Knitty’s 2011 spring issue, with a review of the 10 Secrets of the LaidBack Knitters
“In a publishing climate that still wants to crank out knitting books that impossibly serve every need at an impossible pace, this gem of a book takes a deep breath and travels on its own path.” ~ knitty
I know, I’ve been MIA. Well, blogging is blogging, and I’ve been Tweeting my little brains out. But I came across this incredibly moving article, and I had to share it.
The scarf is a physical reminder of all those missing and dead in Peru's conflict.
Many, many women in Peru have a place in their hearts that feeds on blackness and silence. It is a bleak landscape of remembering, the result of husbands and sons and nephews and fathers “disappeared” by the Shining Path rebels and state forces in the 1980s and ’90s. Now, today, these women are knitting a Scarf of Hope, a remembrance of the thousands gone from their lives. I am humbled and saddened… and hopeful that the knitters will triumph.
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A Scarf of Hope and Remembrance, by Dan CollynsBBC News, Ayacucho, Peru
There is something warmly familiar and comforting about the quiet chatter of women and the clickety-clack of knitting needles. Standing or sitting huddled together in small groups, the knitters dressed in traditional Andean hats, big “pollera” skirts and draped with a “manta” or shawl, form a multi-coloured feast for the eyes. But they have more in common than crochet. These women are some of thousands in Peru who lost husbands, brothers and sons in the country’s bitter internal conflict between the Mao-inspired rebels of the Shining Path rebels and state forces in the 1980s and 90s. 
A lot of knitters, crocheters and crafters give back. It’s just what we do. Recently I stumbled across a couple of new and positive “takes” on the Giving Back genre.
Jimmy Beans Wool, a large LYS and Web presence, and Vogue Knitting have teamed up to create five $800 Beans for Brains scholarships. According to the Web site, “the Beans for Brains Continue reading
Going to StitchesEast was like diving into a box of chocolates. Not that everything suited my taste, but, boy, I sure relished what did.
Delicious would be a word I’d use for some of the new and favorite yarns I brought home. Continue reading
A treasured handknit sweater
I sometimes wonder what it takes to change the world. In particular, how do people around the world know that we, here in the U.S., are just like them? Between a good friend of mine, an Argentinean, there are no barriers. Her life, her sensibility is much the same as mine.
But what about the women whose country doesn’t allow them to vote? Or the ones who are shrouded from head to toe? Or those who endure female castration? How to tell them that life can be different? That others care? That under the burkha, we are the same?
That’s just what Afghans for Afghan does. Bodies are warmed, but so are minds and souls and hearts. Continue reading
I’m a big fan of Linda Cortright and her Wild Fibers magazine. But Linda wears many more hats than “mag publisher.” One of those hats – most likely a top hat – is helming the Keep the Fleece project. Continue reading
What’s an AIDS orphan? A child whose lost a mother and/or father to AIDS. These children are alone, abandoned, unloved, and it’s estimated that there are 11.6 million of them in Africa. So why don’t you:
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This piece is from Lion Brand Yarn:
| Knitting for Soldiers By: Michelle Edwards |
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| “From every hearth, parlor, log cabin, and farmhouse, whether in the North or in the South, women sent socks to protect and warm their soldiers. With every stitch, they knitted in their courage, tears, prayers and hopes.” – Karin Timour, Piecework magazine 2009 An article about Civil War soldiers’ socks started me thinking about knitting for soldiers. Something I have never done. Then an email from my friend, Anne, whose son Darren is serving in Iraq, nudged me even further. All weekend, she wrote me, they waited tensely to hear from him. Worrying the big worries until they finally did. “Would he like a hat?” I offered, embarrassed that I had overlooked knitting for him, and for others. In every war, American knitters have been called upon to fill the gap in what the country was able to provide. Socks, wristlets, vests, helmet liners. Warmth for the troops. What kinds of needs were there now? Looking for answers to share with those of you, who like me, have never knit our bit, but might like to start, I googled “knitting for soldiers.” That’s where I found The Ships Project and The Handmade Afghan Project. In October 2001, Ellen Harpin’s letter to “Any Sailor” mentioned her love of knitting. The sailor who answered mentioned her very cold feet, and joked “maybe Ellen could send her a pair of knit slippers. She did. After the first pair, and the snowball effect of the demand it created, Ellen launched the Ships Project. In eight years, with the help of over 1,000 volunteers, 284,000 hand-made slippers/socks, hats, neck gaiters and other items have been sent to soldiers on the land, at sea, and to those wounded and injured. The troops have nicknamed their gifts “hugs”. To read the rest of the story and for more links, go here… |
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