“The time has come,’ the Walrus said,
To talk of many things:
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —
Of cabbages — and kings —
And why the sea is boiling hot —
And whether pigs have wings.”
I last wrote on 9/21 with news of two new patterns, one in honor of the International Day of Peace called the Sandhill County Shawl and the Heartsease Cowl. In this same post, I announced that Project Peace would look a little different this year and that I would blog this fall about some climate change issues but was unsure of what I’d do during December. This fall has been a bit of a whirlwind with lots of travel for work leaving me with little time for anything but trying to overcome jet lag. BUT…
With trips to Oslo, Shetland, Philadelphia and South Bend, Indiana, I’ve had the opportunity to reflect (rather a full on immersion) on the topic of peace and in the past couple of weeks, I came to realize that Project Peace is exactly what’s needed right now. I’ve had a bit of writer’s paralysis (not just a “block”) as much of what I want to write about related to climate change has left me feeling ill-equipped to do this topic justice. I’ll share a quote tomorrow that has been my beacon over the past 2 months. Project Peace is perhaps just what I need to move me from a place of being stuck to one of action…
So, after a lot of soul-searching I’ve decided to blog over the next 21 days. Yes, I’ll be here, writing about peace and sending those thoughts out into the world for anyone interested in taking a deeper dive into the topic of peace, knitting, health, and nature over the next 21 days.
Now, if you are asking yourself if there is a pattern, yes and no. No, there’s no specific pattern for Project Peace 2019 and yes, you can use any previous Project Peace pattern or knit any pattern that brings you joy and provides an opportunity to engage in mindful knitting. I just cast on another Project Peace 2016 peace loop! I think this is one of my favorite patterns of all time.
Here’s some options: Sandhill County Shawl from this fall, Seeds of Peace cowl from Project Peace 2018, The Ripple Shawl from Project Peace 2017 or the original Project Peace 2016, a free pattern with over 30,000 downloads. The Heartsease cowl is a simple meditative stitch pattern that could be just the right project for this year’s Project Peace. Just as it is with peace, there’s no single path to peace so this year, let’s have our “peace-along” with your choosing of a pattern.
The new Tree Seed shawl pattern would make a perfect shawl for this peace-oriented season especially since it is in honor of trees…
So, Project Peace 2019 will have a little simpler approach. I’m not sure how much of that will be apparent to all of you however on my end it will be. First, this year, I’ve done absolutely no promotion of Project Peace. This step alone has simplified the process immensely and allowed me to have no grandiose expectations of what this 21 days might accomplish. Second, there is no theme beyond that of peace. Third, I won’t be spending a lot of time on Ravelry moderating the group thread. I’ll pop in now and again but my main focus will be on the blog. Finally, I don’t plan on sending an email announcement each day. My intent with Project Peace is to promote peace and if you’re feeling overwhelmed with a busy inbox, well that just isn’t what I’m after. I’ll send emails on Day 1, 7, 14, 20 and 21. Again, this really helps simplify the process on my end.What this means to you is that you’ll need to go directly to the blog each day to read the posting. I’ll post directly to the blog (www.thehealthyknitter.com) in the mornings (central time, US).
I would love to encourage folks to engage in Project Peace by leaving comments on the blog. I would also be thrilled if anyone that was interested to find a journal/notebook to keep a simple record of your journey with peace over the next 21 days. Here you can write, doodle, paint, write down random words that are meaningful to you, etc. This is such an important time of year to slow down and without being intentional it’s easy to let December pass by without notice.
I intend to offer a couple of give-aways. At this time, all items will come from my stash or perhaps the stash of a friend or two.
Are you ready to pause and ponder peace?
Remember, you don’t have to knit to engage in Project Peace… this is 21 days of being intentional and mindful about peace.
Are you in?
So, as the walrus said, it’s time to talk of many things… let it be of peace.
See you tomorrow!