What is Project Peace? — The Healthy Knitter

“Peace... this we choose each day.”

— Anonymous

On the eve of the 5th annual Project Peace, I’m filled with excitement and hope sprinkled with a dash of anxiousness. Planning occurs all year long, contemplating a theme that is fitting, designing the pattern, and identifying 21 days worth of topics. Yet, pulling all this together is also an opportunity to shine a light on peace and how each and every one of us can cultivate more peace in our lives.

Project Peace officially began in December 2016. A year earlier, over coffee I’d mentioned to a friend, “what if I could inspire 1000 knitters all around the world to knit at the same time for 21 days in the name of peace?” I giggled with delight and said “it’d be our own version of world peace.”

So, post-Presidential election in the US, 2016, I posted a pattern “Project Peace” for free on Ravelry… with an overwhelming response of 20,000 downloads in just a months time. I blogged daily for 21 days and we implemented “Worldwide Knit for Peace (WKfP)” Day on December 21.

To honor WKfP day, people organized knitting circles at their local yarns shops, they gathered in homes, some took to the coffee shops and placed a sign on the table declaring “knitting for peace, ask me about it?” It was a grand celebration to honor our work to bring peace into our lives. We had knitters from all continents represented except for Antarctica. It was a month filled with hope and promise during a time many were filled with despair.

An article describing Project Peace was published by Interweave in 2017. The idea of having a theme came to be for the 2nd annual Project Peace (2017)… ripples of peace.

And then there was seeds of peace (2018)…

In 2019, with many life events piling up in my own world, I decided to hit the pause button. With the unexpected passing of my father on 12/24/2017, the on-going struggle to deal with what seemed an unsurmountable amount of grief, and a relentless academic job, it seemed a logical step to hit the pause button on Project Peace. Something needed to give.

Perhaps reflective of my own relationship with peace, I doubted if I could be a champion for peace. Could I do this anymore? How could I shine a light on peace when I was as far from peace as possible. At the last minute, in response to several meaningful emails asking me to please, please, please at least write, I decided to dig deep. So, no theme, no pattern, yet a devoted group of people that still showed up to focus on peace for 21 days in December. This was a pivot moment in my life… Writing those posts for 21 days was probably one of the most important steps on this journey with peace that I’ve ever taken… peace requires one to dig deep. The grief lingers, the intensity of my academic job persists yet the desire to create change for a right, just, and peaceful world has taken center stage.

And here we are, post-Presidential election 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, and certainly a time we can’t turn our back on peace. It’s time to dig deep and find peace… whether it be noticing the small things or striving for systemic change, the time is now. Peace is here and we will identify it in the most wonderful, unique, and odd places.

This year’s theme is “peace in place.” We are going to spend 21 days exploring what it means to find peace in place… defining place in all sorts of ways. Through my own journey with peace, I’ve finally settled on a definition of peace that seems to capture my heart and soul… cultivating right relationships with self, others, and the Earth. And that’s what we’ll do, connect with self, others, and the land in ways that honors all of those involved. And here we will find peace.

Join me and 100’s of knitters for the next 21 days and we dig deep and find peace in all sorts of places.

Things to know:

you certainly can knit on any project you’d like during the next 21 days. Of course, I’d love your support to offset the costs associated with Project Peace. To show your support, please consider purchasing the pattern; a portion of the proceeds will be donated to a yet-to-be determined non-profit organization focused on peace.
I’m working on posting the pattern to the Healthy Knitter website… this is definitely a new process for me. We’ll have to see how it works.
Might I suggest you find a journal or some place to jot down some thoughts over the next 21 days? This will also be helpful for an activity that occurs at the end of the 21 days. You might consider identifying some colored pens, pencils or even paints. Make this your own adventure with peace in place… document your 21 day journey.
If you are subscribed to the Healthy Knitter blog, you’ll receive a daily email with a link to the blog. The email will not include the full post, you’ll have to click through to access the entire blog post. Subscribe here if you’d like the daily email.
There will be several give-aways during the 21 days… at the very least on day 7, 14, and 21.
To keep you engaged in the 21 days, I’m putting together an additional very special give-away to those who submit a meaningful comment every single day in response to the daily posts. The name of each person who comments each day will be entered into a special drawing. These posts need to occur within 24 hours of the daily entry as a way to keep you showing up each day… the greatest gift to yourself might not actually be the give-away but what you take away as a result of focusing on peace each day.
Mid-December, there will be a Project Peace pop-up market with some very special peace bags, other knitting notions, and some peaceful tea.
Each year, I strive to post the daily message and peace tip by early morning (central time). I’m hopeful to continue to do this as I know that some folks are in Europe and Australia however, I’m also going to give myself some grace and there may be some days when the post occurs a bit later in the morning.

Are you ready? Day 1 will arrive in your inbox tomorrow morning.

I can’t wait to be on this journey with you… one filled with awe and wonder…

peace,

with each breath, stitch, and step,

Christina