ABOUT ME
What.I.Do.
Betsy Hershberg
HAND KNITTER, DESIGNER, MAKER
Bottom line? I design and hand knit fiber jewelry. As I tell anyone who asks, despite how complex the pieces look, they all begin with what knitters recognize as our basic building blocks: knit and purl stitches worked with "two sticks and a string." The addition of beads ups the ante. And by "beads" I mean any component that I can thread a fiber through. And if those beads are one of a kind or vintage, even better. What makes the work uniquely mine is how I choose to combine the building block techniques, unique components and fabulous fibers, occasionally with some new techniques of my own invention. All still based in knitting but what I like to call “knitting made clever.”
HOW I GOT HERE
StudioB.History.101.
MY MOTHER
My remarkable mother taught me to knit around the age of 8. She was an accomplished technical knitter who insisted I learn the basics of hand knitting but more importantly insisted I learn how to recognize and correct my own mistakes. Thus I became an independent knitter. And with a thorough understanding of stitch architecture, I felt encouraged to try new things.
MARGE CASALE
The year before my youngest child left for college, I took a job two days a week at a local yarn store. Marge Casale, the owner, was a very accomplished needlework artist. She saw something in me that I hadn’t recognized. She encouraged me to teach store classes and to design projects that would help sell new yarns. She helped me to understand my own creative potential and begin to believe that I had a unique set of talents that needed to be further explored. Priceless gifts. Forever grateful.
BEAD KNITTING SAMPLER, '02
STITCHES
2002
For most of my knitting life I was self taught. I would seek out projects that necessitated learning something new and thereby increase my knitter's "toolbox." Then in 2002, an XRX Publishing Stitches Expo near my home presented a great opportunity to learn the "how to's" of bead knitting, a technique then new to me but of great interest. Six hours of class with master teacher Lily Chin yielded a VERY modest sample swatch, part of which is shown here. The basic techniques had been around for centuries. But what I learned unlocked a passion to try and find NEW ways to combine beads and fiber.
PLAYING WITH BEADS
I spent the next 18 months playing with beads, incorporating them into all of the techniques I knew as a knitter. After several false starts - 2D artwork, home decor - I tried making jewelry. All of a sudden it was if my knitting brain had exploded. The ideas just kept coming and I knew I was on the right path. Today I still describe my brain as feeling like an airport runway, with endless ideas lined up, each just waiting to take off.
VALERIE HECTOR
I met the master bead artist and educator Valerie Hector at a local craft show a few years later. She shared some of the history of bead knitting and was encouraging about what I was trying to do. Years later I was thrilled when she asked to interview me for her You Tube channel devoted to master bead artists. You can view it HERE.
Reminder: I was 52 when this journey began...
It's never too late to start something new.
CHANGE.ONE.THING.
Play.Knit.Create.
My sister describes me as "concrete, linear, sequential" and she is not wrong. She also says I am equal parts artist and engineer. I can't argue with that. You see, I have discovered that I am highly left brained dominant. Not the side of the brain typically associated with artistry. It's more often associated with logic, symmetry and cautiousness. However, my experience suggests that we left brainers can be equally as creative as right brainers. In my case, I just employ a different process. My work doesn't come from ideas. My ideas come from work. I pay attention to what's on my needles. And I just change one thing at a time.
EVERY ONE OF THOSE CHANGES STARTS
WITH THE SAME TWO WORDS.
Left Brain - Right Brain
What if…?
Those two words are what turns design from an intimidating abstraction into something concrete that I can actually work my way through. But in truth, it always feels more like play than work. I start with a small swatch, a knitted sample that reflects a technique I want to explore. I take time to analyze it and ask, "what if I change X?" That X can any one of a number of things - the fiber, the bead or the stitch, for example. But just ONE thing at a time. I continue this iterative process until what was just an idea now presents as a possibility for a full blown design. Developed one "what if" step at a time.
Not every swatch results in a finished design, for any number of reasons, but I save them all. Because they all teach me something. At times you learn more from what doesn't work than what does. And even if they don't develop into a finished piece immediately, perhaps they will jumpstart a design down the road. They live on cork boards in my studio where I can refer back to them from time to time. I call them my UBO's.
My Unfinished Beaded Objects.
UBO's
THE TECHNIQUES
Always.Something.New.
My work always includes traditional knitted stitch making. But along the way I've either created or discovered some original techniques or stitch combinations that make my work unique. The first five are taught in my book, along with the question or design imperative that led to its discovery. ABACUS bead knitting, perhaps the most revolutionary of all, came later.
Here are pictures or a schematic of each.
01
Purled I-cord Spiral
02
Bead Wrappers
03
Soft Beads
04
Zipper Graft
05
Overcast Beaded Seam
06
ABACUS Bead Knitting
Head over to the Jewelry Galleries to see if you can spot some of these techniques in finished work. A few examples appear below.
"Pipeline: Back & Forth" - Zipper Graft
"Myra" - Bead wrappers
"Ethiopiabacus" - abacus
WHERE THE WORK SELLS, AND WHY
Where.To.Find.It.
Gravers Lane Gallery, in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, represents my work, and there is usually a selection of it on view there.
The rest of it travels. Juried fine craft shows are where most people meet the work in person, and where I get to hear what they see in it. I also occasionally sell directly to friends and to repeat customers who can visit my studio. Happy to do so.
But there is no E-shop on this website. There never has been. I truly believe it best for a customer to try on a piece before making a decision. See how it looks and feels on YOU. Only then can you know that it is truly right for you. And that is always most important to me.
If you see something in the galleries you would like to know more about, please write to me and we can take it from there.
WHERE THE WORK HAS SHOWN
Live.In.Person.
This is not an exhaustive list but does include some of my favorites. Most shows are by application and/or invitation only.
I'm always happy to be invited.
The Museum of Arts and Design - MAD About Jewelry - NYC
The Smithsonian - Smithsonian Craft2Wear - Wash., DC
Philadelphia Museum of Art - Small Indulgences - Phila., PA
Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center - Auburn, NY
The Society of Arts & Crafts - Gallery & CraftBoston - Boston, MA
Gravers Lane Gallery - Philadelphia, PA
Wayne Art Center - Wayne, PA
Kiana Malekzada Gallery - NYC
Crafts For Living Gallery - Phila., PA
Paradise City Arts Festivals - Northhampton and Marlborough, MA
Germantown Friends Craft Shows - Phila., PA
Highlands Craft Show - Ft Washington, PA
WHERE IS MY WORK?
Find.Me.Elsewhere.
The Book
Betsy Beads: Confessions of a Left-brained Knitter, published by XRX Books in 2012. Over 30 projects, the Tech Trials that support learning and seven essays about creativity.
Ravelry
48 of my designs, including the six ABACUS patterns. Available to view.
Craftsy
Brilliant Knit Beads, a five hour video class I made in 2012. Still available HERE.
@studiobknits, where I post most often.
Come on over, look and maybe follow me.
I am always proud to call myself a knitter.
