Unraveled and Moving Forward

I know, I’ve already chewed your ear off about knitting, and I promise to get to the matter at hand – greening it up. But, it’s not everyday the circus comes to town and you get to jump into the ring with your buddies.

Knitted Rapture

While a bit overwhelming, The New York State Sheep and Wool Festival brings both pageantry and artistry to the creative craft of knitting. The sheer quantity and quality of yarn and wool-related items at this event is truly remarkable.

I generally don’t wear my love for knitting on my sleeve. Actually, most of my knit/purling goes directly to gift giving, but once a year at the Sheep and Wool Festival I'm in my element. In my yarn rapture, I feel connected to this creative community. Each year, I bring home one special skein (ok, maybe two) that reflect the moment.

Socks made from last year's blue/green gem:

Poking through the bins today, I found this beauty:

Greening up

As I continue to examine the eco-friendliness of….well, everything, I’ve got to say that knitting is not the greenest of crafts. It’s expensive, and much of the yarn is dyed with nasty chemicals. The manufacturing process is not energy-efficient, and a large chunk of yarn comes from faraway places, and that stomps on our carbon footprint.

What about organic yarn? Yes, organic yarn exists and it adheres to the same rigorous requirements as organic meat. The sheep must be fed organic food and be free of injected growth hormones. Their fleeces cannot be washed in chemicals. Even managing organic livestock is more sustainable than mass farming because the overgrazing of sheep is limited.

The yarn industry as a whole may have a way to go, but it’s encouraging to see that more and more small yarn producers are greening up their wares as they move forward in favor of a more sustainable future…like these folks:

Unraveled

I’ll leave you with a pearl of wisdom that my friend, Eric once noted while watching me (during a faculty meeting) rip out two hours of complicated knitting. He said that if you want to really get to the heart of a problem, you’re going to have to unravel your knitting and follow the situation back to the place where you made the mistake. Then move forward.

Photo Credit: Socks - Jen Kiaba

A Clock With a Conscience (and a Mother’s Gush)

This clock not only looks good, it does good! It was designed by iconic graphic designer, Milton Glaser. Before I get to all that goodness, I have to tell you about one of my kids (gush). You may click away now if you have no use for that nonsense (the gushing). But if you stay, I promise you'll find out what this has to do with the clock.

My daughter is a very talented graphic designer/artist (gush, gush), who now has an awesome job in her chosen field. When she graduated from RISD, she landed a much-coveted internship with Milton Glaser. She got a rare glimpse into his design genius. Maybe even more importantly, she learned first-hand how a designer creates a culture of making a difference through design. You may recall, Milton designed the I ♥ NY logo for the New York State Department of Commerce. His design became the most frequently imitated logo design in human history. Anyway, my daughter shared with me a link to the Botanist-Socially Responsible Modern Products and Milton's Epigram Clock. Since I just wrote about clocks, it seemed fitting to add this witty one to the mix.

Now we can get on with the business at hand (thanks for not clicking away!) What’s so good about the Epigram Clock? It constitutes socially responsible design because a percentage of the proceeds from the Epigram Clock goes directly to the International Rescue Committee. “The IRC responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster.”

Socially responsible design seems like something we should teach to all kids. Maybe as consumers (and parents), we could set an example and start a socially responsible cultural movement of our own. Why? Because...time flies.

Credits: Botanist

DIY Felted Stone Mat

Last night was one of those cool, clear, crisp late August evenings. I will not lament about the end of summer, let’s just enjoy what’s left and notice what is knocking on summer's door – autumn. Lovely! It is a rare weekend that my family (daughter, son and their boy/girlfriends) is all together. We have a late evening tradition of dipping into our wood-fired hot tub when the temps are not sweltering. All summer I’ve been padding around the hot tub barefoot. But, last night was chilly and I wished we had a mat next to the tub.

I’ve coveted the beautiful, earthy-colored Clustered Felted Mat (above) from VivaTerra for a while. How beautiful is that? It would be just perfect on my deck right next to the tub. While I have purchased items from VivaTerra in the past because I love their commitment to the environment and for using pure and stylish materials handcrafted by artisans, this mat is just too pricey to put next to the tub (large mat - $695). But...they can provide the inspiration for DIY possibilities to create something similar to this:

This tutorial from Craftster uses felted leftover yarn balls. The creator of the DIY rug explains her process:

“I started making balls out of my stash of leftover wool. (You know that stash of wool you can't bear to part with but don't have enough to actually knit/crochet a whole project?) I used a combination of hand and machine felting, and sewed the stones together by hand with a nylon twine."

Made in neutral stone-colored tones, I think this method for creating a similar mat, might just be what will keep my feet toasty after those evening dips. Certainly worth a try, don’t you think?

Credits: VivaTerra, Sea Otter Designs, Crafster

Trim The Waste: Zero-Waste Design

Here’s a quick Q&A: 1. Do you eat organic food?

2. Do you bring cloth bags with you when you go shopping?

3. Do you recycle?

4. Do you compost?

5. Do you buy clothes that are made from leftover scraps of fabric?

If you checked the first four in the affirmative, and puzzled over why you are even answering number 5, you’re not alone. The question never even entered my eco-radar either. What's it all about?

“Zero-waste design strives to create clothing patterns that leave not so much as a scrap of fabric on the cutting room floor. This is not some wacky avant-garde exercise; it’s a way to eliminate millions of tons of garbage a year. Apparel industry professionals say that about 15 to 20 percent of the fabric used to produce clothing winds up in the nation’s landfills because it’s cheaper to dump the scraps than to recycle them.”

Want to find out if zero-waste fashion is coming to a store near you? CLICK HERE FOR MORE