Purls of wisdom: spinning a yarn of Ireland's changing climate to understand the knitty gritty of a sustainable future.

Earth's climate is warming. This is an indisputable fact, is regularly reported on and is understood by publics on a global scale. However, on a local scale, the problem is less visible. Purls of Wisdom is a new, yarn-based approach to raising awareness of Ireland's changing climate. The initiative aims to reach new audiences within artistic/crafting circles. During their participation with Purls of Wisdom, those involved are empowered to create visual art which displays the effects of a warming climate on Ireland specifically. Participants use climate datasets available from Met Éireann to create blankets, garments or other visual art forms which display data through arrays of colour. Data is split into a colour story in which each colour represents a subset of data (e.g. 10°C or 2mm rainfall) and each row of knitting/crotchet/other represents a year. In this way, the created endpiece displays change in climate through time as colour shifts.

A key consideration of the Purls of Wisdom initiative is sustainability. Participants are encouraged to use yarns for their projects that contain natural fibres, ideally sourced from, spun and dyed in Ireland. This limits the amount of non-recyclable materials used during the initiative, and the initiative's carbon footprint. A potential expansion for Purls of Wisdom will include further emphasis on the 'fast fashion' industry and creation of raised awareness of its contribution to climate change.

The Purls of Wisdom initiative, which began in November 2019, will run the course of a year, culminating in a showcase of the projects in December 2020. The participants and their families will be invited to view the projects created as part of the initiative and learn more about climate change and its effects on Ireland. A network of crafters across Ireland is involved in the initiative, however the project is open to anyone interested and that wants to be involved. Please don't hesitate to get in touch and join the Purls of Wisdom community!