KRAFTERS DIVISION

Featured Member

May 3, 2010
by Lori Stayer

Joyce Kane
Connecticut
Craft: Knitting
Contact: blindhands@aol.com
Website: www.krafterskorner.org

Twelve years ago, Joyce Kane went into surgery for a coronary bypass. She emerged from surgery completely blind from complications of optic artery disease that destroyed her optic nerves. Previously, she had been the sighted proprietor of a craft shop.

Six months after her surgery, Kane found herself unemployed and thoroughly bored. Tired of hearing people tell her what she could no longer do, she decided to find out what she could do. She was determined to knit herself a sweater. As Kane tells it, no simple project would suit her; she had to pick something complicated. She began the sweater on a round needle so she would not have to worry about beginning a new line at the end of a straight needle. Knitting was one of the things people would say they could do with their eyes closed; it seemed perfect. However, as with any skill, knitting without looking needed practice to perfect.

So how did she do it? She had to relearn the skill. The circular needles helped and a friend recorded the pattern onto tape.

The key to her success was organization, an attitude of ignoring the nay-sayers, and just continuing on until she finished. Kane would knit all day and unravel much of her work at night, then do it again the following day until she was satisfied. At the end of this project she had a sweater.

Two years ago, Joyce Kane was instrumental in starting the Krafters Division at the NFB national convention in Dallas. The idea was born after the previous year's convention in Georgia, and grew in her mind until she decided to phone NFB headquarters in Baltimore and get some advice from JoAnne Wilson and Patricia Maurer. With their encouragement, she began an NFB listserv called Krafters Korner, and the movement grew. At the Dallas Convention, she was elected President of the Krafters Division, and hopes to run again this coming July.

With the backing of the division, Kane helped start phone classes for Division members in various crafts, such as knitting, origami, crocheting, hairpin lace, soap making, basket weaving, and the creation of beaded snowflakes at Christmas time. She has taught the soap making and advanced knitting classes, and in fact, took this experience to a craft shop, and obtained employment teaching knitting. The classes have expanded to the point that they now contain international students who attend via Skype (a computer based phone program).

Kane's interest in crafting is not limited to knitting. She also enjoys sewing clothing for her three granddaughters, triangle loom weaving, quilting, and jewelry making. She recently worked with her grandchildren to create flavored lip balm--balm, with flavor added, is melted in the microwave and hardened in little pots obtainable from a company called Brambleberry.

In Kane's spare time, she oversees the preparation of lesson plans for the phone classes, appears on radio programs promoting the Krafters Division, and makes sure the classes are recorded for those who have taken them to download onto MP3 players from Send Space. The Division's Monday call-in-chats have included subjects such as crafters' resolutions, how to label projects, and how to download class recordings onto MP3 players. Anyone may join the Monday Night Chats by following the information in the sidebar.

If you would like to suggest someone to be interviewed, please drop us a note at: division email link.

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