Happy 2017 everyone! I hope this year is off to a great start! As some of you may have seen on instagram, I have been busy knitting up a project that uses bright pink yarn. Up to this point, the blog has not been political, and I intend to keep it that way. But I do also intend on sharing different projects I am working on to help make the world a better place. With the start of a new year, I think this is the perfect time to share about my most recent project.
Let's start at the beginning. On January 21 there will be organized marches in major cities across the US to make sure that the newly elected and appointed governmental figures know that (from the Woman's March website):
"Women’s rights are human rights, regardless of a woman’s race, ethnicity, religion, immigration status, sexual identity, gender expression, economic status, age or disability. We practice empathy with the intent to learn about the intersecting identities of each other. We will suspend our first judgement and do our best to lead without ego."
With that vision in mind, and knowing how bitter cold it will be in most of the US on the day of the march, a group of women designed a hat to be knit, crocheted or sewn to keep the marches warm and create a powerful visual statement. Using a clever play on words, they are calling it the Pussy Hat Project. You can read more about the project's vision and origins here. What's great is you don't have to attend a march to knit a hat for someone who is. There are organized drop-off places or you can mail it to the organizers to hand out the day of the march (read more about that here). It's a great way to feel involved without being at a march.
To me, this project is craftivism at it's best. I've been really drawn to learning more about craftivism lately, so for those of you who aren't familiar with it here are some brief summaries from some craftivist leaders:
Sarah Corbett of The Craftivist Collective uses this definition:
"By using the quiet, reflective time it gives us to explore global issues and how they affect the world around us, we can create something beautiful, considered, positive and potentially world-changing."
Also Betsy Greer of Craftivism. sums it up like this:
"This is less about mass action and more about realizing what you can do to make things around you better.
This is about doing things intentionally in order to learn and better process the happenings in this world.
This is about creating dialogue with others in the hope for positive change."
This idea of passive activism really resonates with me. It's not aggressive or loud. It's gentle and kind.
If you'd like to be involved, they also have a crochet pattern that is really easy, and you can use my crochet tutorials to help you figure out where to start if you are a beginner.
I'm on hat #2 now, and I feel so satisfied! Do you plan on getting involved? Let me know in the comments below!