Witty US fibre artist wows Bay audience
AMERICAN “glitter knitter” Steven Be had his audience of women, a few men – and an 11-yearold boy – in stitches at his fun workshop yesterday morning at the Boardwalk Amphitheatre.
The flamboyant fibre artist from Minneapolis had the audience almost crying with laughter and, naturally, itching to pick up a pair of knitting needles and create something fabulous as they walked out two hours later.
“Do something unexpected, go out on the porch and knit naked!” he urged his audience.
“There are no mistakes, only variations – practice this every day and set yourself free.
“I use yarn like I use tubes of paint,” he said, viewing yarn in the same way an artist looked at his palette.
“Knitting is like a Monet painting. Up close you see the dots and it doesn’t make much sense but walk away and its makes a painting.”
He has no time for knit one, purl one and complicated patterns.
“I have a short attention span, so I want it done now, using big needles. I start in one corner and I knit until it becomes something – and don’t match, just pick up whatever grabs your eye.
“And I never count stitches. I just eyeball everything!”
This wacky creative method works for Be, and his ponchini (his twist on a poncho) and sharf (a scarf that doesn’t fall off your shoulders) are a hit internationally – and they are also dead easy to make, even for a novice knitter.
He has made a career out of knitting, having started with Barbie doll dresses for the girls in his neighbourhood and selling them while still a child.
“I made enough money from that stand to pay for my first year of art and design school.”
Driving around South Africa as a guest of Mohair South Africa in his Priscilla Queen of the Desert bus, he said South Africa was full of surprises.
“I almost always use mohair, and that was before I met the people from Mohair South Africa.
“I even played with the goats in the Karoo – they were kind of smelly. In the US, they can’t imagine that you have angora goats here – they think it is all lions and tigers and bears!”
Today he is visiting the Garden Route and tomorrow he travels to Prince Albert in the Karoo to present his glitter knitter wit and luscious yarns to a whole new audience.