Text from here. Photo from here.

On Monday I got an email, followed by a phone call with Bill Harris who works for the city.

He was very nice, and said the city’s hands were tied and they tried to find a way to keep them — but they have to go.

Councilmember Lorie Zapf is collecting emails of support at loriezapf@sandiego.gov to show community backing and find a way to keep them in Clairemont. Send her your story, and let her know how much you like them!

Bill Harris gave me this statement to post:

The City is forced to announce that the Stop Sign Flowers must come down. Even with the great community spirit this effort has generated, there are just too many restrictions to overcome. City staff looked through state law and local policies trying to find some way of allowing the flowers to remain in place. Unfortunately, particularly with traffic control signs and including all other City assets, there is just no way to retain the works where they now are.

We hope that the flower-makers will work with other site owners – private businesses, other agencies, business improvement districts and community groups – to find new homes for the flowers. This is a fun program that should easily capture the imagination of our communities in other, less restricted, locations.

City crews will not remove any of the installations for the next ten days unless they become a hazard. It is hoped that those who originally installed the flowers will take that time to remove and preserve the work. Following the ten day period, City crews will be instructed to remove and dispose of anything affixed to City assets as it is seen or reported. The yarn and leaf structures cannot be saved when removed by City staff.

I will be available to answer specific questions about the City’s direction via email from billharris@sandiego.gov

For a map of San Diego street flowers go here.

See how you can make more here.

One of the sweetest things about this project is that the self-proclaimed “knitting guy” started to learn to knit “to teach my daughter. She received a “learn to knit” craft kit as a present, but the instructions were sparse and hard to understand. So, I decided to learn how in order to show her. I had thought about learning for a few years, so this was just the push I needed. That was about four years ago, and we have both been knitting off and on since.”

Also, there have been several awesome articles online about craftivism lately:

*Stir to Action piece from the Wellington Craftivism Collective
*Crafting the Future We Want over at Tck Tck Tck
*A lovely interview with the lovely Craftivist Collective over at HUCK magazine

And if that isn’t enough, and you’re STILL feeling crafty, go check out the the Blood Bag Project. Click the pic to see the gallery of submitted blood bags. You can also follow the project’s progress here

Now go and make somethin’ now, won’t ya?

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And as I recently re-discovered it, I realized that it was finding craft that finally made to uncover the facts that a) it’s okay to be alone and b) it’s okay to like being alone sometimes. Craft taught me that I don’t have to fear either the silence or the cacophony in my head when I’m working on stitch after stitch after stitch. I don’t have to even worry about the future, if I just keep stitching. Breathing. Living. Moving forward.

May you feel okay to be alone instead of fearing it, and enjoy dancing alone whether it’s at home by yourself with the curtains drawn or in a club or to a lovely song in the grocery store. Or stitching or walking or laughing or cooking or going to see a movie or all the other 10 million things you can do alone.

Performed by Tanya Davis, who you can learn more about here.
Directed by Andrea Dorfman, who you can learn more about here.

What a wonderful world, indeed.

[Apologies for the giant video, but there wasn't a resizing option...]

For more photos and information about KnitRiot, check their website: http://knitriot.blogspot.com/

Also, check out the LA Times article about them over here.

Plus, how cool are the uniforms in the second photo?

[Note: how much his creation differs from that of German POW Jim Simpson. Not making a political statement, just interesting. Also: I'm not technically sure what the heck the guy above is doing, as it looks more like he's making friendship bracelets than knitting?]

1st and 3rd photographs: Bain Collection, 2nd: Harris & Ewing Collection

*To figure out what I’m talking about above, watch the video. Definitely a technique I haven’t tried when teaching people to knit?