Day 19. Protect...

And we knit on…

The Earth Charter

“We stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice and a culture of peace. Toward this end it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations.”

From The Earth Charter Initiative

I recently stopped in our university library to grab a cup of coffee. The cafe is in the middle of the “leisure” book collection so I always pause for a moment, grab a book that calls to me and peruse the pages. That usually starts a chain reaction that only ceases several books later. So, it’s safe to say that I have no idea what book I picked up when I discovered The Earth Charter but only know that this passage spoke to me in multiple ways. Most importantly the phrase ”culture of peace.”

What would it look like to create a culture of peace?

How could we foster that culture?

My thoughts moved from one idea to the next always coming back to the need to honor not only ourselves but our home, this planet. This beautiful planet that gives and gives and gives… In the U.S. a climate change report was just released demonstrating that indeed our “future holds great peril.” We must act now to shift from a perilous future to one that “holds great promise.”

That future with great promise is achieved with choices right now, today. Experts from all around the world talk about strategies to reduce carbon footprint, minimize greenhouse gases, preserve water, create new crops to combat the elements… my mind begins to swirl… let’s bring this back down to the ground… what simple action items can we do… what are our seeds?

Partake in active transport… if you can take the bus or train just think of all that extra knitting time?

Walk to work… connect with nature providing time before work to collect your thoughts and after work to decompress.

Be aware of your choices… are reusable grocery bags the ‘right’ thing to use? should you use your own to-go cup? Here’s a great article that brings awareness to the implications of our choices.

As knitters, what can we do to specially work to protect our planet?

The power of your purchase plays a pivotal role… what are the “consequences” of your purchase. Think of all the amazing ways you can make a positive statement… support a local shop, a local shop with an online space, the independent dyer, the farmer, the mill, the pattern designer, the tech editor, the graphic designer, the folks at Ravelry…

It isn’t to say there’s one best approach, only to be aware of the message you are sending with your purchase.

Coming back to this idea of climate change… and certainly this post isn’t all about the science behind climate change rather to bring awareness that our world and climate is constantly evolving. I recently overheard a conversation between two friends “climate change has always happened, this is nothing new…” Perhaps it’s nothing new, yet it’s now pivotal that we, the people of this earth begin to realize that our choices have consequences for our planet… regardless of what it's called, how long it’s been occurring, and how many people want to debate whether it exists.

Shortly after the first Project Peace, I received an email describing the most intriguing project, The Tempestry Project… a way to use knitting to visualize the changes in temperature over time for any location in different times. For example, utilizing Emily and her team’s approach, you can knit the daily temperatures for a location, let’s pick Steamboat Springs, CO (the place I grew up) and any years you like, e.g. 1968 and 2018. It let’s you visualize a shift over half a century… warmer or colder. Below, is a multiple year comparison… notice the change over time to more red and orange reflecting a greater number of hotter days.

Deception Pass, WA from 1950-2014. On display at Museum of Northwest Art in LaConner, WA, through January 5th. Visit the Surge Climate Art Exhibit if you are in the area.

Peace seed #19.

Protect our planet. Make space today for peace. As you knit (or walk, reflect, etc), ponder one action item you can implement to be friendly to the earth…

Perhaps follow one link provided above and read about The Earth Charter, the climate report, learn more about the implications of our choices or The Tempestry Project.

Give-away #3.

Emily, Justin and Marissa from The Tempestry Project have graciously contributed a custom kit.

Here’s what you need to do to be eligible to enter. Leave a comment (or email me if you aren’t able to post on the blog) in response to the following question:

Now on Day 19 of Project Peace… which daily post has resonated with you the most and why? Leave a comment before midnight on Friday December 21 and I’ll announce the winner on Saturday the 23rd. There will be one final give-away revealed on Friday!

Today, make space…

~Christina

P.S. Even if you aren’t the lucky recipient, Emily writes “we will be holding our 2nd Annual New Year Sale for the whole month of January. This is 10% off of Tempestry Kits specifically for 2018, as the full data becomes available 1/1/19, and for 1968. We had a lot of people last January order kits for 2017 & 1967, and it was a great way to see temperature comparisons over the span of half a century so we will keep up this January tradition.”

Day 18. Plant...

Planting seeds…

to nourish ourselves,

our family,

the community,

nation,

and beyond.

That single seed, deeply rooted in the soil, takes a risk, never doubting, pushing it’s way through the dirt… reaching for the sky.

Pulling water from the earth and sunlight from the sky

to yield the future.

To nourish and sustain life, it’s own and others.

Knitting and seeds.

This year’s Project Peace pattern is packed with symbolism. Not only the geese but the rib stitch which is technically called “seeded rib.” If you take a step back and look at the cowl, you’ll see the rib stitch looks like rows in a garden surrounded by seeds. Make sure to block the cowl to appreciate the full beauty of the seeded rib stitch… you wouldn’t harvest your garden and eat the vegetables without washing them first, right?

Planting seeds…

Cultivating peace is one’s daily life is found in the metaphor of the seed. It begins with each one of us… but it takes risk, commitment, the ability to maneuver through tough times, and to reach for the sky.

Peace seed #18.

Gardening… a great way to connect with the earth. Whether you have a potted plant inside, a container garden outside or a full garden… it all counts. Just the other day, I saw a little kit at Target for indoor plants. Bring it home, mix up the soil, seeds and water, put in pot and let it grow… paper whites, winter basil, spruce tree.

What seeds will you plant?

Peace… one stitch, one step, one seed at a time,

~Christina

Below are photos I took in Shetland of Turriefield Farm… akin to a community supported agriculture (CSA) but so much more. My take-aways from this visit were that if all these vegetables can be grown in Shetland, a rock in the middle of the ocean with inclement weather, then we can grow vegetables in many places previously thought not conducive. The second was that seaweed is amazing… many of these garden beds are built up on layers of seaweed as it provides the appropriate levels of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus along with anti-microbial properties. The earth truly is incredible!

Mid-November at Turriefield…

the growing season is slowly coming to an end… but will produce one more set of veg boxes before a winter’s pause.

And yes, there were geese…

and the most leeks I have ever seen… abundant!

Day 17. Penmanship...

“To write is human, to receive a letter: Devine!”

— Susan Lendroth

Yesterday, we chatted about creating commuKNITy yet while having that sense of belonging with a physical group may be an example of how to create peace, for many of us it might not be a reality. For whatever reason, having that physical group of like-minded knitters to meet with a regular basis might not be your reality… no transportation, haven’t found the people that you click with, physically unable to meet up, etc.

With the overwhelming presence of technology in our lives and the ability to correspond instantly with people all-around the world it’s odd that our communication skills seem to be deteriorating. Cursive is no longer a mainstay of the educational curriculum, teaching kids efficiency on the keyboard is actually being taught less as we transition to faster, more efficient ways of capturing our thoughts and words. Soon, we’ll “write” via dictation and maybe that sci-fi concept of having our thoughts directly transcribed from our minds will become a reality.

Writing with pen and paper is a dying art. Sending and receiving a letter in the mail is soon to be one of those “remember when…”

So, let’s write letters… or maybe even let’s knit letters.

Felicity Ford’s marvelous book series on colourwork provides a knitted medium for sending letters. In the Stranded Colourwork Playbook, Felicity outlines a tangible way to knit a “letter” and send it to a “knit-pal.”

So, creating commuKNITy has multiple ways to be implemented perhaps writing or knitting a letter might provide a new avenue for feeling connected.

Peace seed #17.

Write a letter to a friend or relative. Or maybe you need to write yourself a letter.

If you are so inclined to knit a letter, check out Felicity Ford’s Ravelry group and click on the link for “postcard pen pals.” If you happen to use Instagram, check out the work of @yumiket and @muriel. They’ve been exchanging knitted letters for several months and their “swatches” are inspiring.

I’ve been attempting to find another way to connect our “knit for peace” folk. I’ve decided to create a thread in The Healthy Knitter Ravelry group so if you are looking for a “pen pal” whether it’s a hand-written letter or a knitted letter, you’ll be able to connect.

If you aren’t on Ravelry or don’t feel comfortable using Ravelry, send me an email (thehealthyknitter at gmail dot com) and I’ll do what I can to connect people so they find a pen-pal. Please put peace penpal in the subject line. We’ll see how that goes… if it gets overwhelming, I may need to find an alternative solution.

We are in the final days of Project Peace 2018… so many more things to share about knitting and peace, at least 2 more giveaways that you won’t want to miss.

Peace… a choice. Make space for peace in your life.

~Christina

Giveaway winner #2 announced.

Jen W. is the recipient of the lovely watercolor and journal set from The Net Loft. Jen please email me and I’ll connect you with Dotty. Here’s what Jen wrote about her plans for Worldwide Knit for Peace Day:

“You know what Christina - I already think of Dec 21st as the official World Wide Knit for Peace Day regardless of whether it's pre-printed on a calendar or Google identifies it as such (but how sweet would that be?)... What better way to celebrate the shortest day of the year! To take a step back for even just an hour or two from the frenzy of preparations/shopping for the holiday to breathe, contemplate the true meaning of the season, and discuss with my knitting family - it's perfect!
My knitting group normally meets at a public location on the third Tuesday of the month which we are still doing next week, but we are also adding Friday as a special and more personal event and meeting at a member's home.”

Day 16. Participate...

“Follow the fish, follow the knitting”

Traveling along a line… 60 North, an imaginery line that connects people, knitters, fisherfolk, peace, and my heart, today we visit the most special of places, Cordova, Alaska, a mere 4000 miles from Shetland. Here, you’ll find a tiny, little fishing village tucked away in the wild of Alaska remotely located on the Copper River Delta in Prince William Sound.

The Copper River Delta

Here, reside approximately 2000 people, and while not an island, there’s that feel… there are no roads to Cordova, just a plane or a 6 hour ferry ride. A fishing town… where life revolves around the salmon and halibut…

boats…

nets…

the making of nets…

and the processing of fish…

While Amazon has most certainly provided the people of Cordova with access to more “goods,” one can’t help but notice that the choices for groceries, eating out, or clothing options are limited. That life is just a wee bit simpler… in a really good way.

So with that need to acquire “stuff” set aside, one starts to feel the importance of connecting with the community… the drive to belong to something greater than a busy schedule, the need to do more… time seems to slow down just a bit.

Kids are out playing on the street…

…people are hiking up the ski hill

and meeting at their local yarn shop, The Net Loft.

In this remote, little village you’ll find one of the most beautiful shops in the all the land. Well, see it’s not really a yarn shop… it’s the general store, the mercantile, the haberdashery… there’s the most exquisite yarn with multiple collections themed off the colors from the surrounding area, jewelry, painting supplies, dishes, lotions, table linens, baby gifts… anything you might need for that special occasion.

And while this shop is like no other for it’s material contents… it’s much more than that…

it has heart and soul.

It’s a place for the people of Cordova to gather, to connect, to participate, to inspire, to teach the next generation the importance of art and craft, to engage…

It was here that I truly began to understand what it means to be a community… it was here the word took on new meaning and became…

commuKNITy

a collective group based on knitting… to participate, to be connected and to have a sense of belonging.

It is here, in Cordova, at the Net Loft, that those feelings of being connected took shape…

the livelihood of the people that live here, the fisherfolk…

the ties between fishing and knitting through the making of traditional gansey sweaters…

and the people that come together in the dark days of winter to gather, to participate, to make something beautiful, to place one stitch next to the other…

You can read more about this specific painting by Nicola Slattery on Dotty’s blog. Pull up a chair, you’re in for a treat.

Peace seed #16.

Knitting has the power to connect us. Whether it’s as a collective group of people at a knitting store, coffee shop, library, or a virtual group on Ravelry or perhaps through this blog or maybe it’s by way of connecting your yarn source with the person that is receiving the finished item…

what is your commuKNITy?

Many of you might be wondering… why did I go to Cordova? Dotty creates the most amazing event called “Fiber and Friends.” It doesn’t happen every year so I would highly recommend if you are at all interested in attending any of Dotty’s events you subscribe to the shop’s newsletter.

On a personal note, I met the most amazing people while attending this event… I’ve made friends for life whether they live in Cordova or were there for the week… Dotty, Coleen, Terri, Anna, Susan, Lori, Jane, and so many more. At a time when I was feeling rather isolated… I found my folk, my peacekin, right there in that geographically isolated little town with a huge heart. Thank you Dotty and The Net Loft.

peace, one stitch, one step, one breath at a time…

~Christina

P.S. This post is one of the most cherished ones I've written yet... this place, the people, the message are so dear to me. There's something about 60 North that has captured my heart... Shetland and Cordova. It certainly can't be attributed to the weather... it's something about the magical aspect of the people and place.

Of all my blog posts, this one has been the most challenging to write. The need to do justice to this place and the people has created some pressure… expectations. Many posts, I just write and let them go, they’ll be what they are… but this one was different… how can I capture all those emotions in one short space. Maybe when the times right, I’ll be able to explore in words more specifics on the week.