Art and Science, Wool and Water
If you ask me what art has to do with science, I’ll hesitate to answer because I am such a scientist that I’m afraid of saying something inaccurate about art, in which I have no training whatsoever. But if you ask me what knitting and crochet have to do with science, ah – everything. Want to design your own sweater? You can use Elizabeth Zimmermann’s percentage system to get a perfect fit. Want to crochet a circle? You can use basic math and never fail. Want to know where some of the most creative and beautiful and popular designs come from? Nature. There are endless intersections between science and fiber art. Some concepts are just easier to understand if you see them in yarn format, like a hyperbolic plane – trust me on this one. Dr. Daina Taimina, Latvian mathematician and retired Cornell University professor of mathematics, revolutionized the teaching of hyperbolic geometry by using crochet. In the process, she inspired a crochet coral reef exhibit that has been seen by millions and perhaps moved them to care about oceans, about climate change, maybe even math. Knitters have always been huge fans of representing data, some even hiding them in their stitches, from Phyllis Latour and other knitting spies of WWII to Sue Montgomery, a city councilor and borough mayor in Montreal who highlighted gender disparity by knitting how often women and men spoke during executive committee meetings in 2019.
An example of hyperbolic crochet. Photo Credit: Cheryl on Flickr
AWI has recently embarked on a data art project called Wool and Water and the response to it so far has only served to further convince me that the most powerful connection between art and science is possibly in the incredible power that art has in the communication of science. I’ve been doing ecological research in the Adirondacks for 20 years, but I’ve been knitting for nearly 40. As a result of a casual conversation at a meeting one day and some luck with a grant, we launched a project that combines these 2 things I love so much, the analytical and the creative, and it’s just about causing my head to explode. Some latent part of my brain has been thinking about this for a long time. I think that’s because if there’s any lesson I’ve learned from a couple of decades working in environmental science, it is the lesson of cumulative impacts. Most of the threats to our environment that I see – and most of their solutions – come from the accumulation of many small actions. If you’re a knitter or crocheter, you really, really understand cumulative impacts. A hat, a sweater, a blanket, they all start with a single stitch.
What is Wool and Water?
Wool and Water is a data art project that blends fiber art with scientific data to create visual representations of changing water quality conditions in the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain Basin. In association with the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act and supported by the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership, our aim is to showcase the legacy of protecting clean water in the Champlain Basin and beyond. We are using knitting, crochet, weaving and other fiber arts to illustrate concepts and trends related to our waterways, and hopefully to provide inspiration for their protection. There is a Wool and Water exhibit currently on display at the Paul Smith’s College VIC and on virtual display at the project webpage.
Winter is my favorite time of year and so it may be getting a little bit overrepresented in the collection, but here are a few examples of what the project entails. All 3 of these highlight some aspect of climate change and its impacts, and all are scarves. What could be better than a dataset that you can wear?
Champlain Ice Scarf
This scarf is a representation of the ice record in Lake Champlain, which has one of the longest documented records of ice in and ice out dates. Ice cover duration on northern lakes has been changing as a result of a warming climate. This was created with a chevron style stitch pattern in Tunisian crochet. Each row represents a year, beginning in 1816 and going through 2019, with blue rows indicating years in which the ice did not freeze. The white rows indicate years when the lake did freeze, with a bead placed in one of three columns to indicate a freeze date in January (left column), February (middle), or March (right column). Freeze dates have shifted slightly later over time, and years without a complete freeze have increased in frequency. Data for this project came from the National Weather Service. Want to make your own ice scarf? Check out the ideas folder on the Wool and Water page, you’ll find some directions.
Snow Scarf
Among the water resources most valuable to the Adirondacks and broader Northern Forest is our winter snow. According to the most recent National Climate Assessment, winters have warmed 3 times faster than summers in recent years, with fewer cold extremes, particularly across northern portions of the Northeast. Recent modeling projects a large reduction in the extent of insulating snowpack in Northeast forests in the coming decades. Declines in the snowpack mean not only a decreased capacity for favored winter recreational pursuits like skiing and snowmobiling, but also have ecological implications for freshwater aquatic ecosystems, which are sensitive to snowpack and timing of snowmelt. Declining snow cover may also impair forest health and reduce the ability of forests to filter air and water and to sequester carbon. Snowfall trends in the park are somewhat unclear, in part because of incomplete records and in part because snowfall is increasing in some locations and decreasing in others. The record represented in this scarf is from Wanakena, one of 3 stations in the Adirondacks which has shown a decreasing trend in snowfall. The scarf was created using Tunisian crochet (simple stitch) as a base and then surface crochet with novelty yarn to represent annual snowfall totals.
Ice Fishing Blues
This piece is meant to represent the impact of warming winter temperatures on ice fishing and is based on the research of Lesley Knoll et al. (2019), and their work examining the cultural impact of ice loss on inland lakes and rivers. She and her colleagues found that ice fishing tournaments were more likely to be canceled in central Minnesota when average winter air temperatures were about 25 degrees or higher. Though long-term ice fishing tournament records are hard to come by, this scarf represents the application of the same 25-degree threshold to our region. Each hole represents a winter since 1899 and those ringed with blue are winters in which the average winter temperature (December - February) was 25 or higher in one or more of the NY Champlain, NY Northern Plateau, or VT Western climate regions. The cancellation of the 2022 Indian Lake ice fishing derby brings the issue right to our doorstep.
It’s not all doom and gloom, however. There are lots of other issues and ideas in the collection, there are positive trends to highlight, and there are many ways to celebrate clean water and its importance in our lives. That’s why we would love for you to join us in this project.
How can I get involved?
The easiest place to start is the project website. Here you will find information about all of the pieces currently in the collection, and resources to get you started should you wish to participate. This is a collaborative project and we hope to bring fiber enthusiasts from all corners who might enjoy a bit of craftivism. There’s a form you can submit on the website which will help us to help you get started. There’s also an ideas folder that we are continually populating with datasets, pattern ideas, and suggestions.
If you can’t knit or crochet but are still interested, please get in touch! Are you a teacher? We’d love to get students involved. Are you a fiber producer in the region? We’d love to highlight your products. Are you a scientist with a dataset you’d like to see in yarn? We’d love to make something with your data.
Among other events, we will have a big celebration next summer during Adirondack Water Week, when we will bring people together to celebrate clean water in many ways. Between now and then, however, we can host workshops and zoom gatherings and meet with anyone interested in participating. Watch our social media for any upcoming Wool and Water events!
Wool & Water was funded by an agreement P21AC11821-00 awarded by the United States National Park Service (NPS) to NEIWPCC in partnership with the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.
