This week saw the launch of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s line of Olympic-themed sportswear in honour of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. But one garment in the collection–a Cowichan-style sweater (pictured above)–has attracted criticism. Coast Salish elders have called into question HBC’s decision to contract the manufacture of the sweaters to a non-Cowichan company. Cowichan Tribes chief Lydia Hwitsum claims that the traditional Cowichan design (like the one pictured below) is the intellectual property of her people.

The discussion brings up interesting questions about who “owns” traditional designs, and how handmade things are used as cultural symbols.

You can read more about the Cowichan sweater tradition here, and here. There is also an NFB documentary on the subject, called “The Story of the Coast Salish Knitters”. Interested in questions of intellectual property and clothing, check out intellectual property lawyer Susan Scafidi’s excellent blog, Counterfeit Chic.

Not long ago, I read about the seemingly lost art of spinning gossamer–yarn plied from spider silk–in Judith MacKenzie McCuin’s wonderful book, “The Intentional Spinner”. Then, the other day, Brady Muller, chef at our neighbour Ciboulette Café, sent me a link to an article in the New York Times about an astonishing textile currently on display at New York’s Museum of Natural History: an 11-foot cloth woven from the silk of the golden orb spider of Madagascar. This is a contemporary textile, the brainchild of a British textile historian and an American fashion designer. It is breathtakingly beautiful, strong and priceless. What an inspiration to spinners–or should I say, aspiring spiders!

A Harvard-led team of archeologists and paleobiologists examining microscopic soil samples from a cave site in the Republic of Georgia believe they have found the oldest textile fibres recorded. The tiny twisted flax fibres are thought to date back more than 34,000 years. Now that’s old yarn stash! Read more about the find here. Those prehistoric yarnies were onto something–linen (Louet’s Euroflax lace and sport) is a favourite of ours, too.

Early tomorrow morning, Thursday September 10th, tune in to CTV in Halifax to see Mimi on the morning show, Breakfast Television. She is probably going to try to teach one of the hosts to knit, in record time.  This will be live, so anything could happen! Very exciting. Just don’t forget to set your alarm.

Every year, organizers of the Atlantic Jazz Festival invite local retailers to decorate their windows in celebration of the event. The request came to us around the time of our WorldWide Knit in Public scavenger challenge, so I immediately thought it would be fun to make our display both a tribute to jazz and a skill-testing game!

Morgan and I have created a felt and fibre vignette that depicts the titles of classic jazz songs. There are ten titles so far (there are elements of four in the detail photo above!), but we’ll be adding a few more over the coming days.

Drop by and see how many you can find! Don’t know much about classic jazz? Here’s a great resource that may help you: Jazzstandards.com .

Revolution baby blanket in progress

My friend is having a baby this summer and I wanted to make a blanket that was quick and easy, without being too boring. Too much to ask? I was looking at the fun designs of British math geeks Pat Ashforth and Steve Plummer (Woolly  Thoughts). I had a hard time deciding which of their intriguing patterns to go with, but thanks in part to the projects posted on Ravelry, I chose “Revolution”.

A couple of dozen people had posted Revolution on Ravelry and many talked about how easy it is. Looking at the images I felt that it must be fairly simple, but my mind just couldn’t grasp how exactly the funky jagged spiral effect was created. I  purchase and downloaded the detailed, colourful pattern booklet and began to study it. Indeed once you read the instructions and get started, it’s blessedly simple to do. This is a fun pattern, a way to make garter stitch interesting! I’m using Estelle’s organic Cloud Cotton, which itself is a delight to work with. This is going to be a lucky baby, if I may say so myself.

One of the things that is making this project so enjoyable for me is my Denise Interchangeable Needle set.  It’s like the Denise kit was made for this kind of project. The blanket is a circle but you are only ever knitting one “wedge” at a time. Stitch holders are important, and as the segments of the blanket get bigger, you would need to use multiple circulars or lengths of yarn as stitch holders. With the Denise set, I just add lengths of cable and carry on. Most of the time the same needle I am knitting on is acting as a stitch holder for another part of the blanket.

We love the Denise Interchangeable company not just because of their products, but because they are a small company with a great customer service ethic.  The product itself is made with a conscious effort to support local (to Denise) manufacturing. We are always delighted to chat with them and they are incredibly friendly and helpful. And how many big corporations would send a package in the mail looking like this? (Yes those are individual postage stamps.) We love Denise.

If you have attended ‘Loop Group’, our drop-in knitting night on Thursdays at The Loop, you might have met Tina B.  She is in the ninth grade and a devoted knitter – pictured below knitting the Cobweb Doily from A Gathering of Lace.

Tina knitting the Cobweb Doily from 'A Gathering of Lace'

Now we’ve learned she is also devoted to bringing happiness to other people. Tina approached us recently to ask if The Loop would make a donation to help cover the costs of a trip she wants to make this June.  This is no average summer holiday – she will be travelling to Poland with a group called Coalition for Kids, to visit terminally ill children to help make their short lives a little bit more pleasant.  The children helped by the program suffer from diseases like cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy. As Tina explained it to me,  many of the kids’ wishes are as simple as an iPod or a good bed. Check out the Coalition for Kids website to learn more about the program and its “Journeys of a Lifetime”.

I was impressed to learn about the funding structure for the program. Each teenagers’ trip costs $36oo and the fundraising structure employs a ‘pay it forward’ philosophy. Each participant raises half of the money for their own trip, and when they return they commit to raising another $1800 to cover half the cost of another student’s trip. One participant helps pay for the next one’s trip, and so on.

This is not something we normally do with this blog space, but I wanted to tell our community about this program  in case anyone would like to support Tina’s trip. The Loop will be making a donation and I will make one personally too, because I think it’s so important for young people to look outward and take an interest in the world.

If you are a knitter reading this, you know that non-knitters hold stereotyped ideas of who and what knitters are. We know better. Similarly, I think Tina – as a young knitter preparing to make this remarkable trip – does not fit the stereotype of a self-centred teenager.

Please feel free to contact us at The Loop if you would like to make a contribution to Tina’s “Journey of a Lifetime” by May 1st 2009.

This year’s NSCAD Wearable Art Show is scheduled to take place next Wednesday evening on Granville Square.  The square will be transformed into a canopied gallery and performance venue. The show promises to be a fabulous and fascinating evening of avant-garde fashion and art. Tickets are $15 in advance (available at Venus Envy or on the NSCAD art supply store). Proceeds from the event will go to the AIDS Coalition of Nova Scotia and to the Wearable Art Scholarship Fund. See you there!

This morning’s Chronicle Herald comes the announcement that the Maritime Fall Fair will no longer include livestock events and homemaking competitions.  Citing a lack of public interest in the agricultural and artisanal competitions (including the knitting category won by Richard Stilwell last year), the organizers want to develop the retail craft component of the fair instead.

Aren’t agricultural fairs meant in part to provide an opportunity for farmers and artisans to promote their skills and educate the public? If these events are not attracting the public, then maybe the organizers aren’t doing enough them! Am I right in thinking that it is completely backwards to be cancelling these components of the fair at a time when interest in local agricultural poducts and self-sufficiency is on the rise?

We would happily host a homemaking salon des refuses here at The Loop!

I just opened a shipment of new magazines and books.

We’re starting to carry Interweave’s Spin-off magazine, and the first batch arrived today. It contains articles for spinners of all levels, and looks to be full of inspiration.

New issues of Knitter’s and Interweave crochet also arrived, along with more of the popular “Twinkle’s Big City Knits”.

Just for fun, The Loop is joining the social experiment called Twitter. It may also be because I have been finding it challenging to manage actual blog posts. Can I handle 140 characters?? Follow us at  http://twitter.com/theloophalifax