The first thing that most people think of when they think of geeky crafts is fan art. It’s fun to see what parts of fandoms inspire people. Not all geeky art is specific; sometimes it’s a great new skill to learn or a new way to express yourself. That’s where Chemknits comes in.
Chemknits started in 2008 as a knitting blog by Rebecca Brown. The blog eventually expanded into a fun youtube channel that is full of yarn dyeing tutorials and other projects. Rebecca has a PhD in Biochemistry, so she really understands the processes behind the dyeing and can explain it to her viewers in a really accessible way. Rebecca has geek cred, too. She’s a Ravenclaw, loves Star Wars, and takes her lead from Ms Frizzle’s credo: “Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy”.
Most Chemknits videos are centered around an experiment. Rebecca chooses the materials and dyes, sometimes with a structured plan and sometimes just letting the materials do what they want. The materials are usually yarn of various compositions. The dyes can be almost anything: food coloring, tie dye, professional dyes, even candy and vegetables. Not every experiment works out as planned, and Rebecca never shies away from that. She’s a friendly, open person who never pretends to be perfect. It’s very clear that she loves what she does.
Rebecca’s attitude infuses with the community that has grown around the videos. The Facebook group Chemknits Lab is full of enthusiastic people who are always willing to offer advice or encouragement. Whenever anyone shares a project, they share what they did and how they did it so others can try for themselves.
At the request of the community, there is a monthly dye-along. Rebecca releases a photo that serves as an inspiration and live streams her project. Fans are encouraged to try along at home. There are also mystery live streams where Rebecca blindly selects the colors (using a D20, among other things) and everyone gets to see the results together. If you have an idea for an experiment, you can suggest it and even sponsor the video (and if you do, you get the yarn afterwards).
How much you participate is up to you. Engage with others, dye on your own, or just enjoy the videos. Who wouldn’t want pictures like this showing up in their feed.
I asked Rebecca for some links to her favorite videos. Here they are; have fun!
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