We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maxcine DeGouttes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Maxcine, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
The most meaningful project that I have worked on was the completion of a preschool in tribute to my maternal grandfather located in Jamaica WI.
Before my mum’s death in 2019 my mother was building a school in her home town of Danvers Pen in the St.. Thomas parish in the Blue Mountain Valley of Jamaica WI. Before her death I made her a promise that I would complete the school.
We were hit with the pandemic worldwide and everything was at a standstill . I used WhatsApp as a management tool with my uncle to get the Education Ministry approval and complete the school which opened in September 2022. The two classroom school houses thirty-four pre-school aged boys and girls.
The school will serve a population of low socio-economic status and currently underserved in many areas of growth. The only way to escape poverty is through education. Approximately 50% of the households are headed by single females who are often unemployed and in many cases have not completed High School or have not attended any school.
Now the Hill Top Basic School is the only pre-school in the town of Danvers Pen. At this time in my life I want to give back to a community where I have a heritage. Now my focus is to raise funds to complete a cafeteria and develop some fiber craft projects for kids.
Maxcine, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Knitting has been a lifelong pursuit for me. The craft was the first art form that I wanted to learn. At age seven I watched my aunt knitting so I asked her to teach me. I still have my very first pair of knitting needles.
My mum was a dressmaker who made wedding and cocktail dresses for London Boutiques. My mum knew how to knit, but the fashion was too slow for her tastes.
I was always surrounded by my mum’s creativity. If she wasn’t making our clothes she was making pillows, drapes and other furnishings for our home. My creativity was always encouraged, my first client was one of my JHS teachers Mrs. Weeden. I made Crocheted hats and granny square vests for her teenage daughter. She wanted to pay me but I loved her so much I said no. Before graduation she asked me what my favorite color was, I was gifted a giant bag of red yarn that I used through college.
But for the life of me I did not see knitting as a career so I went into magazine publishing. Twenty years later I opened a yarn shop in Brooklyn, New York. And then started the Kings County Fiber Festival.
I opened the yarn shop because I had to figure out what I would do next. I taught knitting in a local yarn shop before I opened my own shop. Having grown up as a maker I knew I had the fiber skills. My corporate background gave me the business side.. I had worked for Disney, Mattel and Marvel Entertainment so I knew the promotional side. After the shop was established I started the Kings County Fiber Festival.
At the time there were no fiber festivals in NYC. While I was in my corporate days the fiber events were outside of the city. I always went to yarn shops when traveling. for work or pleasure. I wanted fiber excitement in my home city.
As an event the festival is an opportunity to share fiber crafts, but at the same time the festival is an opportunity to support micro business. The independent spinners, yarn dyers and makers travel a festival circuit to sell their wares. It made sense that NYC should be a stop on their fiber marketplace. The brick and mortar is a challenging option; the festival circuit creates an opportunity for the entrepreneur.
Each maker is an artist in their own right. The festival brings many shops to one location for the city dweller to enjoy.. This year the Kings County Fiber Festival is Saturday October 7th in Park Slope Brooklyn NY. This outdoor festival surrounds a beautifully redesigned children’s NYC park. The colors of the changing leaves will not outdo the beauty of the fibers sold by 30+ vendors.
The fiber marketplace is filled with raw fibers, spun yarns, hand woven items, angora rabbits and cashmere goats to name a few. Demonstrations take place in the booths. Virtually and imperson we offer an Artist Talk Series by a local fiber artist.
Once the vendors are set the priority is to bring makers to the festival. In the 12 years of the festival the participating vendors have been very loyal. They actually have a following amongst festival goers.
The fibers speak to the makers whether it be roving for a spinner of a hand dyed yarn for a designer.. As makers we all have a personal palette. The Kings County Fiber Festival has something for everyone..
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
As a fiber artist my focus is on exploring the creativity within the yarn. For more than five decades I have been knitting, crocheting and teaching many generations of fiber enthusiasts. I look at the fiber arts as fashion, a perfect marriage between the fiber, the color and the stitch patterning. My teaching approach is to help you develop a design independence while you learn the technical aspects of the art of knitting. At Parsons, School of Fashion I transition my students through the mechanical and technical aspects of the art of knitting so that they can land comfortable in design independence.
Maxcine owned a local yarn shop in Brooklyn for eight years and is the co-founder of the Kings County Fiber Festival.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I have been knitting for over fifty years. I asked a family member to teach me and my first student was my JHS home economics teacher. Through the years I have done many crafts: knit, crochet, needlepoint, quilting, beading, embroidery and egging where I made Christmas ornaments…Dealing with what life brings your way I always found refuge in my desire to make beautiful things.
I still have my first pair of knitting needles and the first Christmas ornament that I made. Just as artists shared their creative process with me I now do the same with my students at Parsons School of Fashion.
The road to working in creativity for me was long. After college I felt that I had to get a real job. Because I was already making I didn’t see making as a road to making a living. I did not leave knitting behind as a matter of fact I knit everyday. In the 80’s I was knitting on the subway seated or standing. as I climbed the corporate ladder in magazine publishing.
I wore many hats starting in advertising production to print manufacturing. Custom publishing projects, negotiating print contracts, color quality control and standing by the side of the printing press. I worked in licensing for Mattel, Disney and other toy companies working on lifestyle magazines for kids. I worked for Marvel Entertainment and started their animation art program making sericels, and selecting production cels for art galleries.
I was also the manufacturing director on the launch team of Arthur Frommers Budget Travel Magazine.. These jobs were always supporting other people’s creativity so I needed my knitting to balance my energy.. I started the work day knitting and also knit during my commute home. I didn’t take many lunch hours, but once in a while I would find myself at one of my two favorite yarn shops in Manhattan. This was my 80’s and 90’s.
Newsweek bought Budget Travel Magazine. At the merge meeting mouths fell open when I walked into the room. Not wanting to deal with the “good old boy network” I followed my team to a competitor of the QR Code.
Early 2000’s I was done with corporate and print was dead so I opened a yarn shop in my neighborhood. I knew people would buy your expertise and I knew about fiber. My mother was a dressmaker who made all of our clothes. I could bring home Vogue magazine and she would free hand cut my suits and dresses from the pages of the magazine.
My shop was filled with beautiful yarns from around the world. We taught many classes, held book reading and art shows focused on the art of fiber. Six years in I needed more so I started the Kings County Fiber Festival. Because of my publishing background I did a deep dive to spread the word to develop the fiber marketplace.
Our goal is to support the fiber enthusiasts whether they are selling or making for themselves. we are an incubator for micro business.. This is our 12th year. Our next festival is Saturday, October 7th from 10am to 5pm. Our goal is always to get more boots on the ground so that our 30+ vendors have a good day.
With all of this one day I received an email asking if I would be interested in teaching hand knitting at Parsons School of Fashion. This is my sixth year. Next semester I am taking a sabbatical to work on a brioche knitting mural project, so the teacher becomes the artist.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kingscountyfiberfestival.org
- Instagram: @kingsfiberfest
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KingsCountyFiberFestival
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kingscountyfiberfestival7878
Image Credits
Mildred Salas Photography