Sculpture of the State House in wool debuts in June
May 21—CONCORD — Considering their handiwork — a sculpture of the New Hampshire State House in wool — this was no ordinary knitting circle.
On Saturday at The Elegant Ewe, a knitting and crocheting supply store on South Main Street, four women from around the state — Lindsay Levesque of Keene, Maryjane Krepper of Concord, Kathy Gallagher of Franklin and Nancy Cayford of Dublin — and their leader, Eva Jacobs-Carnahan, of Montpelier, Vermont, stitched together roughly 175 6-inch-by-6-inch squares fabricated by close to 200 adults and school children from Conway to Keene.
The woolen replica of the New Hampshire State House, including a knitted gold dome, will be placed in the State Library on June 4, with an opening reception the following week.
Jacobs-Carnahan, a fiber artist and former election lawyer in Vermont, created the "craftivism" project to raise awareness of issues in civics, the electoral process and the way elections are conducted in different states.
She pioneered the venture in Vermont, then brought it to New Hampshire, holding "State House" knitting circles in Lancaster, Keene, Laconia, Monroe and Dover, where she gave presentations and led discussion groups to help participants understand the electoral process.
Why in a knitting circle?
A knitting circle is a relaxed and collegial setting where people have something in common and help each other, she said.
"I want people to have confidence in how the process works. You hear about things happening in other states and you're naturally unsure if that's OK. They're can be a variety of processes that can be valid, but every state sets its own rules," Jacobs-Carnahan said.
The project was sponsored by New Hampshire Humanities.
