Thanksgiving crafts

It's Thanksgiving Day in the USA next week (November 27) and in addition to indulging in a huge feast, it's traditional for kids to make fun Thanksgiving crafts. I found some links for some ideas for those of you who need some inspiration: Cereal box turkeys Turkey Craft Indian Corn art project Thanksgiving Crafts, Worksheets & Activities DLTK's Crafts for KidsThanksgiving Crafts Thanksgiving Crafts from MakingFriends.com Thanksgiving Crafts from FreeKidsCrafts.com Hand Turkey Placemat Simple Turkey Day Crafts Turkey Spoon Craft Garland of Gratitude

Handy Halloween Links

It's nearly Halloween (Oct. 31) so here are some handy links to help you prepare for the fun: Video: How To Carve a Pumpkin How to make Toffee apples Party Games and Recipes! Make Your Own Costume - Simple Costume Instructions Halloween Crafts & Activities (for young children) Halloween Crafts - Free projects/ideas Halloween Hang-Ups Free knitting pattern for The Curly Purly Pumpkin Jean Greenhowe's Halloween Ghosties - free pattern

Knit with Mazz, The Rebel Knitter

In May, I posted about a knitter who got in trouble with the BBC for posting knitting patterns for Doctor Who characters. Today, an article, The rebel within, in The Guardian is about the (infamous) rebel knitter known in the blogosphere as Mazzmatazz, or Mazz. Her real name is revealed to be Marisa Turmaine and she has created 12 patterns for all sorts of weird and wonderful, practical and silly things. for The rebel knitter's guide. The patterns are FREE and there is a handy guide with more information about knittng for those of you new to knitting. Try it! Knitting is a fun and relaxing hobby.

Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef: a reef made of wool to look like natural coral

The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef is an exhibition showing at the Southbank Centre in London from 11 June 2008 - 17 August 2008. I just read about it in an article in The Times, with the intriguing title, Can knitting save the Great Barrier Reef? It turns out the title isn't quite correct since the craft involved is crochet not knitting but it did get my attention so after reading the article I googled the subject and found out more about the Institute For Figuring which is summed up thus: The Institute For Figuring is an educational organization dedicated to enhancing the public understanding of figures and figuring techniques. From the physics of snowflakes and the hyperbolic geometry of sea slugs, to the mathematics of paper folding and graphical models of the human mind, the Institute takes as its purview a complex ecology of figuring. Then I read more and found out that 2008 is the INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE REEF This designation, by the International Coral Reef Initiative, has been made in the hope of raising awareness about the plight of reefs around the world. According to a recent scientific meta-study, coral reefs are now disappearing at a rate five times faster than rainforests. If current trends continue there will be no reefs left by the end of this century. About the Crochet Coral Reef The Institute For Figuring is crocheting a coral reef: a woolly celebration of the intersection of higher geometry and feminine handicraft, and a testimony to the disappearing wonders of the marine world. A Gallery of the Crocheted Hyperbolic Reef I can knit but I don't know how to crochet (I wish I did) and I must say that I'm in awe of these beautiful creations! If you want to get involved, they invite crocheters everywhere to contribute models to the reef. I really admire the two women, IFF co-directors Margaret and Christine Wertheim - who grew up in Queensland - who have started this project to crochet a woolen reef. What a fantastic idea and such an inspired way to raise awareness of the threat to coral reefs around the world! International Year of the Reef 2008