Occupy Terre Haute - Tiny Tent Event

It was a pleasure to host a Tiny Tent making event for Occupy Terre Haute at First UU Congregation.

This is probably my favorite picture from the day, with the industrious hands of people who are speaking truth to power.

Everyone left with a bunch of tents, hopefully to start placing them in nooks and crannies where they will surprise and cause folks to pause for a moment to think about the issues of economic justice, corporate domination and democracy.

We had a template for tents, but the night before, I saw some tiny tents online that were simply rectangles of colored card folded in half.  So I brought some index cards along with the templates. Someone went one better and folded and taped a floor, which makes the tent tinier and sturdier.   This is now my favorite way of making Tiny Tents.

I have a box of the tents in my car, but I haven't been anywhere yet to place them.  When I do, I'll document and send in pictures to the Tiny Tent Task Force.

Terre Haute's a small city and OTH is a small group with no encampment, but they have been dedicated in creating a standing occupation several times a week. Rain, shine, snow, freezing temps - they are on the street representing the 99%.
I admire the dedication greatly. That is more than I can do right now, but I  give my support in ways that I can, like this event.
Peace & justice!


)O(

Yarn, Dog, Occupy Terre Haute

If I was a better blogger, I would have pictures of the stunning  amount of new yarn that arrived at RiverWools this week.

But I’m not a better blogger, I’m a yarn addict collector.  And I was quite overcome by the stacks and stacks of bags of new fiber goodness that covered a good deal of the floor space in the front of the shop.

As I gazed  at new colorways and saw the knitted-up samples --  oh, all right, yes! Yes, I also fondled and sniffed -- as I did all that, I never once thought of stepping back and getting out my camera and becoming  Documenting Blogwoman.

Before I go on about the new yarn, I want to digress just a wee bit.  You may have noticed that there is not much going on in the realm of art on this blog. And that’s because there’s not much going on in my life in that realm. Well, I am writing poetry regularly, but I'm wary of posting it here because I'm trying to get published and many journals have submission rules which deem publishing online (even on a personal blog) to be 'previously published.'

I am in a kind of doldrums with my visual creative work, but I’m  percolating in other ways. Inner stuff.

Also, there’s that new young dog in the family. She eats things she really, really shouldn’t

and so must be watched a lot and gently guided over to the Good Side.  That takes time and patience. And I’m loathe to get all involved in a project or try to dress a loom and have Lily-tending become an irritating interuption.

I have, however, become a little bit involved with the local Occupy group. While they haven’t gotten to the point of a 24/7 Occupation, they have been gathering and marching in downtown Terre Haute.  On Monday I joined them for a time .

Yesterday, I made about 50 buttons

to give to the group as a donation and planned to stand with them again for awhile after I finished work at the bookstore, which is right across the street from the Occupy Terre Haute gathering spot.

But it was raining and chilly and my jeans & sneakers were starting to get wet and water was dripping off my rain visor and onto my nose if I was looking up at taller people and….and…the new yarn I’d only had a glimpse of earlier was calling to me. (Did I mention that RiverWools is just two doors down from the bookstore? I could clearly hear that yarn from the street corner.)

So. I handed over the buttons and bailed.
Yes, I left Occupy Terre Haute, abandoned a bunch of dedicated people willing to stand in the rain to get the message out.
Worse, I left them and went to consume.

On the left, 1 Araucania Milodon (100% wool, kind of tweedy), 

the other 2 are Araucania Liwen (50% superfine alpaca, 50% wool- thick ’n’ thin)

Martha did make me feel a little better by reminding me that my purchase supports a local owner-operated business, that it wasn’t like I left the demo and went to WalMart.

For penance, I shall knit some hats and scarves for winter Occupying.
(There are several initiatives for this out there, including this free hat pattern on Ravelry. , a Facebook page called Knitters for the 99% and this blogger's Occupy Our Needles. )
Another blog: Stitch for Occupy