CraftSanity with Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood

Frustrated by the growing list of soldiers dying in the war in Iraq, Anne Landre, 52, of Milwaukee, Wis., decided to pay tribute to growing list of female causalities by stitching each woman's name into a fiber art project.

As the list of fallen soldiers grew, Anne launched the Mother's Day Project and enlisted the help of volunteers, each stitching a single name on a swatch to be returned to her. Anne's plan is to take the names and incorporate them into a traveling tote bag that the stitchers will each get a chance to use as they go about their lives for a week or so. The response was so overwhelming that Anne got enough volunteers to make two tote bags. I got in on the second bag.

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Need a break from all the serious political news? Check out this Slate feature by Jessica Vitkus, author of AlternaCrafts and star of CraftSanity episode 48. Jessica whipped up some clever "DemoCrafts" and "RepubliCrafts" and challenges those vying for the White House to do the same. Love this quilted "Department of Homeland Security Blanket." Thanks for the laughs, Jessica.

UPDATE: Jessica wrote to let me know that she "fell into" an awesome public radio job. It's part journalism, part comedy writing and sounds like a professional blast. Have a listen at www.morefairgame.org. Congrats, Jessica.

Hey Knitters, want to meet a craft superstar?

Lily Chin, the famed knitwear designer, master knitter and fastest crocheter in the world, is going to give a series of workshops Aug. 18 and 19 at the Nautical Yarn in Ludington, Mich. Participants will learn to custom fit patterns, shape with short rows and other tips and tricks to improve their knitting.

Chin will meet with fans during a free book signing Saturday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the yarn shop located at 108 South Rath Ave. Check out the yarn shop site for workshop prices and supply information. Call 231-845-9868 to register for the workshops.

I love aprons, but I don't like to wear them for cooking exclusively, especially not the really nice homemade ones.

So what's a crafty woman to do?

Wear them as outer wear, that's what.

After thinking for weeks that I really should start wearing aprons out of the house to work and wherever I please, I finally did it. I made a new apron (a very basic khaki-colored number with a quilted front pocket made from a mix of brown and blue prints) and wore it to work over a dress shirt-style dress (a $10 clearance rack find at Sears.)

To some, I probably looked like a waitress who got mixed up with some quilters on the way to work. but I didn't care. I was met with many confused looks throughout the day, but actually scored a few compliments. Overall, it proved to be a great social experiment.

Here are some of the most interesting responses:

* "Is that an apron?" asked the woman who sold me a tuna sandwich after my workout at the YMCA.
Yes," I said. "I like to make aprons and decided to start wearing them out."
"Oh, that's cool." she said, looking a little confused. "You look kind of Amish."
"Thanks," I said, amused.
Amish people rock when it comes to crafts, so her remark was fine with me.

* At the office, a male co-worker and fellow journalist asked me a series of questions about my apron, which I actually appreciated. Among other things, he wanted to know if I was trying to make a fashion statement. At first I said no, but then recanted a bit. I've never considered myself particularly fashionable, (I habitually wear running shoes with dress clothes.) but I guess I am making a statement when I wear one of the biggest symbols of female domestication to my day job. The cool part is that I did it voluntarily. I can wear an apron to cook or to do whatever the heck else I want and I LOVE that. We've come a long way, baby, and aprons, frankly, are for wherever we want to wear them.

* I had the same apron on over my jeans when I went out to grab the mail a couple days. A neighbor who doesn't normally talk to me actually stopped her car and asked: "Are you making dinner?"
"We just finished it," I said, stifling a laugh.
She didn't know I had just made mac & cheese out of the box (no apron required) and had been wearing an apron all day. (She also didn't know that the front pocket is lined with black and white fabric imprinted with "Three Stooges" sound effects: "Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk," "woob, woob, woob" and "Why I oughta!")

So I love aprons and I don't see that changing any time soon. I will continue to make them and buy them. If you love aprons, too, you should venture out sometime with one of your favs and see how the world responds. (Then tell me about it.) And if someone gets up in your grill about publicly displaying your affinity for aprons, smile your best June Cleaver smile and enjoy a good laugh once the passionate individual is out of earshot.

Perhaps we apron fans should join forces and have an International Wear An Apron Wherever Day. Just a thought. What do you think?

P.S. I'm working on my next podcast... so stay tuned.