Some people have such fun ideas! This group of 11 from Houston, target public places with knitting. Sometimes they choose the target; other times the target comes to them. They are making their own good news! And it benefits the rest of us.

Sometimes we tag randomly (car antennas, door handles, stop sign poles, park benches) and sometimes we choose larger, more specific targets. The random tag nights are usually "come if you can", while we knit with a purpose for the larger targets. For one large project we did (24' scarves on two statues in Houston), we all knit piecemeal, then crocheted all the pieces together to form the giant scarves. Those were nice.

Occasionally, our targets come to us. We get requests every now and then. We'll still bomb those requested targets under cover of night, in order to retain some sense of anonymity though. Every once in a while, we knit and knit and knit for a trip out of town to spread Knitta out a little. This coming weekend, for instance, four of us went to New York City for 4 days of crazy tagging. We had an extra suitcase full of pieces that will grace the streets of New York (for at least a week or two, we hope). MascuKnitity just got back from a 3-week trip to China, where he was able to leave a little Knitta presence on the Great Wall. We still haven't figured out how we're going to top that one.

What kinds of things have they done?

As for quantity of projects, I really can't say how many tags we've thrown since we started this. Probably hundreds of antenna cozies. We covered lamp posts on three local highway bridges with 6 foot, hot pink wraps the night before New Year's Eve. We laid 24 foot scarves at the end of January.

Bored by long projects? I sure am! Plus, who has the time?! (Except for the Waikiki ponchos.)

We were bored with the usual knitting projects and get-togethers. Personally, I get tired of a project that takes more than 2 or 3 days to complete. I call it crafting ADHD. I had plenty-o-unfinished projects laying around my house that I'd simply become bored working on.

Well, now you have some ideas for unfinished projects. I generally find that I'm not too crazy about a project until I hit the half-way point, then I hurry like crazy to get it finished. OTOH, I know someone who donates her half-finished (or less) projects that she no longer wants to do to Goodwill! I've bit the bullet and done it a few times myself. Why finish something you really don't enjoy!

The woman who started this began with making door knob cosies. How funny is that!

What are you knitting or crocheting right now?
I think I have a scarf going somewhere, but I've been doing more beading lately. Yesterday I took apart a necklace and made two bracelets out of it, plus an extender. Didn't have to change the patterning, just took it apart.

Don't you think this idea is wonderful! Make some happiness in your life. Go for it!

Karin

Originally posted 2009-04-15 08:08:39.

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This was shared at another group I'm on, and I thought it was inspirational!

Hazel McCallion has been mayor of Mississauga, Ontario, for 11 terms with a 92% approval rating. She is hard to keep up with! What a gal! It is the 6th largest city in the country.

Karin

Originally posted 2009-04-10 21:53:07.

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Sometimes we don't have to look far for inspiration or people that inspire us. This morning a story about Ex-Jaguar Richard Collier came across my email box. He stood at his wedding.

For most people this would not be an accomplishment, but for Collier who was paralyzed from the waist down by multiple bullets after leaving a club, standing for 45 minutes was outside the vocabulary for those who do not know him.

His fiance heard a thunderous ovation before their wedding and knew he likely had done what he said he would. He had said he would stand to remove her veil and to kiss her, but there might have been few who thought he would be able to do it. He had undergone 15 surgeries. At times his life hung in the balance. Not only that, but one leg has been amputated. He stood in an intricate brace strapped to the outside of his body at the hips, extending around his legs. That seems hardly worth mentioning, does it!

His doctors have told him (they think) he never will walk again. He disagrees, and I'm betting on him.

I will never let people tell me what I can't do. I plan on walking again. I really do. I don't doubt myself, I don't put limits on myself. I wake up every day and I smile and I laugh because I'm alive. I have a chance to be a better person in life in every aspect. I have the chance to take advantage of every second in life instead of wasting it for something that doesn't matter. I try to do that every day now. Sure, I still get sad, but that's life, that's normal, and I quickly snap out of it. I hate being down. I want to be positive. I am not going to let you see me down. Don't look at me as a helpless guy. I just feel the sky is the limit. I want to help change the world, want to show people who have disabilities can do whatever they want.

Collier has replaced what if with what's next, writes Jim Henry.

Chandra says her husband is her hero and she never contemplated leaving him during their courtship when he was shot. Children are in their future plans, too.

"It never crossed my mind," she explained. "I always wanted to be the one by his side, and it was an easy decision for me to stay. I honestly don't think he even realizes how many lives he has impacted because he is such an inspiration." Jim Henry

He credits his faith and hard work. He has forgiven the man who shot him and prays for him. (He is now convicted.)

I look at it as that was a chapter of my life and it's over now. I don't dwell on the past. Just like with my injuries now being hurt, I know what happened and I know what's going on. I remember I couldn't even say the word paralyzed. I didn't want to say it because I couldn't grasp it, but I've grown so much since then. I've gotten a lot stronger physically, mentally and I've moved forward. Like I said, I believe I will walk again.

I get mad now when people take their bodies for granted. They may say, 'Oh, my foot hurts and I don't want to walk.' Man, I'd kill for my foot to hurt. I know people who don't take care of their bodies. You are up walking and you should take care of what you are given. I hate to see people waste their lives. It's the easy stuff, too, like going to the bathroom or getting into the car. I mean, everything is an adventure for me.

I know there are times when I battle for keeping my thoughts afloat. I can't say that I have pity parties, but if I were tempted to, it puts my battles (and maybe the battles you are facing) into perspective, doesn't it! I expect to see an article that he is walking. He certainly is working towards it! And never discount the prayers of a righteous man (and his friends and family.) I think his life was saved for a reason.

I love that he sees himself and his future as unlimited and that he is working to that end. I love that he has joy in the midst of it all. Can we say that about our lives? Can we work toward that end, if we aren't feeling it?

Do you believe in the power of prayer? Have you seen instances where it changed circumstances?

If you'd like to read a fuller story and see pictures, go here.

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

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Perhaps you remember my earlier post about the knitters from Houston who are engaged in knitted graffiti.

Once again knitted graffiti is on the march, because of the Houston group, this time in Stockholm, Sweden, where graffiti is prohibited.

Imagine measuring a statue that they will knit a sweater for! I don't know whether this makes me laugh out loud (I'd love to see it) or whether I think they have too much time (or yarn) on their hands. This is taking street art to a new level.

Actually, you can find a picture of the sweatered statue here, and it does make me smile. You'll also find pictures of some of their other knitted graffiti projects.

Maskan (“the stitch”), one of three code-named female founders of the Stockholm “guerrilla knitting” group, , is telling me about their upcoming knitting graffiti action. Inspired by the Houston group, Knitta Please, Stickkontakt decorate everything from lampposts and bins to park benches and tree trunks with colorful yarns. “We often have political messages,” Maskan tells me. “But sometimes we don’t. Once, we decided to celebrate Sweden’s few female statues by dressing up four of them as super heroines.”

There is a zero tolerance policy for graffiti in Stockholm; any unauthorized street art must be removed within 24 hours. But that hasn’t dissuaded guerrilla knitters.

Does this sound like vandalism to you?
Not to me!

“We’re hoping that our actions – which can hardly be called vandalism – will serve as a kind of gateway to making people more open to street art in general,” says Maria, cofounder of another knitting graffiti group called Masquerade.

Maria and her friend Lina, the other cofounder of Masquerade, see knitting graffiti as fun, harmless, quirky, and soft, with the potential for a global impact. In fact, they recently returned from a trip where they used knitting graffiti to “tag” along the Trans-Siberian railway in Russia, Mongolia, and China.
By Nathalie Rothschild | 09.22.09

What is the difference between the two Swedish groups Guerilla Knitting and Masquerade?
Maybe not a lot. You can see pictures from Masquerade here.

Would you be a part of a knitted graffiti group?
Doing something out of the ordinary to bring color and joy to people's lives appeals to me. I could be a part of it. How about you?

Karin
A fellow knitter, at least at times, but so far no graffiti -- I tend to decorate me, my friends and family.
www.savvythinker.com
don't steal my posts

Originally posted 2009-09-24 07:28:32.

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Andy Pumphrey is a young man from Oakland, CA, now age 23, I'd like to know. He is a friend's goddaughter's brother.

He broke his back in a 36 foot fall saving his niece and was paralyzed for a period of time. He has made a remarkable, even some say miraculous, recovery that he and others attribute to the power of prayer. He worked hard for this recovery, and there were others who helped him along the way.

You can see a short video update about him here.

It's an inspiration to me. I was touched by the love expressed by him and to him.

Something to link with this is BORP Bay Area Outreach and Recreational Program, with a cycling fundraiser benefiting athletes with disabilities.

Karin
www.savvythinker.com
don't steal my posts -- you know who you are!

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