As I’m currently in the process of applying for research programmes, PhDs and scholarships (at the last possible minute), it’s been a bit slow of late. I also no longer have email at my house, which means that I haven’t been answering my email for the past two weeks.

But I promise that soon enough I will reveal the ridiculousness that was my first ‘art’ (don’t call it ‘craft!’) piece, unleashed to the public March 18th. On a wall, not a scarf around someone’s neck.

If you’re feeling antsy about what’s currently inspiring to me in the world of craft, check out :

*Knitted Hyperbolic Space, A Gallery of Hyperbolic Models, and an article about crocheting the hyperbolic plane. (Many thanks to Maddie for the links!)

*the knerdy reading that is knitknit

*the ‘i wish i was born in the ’30s’ joy that is Designing Britain 1945-1975

*the amazing and inspiring work of Germaine Koh

*i heart Freddie Robins

*the happy quirkiness that is the work of Deirdre Nelson

And that’s (happily) only the beginning of what’s out there.

It’s amazing how much time flies by when you’re doing nothing but working on an ‘art piece’ and constantly having an internal dialogue with yourself regarding the whole ‘art vs. craft’ melee.

And it’s funny how when you start making things with your hands, you stop checking email, turn off the television, turn up the stereo, and start thinking more in images than in words.

This week has totally made me realise how my grandmother’s grandmother’s hands must have ached after having to make xx number of stockings/sweaters/socks in order to put food on the table. And how despite the fact that we are lucky enough to live in an age where clothing is provided for cheap and in close proximity, that there is nothing more rad than holding something you constructed with your own two hands- especially something that you could have bought at the local megamart.

And back to working…

Tonight I was talking with someone who was in Sri Lanka during the tsunami. She was talking about how the woman she was with is now suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Luckily, she is American and has a hefty support network.

But for those who don’t, there’s a little project out there called The Tsunami Quilt. Although the deadline for contributions has already passed, it’s a perfect example of how you can put your crafty and artistic talents to good use.

Happily, there are loads of photographs here.

I’m not suggesting that the efforts of one quilt are going to counteract all the damage that was done last December. But noting that sometimes when things seem so huge and like you can’t do anything to help, you can.

Hooray for tiny altruistic acts.

This is a hastily-taken photo near the Kingsland Road in Hackney, one of the neighborhoods on the tip of gentrification in east London.

The juxtaposition of the new bar next to shutters with awkward graffiti, the old Victorian buildings with varying architecture and the all-black clad hipsters on the street make me conjure up the smell of smog.

And make me want to strew skeins of yarn throughout the streets to bring color into the bland urban landscape.