A Needled Spirit

“Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either.” ~ Elizabeth Zimmermann

The knitting alarm is ringing. Can you hear it? If you're a knitter you can. It's starts when the outdoor world gets tinged with variegated hues and winter whites, and shuts off when the temperatures rise so high your hands can't stand to touch wool...not even the softest cashmere. The flakes are falling and it's finally what my mother calls, "sweater weather."

For me, knitting inspiration climbs to new heights each time I step into Pinterest. It feeds my troubled or untroubled knitting spirit.

So, direct from Econesting's Knitting Pin Board, here's a few projects of the season--the knitting season:

The easy Redy Sweater by Ankestrick is sweet because there is almost no shaping...no fussing with collar decreases and no fumbling with stitch pick ups. Sweater perfection. Now, what color?

Have you seen those new gloves created for touchscreen texting? No need to wrap your hands in those polyester numbers when you can knit fingerless gloves. Here's a fun snow-tipped pair: Hege Mitt, by Michelle Wang.

When I look back at items I've knit, memories of time, tranquility and toddlers come gushing in (I knit furiously throughout my kids' childhoods). I adore an ongoing project for all those nostalgic reasons. This comfy, Slip Stitch Sampler perfectly zaps up left-over yarn and will keep the knitting fires burning all winter long.

The creative sideways construction of this knitted poncho/cape intrigues me. Is it knit like a baby blanket and sewn up one side? Don't know because the pattern is French to me...literally.

I am rarely surprised by ingenious knitted creations, but I nearly fell off my chair when I saw these Knitted Yoga Balls. I sit a lot and like to break up the long hours by unchaining myself from my ergonomically-designed Aeron Chair. Sometimes I bounce and stretch on an exercise ball. I'm toying with the idea of jeweling up a lowly specimen using this Knitted Yoga Ball pattern.

Illustration: Edel Rodriguez Photos: Ravelry, Brooklyn Tweed, Knitting Warehouse, Thread and Needle, Better Living By Design

Preserve, Conserve and Shop Small

It saddened me to learn that many large-box retailers opened their doors yesterday...on Thanksgiving. Here’s Walmart’s rational:

"We bought deep, very deep, and we bought deep on items that matter to our customers," said Walmart U.S. Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer, Duncan Mac Naughton.

What’s deeper than spending time with loved ones on Thanksgiving? 

"Walmart's offers will include video games starting at $10 and home appliances such as a Crock Pot slow cooker for $9.44 each."

There's an underlying disconnect…and discontent in this deep thinking that inherently weakens communities.

But who am I to tell Walmart, the largest US employer, what to do? I live in a thriving small town that flourishes over the holidays. Local holiday shopping starts today and helps keep the merchants afloat during the less lucrative winter months. Shopping local during the holiday season creates jobs, boosts the economy, and preserves our neighborhoods. Keeping with peaceful holiday tidings, being a "locavore" matters because it conserves precious energy (the malls are often quite a driving distance away), and preserves our small towns.

In the spirit of the season, let’s be conscious of where we shop. It matters more than saving a few cents on video games and Crockpots. In fact, it matters because shopping local is the glue that holds communities together.

Photo: Fickr

Should We Rebuild?

The title of this New York Times op-ed article, We Need to Retreat From the Beach captured my attention because I've been ruminating over three recent conversations:

1. "This line shows where your property will be in a few years. Underwater." ~ my husband talking to a friend after marking a measurement showing the rising sea level on the wooden planks leading up from the ocean to his beautiful beach home on Martha's Vineyard

2. "There's lots happening and none of it is good. We're homeless, but we're starting to rebuild." ~ a phone call from my cousin after Superstorm Sandy devastated her Long Beach home, wrecked two cars and washed away a lifetime of memories

3."They shouldn't give those poor folks a cent to rebuild. No one should be living so close to the ocean anymore." ~ my mother's friend at a Mahjong game last week

We've now seen and experienced the edge of the ocean spilling into our homes...our lives, and as my friend, Judith Ross writes, "We are at a fork in the road." 

The NYTimes piece agrees, "As sea levels continue to rise, the surges of these future storms will be higher and even more deadly. We can’t stop these powerful storms. But we can reduce the deaths and damage they cause."

Solutions?

There's been talk of constructing 25 miles of coastal protection...to build a $15 billion seawall. This is the "cheapest solution." But would "the side effects" of such a barrier with its impact on inland estuaries and coastal marshes...and might I add, an eyesore to those who choose to afford a water view, be feasible given the "complex and overlapping regulatory structure that involves multiple local, state and federal agencies?"

Then there's the issue of insurance costs and outlays...yours, mine and ours. In some cases, should insurance money slated for rebuilding be redirected toward relocation and resettlement? Wouldn't it be even worse to lose a home again...and possibly a life?

These are heart-wrenching questions. I would love to know your thoughts about rebuilding in the face of our climate crisis.

Photo used with permission: Ben Scott for Bluerock Design

Global Warming Gets Its Day In The Sun

"We want our children to live in an America that isn’t burdened by debt, that isn’t weakened by inequality, that isn’t threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet. -- What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on Earth -- the belief that our destiny is shared; that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another, and to future generations; that the freedom which so many Americans have fought for and died for comes with responsibilities as well as rights, and among those are love and charity and duty and patriotism. That's what makes America great..." ~ President Barack Obama  

Good Luck, O! We need you...and we know you've got your work cut out for you. In the next four years, my hope is that clean energy is a top priority.

Photo: Greenpeace

Give Children A Voting Voice...Yours

“This is the most important election of your lifetime. There's so much at stake.”

I've been telling my voting-age children this for as long as I can remember. My voice plays over and over in their heads because for many years my children tagged along with me on Election Day. It was my hope that by joining me in the voting booth, they would become lifelong voters. Voting is their right and it would become their responsibility. Voting with my children was one of those "teachable" moments that empowered them to vote today.

Voting is the ultimate outcome of democracy: people taking action and becoming active citizens. Young adults (ages 18-29) make up at least 24% of the voting age population, and they have significant power in making a mark in history in 2012.

My children were jazzed to vote in the presidential election today. My son came home to vote in the same town hall he had accompanied me at as a young child. My daughter, a graphic designer, voted early this morning and then forwarded me the “Get Out the Vote” campaign created by the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts). AIGA asked their members to create nonpartisan posters to inspire the American public to participate in the electoral process and vote in the 2012 election.

How about your children? Did you take them with you to vote? Did they vote?

View more posters and read the full post on Moms Clean Air Force.

Poster: AIGA, Shelley A. Miller