Knittishisms

I delivered the Mayor's Heart

2011-12-16T16:42:00.004-05:00

I've been trying to digest what transpired today -- I delivered the heart. But, it has taken me a while to make sense of the results.

I phoned my City Councillor's office and asked if I could drop off this special Xmas present for the Mayor, explaining exactly what it was. After a humourous conversation and discussion, the Councillor's assistant suggested I deliver it directly to the Mayor's office.

My concern (as you might imagine) was that I would be unintentionally involved in explaining myself to an arresting officer, hastily dismissed, or having to explain to the bomb squad that the heart doesn't even actually tick. But no, they put me in touch with 'Tom' in the Mayor's office and he said 'Come on in...'

So, I did.

The office. The Mayor's office. Well, actually only the Mayor's office reception area. (Like I expected he'd actually meet with me? No.) In I walk. Tom is on the phone speaking with an unhappy Torontonian. (Like I expected he wouldn't be? No.) Tom... poor, poor Tom. Must be a tough job being Mr. Ford's assistant. I look around the office. Another assistant is up on a ladder taping the Mayor's received Christmas Cards to the glass wall. I begin thinking 'Wonder if he'll tape my note up there with those notes & wishes'? Um... No. Finally, I hear "Yes?" I present Tom with my gift wrapped prezzie.
I explain it's a hand knit Christmas gift for the Mayor.
I tell him it's a heart.

I am then summarily dismissed.

I am not surprised.

In fact, I begin to wonder if my original thought of an off-the-wall yarn-bombing would have been more successful. Picture this: me on a pink e-scooter, wearing a Margaret Atwood mask, launching the heart like a woolly, fibre-grenade into the Mayor's path. Juvenile. I know. But at least he would have seen it, perhaps even read the note. Instead, Tom tossed it behind him, into a stack of assorted 'obviously this will be recycled soon' things.

Still, I am glad I did it.

I have always believed if you feel strongly about something being wrong, say and do what you can to try and change it.

I have taught my children the same. When my daughter had a complaint about the poor quality of children's programming on Rogers on Demand, I encouraged her to write to Mr. Rogers. When my son didn't like how a daycare friend was being physical with him, he was taught to say "No Thank You. I don't like it when you do that. You are hurting my body."

What kind of mother would I be if I didn't follow the same advise?

If you feel passionately about something... say something, do something... knit something.

Join me in trying to open the Mayor's eyes, and more importantly, the Mayor's heart.

If you are a knitter, crocheter, painter, sketcher, writer or musician why don't you knit, crochet, paint, draw, write or compose how you feel about these proposed cuts -- they are soon to become very, very real cuts. You must speak up. Or, in my case, knit up.

It's important speak up, so why not speak simply and say what toddlers learn in daycare:

"No Thank You! I don't like it when you do that. You are hurting my city."

I Knit the Mayor a Heart

2011-12-13T21:31:00.008-05:00

This is an anatomically correct, hand-knitted heart.
I knit it 2-sizes too small.
I knit it for you, Mr. Mayor.

The following is an open letter to Rob Ford, Mayor of Toronto.

Dear Mr. Mayor,

Now, please don't you or any of your loyal supporters overreact to this with any knee-jerk hostility.

This doesn't merit a 9-1-1 call.

I'm not a bleeding heart liberal.
I'm not a bike riding pinko.
I'm not Marg Princess Warrior.

I'm just an average Torontonian.

I have lived in this city for almost 25 years.

I work. I volunteer. I pay taxes. I vote in every election. I have a family.

My family borrows books from the libraries. My children enjoy Toronto's Parks&Rec camps, delight in the playgrounds, swim in the public pools & refresh in the splash-pads on oppressively hot summer days. Oh, yes, and my mum is a senior who enrolls in the city's 'active older adults' exercise programmes.

Sometimes I drive and curse the ridiculously bad cyclists.
Sometimes I bike and curse the ridiculously horrible drivers.
Sometimes I walk and curse the cars and the bikes.
Sometimes I take public transportation and curse the crowded subways, streetcars, buses, or long wait times due to inadequate service or availability.

But, I live in Toronto and I love this city.

Right now you and your committees are about to slash all sorts of services: Libraries, Community Centres, Day Care, the TTC, and much, much more. We have all heard about the proposed cuts. We have debated back and forth about them. Mr. Mayor, have you actually experienced any of these services? Have you ever enrolled your children in a Parks and Rec Summer Camp? Taken them to Riverdale Farm? Surely you would see how important and necessary these areas of service are. Have you taken the TTC, not as a novelty experience, or as an occasional alternative but rather: as transportation to and from your place of employment? Try it for a week... during peak hours -- a.m. & p.m. I think you'll learn a lot.

When you start cutting vital services from a city as large as ours, its akin to cutting vital organs out of a living organism. The results: disastrous.

Don't flat-line my city, Mr. Mayor.

Have a Heart!

Tallit - Almost done

2011-11-14T22:37:00.005-05:00

It took 3 intense days of pinning, hand sewing and mostly praying to finish the tallit; though until I have the tzitzim properly knotted, it isn't actually complete. The lining is quite painterly & colourful. Hope she likes it!

Zoe's Tallit...

2011-11-06T10:03:00.011-05:00

'Where ya been, Rebel?' When I received this text message from my good friend and knit comrade, Guerilla Knitter, I realized I've been living rather quiet as late. Well, not really (just ask the rellies) I've been smithing, like a dutiful knit-gnome, for the past 5 - 6 months (with a lot of end-of-school-thank-you-to-the-teachers gifts, 6 baby hats, a righteous lid or two, a couple of IDF toques and several birthday presents added to the mix) I have been knitting, knitting, knitting a tallit for Zoe's upcoming Bat Mitzvah.
Knitting.
A tallit.
In sock yarn.
Approx. 17" wide & 75" long. Plus the Attarah.
...in sock yarn.

Just out of curiousity I sat down and did the math. That's 89,316 stitches of love and devotion; and that doesn't even include the crocheted finishes. Let's not even go there.

The knitting, crocheting and blocking are all done.

Now comes the hard part: sewing the lining onto the back. I am also hoping to enlist some kind soul to help me knot the tzitzim in the correct way, though our wonderful school principal, Rhonda, led me to a youtube video, a DIY tzitzim knotting adventure. I will try it, but I may seek out some help. Ed? Are you reading this? Can you help me? Pleeeeeease?

Actually, perhaps the most difficult part was selecting the lining with Zoe. Too many choices. "Mum, I love this one," the tweenager exclaimed at the bolt of fabric some may describe as chartreuse, but many have heard me refer to as 'sinus infection green'. 'No.' I curtly replied, a manner Zoe knew not to challenge with an editorial (alas, something quite common these days). Finally, we both found a decent substitute for the $45/yd we both loved -- I needed 2 yards from that divine bolt, so a substitute was a must.

Sewing.
Not my forte.
Time to channel my late father, Abram, 'Master of the Thread'.

Here's some pics of the work in progress:

Blue Attarah is from King Solomon's Woman of Valour Poem
Gold lettering are the 4 Biblical Mothers Sarah, Rivkah, Leah & Rachel.

Mother Bears for Mother's Day

2011-05-05T21:40:00.013-04:00

Rudolph and Ed Bimley by Atsuko (& Nomi)

Muffin by Etty (& Atsuko)

Ben by Sandra

Larry by Judith

A sucker for symbolism, I am shipping these latest bears tomorrow:

The Friday before Mother's Day.

About a year ago, I read the quote of a child in Zambia who, upon receiving a 'Mother Bear' said: This bear is my only friend. I said to myself, I want to knit you a hundred.

Knowing that, realistically, I couldn't, I enlisted the help of my community.

A Big Thank you again to all of the knit and crochet artists in our community at The Paul Penna Downtown Jewish Day School for helping Amy at The Mother Bear Project. Thank you for joining me in a wonderful tikkun olam yarn adventure: Debbi Arnold, Cindy Bowman, Etty Danzig, Sandra Harris, Atsuko Kobasigawa, Judith Librach, & Osnat Yitzhak.

Thank you all so much!

- Rosanne

To view the rest of the bears, please see the previous posts:

http://knittishisms.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html

http://knittishisms.blogspot.com/2010/07/next-project-mother-bear.html

Bat Mitzvah Socks

2011-01-28T12:42:00.005-05:00

No one is more shocked than I that my first born is turning 12 years old.

It seems like just yesterday that I composed an e-mail to Mayor Mel Lastman making note that, although he had called in the army to shovel away the snow from Toronto, they had somehow managed to miss my street. And as I was in my 15th month of pregnancy (at least that's how it felt to me -- what can I say, when I'm pregnant my math skills wane) would he mind sending them around to my house.

Just a few short weeks later, my Shabbat baby was born. A girl. A bit of a surprise. Turns out every single one of the bubbies, UPS drivers, bank tellers, and pseudo-psychics that felt they just HAD to tell me that from the way I was carrying >> I was definitely going to have a son. And every single one of them was wrong. HA! 100% of those surveyed predicted boy. Funny enough, in the only dream I ever had of my future child when I was pregnant... she was a girl. So, ha ha ha. The only thing was, no one had asked my opinion. I just knew.

Now, here we are just days away from Zoe's 'orthodox' Bat Mitzvah.

According to Orthodox Judaism, a boy attains his religious maturity and becomes responsible to fulfill all the Torah Commandments at 13. A girl at 12. That means, (according to the hebrew calendar), this Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 is Mlle. Z's official Bat Mitzvah date. But if she had been a boy, as all my psychic friends had insisted, his Bar Mitzvah date would be next year on Monday, February 20th, 2012.

And here's the thing. At the Bar Mitzvah service there is a prayer (I can still remember the look of delight in my brother-in-law Brian's eyes when he recited it at the twin's Barmie a year ago) in which he reminded his two sons that he was no longer responsible for their moral decisions. Before reaching the age of maturity, parents are responsible for teaching their children the Jewish law and tradition. Once they enter adulthood, they are given the privilege to take part in all aspects of Jewish community life and carry the responsibility of following Jewish law, tradition and moral obligations. Their deeds, and the deeds' consequences, good or bad, fall on the shoulders of the Bar or Bat Mitvah boy or girl.

What? All of a sudden? Just like that? If we were orthodox, next Tuesday, it's all for real?

Neither Zoe, nor we, were ready to take on, plan and execute a Bat Mitzvah this year. It kind of crept up on us with a little bit of shocking surprise. Also, quite honestly, who am I to pretend that I am orthodox? My religious, moral and ethical mind-set swings far more to the universal. Far more to the Egalitarian. Far more to the 'Hello? This is how I do Jewish'.

So, how was I going to lead my daughter down the path of her Bat Mitzvah?
The only way I knew how.
I knit her a pair of socks.

Seriously.

A pair of hand knit socks.

Made from wool, cotton and soysilk.

These socks are not just pretty designs and colours. Zoe's Torah Portion is Parashat Terumah. As part of the offerings to Moses, the children of Israel are meant to bring blue, purple, and crimson wool, and ram skins dyed red. The colours of the socks include all these colours.

I am telling her: don't just talk the talk of a Bat Mitzvah. I want you to walk the walk of a Bat Mitzvah.

As she studies her portion over the next year, from age 12 to 13, Zoe will walk in these socks and think about right and wrong. Remember to think before she speaks. Question her actions before she partakes in them. Weigh her options and contemplate her position in this world. Only then, I believe, can she (or anyone, male or female) discern between right and wrong and modify her behaviour accordingly.

She will walk with the footsteps of a woman, not a girl.

An adult, not a child.

La danse des oursins, Pt. 2

2010-11-12T19:51:00.017-05:00

A second group of bears are being assembled to go off to Amy at Mother Bear.

Meet the new group.

Arnie by Debbi

Blue Barry, by Osnat

Doolia, The Shomer Bear, by Rebel

Josh & Dylz, the twins by Rebel

Tun-O-Fun by Rebel

Toto by Joyce (Martha's Mum)

Fuzzy Bear by Cindy (Thx Wooly!)

D.D. by Rebel

Amanda by Marilyn

Bubbie Bear by Rebel

Zofia pictured above with her creator, Geoff

Recently, Zofia asked her Great Uncle Walter to join her on the journey to Africa. So, Geoff spent much of the holidays getting his brother-in-law 'organized' and has successfully secured a teddy passport for Walter (see above). Thank you, Geoff!

COMING SOON: A Third Shipment

Thank you to Atsuko (and art director Nomi) for the first 2 in the next shipment

Rudolph & Ed Bimley by Atsuko

The Chang School Bears are off to get their Hearts

2010-09-22T16:02:00.014-04:00

Take One: Barb Sarah Melissa Rosanne Shashela Mena & Dean Fearon (absent: Martha & Vrenia)

Take Two: Barb Sarah Shashela Rosanne Mena Vrenia & Dean Fearon (absent: Martha & Melissa)

Thom with Thom

Dean Fearon with Zoe Stanley & Evan

Sarah & Baby Bear

Barb & Olivia

Mena with Primo & Secondo

Shashela with Alex

Vrenia & Stanley

Melissa with J.C. Benjamin

And, finally... Canadian Bear with Martha

* * * * * *

These first 12 bears, by the hands of the Chang School Knitters, will be off to Amy at Mother Bear by weeks' end to have their hearts sewn on, before they are shipped to the welcoming arms of loving children. Thank you to all of you who participated, and to those who still want to, we are aiming for another end-of-year / holiday time shipment.

The Ivy Dress is done & A Discussion about Social Yarn Etiquette

2010-08-07T10:54:00.008-04:00

This is the story of a Rebel Knitter who saw a 'to die for' dress in a book and who swore to not venture away from the pattern for once. It is also the story of how she ended up relying on her knitting sense instead of digging her heels into the ground in sheer frustration.

Let's start at the very beginning... a very good place to start. The story begins with a fabulous gift from Marilyn of the book sensual knits: luxurious yarns/alluring designs by yahaira ferreira. G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S designs. Yummy, in fact! And, what a coincidence, I just happened to have bought 2000 metres of brown Butterfly DK Cotton (on sale at Romni) which would work great with the ivy dress - designed by Sauniell N. Connally.

You need to start with the ivy waist band. Okay. Totally up for it. Problem is: the chart is frought with errors. I frogged it back about 5 or 6 times until I finally got the brilliant idea to Google "Sensual Knits Errata". Wow. It wasn't just the Ivy Dress that had issues -- I printed off a 7 page pdf of oopsies. Yikes. Do not proceed with ANY pattern in this book before referring to this link > > http://www.pureknits.com/media/Sensual_Knits_Errata.pdf

I stayed focused, completed the waist band and then the bodice. I then cast on for the skirt and realized two things. #1 The lacy ivy strip going vertically down the front would show all sorts of stuff, but mainly my underwear.... um... no .... not good. #2 I look terrible in straight skirts. So there... that's when it happened. That's when I changed my mind. I would have to be the Rebel Knitter that I am. Hence, the finished product has an A-Line and, hey, what's not to love about a little lace hem, no? Well. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. I think I stayed a little faithful (in a sort of, almost, kind of way).

Now on to the very important issue of

SYE (Social Yarn Etiquette)

Okay. I just made that term up. But this is serious. My friend and colleague got on the TTC the other day, and when she got to the office she related the following cautionary tale:

Barb found a seat on the train, sat down, pulled out her crochet project and began to work away. All of a sudden, POKE in her shoulder. Huh? 'Must be my imagination,' she thought. Then again, POKE. Okay. Not the imagination. This was intentional. She turned around to the semi-apologetic (but not really) crafter staring her down to hear the 'what are you working on?' question. Now, just before Barb had gotten her seat, she did note to herself that the woman seated behind her was knitting. Yes, this too has happened to me. I too have sat down and noticed the knitter across the aisle. I have rubbernecked at other people's pattern choices. I too have secretly sized-up and appraised the skills, yarn and needle choices of others. Most times, if I am TTC-knitting, I find that the other knitter and I end up sharing a mutual "yarn-a-holic" smile (similar to the 'V' finger-sign that Corvette drivers used to flash each other in the 70s) and oft times engage in a friendly conversation. But this was not Barb's experience. Nope. No. No. No. No. No. Not the way to go about things, my friends. Let's be nice. We are evolved artistes. You work with yarn. You must liken yourself to Arachne or Athena/Minerva - goddesses of not just spinning, weaving and household crafts, but of wisdom and strength. Okay, so Minerva was also the Goddess of War. But stop spearing your fellow crafters. Even Minerva would say 'I don't think so, lady.' Lucky for the pokey-bioche, not only does Barb look like a Bond Girl, she is REALLY NICE and SUPER PATIENT; especially with knitters lacking the necessary social yarn etiquette that one needs in the big city.

The Next Project: Mother Bear

2010-07-15T22:51:00.025-04:00

You may have already heard of it. My next collective project (and I'm going to get you involved in it too!) is The Mother Bear Project. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations by giving the gift of a hand-knit or crocheted bear. Visit the project website: http://www.motherbearproject.org/

In the Fall, I plan to get the kids & parents at the school involved, but in the meanwhile I have gotten quite a few of the Chang School Staff at Ryerson University knitting & crocheting...

Here are some of the bears:

Meet Zoe Bear

And her little brother Evan Bear (aka Soccer Bear)

Bumgy Bear

And the tallest teddy on the block... complete with chinos and business casual blue shirt meet: Tall Thom the Teddy Bear

Mama Mena with her two bambinos Primo & Secondo Bears

Check out Melissa's very dapper J.C. Benjamin

The Delightful Alex by Shashela

This is Martha's Awesome Canadian Bear

Vrenia's oh so hugable Stanley

Sarah's cuddly Baby Bear....

And Barbara's Blingy Olivia Bear

There are number of bears in progress thanks to the brilliant hands of my Chang School Colleagues.
Too cute, no? And every single one of them will be absolutely and completely adored, regardless of flaws.

Pretty irresistible. So, nu? What are you waiting for.... let me know when you want to get started!

But, don't worry Channah & Morgan, I'm still hard at work on the IDF hats, see....

I will be mailing off a bunch soon.

And it should come as no surprise to any, then, that I am nowhere near finished my sweet cotton DK summer dress.... ah - yes... hopefully it will look just as sweet with a turtleneck and tights underneath, because it looks like that's when it will be finished by.....

Double Mitzvah

2010-06-28T14:09:00.002-04:00

I am so pleased to tell you all about what has happened with our little school Lorax project. It grew, and it grew, and then it grew some more until it became something much more than it was originally intended to be.

What began as a creative, environmental endeavor turned into a fabulous double mitzvah.

First, some marvelous child and adult knitters and crocheters came together and collectively assembled a magical array of texture, colour and pattern; joyfully displaying their phenomenal creativity.

Then, a school came together and collectively planted a massive grove of trees to honour their principal. Thank you to all who contributed to the recent fundraiser. As a community we more than doubled the reserve. We raised over $1,000 for the JNF!

Janet was speechless when I told her what we had done. I don't know if any of you have ever seen Janet speechless (I certainly hadn't), but she was. When I told her that the quilt was hers, she simply welled up with tears.

I went up to the JNF offices to present them with the monies last week, and they are truly impressed and thankful.

Thank you everyone on a collective job well done.

And on the 22nd day, she rested...

2010-05-22T17:09:00.008-04:00

...At Last....

...She is Done...

With five minutes to spare before the beginning of shabbat on the 21st of May 2010, the Lorax Project was completed with bamboo dowel and tabs all measured and in place.

This collective project was born out of our school's eco-minded sensibilities. Using both traditional and alternative environmentally friendly yarns, members of the PPDJDS community have contributed knitted and crocheted pieces of various colours, patterns and textures.

Thank you to Moreh Seth for planting the idea of a school knitting project in my head last spring, and to all our talented fibre artists for their many hours of enthusiastic creativity and labour. Also thank you to Marilyn & Jonothan of Romni for guiding many of the knitters through the aisles to find the ethical yarns for which they were searching. The result is a rich and stunning collection that truly reflects our fabulously eclectic community.

Fibres used: Alpaca Wool, Bamboo, Banana Silk Fibre, Cotton, Hemp, Milk Fibre, Organic Cotton, Pima Cotton, Recycled Cotton, Recycled Silk, Recycled Wool, Sea Cell / Seaweed Fibre, Silk, Soy silk, Sugarcane Fibre, Tea-dyed Cotton, Tencel, Wool.

Fibre Artists: Ali, Debbi, Yafa, Rosanne, Zoe, Cindy, Jennifer, Meredith, Tanya, Liora, Cydel, Micah, Janet, Aviva, Jeremy, Dena, Caren, Shira, Elana, Rona, Jodi & Osnat

Day Three... and counting

2010-05-03T20:59:00.007-04:00

When I explain to parents the benefits of teaching children how to knit, I mention that some of the fabulous skills they can learn or build on (almost by accident) are: attention to detail, creative expression, focus, fine motor skill development, math, and yes, even patience.

In this world of instant gratification -- and let us not forget that our children know ONLY a world of this kind.... a world of emails, touch-tone dialing, skype, texting, mobile phones and on-demand-in-flight-entertainment -- and this world of automation -- of remote controlled everything (including self dispensing soap & self flushing toilets) -- for them this is normal... In this world, learning the virtues of patience, long-term planning & perseverance through the art of knitting can be a subversive, fun way to teach these difficult 'old fashioned' foreign concepts.

So, when one of my 'ace' knitters came up to me this afternoon with a "Is it done yet?" I thought he was kidding! No. He was serious.

The plain and simple answer is: NO, J it's not done yet. But I am working on it. For goodness sake, it's only May 3rd. I was casting off L's square not 7 minutes prior to your question, and I arrived home 20 minutes after that to a paper bag stuffed into my mailbox with someone else's endeavor.

Besides 20x20 cm seems to be a highly hypothetical concept these days, it seems.... Rebel's got a serious balancing act playing itself out here...

Memo to self: remind kids to slow down and breathe.... remind myself to drink more coffee & crochet faster....

Here are some more pics of some more of the new squares.....

Lots & Lots of iddy biddy squares (sweet!)

This used to be Jen's white cotton with her permission, I dyed it using tea bags (orange pekoe, in case you are interested) -- btw, it was her idea.

Debbi's fab crochet

Osnat with Jade (awesome!)

Tanya's Jazzy Knit

Hope in English, Hebrew, Japanese, French & Sanskrit (using organic cotton, milk fibre, pima cotton, tencel, sugarcane fibre, seacell, merino wool, alpaca wool, & soysilk)

And there are many more squares.... stay tuned....

So, nu? Where are the squares?

2010-04-17T19:07:00.016-04:00

Just to give you a teasy sort of view of how the Lorax Project is starting to shape up, here are some of the squares. Some are pre- some are post- and some are mid-connection... yes, even though it is not quite May 1st, I have started putting this baby together as the pieces come in... otherwise, it would never get finished before the end of the school term.... besides May 1st is not just International Workers' Day, this year it also is Shabbat. (Kind of a conflicting theme going on there, don't you think?)

This gives you a pretty good glimpse of how this is going to get put together. First, I must find 4 squares that actually 'go together'.... visually (colour, balance, theme) as well as spatially...

(they are not all 4"x4" or 8"x8"

... so it is a wee bit of a puzzle fixer upper at times).

Then I block them individually.

Then I crocheting them together a la granny square...

Then they get blocked again.

Then I crochet them into a 'finished' four-some...

Then, if the knitting and crocheting gods are in a laughing,

mocking, na-na-na-boo-boo kind of mood,

I block them yet again

in a sort of holy trinity blocking mikvah kind of way

....yes, yes, I know you are sighing with jealousy,

but, alas, not everyone can have this much fun on a Saturday night....

you just gotta be super lucky and fancy free like me.

But, yes, you too can live and dream like the Rebel Knitter....

make me a square!

Meredith & one other square

recycled wool & silk & banana fibre + one of Jodi's awesome diva crochet stitching

Janet's groovy knit + one flower (hand painted New Zealand wool)

when I pulled this back because it looked like there was a slight conflict in the Arctic & Atlantic waters (hmmm - do you think this could have had something to do with that whole Iceland affair?) Any interruptions during this process received a sharp "shushing" from yours truly: Keep quiet, please, can't you see Mummy's trying to save the world here?

Debbi.
You are right.
I haven't blogged in a while.
I guess, I was holding out for you to start crocheting me a square.
Yay... it worked.
And just because you actually dug deep into the back of your closet to find your yarn & hook, here are some more visuals to inspire you to hook on...

The Mazel Tov Magen David in reverse stocking knit motif.

Four. Four. Four times the love.

"Unless" -- My favorite single word directly from the realm of Seuss' Lorax.

The Tikuun Hamsa: Repair & Protect

Last week someone asked me some excellent questions about the project:

Q: Huh? Why are you doing this?

A: Community spirit, community action & to make right the wrongs of the evil knitter 'The Oncler" (see blog entry of March 14th)

Q: Why not all the same yarn? all the same patterning? uniformity? etc.

A: This project is about pluralism, inclusiveness and the mosaic that makes up our micro & macro communities. It's what I love about my children's school, the city & country in which we are fortunate to live.

Q: Why is it called the Lorax Project?
A: Seriously? OMG, you haven't yet read it? I some how missed out on it as a child & was lucky enough to have children who are Seuss fans. Run, don't walk. Get to a library f-a-s-t!

Lorax Project Update

2010-04-12T23:30:00.001-04:00

The squares are starting to really come in now.
I am still not entirely certain how 'big' this baby is going to get.
Will start posting some photos soon.

-Rebel

My Lorax Project

2010-03-14T14:18:00.006-04:00

Last summer, after reading Dr. Seuss' THE LORAX to little Ziggy, I came up with this phenomenal project for the kids' school... sort of an community event / fundraiser / artsy fartsy thing... also, the look of horror my little boy's eyes when he realized that the Oncler, a villain/naughty person in the book, was an evil knitter that destroys the world... "Mum.. you wouldn't do that to the Truffala trees, wouldya?"

Yes, I had an environmentally tuned in 5 year old. which was great, but, oh my - oh my - I had to redeem the knitters of the world in his eyes...

So that's when I came up with The Lorax Project: I posted it in the school newsletter:

Do you knit, crochet or work in textiles? Do you know someone who does? The Friday Lunch Knitting Club is starting a collective project and we'd like to invite you to participate. In keeping with our school's eco-minded sensibilities we have been discussing, and using, environmentally friendly yarns.

What you need to do: Knit/Crochet/Weave/Embroider one 8"x8" (20cmx20cm) (or 16”x16”//40cmx40cm) square in 100% natural fibre (cotton, soy, wool, silk, tencel etc) or 100% recycled yarn. No synthetics. Also, please no linen for reasons of kashruth. You decide the colour, the pattern and texture. Produce 1, 2, 3 or more squares. Then contact Rebel Knitter who will be piecing our Community masterpiece together.

When do you need to get this all to her? May 1st, 2010
What then? We will display our collective project in the school hallway and have a silent auction with the funds going to an environmental / tree planting cause : THE JNF.

Sounds great, right? Only. I have NO IDEA if I'm going to one, two, or fifty squares.... so I'm knitting, I'm crocheting, I'm even considering macrame-ing... OMG, what was I thinking?

So far I have knit a Banana Fibre Square. A Merino Wool Square. A 60% Wool / 40% Recycled Silk Square. And a lot of Cotton... Lots of Intarsia. Leaf Imagery. Bird silhouettes. Peace Sign. Butterflies... and of course a large square with the Lorax's most salient message "Unless" knitted into it... ahhh....

My student knitters seemed overwhelmed at the thought of an 8" x 8" square... so I told them Okay, how about 4 gauge swatches instead.... that seemed less daunting a task, somehow.

We'll see what we get.... But here's the FUNNIEST part. Rebel Knitter has been know to labouriously re-jig camisole or sweater pattern in order to avoid sewing seams... (It's not a laziness thing... it's a mix of aesthetic reasoning & the fact that my 45+ year old eyes just go boinky on me after a while.... so, let's see.... how many seams do you think this little sucker of an afgan is going to need...

I can hear you all cyber-laughing at the Rebel Knitter.... ha ha ha... yuppers, what the *&%^$ was I thinking?

But, yes, my son thinks I'm cool - and I have assured him, this project is no thneed....

I will post a photo of the finished product in good time. In the mean while, however, I have an ophthalmological appointment I think I need to make.

Rebel Knitter's Purim Costume

2010-02-28T16:15:00.007-05:00

They stared at me intently. Hands on waists & wide-eyed.

If you're coming to the school to teach tomorrow, you HAVE TO, HAVE TO, HAVE TO have a costume. It's the Purim Carnival, you know... Duh?!?!?

Um... Okay.

I'm not a Queen Esther or Vashti type so, I needed to come up with something.

Fast.
As I teach knitting on Friday afternoons at the kids' school & the tooth fairy has visited my house twice this past week, I had to go with the combined theme.

Here she is:

I know, I know, no image of the rebel herself in the shots, but hey, it's kind of hard to photograph the wings on your back when you're also the photographer.

Also, I wore my most fuzzy bright mohair cardi (yes, after it was all knitted up I figured out why the skeins were on sale). I call that sweater my Wookie Cardi. Also A couple of 10 mm needles criss-crossed through the back of the wings/sweater to show that I'm a Hard Core knitter, you know...

Oh, I almost, this little gem (as modelled by my dear daughter)What is a knitting Fairy without her trusty "frogger"....

How much fun is that?

Knittishisms at The 33rd Annual Jewish Book Fair

2009-10-10T16:41:00.002-04:00

Koffler Centre of the Arts presents:

THE 33rd ANNUAL
Jewish Book Fair
October 24 to November 1, 2009

*****************************************************
Sunday, November 1

The Zen of Jewish Knitting
2 PM $5
With a Master’s degree in Art and Popular Culture and having worked within the worlds of museums, marketing, broadcasting, education and business, Rosanne Bernard was destined to write a book about knitting, Knittishisms: The Zen of Jewish Knitting. Given the fibre name, Rebel Knitter by her knitting comrades, Bernard does not follow a pattern out of an eccentric wish to make “one-of-a-kind” masterpieces. Bring your knitting and spin a yarn with the Rebel Knitter herself.

www.kofflerarts.org

Conference Centre, Lipa Green Centre for Jewish Community Services, 4600 Bathurst St.The annual Jewish Book Fair, one of the largest in North America, has been bringing the best of Jewish literature to Toronto for 33 years, with world-class authors, school programs and engaging programs from panel discussions to intimate concerts to films to live cooking demos and more. Don’t miss this celebration of Jewish books and culture as it debuts in the brand new Lipa Green Conferencing Centre on the Sherman Campus!
Click here for full event details.
Click here to download the Jewish Book Fair Event Guide (PDF 1 MB)
ADVANCE TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Tickets for all events can also be purchased in person at the Jewish Book Fair, starting on Saturday, October 24. Get yours early to avoid disappointment! Certain workshops where indicated require advance registration.

It's at times like this, I'm glad I'm a knitter

2009-10-06T20:57:00.001-04:00

I'm not a big shul goer -- that's more my hubby's shtick (which is really funny, because according to all accounts, he spent every able opportunity skipping Cheder (hebrew school) to play soccer in the park across the street as a kid). We go to the Minsk in Kensington Market. (Remember The King of Kensington? Yup that market) It's old... drafty... very haimishe... perfectly Kensington.

AND so here we are, Yom Kippur... they started Kol Nidre almost an hour late, the gentlemen that ALWAYS open the ark are somewhat late, blah blah blah -- you know the rest... Hello? Don't they know I have a 10 & 5 yr old here with me? So, by 9:45pm when Kol Nidre was still going on, I'm trying to keep my daughter from falling asleep on my prayer book and I think to myself, I'm a bit chilly, but at least she is wrapped up all nice and warm in my mohair sweater, thank G-d she at least is warm... Then, I think, wow, I'm surprised I haven't heard more kvetching from the downstairs (men's section) from Ziggy (the 5 yr old).... so I gaze down, and there he is... STANDING ON THE BIMAH next to the chazzan, my little dude's kippah is inside out & backwards, but what a gorgeous drunken little smile he has on... well that's okay.. then he spots me... starts waving wildly... ALL THE WOMEN stare at me and giggle... and then... then... then... Ziggy starts channeling ELVIS, with the wild hip shaking girations & EVERYTHING... Arms swinging like he's in the final top 3 playoffs for Air Guitar Hero of the World... and that's when I say to Zozers, "Sweetie, come... let's go... we're off to home"...

So, what does all this have to do with knitting? Well! They looked something special szhlumping out of shul, One in a bright green Che Sweater with funky Righteous Lid & the other in a wild hued mohair sweater... They looked an ad that would read "Don't you wish your mummy could knit like mine?"

Reviews of Knittishisms

2009-08-12T15:01:00.005-04:00

Canadian Jewish News, August 13, 2009

The Eyrea>> http://the-eyrea.blogspot.com/2009/01/book-review-knittishisms-by-rebel.html

To purchase Knittishisms, The Zen of Jewish Knitting

contact: rebelknitter@gmail.com

Healer... heal thy self

2009-05-08T14:18:00.010-04:00

I performed a yarn intervention the other day.

Yes! A yarn intervention. Every knitter should have an emergency contact person (yes, GK -- a Yarn Sponsor) when they are in the midst of a knitting crisis.

Wednesday P.M. ... An emergency distress e-mail is sent out by my good friend Woolly Mammoth (to Guerrilla Knitter & myself); but, alas, I am arm deep in the oven trying to save an under baked quiche. Luckily Guerrilla is more techno wired-up than myself. "Rebel," she exclaims through her cell phone, "... you need to call Woolly ... it's yarn intervention time... it's an emergency and I have to walk into a meeting just now." Could you say no? This is the stuff MITZVAHS are made of... Baruch Hashem! So, two minutes later, with oven mitts removed (you know it's hard to dial in those things!), I'm on the phone with Woolly. The details are this: W was in Ottawa, great yarn, divine pattern, but WRONG great yarn for pattern. Does Woolly do gauge swatches? NO! (and I quote: "I have perfect gauge, I don't ever do a swatch.") Yes, and she never blocks either... enough said!

So, how does one actually perform a yarn intervention, you might ask.

Does one force the crisis (not yet forsaken) individual to take a good long look at their increasingly abundant stash, due solely to incorrect purchasing and label reading? Perhaps.

Does one hold their hand sweetly and let them cry a cathartic yarn howl? Perhaps.

Or does one patiently go through the label instructions: located sweetly right there on the back of just about every gosh darn blessed label for all to see -- except for those who forgot their bifocals in their gosh darn Ottawa hotel room? Perhaps.

Every yarn intervention should be treated on a case by case basis. You must see yourself as a facilitator in this situation. This is about yarn, sticks, instructions and the psyche to balance all three in a holistic creative way.

I found out that when dealing with sweet sweet Woolly, yarn intervention means SHE'S JUST TOO LAZY TO DO THE MATH! So that's me. The human yarn abacus..... what a treat.

In the end, I sent her to Romni Wools for therapy. And Woolly was kind enough to buy me new set of 4.5 mm dpns ...ain't that just the sweetest thing you ever heard! Problem was, they were the wrong size... so I went back to Romni this A.M.

Confession: Now I need a yarn intervention.

I went to their sale section as Woolly mentioned they had some variegated Butterfly Cotton on sale... that was dangerous ... I can't even bring myself to relate to you all the $$$ I just spent... even if it is a phenomenal deal... 14 skeins later... well... you know....

So, Nu? What's New?

2009-04-29T22:31:00.015-04:00

It's amazing. No matter how many things I cross off the knitting to-do list, the list just never gets finished. It's probably a combination of the fact that I keep adding to the list, and that small matter of the fact that the stash keeps growing. I really don't know how this happened, really.

NB: Always have one credit card that your partner neither knows about, nor sees the statement of -- this is the VISA or MASTERCARD on which you buy their gifts (they don't need to know how much or how little things cost). And your gifts. I call my personal VISA my yarn card. Miraculously, this card was recently upgraded to Platinum, while our joint card is still at the 'regular' rating. I really don't know how this happened, really.

Here are some of the tchatchkehs (thing-a-ma-jiggies & whatzits) that have been keeping me from finishing my not-finished-yet cardigan & my IDF hats.

First: the cast cosy I made for Jodi, who really was the coolest mum on the hill that Sunday afternoon, snowboarding for the first time along side her 3 spunky boys, until she wiped out and broke her wrist.

And then there was this knitted bunny I made for me sweet little buddy Harry who turned 1 this month. The H.W. are indeed his monogram, although, I like to say they stand for "Hawwy's Wabbit".

Ziggy. My darling son goes through the knees of his jeans at an alarming rate. Here's a new trick I figured out. Knit a little intarsia square/rectangle in a good quality DK cotton. And Voila: Really cool knee patch. He calls these his Star & Pirate pants, respectively. And yes... I too think it's really interesting that, so far, it's only the right knee of every pair of pants I have had to repair... sharper knee cap on that side? Actually, I have the Superbowl to blame. Ever since Ziggy saw the Boss slide across the stage during the half-time show.... he's been a rabid Springsteen fan. But, man, my kindergarten kid sure can ROCK!

And now what?

Well, I've been called up for jury duty selection and plan to get a lot of knitting accomplished that week. I really don't feel like I have the time to sit around determining the fate of another human being. Besides, who am I to decide Guilty or Not? To date my only judgements I have passed has been Knitter or Not?

To expedite a prompt dismissal as an unfair and unjust juror, I plan to shlep a really big bag of knitting along, mention often that I like pigeons & kittens and that I like to knit them little sweaters. Or I shall use Madame Defarge as my prototype as see how far that gets me. More to follow. Hey, maybe I can finally finish that Aussie-Merino sweater now that the weather is turning warm. Talk about not fair!

When you feel like your world is coming down around you. Yarn can save your life!

2009-04-08T14:45:00.012-04:00

For those of you who know my thoughts on the health benefits of knitting. You will love this story.

In the horrible aftermath of the recent Italian earthquake comes this report: 98 year old Maria D'Antuono was retrieved from her collapsed bedroom alive 30+ hours after the initial quake -- how did she spend her time while waiting to be retrieved from the rubble? With her yarn & hook! Yup - crocheting! AP & CBC reported that she knit to pass the time, but alas all other news reports stated it was crochet; whatever -- another reason to cross-train, Wooly!

Yarn can save your life.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/08/98-year-old-woman-found-a_n_184751.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/08/italy-earthquake-survivor-crochet

Maria, you rock!

They articles never said if they rescued her needlework as well.

I think she should frame it!

Plus -- re: Health Benefits of Knitting/Crocheting -- the woman is 98-years old - nuff said!

The Knit and Kvetch - Victorian Style

2009-03-23T13:19:00.002-04:00

"Gossip" by George Agnew Reid, 1888

I love this painting. I finally managed to get to the newly re-jigged AGO.... Frank Gehry, you did a fine job! I had heard there was a fantastic installation of a giant knitted piece, but alas... "This area is currently blocked off for a new installation" Darn...But, yay, my favorite George A Reid painting "Gossip" has been reinstalled in all its glory. I'm not a massive fan of late 19th century Academic Painting, although the odd Paul Peel & A Bougereau can make me smile... but this one is so plainly intimate and real... I just love it.... Wooly... Guerilla... I recognize us, how bout you? Swap the aprons for some LuluLemon lycra and I'd say... YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, Guerilla! And me? well I've been know to drop my yarn on the floor, much to the dismay of many my fellow fibre-floozies! Doesn't this look vaguely reminiscent of a last thursday of the month on Seaton Street? I'll say!Gotta Love it.

KNITTISHISMS on sale now

2008-12-12T15:16:00.005-05:00

To purchase your copy of

KNITTISHISMS: The Zen of Jewish Knitting
e-mail me at rebelknitter@gmail.com

If you live in Toronto, you can purchase them at
Romni Wools
658 Queen Street West T: 416-703-0202
http://www.romniwools.com/

Copies are $20 per book with 10% of sale price going directly to Lilah's Fund at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto Canada.

Hurry, Hurry Chanukah & Xmas are upon us shortly!

The Emma Goldman Dress

2008-11-30T11:52:00.003-05:00

Some of you have asked what the front of the Emma Dress looks like.... here it is as modelled by the premiere 'Tween Diva herself! And, yes, the 'how to' for both the 'Emma' and the 'Righteous Lid' kippah is in the book.

KNITTISHISMS has gone to print!!!!!

2008-09-29T16:17:00.000-04:00

KNITTISHISMS has gone to print!!!!!

After months - nay, years - of humming, hawing, perspiring and kvetching... I have sent the oeuvre off to the printer for publication.

MORE TO FOLLOW when availability/readiness etc. is known....

What have I gotten myself into, Guerilla?
Gevalt...

Shana Tova (Happy New Year) to all my friends, even the ones that aren't Knittish by birth.

Funky Monkey Sockies

2007-11-14T07:12:00.001-05:00

I never did show anyone my newbie socks... so here they are..
Yup... those are my feet....

#1 - my calves are big, but NOT that big... let's just say that faced with the option of shaving my legs at 11:45 pm at night, or exaggerating the extreme peasant-like shape of my calves with heavy duty photographic perspective... I chose the latter.

Addendum: My cherished friend FIBRE FLOOZIE says that I actually have 'Klondike hooker calves' -- oh boy, do I feel better about my self image now...

#2 - the pattern used is Monkey ... gorgeous leafy lace patterning with a lovely variegated yarn.. Designed by a very inspiring knit designer named Cookie A.

http://www.knitty.com/issuewinter06/PATTmonkey.html

Cookie A. used a variegated yarn. So did I.... I used a lovely yarn called Opal, whom my buddette, fibre floozie, a.k.a. Guerrilla Knitter, assures me is the crack-cocaine of sock yarn.... However, look at my colours - oooomigosh - my Monkey Socks look like Monkey with mumps socks... you can't even see the lacy patterning...

But then again, you can't see that I didn't shave my legs either!

Kid Lit Inspired Knits

2007-11-13T13:25:00.000-05:00

So, she says to me, she says:

"So... whatcha doing this year?"

"Huh?" I reply in my brain-blasted it's after 5pm and you expect me to speak coherently kind of way...

Sue, the administrator at Ziggy's daycare is smiling at me with that 'you didn't read my newsletter last week did you?' look in her eyes.

Every year I knit something for the daycare's United Way fundraiser. Sue has caught me out... I meant to read it... I'm going to... if I can find it in the backseat of my car.

Um -- when is the fundraiser?
November 30th?
Okee Doekee..
Don't you worry!
I'M ON THE CASE!!!
You betcha! On the case!

Oy...
What to do? What to do?

And thus Kid-Lit Inspired Knits was born.

The 3 books & their related knitwear:

The Missing Mitten Mystery. Story & illustrations by Steven Kellogg
One pair of Red Mittens --if you read the story, you can see why they have to be Red-- complete with an 'idiot string', as we call them in my family - to ensure that there are no missing/lost mittens.

Cookie's Week. Cindy Ward & illustrated by Tomie dePaola
A story about a naughty little kitten... (one of Ziggy's faves)
A Pussy Cat Balaclava/Hat

There's a Wocket in my Pocket! by Dr. Seuss
A very Seuss-ish hat & pair of mittens, based on a pattern from my mother's extremely limited knitting library, circa late 1950s early 1960s.

Funny story: my brother, remembers NOTHING... and I mean NOTHING about our experiences growing up. I brought the pattern book along to my niece's 4th birthday party a week ago, brother-dearest took one look at the pattern book and says:

I remember that book! That's Mum's... She bought it at Woolworth's on Van Horne near the Brown Derby! I remember that! Oh, oh, oh... and I remember the little sombrero thing-a-ma-jiggies that she used to put at the end of her needles too!

So what's up with that? Can't remember ANYTHING about our youth but this he remembers clear as a bell? Is it a Woolworth's induced yarn trauma moment? Is it loving memories of mummy's scratchy knits? Or is it just that the yarn aisle was next to the chocolate bunny aisle in Woolworth's and he accidentally associates the two together in the 'this I can remember with great fondness' section of his hippocampus?

His eldest daughter (who is 16) and I just giggled!

So, here is the kicker...

The Red Mitts are an Acrylic/Wool mix, the balaclava and Dr. Seuss knitwear are 100% not natural fibres. When it comes to most kiddy things, I used natural fibres like cotton... but this is the kind of kid-stuff that needs to be highly industrial.... They will be washed and often... these need to be machine washable... and let's face it... we are talking a lot of bodily fluids here... these are kids...

Teething drool, nose goop and all sorts of food items will get shmeared and ground into these little knits on a daily basis... plus at a daycare, I can tell you, the sandbox NEVER EVER closes on the playground... not even in winter... so figure in a little Bondi Beach inspired residue amongst the fibres to boot!

Nose goop is the substance that binds everything together... nose goop requires trayf yarn... Dr. Seuss demands trayf yarn... 100% not natural fibres... I mean, really... this is Dr. Seuss after all!

Sweaters that cry out 'I'm not from a big-box store'

2007-10-14T16:28:00.001-04:00

After Ziggy's Mama's Little Rebel sweater we travelled to Australia to hang with the other half of our extended family. Amongst the crew are 2 amazing (now 10 year old) boys. I knew I had to make them sweaters as well... I'm a Butterfly, Cotton, Super 10 DK fan (the Che sweater is Super 10) so here's what I came up with....

Now, first, I should mention that there aren't very many plain and simple patterns for 12 year olds that I could use as my basis (never make a size 10 for a 10 year old.... It's a waste of time, my friends....) So I used the same basic pattern that I use for all my kids' sweaters -- Kate Buller's Style your own Kids' Knits is an excellent source for patterns & motifs... but I needed more 'grown up' iconography for my 2 amazing surfin'/sk8tr boy nephews... note the super cool flames & stars on Dylan's jumper (British/South African/Aussie for sweater) from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation.. Josh's Skull and Bones are from the Buller's Motif Library....

JOSH'S SURFER DUDE JUMPER

DYLAN'S SK8TR BOY JUMPER

Who says sweaters from your knit-addicted Canadian aunty have to be boring?

The Knitter's Blessing

2007-05-29T22:37:00.000-04:00

The Knitter’s Blessing //
Birkat HaSaroget

All you need to do is watch “Fiddler on the Roof” to see that there are Jewish blessings for almost everything. Mottel the Tailor asks the Rebbe to bless his sewing machine upon its arrival in the shtetl… and yes, there appears to be one….

There are blessings on the home, on businesses, candle lighting blessings. Blessings for an easy birth. Blessings for a boy. For a girl. For a girl or boy so that they should sleep at night (so that the parent can sleep – we Jews aren’t meshugge after all…) Blessings for success, for Bat Mitzvahs, Bar Mitzvahs, physicians’ prayers, lawyers’ creeds, for the woman of valour. There are blessings for the traveler, for the dead, for the living, and for the sick…. and, according to Norman Jewison a prayer for sewing machines.

So, when in search of a knitter’s prayer/blessing did I ask my Rabbi? No. I’m a modern day Jew. Instead, I googled “Knit+Prayer” and “Knit+Blessing”. All I could find was this very Christian one (mummy and daddy would say not to use the word goyesher)…..

"Ladies and gentlemen, let us bow our heads for a moment of prayer ... In Yarn's name, we pray ... our Knitter, who art in yarn shop, hallowed be thy name, thy knitdom come, thy yarns be knit, on earth as it is in thy LYS. Give us this day our daily knit and forgive us our dropped stitches as we forgive those who interrupt our knitting. And lead us not to break our yarn diet, but deliver us from acrylic, for thine is the pattern, and the gauge swatch and the knitting forever and ever, amen."(apologies - i couldn't resist.) Posted by Anne from Kniterati.org/blogspot

So after a little bit of Talmudic blessing research and a smidgen of googling I offer to you the Birkat HaSaroget:

May you knit to see your fabric fulfilled
with your yarn and pattern aligned in harmony.
May your stitching be straight and sure
and your eyes not strained....
May your vision be guided by the Torah's lamp

(but pe pe pe, don't sit so close that your gauge swatch catches fire)

May your cables be tidy, your increases discrete;
and your frogging not a plague.
And may you rush in eagerness to hear the words of the learned ones
in the latest knitting publications.

Amen

Jewish Knitting....

2007-05-29T13:02:00.001-04:00

KNITTISHISMS
Meditations of a Jewish Knitter
KNITTISH FOR BEGINNERS
By Rebel Knitter
2007

I wrote this little thing called Knittishisms...
Actually, it is my Manifesto.

If ad agencies and corporate bureaucrats can subscribe to a company Manifesto, can't a poor shlep like me?

Here's an important bit on Kosher Knitting:

Kosher Knitting

In the words of one of my closest Jewish knitting friends, Beryl Tsang:

“Friends don’t let friends knit kippot on shabbes”.

Okay, so Beryl is Chinese, so, nu like this is a problem?

In Deuteronomy, Chapter 14, the clean and unclean beasts are named – it is from this which Kosher and Non-Kosher food is derived. But wool mixed with linen, oink, bunny and goat hair IS NOT what I define as the character of Trayf yarn. Trayf yarn is chaloshes yarn. It is that nasty, synthetic, non-novelty fibre so readily available in dollar stores and big box superstores. Essentially, it grosses you out when you touch it. Often, if you knit with it and drop a stitch, you will never see that stitch again.

Regrettably, most little girls, regardless of their ethnic orientation, really dig pink and purple trayf yarn.

Q: So, what to do?

A: Only knit trayf yarn with really cheap plastic or noisy aluminum needles – never bamboo or birch. Whereas my friends have their milk, meat and Passover dishes, I have bamboo, metal, good plastic and trayf plastic knitting needles. It seems only appropriate.

Q: If you keep a kosher knitting home, can you only knit trayf yarn outside the home? Perhaps at Beryl’s?

A: No. Beryl is Buddhist. She has moral objections to trayf yarn as well. Knitters must decide for themselves what makes them ethically centered with their faith and their yarn. Only from this can one make a relaxed choice as to how to live blissfully as a modern kosher knitter.

--------

This is just a little blurby of it... I will post more, including images, on a later post...