Crochet Saves the Sea

I came across this TED talk, of all places, on Apartment Therapy, and watched the whole things even though I didn't have time to because it was so incredibly interesting.

Allow me to espouse why it is so amazing:

1) It's about a crocheted coral reef, which is beautiful and awesome.
2) The crocheted sea creatures solved a problem mathematicians were grappling with and didn't think was even possible.
3) The woman giving the talk looks just like the bad-ass protagonist from "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and imagining that girl crocheting while fighting bad guys is wonderful.
4) The reef was in a global warming-themed exhibit.  Hence crochet saves the sea.
5) It's a TED talk.

Traveling at Home

After several months of my daily photo project, I've been trying to reflect on how the project might have changed me.  Part of the answer came from a very unexpected place, as do the best things in life, I suppose.

My job at the co-op entails organizing classes about topics of interest to our crunchy community and one that I recently helped organize and attended was led by a superbly inspiring dude, Darshan Karwat, who spent the last year attempting to create ZERO waste.  That meant no trash, no recyclables, no buying anything new.  (See the details of his project and some of the great reflections throughout on his blog, Minimizing Entropy.)  Not only was I super inspired by his dedication and thoughtfulness throughout the practice, but his new exploration of Traveling at Home has helped me realize what it is that my photos have been trying to do.

Part of the challenge of producing a new photo each day is to find something "photo worthy."  Each time I set out to take my photo for the day, I have to take time to become aware of my surroundings in a photographic way.  If I lose this for a couple of days (like I have the last two days, but we're not going to talk about that right now) I really do get out of the habit of looking photographically and have to get it back again.  But when I do get centered in this way, things start to reveal themselves around me.  I see things that I'd never taken notice of before: a new angle on scene I look at every day, a new alley or building I'd never noticed before, light and shadows making patterns, or items juxtaposed in intriguing ways.  Even before this project, these are the kinds of photos I found myself making without really knowing why.  Here are few from years ago that exemplify this idea:

Berkeley, CA  July 16, 2007 

San Francisco, CA.  July 17, 2007

Phoenix, AZ.  January 11, 2008

Marian Mobius Cowl

This is one piece I'm having a hard time parting with.  The yarn is so soft and the color is so dynamic that I just want to cuddle it non-stop until the end of my days.  But since it was made for such a dear friend, I will cut the cord and send it to her.  It just means I'll have to cuddle her instead when I trek out to Boston to visit her (which is the superior alternative, for sure!)

Everything about making this cowl was an absolute TREAT!  I bought the yarn at this adorable shop in Chicago called Sister Arts Studio.  Finding it was a true discovery.  My cousin and I spent most of the weekend aimlessly wandering around Chicago re-exploring the city, and at this point in the day we were lost and hungry and feeling annoyed after taking a wrong turn and walking 5 blocks in the wrong direction.  We happened upon a welcoming looking window across the street and crossed to take a peak inside thinking for sure we'd only be able to look since everything around it was closed.

Seed Stitch Cowl: Free Pattern

It's not often that I hope for winter to last longer, but I did while I was making this cowl. Months ago I told my dear friends Molly and Lindsey that I'd make them cowls, but (as usual) I got a little distracted with other projects.  Anyhoo, this one's for Molly and I bet it will make all the hipsters on the L train she takes back to Bushwick super jealous.  (Don't worry, Linny.  Yours is in the works and Boston will be cold for a while, I think.)

I didn't knit this one in the round but it still looks good turned on its side because seed stitch looks good on a piece whether it's upright or turned on its side.  So it's basically like knitting a scarf but you'll weave the ends together at the end.  You could also knit this in the round with size 17 circular needles and you'd have no seams, but you'd cast on the amount to go around the whole circle.