel. She had taken pottery in college and enjoyed<br>it. She contacted Joyce Kane and Lynda Lambert through the Krafters<br>Division, and pottery has become her new art. She is again making and<br>selling art. Both Lynda and Jeanny are extremely complimentary about the<br>opportunities they have discovered from each other and from the division.<br>The two led a discussion about pottery for other crafters and taught a<br>class in January of 2012 by conference call. They are planning to teach<br>other classes in coming months. Both say that artists have a need to share<br>ideas and techniques.<br> Another crafter, Jaselli Walter, uses clay that does not need to be<br>fired. She has led a Monday night chat about this, and members are eager to<br>learn more about what she does. Division members are encouraged to list<br>items they have made for sale on the first and the fifteenth of each month.<br>We have plans to make sales opportunities available on the website as soon<br>as possible. The group also makes items for charities.<br> Becky Frankeberger from Washington State taught a Tunisian crochet<br>class in January and February, using an email list. Becky is a machine<br>knitter and has gone into business selling items she has made. See her work<br>at <<a href="http://www.butterflyknitting.com">www.butterflyknitting.com</a>>. A write-up on her and her work appears on<br><<a href="http://www.KraftersKorner.org">www.KraftersKorner.org</a>>.<br> Representatives from a group of blind quilters have joined the list,<br>and I am sure we will learn more from them.<br> Division dues are ten dollars per year and may be paid directly to<br>the treasurer, Diane Filipe, 1455 44th Avenue Place, Greeley, Colorado<br>80634, or pay using PayPal on the website, <<a href="http://www.KraftersKorner.org">www.KraftersKorner.org</a>>.<br>Classes are free to members, and they are described ahead of time on the<br>website. Anyone who has questions or suggestions should contact President<br>Joyce Kane at (203) 378-8928 or email her at <<a href="mailto:blindhands@aol.com">blindhands@aol.com</a>>. All<br>those interested in arts and crafts should come to the division meeting at<br>the convention in Dallas this summer. I believe we will also have a display<br>and sale of handmade items Saturday afternoon, the day before the exhibit<br>room opens. Please check your agenda for times and locations. Plans are<br>moving forward for a busy week. If anyone has requests, don't be shy. We<br>can't guarantee to do everything you can dream up, but anything could<br>happen.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Joyce Kane<br><a href="http://www.krafterskorner.org/">www.KraftersKorner.org</a><br>Blindhands@AOL.com <o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></body></html>