{"id":438955,"date":"2010-03-17T13:33:42","date_gmt":"2010-03-17T17:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greenrightnow.com\/?p=9961"},"modified":"2010-03-17T13:33:42","modified_gmt":"2010-03-17T17:33:42","slug":"knitting-green%e2%80%a6and-passionately","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/438955","title":{"rendered":"Knitting Green\u2026and passionately"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JoAnn Conroy<\/a>
\nGreen Right Now<\/strong><\/p>\n

Does knitting make you yawn, think of your grandmother or the smell of snow-soggy wool mittens drying on the kitchen radiator? Newsflash: Knitting\u2019s gone organic, political, subversive, has even entered the realm of \u201cHigh Art\u201d. There\u2019s knitting on buses. No, not people in<\/em> buses knitting; buses that are covered<\/em> with knitting. We\u2019ll get to that.<\/p>\n

\"Knitting<\/p>\n

Going organic with your knitting does take commitment<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Want to go organic with your knitting? Read Ann Budd\u2019s newest book Knitting Green: Conversations and Earth Friendly Projects<\/a>, <\/em>due out in April from Interweave Press. The book proved to be quite an eye-opener for me, a long-time knitter and fiber artist.\u00a0 I\u2019ve always regarded knitting, along with quilting as one of the original \u201cgreen\u201d pursuits because it\u2019s done primarily with natural fibers which for the most part come from the earth, in the case of cotton, and from life in the case of wool and silk.<\/p>\n

Since one of the book\u2019s essays reminds us of \u201cthe sense of continuity inherent in practicing such an ancient art\u201d,\u00a0 it\u2019s easy to regard this ancient art, \u00a0not to mention oneself, as pure and virtuous using these natural elements to create warm, functional, pretty things.<\/p>\n

But other essays in the book, such as \u201cThe Gray of Green\u201d and “The Meaning of Organic\u201d really pulled this writer\u2019s head out of the sand in terms of what the term \u201corganic\u201d actually means.\u00a0 It seems that in order to process cotton there are quite a few non-earth-friendly things that must go on. The same goes for wool and silk. I never imagined how many silk worms give their lives to produce one pound<\/em> of fine silk \u2013 about 2,600! PETA alert! For more on wool production, sheep farmer and knitwear designer Kristin Nicholas\u2019 essay \u201cOde to Sheep\u201d, is not to be missed.<\/p>\n

Like so many things worth doing in this life, going organic takes a certain level of commitment (and maybe a little whining) and yet its collective and cumulative benefits are irrefutable. It really does take a village Hillary, and this book clearly embraces the concepts of our interdependence and oneness. Since timing is everything it seems important to note that going organic costs more too, which makes sense once one understands the rigor involved in rendering yarn organic, but it\u2019s a tough sell in this economy. And don\u2019t forget about all the tempting value-priced synthetics at the big box craft stores, and natural yarns dyed in jaw-dropping-but-not-eco-friendly colorways found in those upscale fiber shops which can entice even the most virtuous of yarn divas.<\/p>\n

The book includes a variety of patterns for items knitted using earth-friendly fibers, such as a drop-in-the washer bag knit from hemp designed to hold \u201csoap nuts\u201d, \u00a0a substitute for phosphate-laden laundry detergent. Don\u2019t miss the lovely lace tunic pattern knitted up in a yarn named \u201cAllegoro\u201d, after Mr. Global Warming himself, and a Kimono knitted with a silk yarn made from the ever-versatile soy, which the editors tell us is as soft as cashmere. Sign me up.<\/p>\n

Knitting Green also suggests that those who are looking, and not finding, organic knitwear in the stores, should consider homemade.\u00a0 \u201cMore and more yarn companies are rolling out 100% organic yarns…. Fashionistas who aren\u2019t happy with the choices for organic knitwear available in stores should pick up the needles and walk into a yarn shop,” writes Budd.<\/p>\n

\"Yarn<\/p>\n

Knitting as political activism<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Anyone familiar with the crafts movement knows that knitting has enjoyed a colossal renaissance over the past several years among fiber aficionados, with creative souls discovering community, functionality, meditation, and even political activism. Would you like to see that bus covered in knitting, or vividly-colored scarves wrapped around the necks of Presidential statues as a way to raise money for the homeless? Then check out Yarn Bombing: Improving the urban landscape one stitch at a time<\/em><\/a> by Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain to learn about the \u201cGraffiti Knitting\u201d phenomenon, a not-so-traditional, downright in-your-face kind of knitting practice.<\/p>\n

Or Google Betsy Greer, who coined the term \u201cCraftivism\u201d and wrote her master\u2019s thesis on knitting (why didn\u2019t I think of that?) \u00a0According to Faythe Levine, coauthor of the book, Handmade Nation<\/em><\/a> (and director of the documentary by the same name), Greer\u2019s 2008 book Knitting for Good!: <\/strong>A Guide to Creating Personal, Social, and Political Change Stitch by Stitch<\/em><\/a> \u201cprovides a platform for progressive, forward-thinking knitters and non-knitters alike who are interested in the idea that creativity can be a positive way to change the world we live in. It is chock-full of motivation, ideas, and inspiration to get you going or to keep you on the path you are already on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suffice it to say, knitting: you\u2019ve come a long way, baby!<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By JoAnn Conroy Green Right Now Does knitting make you yawn, think of your grandmother or the smell of snow-soggy wool mittens drying on the kitchen radiator? Newsflash: Knitting\u2019s gone organic, political, subversive, has even entered the realm of \u201cHigh Art\u201d. There\u2019s knitting on buses. No, not people in buses knitting; buses that are covered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6460,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-438955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6460"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438955\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}