The club’s Co-founders speak with Mission on their hopes to educate and empower Black women through crafting and conversation.
Founded in January 2019 in London, Sicgmone Kludje and Vea Koranteng co-founded Black Girl Knit Club to bring diversity to the crafting community. Through their book, Conscious Crafts: Knitting, monthly workshops, and online tutorials, BGKC caters to all experience levels of knitters. They focus on facilitating a sisterhood of female empowerment through a meditative and creative practice that has connected people for centuries.
In an interview with Mission via email, the club’s co-founders speak on their Ghanaian heritage, the inspiration behind BGKC’s creation, and how they hope to educate and empower Black women through craftsmanship and conversation.
Lizzy Zarrello: What motivated the creation of the Black Girl Knit Club?
Sicgmone Kludje & Vea Koranteng: Our motivation for starting Black Girl Knit Club (BGKC) came from following the social media hashtag #diversknitty. Due to visibility, different knitwear designers and makers were calling for more diversity within the craft community. We wanted to create a safe and inclusive space for Black women and female creatives like ourselves to gather, share their stories, inspire each other through craft skills, and develop their creativity while equipping the next generation with a new skill. Our motto is to empower women through craft, especially to bring a diverse crowd into the craft industry.
LZ: How does your Ghanaian heritage influence the work you do today?
SK & VK: Our Ghanaian heritage has influenced our inspiration within the brand, especially the release of our first wax print cloth, “Nsubra.” “NSUBRA” means water well in Twi, the popular language spoken in Ghana, West Africa. The pattern on the fabric resembles the ripple effect of water when a stone is thrown into it. Most Ghanaian fabrics have proverbial meanings and are a reminder amongst many Ghanaians that your actions can often impact others—like a ripple effect in water.
The first yarn sample we created was given to Sicgmone by her grandmother and many of the wax print cloth patterns we use remind us of memories from our mothers, Aunties, and grandmothers. In many ways, we are incorporating the memories from our ancestors and family within our brand story.
One of our main goals is to hopefully run knit workshops within Ghana, especially within schools. It’s a great skill for young boys and girls to increase their confidence and creativity. We want to inspire the next generation by sharing our story and journey within the craft and fashion industry.
LZ: How does BGKC work to create a safe space for Black women and girls?
SK & VK: We create a safe space for Black Women and girls by allowing them to feel visible within the craft space, as some women can often be the only person of color within their knitting groups. The most regular line we hear is, “this is the first knit group that I have been to, and I finally feel seen.” As founders, this is very powerful to both of us. As a knitwear/textile designer Sicgmone never quite saw herself reflected in any craft groups she attended. So it’s been our mission to create a space where Black women feel comfortable and seen.
LZ: How do you hope to empower women through your book, ‘Conscious Crafts: Knitting’?
SK & VK: We hope the book will encourage women to slow down and focus on themselves by investing in learning a new skill like knitting.
Our book unpicks the meditative nature of the knitting process and its empowering skill set for creating well-being and mindfulness. We have curated 20 mindful makes focusing on reconnecting the head, heart, and hands. The projects cover each part of our environment ranging from home to fashion accessories, from plant pot cozies to throws and snoods. It also introduces the basics through all the main knitting techniques.
LZ: How do your workshops educate women beyond knitting?
SK & VK: Our workshops provide a space where women can share their stories, where they don’t feel judged, alongside individuals who look like them. For our first workshop back in February 2019, we planned on teaching a variety of techniques but realized that most of them wanted to share stories about their week, children, career changes, and networking. Knitting was simply an action to encourage further conversations.
Last summer, 2021, we did a knitting workshop for the organization Black Girls Camping trip. They offer outdoor retreats for Black women and nonbinary people in the U.K. It was great to work with a group of young women and see how confident they became through learning a new skill, but also to witness the wider conversations that emerged relating to identity, race, and how they can support each other.
Our workshops often create a space for broader discussions and collaborations amongst the women that take part.
https://www.blackgirlknitclub.com/
Images courtesy of: Black Girls Knit
