Brief history of Gwen Blakely Kinsler

Period: late 80's - early 90's
City: Honduras

It all started in a small Peace Corps volunteer group in that country. The person who was responsible was a lady ? a determined and focussed lady. Some unexplained interests in her made her to form a dedicated group, which was small initially, but slowly grown only to have a very large followers. Yes, she was responsible for forming the ?foundation chain? for the present day crochet!

The movement that fired her imagination had nothing to do with the Peace Corps or a local rally in Honduras for women?s rights. The lady is none other than Gwen Blakely Kinsler who fell in love with crochet when she was in Honduras. Yes, the crochet has started to lay its roots.

Despite the best efforts put forth by many writers and enthusiasts, the history of crochet could not be traced back prior to the 18th century. Though there were mentions about knitting and embroidery, any mentioning about crochet and crocheters were not available at all ? probably the then crocheters were not interested in publicity or rather busy in developing the crochet itself for the present population of the world.

In crocheting, any talented individual with a hook and yarn can be very creative with high reputation. The talented crocheter can sit quietly in a corner, with head inclining slightly, with quickly moving fingers; and still be able to produce a profound variety of products. Crochet can well be conceived as a relaxing activity, and once the foundation chain is made, a crocheter just continues to build rows and rows of stitches, and loops and double trebles.

After returning to America, Gwen Blakely Kinsler started focussing on her needlework and attending meetings and seminars. Other people who have a liking towards needlework, or rather have business interests in embroidering also attended most of her meetings. Being a faithful member, Ms. Kinsler participated in all the meetings regularly.

She always carried the thought of grouping like-minded embroiders and forming a strong core group of crocheters and make the members of the group proud of their craft and getting it recognized. No doubt the camaraderie was also an incentive to band together.

In 1994 Ms. Kinsler has had a windfall in her favour. In the Chain Link Crochet Conference that was held in August, there was a unanimous vote to form The Crochet Guild of America. The happy Kinsler felt the need to strengthen the delicate guild and achieved the result of making the guild work. And, the results started showing off in ways like the DMC Thread Corporation and Monsanto offering financial assistance and sponsorships.

What began as a solitary hobby for Kinsler while she was in Honduras steadily and finally blossomed into a united force of crocheters who are on their toes (or shall we say fingers) in carrying out the Guild activities every month thereafter without break. Any one, be it a beginner or experienced, can become a member of the guild and you can find at least one chapter of the guild in about 40 out of the 52 states.