Value of work

This week got lost entirely.  I've only made slow progress on a variety of work fronts--I had some medical appointments, and it's been cold, which makes everything seem harder and more tiring.  Today my article ran in the Jewish Independent (a version also ran in the Jewish Post & News earlier this week):
What is the worth of work?

I think about this often because much of my work -as a writer, designer, maker or mom-- isn't compensated or valued in the ways that society sees as important.  (That is, I don't earn much.)  For instance, I ordered two pairs of wool tights and by the time they came to Canada, I'd paid an awful lot per pair.  (taxes, fees for postage and handling, etc.)  But one pair arrived with a big hole on this seam!  The shop reimbursed me for the pair of tights, which was great.  I was able to mend the hole, and now I have what amounts to a $90 CDN pair of tights--which I got for free, because I know how to mend.  Whew!

I also got to fix three pairs of little boy jeans this week...iron-on patch, and then I use the sewing machine to stitch the holes up as well.  This sort of reuse and repair is nothing new, but it does seem less common among their classmates than I'd expect.  These skills are less common now, and seen as something special or an important statement about the environment.  And yes, I care about the environment, but I also hate to buy new jeans when my kids wear through them this fast!

If you're a spinner, are you going to any spinning retreats?  For the most part, I don't go to these--I have young kids and they need me.  Also, these events are expensive and usually on Shabbat (Friday night to Saturday night.) But they do look like fun!  I was recently asked if I wanted to contribute to a "goody bag" for Plyaway, which is happening in April.  I thought it might be fun to include special coupon codes for my knitting patterns.  

The coupon needed to be in black and white.

So, part of my work this week?  Creating a fun graphic to include on the coupon.  I transformed the photos for the Due North Mittens into something new.  Here were some of the steps along the way.  If you happy to get a coupon in April, you may recognize where it came from!!

A gift for 2020

This piece ran on the CBC-Manitoba website this morning.  I am proud of it--and hope it could come true.

A gift for 2020: Earth for our great-grandchildren

We're having lots of fun at our house, Hanukah started and we are playing, resting, and celebrating.  Hope you are, too!

The bread machine and the dishwasher

Here's my opinion piece on the CBC-Manitoba webpage today about fixing appliances and why we should do it:
Our disposable culture needs a fix that will help our environment, too

In other, less news-worthy news, we are in the midst of a three day weekend which seems to involve a lot of cold, cloudy flurries outdoors, kids playing in front of the fire, dog walks, warming foods, and very occasional chances for me to knit, spin and sew.  (in between meals, snacks, and everything else!)

I'm teaching on September 13th!

Yes, it's true!
I'm teaching a class on how to use recycled materials to make yarn...at the Manitoba Fibre Festival!  (The photo's from my book, Knit Green, an oldie but a goody...)
Check out this lovely kind blog post for more information..and
  To register, go straight to this page on the Festival website.

Other things, in brief...
Strippy McStrippit, my new cardigan design, is now live on both Ravelry and Lovecrafts.com.  (If you live in North America, Lovecrafts even carries Einband, the yarn I used for the pattern sample, so it's easy one-stop shopping.

On an entirely different topic, if you want to read one of my newspaper articles--this one's about Canada's federal voting date, religious minorities, Jewish holidays, and reggae.  (No kidding, I had to throw in reggae...)  Check out this piece, published last Friday in Vancouver.
We are one people, one heart 

Little kid clothing

This week I took one morning off to search for new flannel pjs.  Spring's the wrong time of year to look for these, but in Winnipeg, I am just beginning to wear lighter weight clothing...it's finally warming up.

A funny story about clothes you never see:  I recently had a spectacular flannel pajama blow out!  I had three pairs of serviceable, matching pajamas.  (I'm not big on matching at night, I figure who can see the polka dots and stripes and clashing if your eyes are closed?!  Answer? Apparently--Your family.  The professor bought me these matching pjs as a result!)

Anyhow, it was as if these flannel pajamas all said "We're good for 31 washes.  Afterwards? We're done."  Within a week, all three pairs of pants ripped across the bottom in a really irreparable kind of way.  Rag bag it is, then.  I went back to the mis-matched pjs.  Loving partner said, "Could you please find new pjs?"

I spent a whole morning traipsing around stores.  The good news? I found: 1 pair of cotton flannel pj bottoms, no matching top.  1 box of good British tea that I like.  I bumped into one new person I like and talked to her twice. (in two different stores!)  I also saw my physiotherapist, who I also like, of course, and met her three year old daughter.

Many things seemed to cost a lot, but weren't made of natural fibres, or made in a sustainable and/or fair trade way.  I noticed that a pair of new little boy jeans might cost upwards of $15.  (We use a lot of hand me downs and second hand clothes for kids.)  I'm beginning to wonder if I have to figure out how to sew pajamas?  (in my spare time!?)

I was motivated to go home and fix these two pairs of pants that had been waiting for me.  Mending these now has an established process..it takes about an hour.  If I fix two pairs, that is well worth the time spent, when you consider how much a new pair might cost.

1) Collect more than one pair of pants with holes to save time.

 2. Choose boring patches; these get ironed on the wrong side of the pair of jeans, and are bigger than the holes.

 3.  Find fun patches for the right side, and iron those on to cover the actual holes as best you can.

 4.  These iron-on patches tend to peel off after just one or two wearings--which requires me to take the jeans out of circulation to fix and mend all over again.  Now, I just take them right from the ironing board to my sewing kit.

 5.  I stitch on both patches on the front and the back of the fabric.  I've given up making little "hidden" stitches because it is just not worth my time!  It's not a secret that I mended this, right?  And by the time these bigger stitches rip out, the whole pair of pants will be too small or will have self-destructed somewhere else....

6.  At which point it will either find a new home with another kid (if they are still salvageable) or will be used as rags at our house, or will enter the bigger rag trade through a second hand shop my husband has found that will take them.
We tend to wear our clothes hard around here.  We fall, dig, play hard, decorate ourselves with chalk and other art supplies--we're busy.  Slow fashion seems glamorous when you're talking about buying new, organic, fair trade cotton...whatever, but it's rather less so when it means actually fixing, mending, and making do.  However, this is also a bit of a how-to.  I've figured it out, know how long it takes now, and find it worth it to do.  Not for everything, not those ridiculous pj bottoms (formerly lush, warm, fuzzy cotton flannel), but with no backside left in them!
However, this saves money, saves time (no shopping involved!) and makes two little kids very happy.  They get the comfortable, old, worn-in jeans back, but with a novel twist.  I get a quiet hour at home instead of a morning driving around to stores which seem to feature mainly throw-away fashion.  What's that worth?  (Priceless.)

Why polar fleece isn't as good as real (wool) fleece

Here's a link to my latest CBC piece:

Make green clothing choices to protect Lake Winnipeg from microplastics

Always a bonus-- it has a sheep shearing picture!

Otherwise, we're super busy over here...getting ready for a big holiday, and with kids on vacation, so posts may be few and far between for the next few weeks.  We'll just have to see how it goes!  Wishing you lots of wonderful spring holidays/events with your family, too!

extending a sweater's life

Maybe two? years ago, I made this sweater.  I can't seem to find a record of it on the blog, but I combined two relatively inexpensive wool/wool blend yarns (Patons Classic Wool/Merino Worsted and Patons Kroy Sock yarn) and made this sweater.  It has never fit either twin perfectly,  it's been too long in the sleeves or the body or both...but it has been worn a lot and well-loved.  This morning, it was just above freezing and definitely a sweater moment.  Sadly, it is now too short in the torso...but in the make do and mend way/the Slow Fashion October way...there is hope.

Someone recently asked how I make these, and here's a snippet of my response.
As for the boy sweaters, I have gotten to the point where I take their measurements and knit in the Icelandic way: body in the round, two sleeves in the round, join at the yoke, etc. I followed a pattern or two when they were smaller but found that there was just no rhyme or reason to sweater sizing for little kids. Inevitably, some part of the sweater would be vastly too long or too wide. (my guys are small for age five) And, my twins are fraternal, and one has a very small chest measurement and the other has a broad one. So, at this point, I make my own bottom up, in the round pattern every time. (and I see no point in publishing it, as every kid is a different size, sizing is all over the place, etc.)

These days, they prefer henleys to v-necks, and will take a regular pullover with a round neck if it is offered.  They do like cardigans but are still struggling to do zippers or buttons on their own, so I prefer pullovers as they save time and promote independence.

Anyhow, the smaller chested twin is still definitely the right size for this sweater in the arms and chest.  However, it is maybe 3-4 inches shorter than we would like it to be.  I will cut off the ribbing, pick up the stitches at the bottom of the sweater, right above the ribbing, and knit down a couple of inches in stockinette, and then add more ribbing.

The sweater is worn and the yarn looks new--people may be able to tell it is an addition.  So what?  My child will be wearing a warm, handmade, wool sweater this winter.  Again.  

I am in the planning stages for two new sweaters.  Every winter, I try to make two new sweaters, one for each twin.  Each kid gets to choose his own colors and styles--within reason--and I'm just about to cast on for the first one.  Sometimes the sweaters get rotated among twins, and whatever I planned ends up on the other kid.  It's all good.  In the meanwhile, this is a quick fix that reuses and values my work.  I'm all in favor, and my kid is thrilled he will wear this beloved sweater for one more season.

This is, at essence, what it means to me to embrace a more sustainable wardrobe...it takes time, but it saves time and money, too.  It's worth it.

Walking the walk

When I wrote Knit Green: 20 Projects and Ideas for Sustainability, I tried to give information on sustainable ideas as choices that anybody could make. That's how I see it--we each make choices based on our individual values. One of the things I wrote is that I'm a moderate...I haven't given up my car or gone off the grid. That said, I feel like I have to strive to do more.

When I wrote the book, no babies were on the horizon for us. We had a long struggle with fertility and designing and knitting for babies was hard. I did a few baby designs anyhow. (Lots of people knit for babies, so it was just one of the parts of my job that wasn't my favorite....)

In doing research about fertility issues, I found a lot of recent research has gone into environmental pollutants that cause hormonal disruptions. Hormonal disruptions affect fertility. Plastics, like Bisphenol_A, can significantly affect the human body. While humans are actively using plastics in all parts of life, we're not sure yet what its long term effects are for our health. Some of those research results and effects are pretty worrisome. We often only find out long term affects of our inventions a long time after they are developed. (nuclear reactors and radiation, for instance)

In our case, there were no clear causes to why we didn't get pregnant, so no easy way to fix the problem.

Yet, the information I learned about plastics--a petroleum based product--led me to think a lot about why and how it is used.

I am now applying the same research skills to things one needs for babies...and I am stunned by how much baby stuff out there is synthetic. Synthetic: Plastic, man-made, petroleum-based, not natural, etc. It's hard to avoid the sheer number of plastic things out there--right down to basics like disposable diapers or bottles.

As I research, I'm making different decisions than I think many people may make when it comes to these fetuses I'm toting around. The professor and I are trying to find a lot of second-hand things, because if the stuff is plastic, it off gasses and doesn't break down in landfills. We can reuse it instead and reduce waste. For instance--we can try cloth diapers to reuse materials, reduce landfill waste, and avoid plastics. Yes, cleaning them takes energy, but it takes less energy and costs less than manufacturing new diapers and throwing them away after one use.

We are trying NOT to buy or acquire polyester or synthetic materials if we can avoid it. Not only is this oil dependent (oil is a non-renewable resource) but on a practical safety level, it is very flammable. Put your kid in synthetics like fleece all the time? Have you done a burn test on that? It melts!! Wool, on the other hand, is naturally flame resistant.

Since we aren't zealots, we're not going to be able to avoid plastics in everything we do. Our house has plenty of it. Despite my best efforts, my wardrobe is certainly not free of synthetics.

That said, here are answers to a couple of questions that have been posed to me:

So-and-so (average 5 year old) loves his fleece vests! What have you got against all that? (As in, Joanne, what is your problem!? Just buy synthetics and stop being such a vigilante.)

Answer: Kids wear what their families offer them to wear. (So-and-so also loves sugary cereals, but doesn't have to eat them if they aren't offered to him.) Just because someone loves something doesn't mean it is good for them. A fleece synthetic is made from oil (a non-renewable resource), is flammable and melts on the body, and doesn't biodegrade easily. It may cause health issues--researchers are still trying to figure that out. Further, many people find that polyester based materials do not breathe well, so people sweat more and have more skin-related problems with that.

Will I manage to avoid all polartecs/fleeces, etc.? No, but I can make an effort not to buy more of them. I can hope to raise kids who love soft wool, organic cotton, or cool linens instead.

Some babies CAN'T wear wool!! NOT even superwash! What will you do if your kid is extra-sensitive? (This has been extended to...some babies can't tolerate or thrive with cloth diapering/nursing/etc.)

My first response would be REALLY? So, you're saying that plastics/synthetics/polyesters (been around for 100 to 150 years) are always better for babies than natural fibers? That I am essentially going to be abusing these kids by putting them in things like cotton/hemp/linen/wool? While we've had humans in natural fibers for, at minimum, the last several thousand years--and they've done admirably-- we really don't have that long a track record for synthetics.

I'd argue that a very small percentage of people are sensitive to certain commonly used natural fibers. It is the exception and not the rule. It is also likely that someone sensitive to superwash wool is sensitive to the chemical process used to make the wool "superwash" as compared to the actual fiber itself. (Chemicals used to process wool or cotton commercially can be very toxic--a good reason to try organic fibers or locally handprocessed fibers instead. Cotton commercially processed with formaldehyde or wool "cleaned" with sulfuric acid can be toxic...no doubt about it.)

It is also just as likely that the kid is having a reaction to plastics as natural fibers. The kid might be allergic to detergent rather then the fiber. In some cases, the person might just have sensitive skin. That is, he/she is sensitive to everything.

Conclusion? I know that the last few generations of babies have been raised with lots of polyester/plastic/synthetics in their environments. That's what many households are used to--but it doesn't have be that way. We can think it over and review these things. These are just habits/tools for childrearing and we can try to create new habits instead.

Am I being naive? Perhaps. We'll see...but new is not always better when it comes to using plastic. There are reasons I am trying to "walk the walk" and "talk the talk" that I wrote about in Knit Green.

At the end of the book, I mention that it's important to find people who support your new "green" choices. I'm working on that for myself, because it does get tiring to be told that "of course plastics are the right, better, intelligent choice." Sometimes surrounding oneself with positive or neutral opinions is the way to go. I hope I can do that for others. I hope that sometimes, people can also do that for me, too.

...that other book

In the last day or two, a new book on sustainability issues and knitting has been released. It is published by a well known company that I've written articles for quite a bit, and even a design or two. The book is written with an anthology approach, with essays by well-known people in the knitting world and top-notch designer contributions.

All of this is ok--because one of my goals in writing a book about conservation, sustainability, and "greener" choices for knitters was to help more people think about their choices. In fact, when I heard about this book--maybe a year ago--I tried to be positive about it. I figured that our books wouldn't be the same...and as best I can tell (I haven't read that other book cover to cover yet) they aren't. My book has more information in it rather than personal essays. My book has a variety of designs from easy to intermediate, and likely has some projects in it that are better for the beginner knitter. So, while famous people contributed to that other book, their contents weren't the same. Things like that made the books look different, as best I could tell.

Except for the titles. You see, book titles don't have to be copyrighted, and they are essentially chosen by committee. For my books, I created a long list of titles I could live with, and in each case, the publisher chose one of those titles with a group consensus. I assume the publisher researched those titles, and I googled every single one of them to be sure I wasn't stepping on anyone's toes. That's fine...I assumed that was just good manners.

A lot of friends have recently discovered this other book because of all the publicity around its release. They immediately email me or call me to complain. Couldn't this other book have chosen a different title? Couldn't they have been a bit more careful? ...and yes, I have wondered these things myself, although I've known about this book for a while.

In fact, back in the "olden days" of publishing, there likely would have been lawyers involved, and a last minute name change, and all sorts of efforts to avoid this situation. However, in today's whirlwind publishing world, with issues of free download piracy and ever more books being released ever faster, maybe that isn't possible. To be clear about confusion, it is the kind of situation where two books are published within 8 months of one another. The only difference in their titles is an "ing." Luckily, the subtitles are different too.

I won't lie. My own personal green monster--the jealous, angry, frustrated one--has come visiting. I feel pretty annoyed, because my book came out first and yet I cannot do a thing to defend its title. I suppose this is only natural, and I'm trying hard to keep my chartreuse buddy under wraps and get her to go back into her lair.

However, I also see two positive end results. First is an unintended one. That other book? The new book? Its title is close enough to mine...Knit Green: 20 Projects and Ideas for Sustainability that it's briefly driving up sales of my book. That is, people look up those words "Knitting" and "Green" online and they find my book, too. Hopefully, they find something of value in it, and they purchase it. So, in that sense, I have to be grateful for the inadvertent free publicity...which I'm sure that other publishing company hadn't planned on. Thank you.

Second though, and most important, is the bigger issue. If more people write appealing books about environmental issues, more readers might buy them. If you own a book about sustainability, you just might read it. Then, you might think about the issues, and do a thing or two about conserving our planet's resources. Although personally I'd love to sell more books (or ebooks) and maybe even make a living, on a bigger level, it's more about learning about the earth. It's about making a difference in the world and keeping our knitting -and our lives- eco-friendly. That's important stuff... Stuff I also care about.

In honor of Earth Day, I've been invited to give a talk tomorrow, April 22nd, in Winnipeg. I'll be speaking at the Millennium Library downtown at 7 pm. The Manitoba Craft Museum and Library is hosting this gig, and artists and crafters will be selling art made from recycled materials before the lecture. The Museum will be selling my books, too, and appreciates any donations you can make to support their mission. After the lecture, I'll hang around to answer questions, sign books, and visit. There will be a trunk show, with samples from the book on display for everyone to touch and see.

If you're local, I hope you can come! I look forward to seeing you there! If not...please feel free to join me in the comments below.

If you're one of those people who contacted me about that other book and its title, I really appreciate your concern and commiseration. I have felt a bit rough round the edges. Still, I think if we can all visit with our personal monsters occasionally--letting them out from under the bed or opening up those closets...we find in the light of day that this is not the scariest thing, or at least not as scary as we'd thought it to be.

Losing glaciers, polar bears, low lying islands? Extinctions or natural disasters? Maybe more of an issue in the long run.

Please join me--wherever you are-- in celebrating and honoring Earth Day 2010.

Newsletter update

We interrupt this programming...

I recently sent out an email newsletter to people who've signed up on my website and wanted to update my blog readers as well! I promise that there will be one more Crete post, likely sometime next week. In the meanwhile, I'm off to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. I likely won't be checking in until Monday or so. Wishing you a sweet and happy 5770!

And now...the newsletter:

There’s big news from Joanne Seiff!

My new book, Knit Green:20 Projects & Ideas for Sustainability, will be available at the beginning of October! I am so excited to see this published! Knit Green is about sustainability in ways that knitters will enjoy and I’ve designed over 20 knitting designs that support these eco-friendly ideas. Also note: If you’re not a knitter but you wear clothing, you’ll find lots of useful information about sustainability and textiles in this book.

A variety of exciting events are coming up… Please join me and I’ll sign your books, too!

September 26 & 27
Join me at the Wolseley Wardrobe Fall Retreat at Delta Marsh in Manitoba! I’ll be giving a talk about Fiber Gathering and a class about knitting sustainably. Check out the Wolseley Wardrobe website: http://www.wolseleywardrobe.com/ for details.

October 12
Spend Columbus Day (or Canadian Thanksgiving) with me at Nature’s Yarns in Fairfax Virginia. I’ll be teaching Taking Spinning Back to the Basics and a class based on my new book called Knit Green. Please contact the store http://www.naturesyarnsinc.com/contact.html for more information and to sign up!

October 18
Going to Rhinebeck? That is, the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival? http://www.sheepandwool.com/ Me too! Please join me at Building B for the Authors Book Signing from 10AM-12PM. I’ll sign your book and hope for a chance for a chat. I can’t wait to see you there!

Finally, there’s the news about me. I now live in Winnipeg! That’s in the province of Manitoba, in Canada…and I’m thrilled to be here out on the prairie. My email and website contacts are still the same, but now, I’m writing and designing in a fabulous new place. If you happen to be visiting Winnipeg, drop me a line—I’d love to see you!

Thanks so much for supporting fiber arts, the festival community, and me. I appreciate it and hope you enjoy both of my books!
Joanne Seiff
http://www.joanneseiff.com/

Check this out!

Have you seen this?!!
(I've got a cover now and everything. Now I've just got to finish this proofreading...)

TN Fiber Festival

This festival was my THIRD in May. I was so tired after getting home from Winnipeg that I was concerned about making it to the festival in one piece. It was so worth the effort!

This festival, in Dixon, Tennessee, is a small one. It's about three years old, and it grows every year. I had a great time teaching there last year, and as Beth, the organizer is so competent! She and her husband Steve own Three Creeks Farm. They saw a need for a fiber festival in our area, and gosh, they're doing their best to fill the need!

This year, I'd signed up to teach two classes and to do an after dinner presentation about Fiber Gathering. To our surprise, neither of the classes had enough students in them to go--so I just came down for the presentation, spent the night, and came back home the next day. Even though I was sorry the classes had to be cancelled, it was much easier for me and more relaxing this time to enjoy the festival, give my talk, and skip the 6 hours of teaching.

Dixon is about 100 miles from my house in Kentucky. On a regular day, it's maybe an hour and 45 minute drive. On Memorial Day weekend? I thoroughly enjoyed the back roads to avoid the highway traffic, and it took about 2 and a half hours. It was a pastoral trip...gorgeous scenery and a good audiobook made it go by in a flash.

There were very interesting class options and some amazing vendors at this new festival, including Coloratura Yarns. Bjorn, the amazing indie dyer who creates these masterpieces of color, is from Germany and was first a weaver, taught by a weaver from Bauhaus weaving school. His skill is impressive. It took all my self-control not to invest heavily in their yarns. I got one skein of sock yarn. I get the feeling I might be buying more later. You know, after I move, I'm going to need some warm clothes, right?!

When it came time for me to give my talk, I was amazed to see the room was completely full. There were about 40 people there, and we had a grand time. I got to sign lots of books and give several friends big hugs. Definitely a fun trip.

On Saturday morning, I returned early to visit with the sheep at the festival. There was a shearer scheduled for Saturday, plus several farmers were hoping to sell lambs. I went crazy with the sheep photos. The bottom image is a Shetland lamb, the top one is an Icelandic ram, I think? (the Shetland and Icelandic rams shared a stall, so it's one or the other.) Look at those horns!

I was home on Saturday in time for lunch with the professor. I'd hoped for a relaxing few days together...but relaxing doesn't seem to be in our vocabulary lately! We discovered, also on Saturday, that the professor would have to head back to Winnipeg right away to continue the house hunting..it's really a seller's market up there. The house we're most interested in is now being shown, and he has volunteered to continue working on this. We need a house, and now's the time frame for finding one! I'm so tired out from travel that it was all I could do to print out his boarding pass and feed him lunch before he rushed out the door today. He's off to Minneapolis, where he'll stay with a good friend of ours. Then he'll continue north by car.

The dogs and I are enjoying a quiet day at home, doing laundry, but I've also got my work cut out for me this week. The proofs for Knit Green: 20 Projects and Ideas for Sustainability --BOOK NUMBER TWO-- have arrived!! I'll be spending the next week or so concentrating hard on making the very last edits on this. I'm excited about this topic, and I'm hoping the knitting world will be too! The book will be out by the end of September, I hear. Just in time for me to start talking about it...in Winnipeg. :)

I hope you're having a more restful weekend than we've had!