Wednesday, January 19, 2011

wrap your head around Making Headlines

update January 22 here
Also, Ellen changed the name of the effort to

Warm Hats Not Hot Heads

My clever and talented friend Ellen, who blogs as half of  Twinset, has a brilliant effort underway. You might want to join her.
hatmosaic 
It came about in reaction to the shooting in Tucson, and the divisiveness amongst our leadership (we're talking USA here, sorry to exclude the rest of you) as well as some of our citizens. She's suggesting knitters send handknit hats, nice ones, attention- gettingly nice ones, to our congresspeople, with a message on the subject. She says it way better so I am posting her directly here:

from Ellen:
"
Alison and  I have been discussing the Tucson shootings, both feeling the need to respond somehow, in a way more concrete than an email from a website or even a phone call to a Congressional office.  We want our representatives to handle conflict in a way that makes it a good thing - a thing that brings us to the right place, not a thing that divides us and harms us.

Hence was born what I am calling Making Headlines.  I am going to start knitting hats, nice hats, hats that will be noticed when I send them to congressional offices with a plea to consider that one’s opponent on a political issue is still united on the issue of being human - caring about one’s family, one’s community, one’s country.

Here is what I’d like to do.
I invite any and all knitters who would like to join in to knit a hat (sizing information here) for their own congressional representative, whether Senate or House.  Please email me, perhaps send a photo or link to a Ravelry project, and let me know to whom a hat has been sent.  I can track who is being covered (literally!) and if anyone wants to knit more than one hat, they can send them to me and I’ll handle mailing them to a rep who hasn’t received one yet.
I will write a standard note to go with it, to which any knitter could add her own personal message "

There's more of her thoughts on her blog, and some talk about hats & yarn & colors, so you may want to click over there , including the thought that maybe some of the congress people will start swapping their hats, and sharing..I just love that scene in my mind, as I see it the senators and US reps are sitting in the capitol, handing the hats across the aisle that separates the Dems & GOP. 
It's cold enough in DC. It might just happen.

3 comments:

twinsetellen said...

Oh, thanks, Gale! The words are wonderful and I appreciate the support, and the hat collage is just happy-making.

Ibunnysavetroy said...

Wow, that's a really sweet idea! I'll have to search in the stash for congress worthy yarn!

Marla McLean, Atelierista said...

I am just the sister-of-the-knitter-she-shoots-sheep-shots (i.e.non-knitter), BUT I love this idea. Beautiful graphic wool symbolism.