The Knitting Frenzy 
The past couple of years have seen a steady rise in the number of knitting enthusiasts. Libraries and librarians have responded to this trend by increasing their supply of knitting books and other DIY titles. Some creative teen librarians have even started teen knitting programs that include equipment usage, hands-on instructions, pattern tips, and oh yes, snacks. But relatively few have convinced their teen groups to participate in Warm Up America or other charity projects. For some communities, it’s difficult to participate  when hard work, a lot of money, and much love is required to knit a hat or scarf for someone you don’t know.

But what if you could inspire teens to knit for awareness?

          

Knittin’ Graffiti
From the fingerboard on a Hendrix statue in Seattle, WA. to a stone on the Great Wall of China, Knitta has been tagging the world with their creations since August 2005. Knitters can now participate in the graffiti art form. Pretty cool idea, don’cha think? That’s just what my teen knitting group thought. Now they’d like to duplicate the idea while incorporating a purpose. So far, we’re in the planning stages. And though it may be too late to knit graffiti for Banned Books Week 2006, there are plenty of GLBT issues they’d like to tackle. So I’ll keep ya posted as to the particulars once we’ve decided upon them.

We originally found Knitta, who have been mentioned in glam mags Nylon and Bust, through myspace. Add them as a friend to your library’s myspace account.