The temperature of textiles

Textile creatives are mapping climate change in innovative ways.

The issue of our changing conditions is in the news every day. As some places flood, others dry out, and sea level threatens to rise. In the face of these global trends it is sometimes hard to see what we can do to make a difference. Here is an article, sent in by a reader from South Africa, which shows how some knitters and quilters have chosen to highlight this emotive subject. 

It is not only knitters and quilters. Crochet is lending itself to this idea, as you can see from this 2017 article by Professor Ellie Highwood while in 2016 Rilla Marshall used weaving to make the point about rising sea levels. 

As the people-induced changes occur on the planet, we are trying to make our own small difference in the studio. Our contributions include turning down the heating so that we are not warming empty rooms to recycling more and more of our paper, plastics and glass, to using up every little bit of what we produce, including the waste yarns on the end of each warp, to trying out new ways of packing our samples and goods we send to customers. Every little bit helps to make our impact a bit less than it would have been and that can only be A Good Thing, can't it? Just to show that there are good things to find in this rapidly altering world, have a look at the 2015 Tapestry of Hope map. 

Thank you for the submission, loyal reader. Any blog suggestions are gratefully received.