massive knit nyc

event links

2006-05-24T10:50:00.000-07:00

david sent us these links he posted in Gothamist and flickr.

thanks boss tweed!

news article

2006-05-24T08:59:00.000-07:00

...in today's issue of Metro, a free paper in NYC (click on the link below).
Knitters protest park project knotted up in court

More photo's

2006-05-24T08:52:00.000-07:00

massive knit in action!

2006-05-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

thanks so much everybody for participating and supporting this event! you are all fantastic! here are some pictures from yesterday, and if you have any photos, you can link it to us by uploading it to flickr and putting a tag massiveknit (yup, that's one word). cheers everyone! you are all so sweet!

Remodeling the park.

2006-05-14T19:39:00.000-07:00

Currently there are plans by the city to renovate Washington Square Park, and essentially shut it down for an extensive amount of time. While there is evidence that the water pipes in the fountain need some help, there are more than a few questions that arise. The first two that come to mind: One: in the process of fixing the water system, they plan on remodeling, is it worth it, what is wrong with the way it is?; and two: where will all the people go while the work is in progress? WSP is a park for the people of the west village, there is no other like it around which allow so many people of different demographics to commune.

There was one prior attempt to redesign the park, this is from the website, " http://www.pps.org/great_public_spaces/one?public_place_id=7: "In 1964, plans to redesign the park surfaced with much controversy between the "traditionalist" residents and the "modernist" Park Commissioner. Esteemed West Village residents, such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Jane Jacobs, believed that the Park Commissioner's plans for renovation would violate the park's natural character, and that the park needed simple renovations in keeping with its unique and quaint style. Most importantly, Jacobs and the other dissidents felt that the park had to be closed off to automobile traffic to preserve it as a respite from urban life, and create an unbroken promenade surrounding it. Eventually the Parks Commissioner agreed to the residents’ wishes."

We invite comments on this topic, as the idea invites controversy. Also check out: www.preservewashingtonsquarepark.com for more information.

Ideas for knitting the park together

2006-05-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

- connect two park benches together
- make a tree cozy
- knit around the park rails
- knit some small squares of the chess boards
- knit leaves and birds nests to the branches.
- make a spiderweb on the grass
- connect other objects together
- make a sculpture

We encourage you to be artful and considerate of the park.
We encourage to make thoughtful donations to the park, and consider quality not quantity.

check this link out and
please add more suggestions.

http://www.faperj.br/boletim_interna.phtml?obj_id=723

Massive Knit at Washington Square Park

2006-05-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

From "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" by Jane Jacobs

2006-05-10T13:04:00.003-07:00

"To use parks and squares and public buildings as part of this street fabric; use them to intensify and knit together the fabric's complexity and multiple use."

knitting and activism

2006-05-09T10:37:00.000-07:00

The concept of knitting and activism is a fresh and exciting one. Some groups have been formed with the idea of making an impact in society by way of knitting. With this renewed interest on knitting as an art and/or craft activity in recent years, a bunch of communities have sprung to life and ventured creatively in this "soft" medium while trying to make a statement.

The potential of knitting as an activist tool or act has been making its presence felt in local scenes as well as online. Here we present some of the notable groups who are making a difference:

Anarchist Knitting Mob is a loose collective of knitters around New York City. We got in touch with them early on this project, and our idea was actually a spin-off of one of theirs. For their last project, they made more than a hundred hats for premature babies and donated the lot to a local hospital.

"The knitting circle is a constructive revolution", said the Revolutionary Knitting Circle, based in Canada, with local affiliates across the United States. "We are creating community and local independence which, in this corporate society, is a truly revolutionary act."

"Protest and dissent comes in many different forms" is the catch-phrase of craftivism.com, a (you guessed it) website dedicated to craft+activism. Based on the posting of the site's author last week - "...craftivism is more than just a way to express your politics and views, it's about finding a way to better your life and that of others through creative endeavors. Because I believe that everything we make with our hands has power. Just what that power is, is your own decision."
There are a lot of nice ideas and writings about the topic on this website, so please click here to read more.

microRevolt's projects investigate the dawn of sweatshops in early industrial capitalism to inform the current crisis of global expansion and the feminization of labor. One of their projects was featured in
we-make-money-not-art.

EVENT

2006-05-08T19:22:00.000-07:00

We would like to provide a collective, connected, community of individuals to honor the late Jane Jacobs who passed away on April 25, 2006. Jane Jacobs was an activist, a community leader, a writer, an urban planner, and a hero to many people. One of her great feats was as the chairman of the Joint Committee to Stop the Lower Manhattan Expressway. This expressway would have run through Washington Square Park. We plan to gather in this park on the 23rd of May to memorialize her and her ideas. We want to convene as a community in a loving and subtle way, honoring the park as well as her memory. We plan to do this by knitting the park together.

Knitting is a solitary art form, often resulting in gifts for others. A knitting circle allows one to be social with this solitary art. A city, likewise, is a solitary place to live. There is so much crowding and destination in daily life that one often gets lost in their own world. Parks allow people to come together and be alone peacefully in their solitary life and form temporary and permanent communities. Parks and knitting circles are both public and accessible: but private enough that one can have meaningful communication and a community within their confines.

Using individual sensibilities. We plan to create an open structure in the park. Connecting various elements of the park together such as trees, benches and other structures, we will connect a community and a memory. As people enter the park (the meeting spot is under the arch) they will be directed to a spot in the park to start knitting. People can arrive anytime starting at 5.30 p.m. and stay as long as they like. They should tie, knit, string together long thin pieces of material, and before leaving, tie the material off to a piece of the park, or another individuals yarn. By the end of the evening we should have a string of material connecting the park together. We will have connected to the park and to the other individuals as a community.

2006-05-03T17:47:00.000-07:00

massive knit

2006-05-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

a knitting mob dedicated to the memory of jane jacobs.