a little red hen

NEW ORLEANS: 2002 Memories and Now

Because my son and daughter-in-law, Nick and Leanne, were living in New Orleans in 2002, I decided to take This Dirt Museum on the road. With their help, I connected to delightful people, hospitality, and an introduction to the city's delightful  enthusiasm for the unexpected.

Ever since beginning this blog, I've wanted to express my concern about the present and future of New Orleans and the Guf Coast.  Up to now  the website link to Common Ground Collective has been a stand-in for my wish to DO SOMETHING useful.  That's a feeling shared by all Americans of good will.  We wish for a more personal connection--after we've sent money for relief efforts, books to the New Orleans library.

Is this urge too self-serving?  It certainly is the right instinct when we see that our government's response is no-response.  So much could have been different if the feds had created massive programs along the lines of the 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps to clean up and re-build.  Though this elderblogger is not able to join the thousands of college students and medical professionals running a clinic who have volunteered at the Common Ground site, I hope that writing about the area reminds you to do what you can.  Send money, if possible, encourage young people to participate in hands-on relief efforts.

In my "Favorites" file, I keep the link to The Times Picayune, New Orleans' daily paper.  The image at the top of this page is the best piece ever written about my life with worms. It appeared April 12, 2002, as an alert about my many performances at Kingsley House, Crescent City Farmers Market, Tulane University, and the Botanical Garden.  (I was younger then.)  Arranging red wigglers to spell "Compost" was inspired. A readable copy is on the wall of my current installation at Knitty City.

Sadly, the Times Pic, as its known, carries bad news this week.   FEMA is closing the facility that housed up to 40,000 volunteers who have been giving their time and energy to re-building efforts.  What can we do?  Write our congressmen/women, lobby those running for national office.

Wanting to end this post with some upbeat nostalgia, I offer a view of one of the objects New Orleanians particularly enjoyed.  Before I plunged into kitchen composting, my art form was neckpieces crafted from weathered shells, beads, hardware.  Once I discovered that wet compost could be handled like clay, would dry very hard, I had an exotic new medium--vermicompost, a/k/a, transformed garbage, to use as beads. 

Compost Necklace.  Components, starting from bottom:  Manhattan compost (center square bead, note white eggshell), carved bone beads,  flattened bottle caps, Mexican compost (round and small square beads), Italian glass beads, Jute cord, copper clasp.                                                                              

"It is just not natural to speak of New Orleans in the past tense. There is an element about it that is timeless, that is always the present. The past in New Orleans cohabits with the present to an extent not even approximated in any other North American city." -- Tom Piazza, Why New Orleans Matters, 2005                                                                                                                              

THIS DIRT MUSEUM: Redux

It was so low-key, and  unexpected that I was not sure at first.   "Really?"                                   And that's how a selected collection of my 150 red wiggler worms, knit  ones, of course, returned to view.  Their second outing since their debut in 2001 at Queens Botanical Garden; that story's at my website.

"This Dirt Museum: Redux" climbs the walls at Knitty City, 208 West 79th Street in New York City.  Imagine:  yarn worms.  You could make one, use it as a way to learn how to knit or teach a child.  Iinstuctions on my website.  The wall 'o worms will be there for a few weeks.                                                

   HEMP Yarn Worm

Along with discovering how to write "compost" in Mandarin and Spanish, visitors can leaf through the book to read comments  by all the knitters who sent One Red Worm into the original 2001 exhibition.   

Please note:  There's a new website link here for the movie, "An Inconvenient Truth."  We saw it in a packed downtown theater last night and were very impressed with the way its important message about climate change was delivered.  Great trailer for it at the website.  Maybe kitchen composting is not your thing but how about switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs.                     

                                          

Knit Protest Puzzle

With red yarn, needles, expectations, we took ourselves to famous Greenwich Village landmark, the Washington Square Arch.  At the foot of it were many young knitters.  We asked, "How is this event organized?"  Gesturing to a nearby basket of balls of yarn, they said that was all they knew!

This was a different sort of happening.  We were trying to figure it out, for one thing, how to sit down on a bench and connect to this energy beneath the arch.  When I began to wrap red yarn around the base of a concrete pillar, Ron noticed that nearby police--oh, yes, there were several of their cars parked right in the pedestrian area of the square.    What I wanted to do was honor the late Jane Jacobs, not get a summons for what "illegal activity with fiber"?

So, we focused on talking with others who had come to celebrate the vision and energy  of Jane Jacobs, Greenwich Village resident and writer, that saved this beautiful community space from being destroyed in the 1960s.  Lisa Daehlin arrived after work [photo of her is from her bridal shower the weekend before.  Allana Stark, neeleworker/hostess surprised Lisa with this lovely headdress]. 

Carolyn Bryne very specificallay related to the info about the event:  to decorate the park with "structures" of relevance.  Here she is knits grass into the brown fleece "dirt" she'd brought along.  Last winter Carolyn was Ron's spinning instructor at The Yarn Tree  in Brooklyn. Eiko Berkowitz, whom Ron had just met at a weekend spinning workshop at Peters Valley Craft Center, arrived and delighted Elanor Lynn with the hat she was wearing.  Ron and I plan to visit her "store" on the lower east side to see more of her wares.

Eleanor, knitting while standing, brought bulky yarn and sucessfully created a little red cap.  Lisa had us all laughing (who were those people with camcorders? ) about its meaning as it was installed.  You can read the creator's own thoughts here.  Elanor has published a charming new book, Cozy Knits for Cuddly Babies (all bookstores) that I plan to use for a special project soon.

We had a long informative conversation with Liza Bear, filmmaker, about efforts to stop the NYC Parks Department from "re-modeling" the park--a totally unnecesary venture--not unusual as we are awash in 21st century "great ideas" to change places that may not fit in the theme-park oriented scheme envisioned by some NYC politicians.  More about this at Preserve Washington Square Park.  Thanks, Liza, for solving the protest-puzzle!

Massive Knit Event, NYC

                      MASSIVE KNIT

              A call for Activist Knitters--

  Tuesday, May 23, from 5:30 p.m. on into evening

              Washington Square Park*

                   New York City

    Anarchist Knitting Mob invites us to join them in memoralizing

                 Jane Jacobs  (1917--2006) by creating knit structures

                        in the park.           Bring yarn and needles. 

                       *Meet under the Arch for instructions.   

                                                                    a little red hen                                                                    will be there, if it  does not rain, with  yarn for knitting red wiggler worms.  I learned about this when googling for blogs on "knitting and politics."  You never know.

More information:  Massive Knit Event   

                                       CBC News

                           

SEXUAL ETIQUETTE, An Introduction

Visiting Maryland last summer, we stopped by Ron's colleague from Morgan State University, Carol Perrino (the still-working psychology professor). Reviewed the state of the world, of course.  I told her about our Gray Panther meeting in NYC, "Sex, Seniors, & the HIV Crisis."  And knitting Condom Amulets to get out the safe sex message. Would they catch on, we wondered.  Was this quirky approach to sex ed too far ahead of its time?  Carol was very familiar with that issue.

In 1992, she and another psychology professor developed an educational game called Sexual Etiquette: a game of manners.  Attractively packaged, it was a box of question-cards plus instruction booklet. Its goal--Role Play how a man or a woman would answer a particular question.  Here is one, "As a recent widow/widower, you find yourself sexually attracted to your dead spouse's best friend.  How soon after your spouse's death would it be appropriate for you to begin dating this person?"

If the players differ in their answers, the dealer announces "Discussion," and serves as referee, usually allows 5 minutes before moving on to the next question.  Players can answer a question as if they were the opposite sex. If one player disagrees with a response, then  a challenge takes place; the role-player has to answer as if the other sex.  Group consensus determines scoring from O=Awful Sexual Etiquette all the way up to 3=Excellent who wins.  Winner gets to pose any sexual etiquette question to the players.

What are your thoughts about the game?  Should Carol and her co-creator pull all those boxes of Sexual Etiquette out of the closet--and offer them for sale?   

                                                                                                                  

Yarn Gift for Mothers' Day

It was a lovely surprise--a skein of Noro yarn from Nick, my son.  I still had the Seacolors green sitting near the computer from posting about it under "Knee Deep in Wool."  Perfect complement.  Besides being a lovely gift, the Noro made me realize again that the yarns I buy are solid colors for the most part. There is a dazzling discussion right now of colors, textures in knitting yarn at Sistahcraft.  And an in-depth view of what was on display at the recent Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival.

I'm thinking that the green and this Noro would work for the Urban Rustic Glove pattern that intrigued me in the Winter issue of Knitty.com.   

This weekend Ron and his wheel travel to a spinning workshop at Peters Valley Craft Center in New Jersey.  The wheel has been traveling lately.  Last week he took it to his men's knitting circle at Knitty City.  Ron on the left and Bruce, fearless leader, to the right.  Knitting for the Dulaan Project, listed on left with my websites, is what he is currently working on.  The natrual dark brown yarn he spun when he started which is quite heavy will make a very warm scarf and hat for homeless people in Mongolia.  Ron loves spinning and was surprised to find that he could enjoy knitting which was more of a challenge.  Me?  Knitting's a breeze but I stay far away from the wheel.  Any wheel: stopped driving when we moved back to New York.

Speaking of THE FUTURE

The EVERYTHING Condom Amulet is displayed here.  First, it is knitted from recycled yarn given to me for this very purpose by another knitter.

Second, the closure is made from a walnut shell carved by Ron Bloom.  Why?  We had a magnificent black walnut tree in the front yard of our former home in Baltimore.  Ron wanted to see if he could make an element for me to use in neckpieces I was making.  This was about 15 years ago.  Finally, figured a perfect way to use it.

Third, tucked behind the blue condom package is a negative of a photo of Zoe, granddaughter.  Very special amulet hold many wishes for a future for her that is peaceful and sensible.

So, I'm asking you, would you talk to a friend about "safe sex," a friend you're sure is smart, over 50, just starting to date again after a divorce? 

Grandson's Style Sense

Zach last September, just after his sister was born.  This is the way he put on the newsboy cap that I'd just knitted for him.

Today this image of him, contemplative at three, reminds me of why I keep keeping on, railing against the forces of evil.  I'm very fortunate to have him and Zoe as a focus on the future. 

We will be seeing them again in a few weeks.  It's not often enough but that's the reality of grandparenting at a distance.  My efforts to exchange with others about this have given me a few ideas that will come up here at another time.

[Lyrics from a song by Joan Wile, Granny Peace Brigade: In the time that's left to me                                        I'll continue to strive                                                       To take back my country...As long as I'm alive.]

Identity Found in New York Times

Every now and then someone has added to my collection of hen paraphernalia.  This photo was a gift from Baltimore artist, Joan Erbe.  An admirer of her intense, highly-colored work, I was surprised when she handed me this "found" photo from her own collection.  Whoever this farmwoman was, she had written--"Chas would say two old hens."  I'm not sure if the "Huh" is a comment or her signature. 

We women have a history of being described disparagingly in relation to female chickens.  For a long time, I've claimed the hen persona as a badge of honor, an image of myself that fits comfortably.  Sometimes it's about nurturance, sometimes it's about cleaning up the world's barnyard, sometimes it's about my penchant for clucking about what attracts my attention. 

Last Sunday, I found this headline in the New York Times.  Surely, the writer had me and all the other little red hens in mind

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Let's hear a cheer, a yell, a lot of clucks for peace from                                                             HEN ACTIVISTS on Mothers' Day!  And, please, take on this label with me whether you are vigilling, marching, or sitting in your home and thinking,  "Yes!  Peace Now!"  We need all those energies.                                                

Knee Deep in Wool, TWO

Only two spun yarn buys at Maryland Sheep & Wool: a personal record.  Early in the day we visited busy Nanney Kennedy at Seacolors.  Garrulous, energetic, creative designer and shepherdess to about 100 sheep on the coast of Maine.  Sampling the wool a few years ago, Clara Parkes of Knitters Review noted,

The colors are one-of-a-kind, limited-edition dye lots, spanning the rainbow from lime to raspberry to sage and everything in between. Just picking a color presents a challenge... lanolin-rich double-ply, similar in appearance to a traditional Shetland wool but markedly softer and more resilient.  [See Knitters Review tomorrow for a comprehensive picture of the entire Festival.]

For two years  thought about making one of her funky sweater designs, usually two or three colors.  (This one being held up by Ron is unusual-- one color.)  The Seacolor wool I bought is a springish green, knit here on #7 needle in 3 x 2 rib.  It will work with the dark purple and blue Seacolorshave in my stash, and an earlier green.  Stay tuned.

Toward the end of the day, my resolve faltered at the sight of this Berry Blue yarn, 55% hemp, 45% wool.  From Flying Fibers in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (no website).  Thinking about a shawl.

And then there's the hen made from recycled sweater by a woman who calls herself Pear Tree Studio in Harrisville, New Hampshire.   How could I resist this environmentally-correct addition to my collection? And so much to wonder about--this Navajo woman demonstrating "lap spinning,"two young girls engrossed in needle-felting, gorgeous sweaters beyond my skill.    Blog challenge:  how to get pictures & text working together.

As we drove to dinner with friend in Burtonsville, Ron and I realized we had not sat down the entire day!  Thanks to Fred and Debbie Shultz, we had a great dinner and more fiber talk.  Fred has taught a number of men how to sew garments that will fit the women in their lives.  We're waiting for his website about that.  Visiting from Colorado Springs was their friend and star-knitter, Judy C, who impressed us with her side-to-side tee.  A missed-photo opportunity on my part.

Sunday we had brunch in Baltimore with Judy Lombardi who teaches Sociology at Villa Julie College.   Much talk--public versus charter schools, anti-war demonstations in Balto. She showed us the controversial Stephen Colbert speech at the recent Washington correspondents' dinner.  We were appalled by the unresponsive audience.  Tells us everything about why the media is "out-fishing" when it comes to hard news.  At Donna's restaurant in Cross Keys, we had a chance encounter with an old friend in the Baltimore women's movement, Betty Scott, who lives in a new retirement community enlivened by many peace activists.  All this plus great weather!