I recently attended a panel discussion entitled “Crafting Protest,” where I heard four amazing women speak about the work they are doing in fields traditionally considered “craft” (as opposed to “art”). One of these women was new media artist and activist Cat Mazza, the woman behind microRevolt. MicroRevolt is an online protest of sweatshops that has a real-world presence in the form of a large, knitted blanket depicting the Nike Swoosh. The blanket acts as a petition against sweatshops; it has been made collectively by people all over the world who send in individual squares that Mazza adds to the blanket. Each square made by each person also represents a signature on the petition.
Besides serving as an online activism hub, the site is also just a cool place for knitters to explore, chiefly because it offers a link to another project of Mazza’s called knitPro. This application makes possible any and all designs you could possibly want to create with yarn and two needles. All you have to do is upload the image that you want to knit and knitPro will digest this information and, within moments, offer a pattern that you can follow that will give you the design you desire. If you want to knit a Mickey Mouse head, go for it; if you want to knit a pastoral country scene, no problem; if a photocopier is your favorite image, go right ahead and try it out with the knitting needles.
Now, truth be told, I’m no knitter. I’ve done a few scarves in my day, but nothing complicated. This site, though? It’s inspiring. I might give another scarf a go.