Fiber Artist, Kendall Ross hand-knits one-of-a-kind wearable art pieces using her own original texts and hand-dyed wool.
My name is Kendall Ross, and I am a fiber artist born and raised in Oklahoma City. My maternal grandmother taught me to crochet when I was little. Throughout my childhood I continued to gravitate toward fiber arts, learning to knit in middle school. I got my degree in American History from Pepperdine University where I researched American women’s knitting movements in World War I. Currently, I work as a full-time fiber artist creating one-of-a-kind wearable art pieces under my brand name "I’d Knit That".
...anyone who has ideas and acts on them. That feels like a basic answer, but it’s how I feel. People sometimes want hard and fast rules on what it means to be a creative or an artist, but it really does just come down to having a vision of what you want to do and doing it.
I’m going to be honest, whenever people give me advice, I never really take it to heart because I don’t like being told what to do. This isn’t necessarily advice, but recently I’ve been re-watching seasons of 'Survivor' and I’ve been inspired by the way they talk about taking risks. I’ve been trying to play it less safe when it comes to my work and trying to reach my goals.
...I literally let myself do nothing. I have gone through periods where I feel like I will never have an idea again, and those periods usually line up with times when I am putting the most pressure on myself to have an incredible, ground-breaking idea. Living my life and allowing myself to think and chill really allows space for me to be creative and feel inspired. Additionally, I am also consistently inspired by my peers in OKC and other fiber artists I follow on Instagram, so seeing their work also inspires me when I feel down about being an artist.
...for me, it's getting to share my work with people. I love to create and express myself through knitting, but nothing feels better to me than hearing people respond to my work and say that they feel seen in it.
...is why people think knitting is easy. It is genuinely so hard to do and to do well, but people think it is a frivolous thing because it is so associated with women, and everyone thinks anything women do is easy.
...is becoming a full-time artist. I graduated from college and immediately went into doing "I’d Knit That" full time. It was such a different path than everyone I graduated with went down, but I just knew it was right for me, so I took the risk and it’s paid off.
...I genuinely think I would have been a writer. I come from a family of writers and journalists, and I obviously still consider myself a writer in some ways because my pieces incorporate so much of my original text. I could definitely see an alternate universe where I pursued writing professionally instead of knitting. I could also see myself being a reality TV personality, but I’m hopeful that will happen in this life.
...is Oklahoma City. I don’t think people normally think of OKC as an artsy city or a cool place to live. I love the arts community here and I feel lucky to have so many mentors, peers, and collaborators here. It’s a place that has a lot going on, with lots of people working to make it the best place it can be for lots of different people. I love this city!
Virginia is a leader in the Oklahoma City arts community. I’ve looked up to her for years. She is such a talented artist and a vocal advocate for the arts in our community. She also founded Oklahoma’s first mural festival for women and non-binary artists.
Virginia is a leader in the Oklahoma City arts community. I’ve looked up to her for years. She is such a talented artist and a vocal advocate for the arts in our community. She also founded Oklahoma’s first mural festival for women and non-binary artists.
Dinah is the Creative Director of T’KOR. She is both an extremely skilled crochet artist and an inspiring businesswoman. I really admire her vision for her business and her dedication to creating.
Dinah is the Creative Director of T’KOR. She is both an extremely skilled crochet artist and an inspiring businesswoman. I really admire her vision for her business and her dedication to creating.
Katrina is an artist and fellow OKC resident. I’ve been so inspired by their quilts for a long time. Currently she is leading a Greenwood Quilt Memorial group (@okquiltmemorial) to memorialize quilts burned in the Tulsa Race Massacre.
Katrina is an artist and fellow OKC resident. I’ve been so inspired by their quilts for a long time. Currently she is leading a Greenwood Quilt Memorial group (@okquiltmemorial) to memorialize quilts burned in the Tulsa Race Massacre.
Alexandria is a textile artist who primarily works in crochet. She is a huge inspiration to me and an impressive, hard-working, and thoughtful artist.
Alexandria is a textile artist who primarily works in crochet. She is a huge inspiration to me and an impressive, hard-working, and thoughtful artist.