Once Upon a Time

I have this dream about having a full blown decorative knotting conference in North America (well, ideally Vancouver, BC because that's where I live). I have heard about decorative knotting conferences in Asia (Korea, Japan, China). I had the vague impression that for a while there was a group that rotated between the 3 countries, but y'know being functionally illiterate in all those languages impedes my ability to suss out this information. Further in at least 2 of those countries (Korea, Japan) there are decorative knotting organizations, but they have no connection, liason, affiliation, noddding acquaintance with the International Guild of Knot Tyers (IGKT) based out of the UK.

This does not fit with my idea of a connected world, a well organized world. The global village where everything is a mouse click away should allow everyone who is interested in the same thing easy access or at least familiarity with each other.

Well, since I have a few of these threads in my hand, I should gather them together and make something happen, right?

I set about contacting people, seeing if they were interested. I found the people I was looking for in Taiwan, Korea, Japan, even some of the North American macrame artists. They were willing to come. I told my local guild branch and they were happy for me. But it was still up to me ot organize the thing. Book a venue, figure out hotels, how should attendees be charged, schedule, etc, etc.

Well, I talked to hotels, and venues, and, and... Sadly, I have the organizational abilites of a squirrel with ADHD. Occasionally I do something that makes a tree, but most of the time I'm lucky to make it through the winter alive.

Part of the problem is that all the expenses were going to come out of my pocket. I was in a "if you build it they may or may not come, who knows?" situation, and I couldn't spend the kind of money to make more things happen without better knowing the outcome. My family is not made of money. Similarly, I had the attention of my knotting luminaries, but I didn't have commitment. Now, maybe you invite me to talk and I'll fly to Japan and put myself up on my own dime, but that kind of thing is not for everyone. I had gotten my mother to talk to Lydia Chen for me (I was not confident in my Mandarin fluency) and she thought if I was offering passage and accomodation I would get much further instead of just offering a teaching and speaking opportunity. No doubt this is true, but...

I've still not given up hope. No one has yet gathered up the threads that I see waiting to be woven together. I have a small plan... but if you would like to see this happen, if you would like to help...

For more information about decorative knotting and braiding, here's a few links to get you started.