David Dow "Spooner" Carter (d. 2016) sold his crocheted hats and other crocheted products on the streets of Ann Arbor and via mail order.
https://www.thesecurityblanketco.com
Photos
Spooner in front of the Black Pearl on South Main Street. Photo: Mark Bialek, used with permission.
From the "About Me" page on his web site:
ART APPAREL BY SPOONER
I grew up in Kalamazoo MI, where I learned to crochet from my Grandma. I started my art business in 1967 in Haight-Ashbury. From there I made my living crocheting in New York, Interlochen, Boston, then Ann Arbor where I reside today.
While living in Interlochen, Hugh Downs and Pierre Salinger and their wives visited my store.
While displaying my art at The Boston Tea Party, a popular music venue, I came in contact with many musicians.
I sold a beautiful green tam (beret) to Dr. John (Mac Rebennack). His tuba player, Ray Draper, bought a very nice bell hat. The Dr. told his manager "Pay 'em".
Peter Wolf, of the J. Geils Band, still owes me 50 cents for the black and purple beret he bought.
Steve York, who played bass for Manfred Mann Chapter 3, bought an autumn colored dress for his wife. My friend Peter went home to Liverpool to visit his sister, Mrs. York, and recognized the dress as my being work.
Bernie Living, the remarkable sax and flute player for Manfred Mann Chapter 3, bought a hat while he and Steve York were having dinner at my house.
Ian McLagan, keyboard player for the Small Faces, purchased a hat.
I still have a rectangular purple and black hat that Peter Green, guitar wizzard from early Fleetwood Mac, almost bought.
Livingston Taylor spent many hours on many nights talking with me.
One night I served John Fahey two cokes. He said he was very thirsty.
Jim Morrison, after being told he could not sing with Quicksilver Messenger Service, glared at me and said "F**k this s**t! I'm going to Lucifer's!"
My ex-girlfriend and I were sitting outside the dressing rooms at The Boston Tea Party one night. She was wearing her pink crocheted sweater and pants set, I was wearing my hat, coat, sweater and pants in autumn colors with a bare tree outfit (see old favorites). I was amazed to see an amazed Rod Stewart staring back at us.
While hanging out at Mark's Coffee Shop in Ann Arbor, MI, I used to exchange glances with Iggy Pop.
I gave a cute hat to John Sinclair's 6 or 7 year old daughter, Sunny.
Frank Zappa and I spoke a few times at The Blind Pig, a popular Ann Arbor bar.
A scout for Vogue magazine photographed a coat, hat, bag, and scarf set. It was multicolored with the sign for Sagittarius on the bag and back of the coat.
I did not speak with Adrian Belew, from King Crimson, Frank Zappa, etc., as he sat next to me at the bar eating dinner. But I seemed to have caught his attention with my crocheted outfit.
There was a character in the 1984 comic book "Megaton Man" by Don Simpson, called Yarn Man that was based on me.
Now a days my wife and I impress the local flora and fauna with our crocheted outfits.
In the late 1980's I developed a love for gemstone beads and started making jewelry. While shopping for beads I look for unique and beautiful specimens to use in my jewelry. My collection contains stones that are no longer readily available, but could be used in custom orders.
In the mid 1990's I learned to make glass beads with a torch. I loved blending the colors and the depth of the glass. It was a natural transition from crochet, to jewelry, to glass.
For the past 30 summers I have spent my time gardening, with garlic being my big crop. I also keep chickens and grow a variety of other food crops. In the winters I make most of my art pieces and stoke the wood stove.
I hope you enjoy my art as much as I enjoy making it.
Thank you for your time and interest.
If you wish to contact me, my email address is at the bottom of this page.
Things I crochet:
Blankets, hats, ponchos, scarves, coats, pants, shorts, halters, bags, mittens, wall hangings, dolls, dog clothes, shawls, cushion covers, custom orders, etc.
My jewelry is:
Unique, one of a kind, semi-precious, gemstone, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, worry beads, as well as hand made glass beads.
Timeline: Spooner
January 19, 2016. One of Ann Arbor's most colorful personalities, Spooner, dies at 69. Ann Arbor News. "David Dow Carter, an eccentric figure known to many in Ann Arbor simply as "Spooner," has died at the age of 69. The bearded man, always dressed head to toe in crocheted fashions that he made himself, turned heads on the streets of downtown Ann Arbor for many years."
