Originally posted April 24, 2006
I came across an article in the newspaper on the weekend about an institute in California – The Institute for Figuring, which is doing, among many things, a crocheted coral reef. It is a project that is both mathematical and environmental. The project is being co-ordinated to call attention to global warming and its disasterous effect on the fragile coral reef in Northern Australia. (environmental) You are invited to submit crocheted pieces to the project, however, they must be based on hyperbolic crochet .(mathematical)
http://theiff.org/exhibits/reef.html
The pictures are fabulous! I would love to do something like this in knitting. Any co-ordinators out there?
The concept of trying to heal the world in some way through our art is an amazing concept. I know that a lot of knitters and crocheters regularly contribute to social causes, such as, Blanket Canada – donating knitted squares to be assembled into blankets for the homeless.
This year, many artists participated in “Knit for the Cure” which in Canada – “knitforthecure.ca” raised over $22,000.00 for breast cancer research – many thank-yous again to all who participated.
Even though to date, we haven’t, through needlework, been able to stop wars, curb the destruction of rain forests or correct the myriad of the social problems that effect us closer to home; still many of us use our skills in awe inspiring ways to make a difference. Please post any campaigns that you know exist for knitters or crocheters to make a difference in your area.
I actually sat down one day and figured out the number of stitches that went into a fair isle sweater that I had just finished for my husband – it was around 75,000. Multiply this figure by the number of sweaters knit in a year by the number of knitters and you have quite a formidable force. The task remains to harness this force and direct it towards the greatest good.
Now where is that crochet hook?
Carol