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Western Washington Sees Pattern of Severe Flooding

Michael Ricciardi — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:24:51 +0000

Climate change, developers, and logging are blamed

Since the winter of 2006, when a state of emergency was declared for 18 counties in the state, Western Washington has experienced increasingly dramatic annual flooding episodes creating a state of emergency in growing numbers of counties each year.

For the past three years here, the number of roads, farms, buildings, and houses damaged or destroyed increased—helped along by the landslides that usually follow in the wake of such flooding. Although with this year the number of landslides has been somewhat constrained, the total area of flooding has increased from the previous two years (several sections of Interstate 5 remained shut down as of Saturday night, Jan. 10), and tens of thousands of people have had to be evacuated over the past 10 days. The governor declared a state of emergency in late December, which has only abated in the past couple of days.

It would seem that a “trifecta” of reinforcing factors is to blame: climate change (an extra heavy dose of snow, followed by several days of heavy rains), upland forest clear-cutting (leaving less vegetation to soak up water and hold the soil in place), and over-development in flood plane areas (leaving too many people’s houses too low in the face of rising rivers) …all of which set the stage for the current state of emergency. The damage is still being tallied, and although the heavy rains have largely abated, repairs to roads and highways will take months if not a full year (and with state budgets so tight) or more.

Trending Green

Kelly Rand — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:21:09 +0000

New online knitting mag MetaPostModernKnitting arrived on the internet last week with the fashion forward in mind. Complete with great patterns, blog and articles, MPMK is a welcome edition to the online world.

In their first issue, The Knitting Bully contemplates recycling as a fashion trend. The article questions the use of new clothing repurposed right out of the box, and marketed as “recycled,” and rightly so (take a look at that sweater/skirt.) Other outlays in the article are also easy to get behind; ensuring proper use of reclaimed materials and creating an end product that will be worn. But the larger question that isn’t as easy to get behind, is the premise that recycling is detrimental to style.

The Knitting Bully asks “…have we thought about what [recycling] is doing to our style?”

The answer is a million times, yes!

Green Style How-To: Knitty’s Fall 2007 Frankenknits

Victoria Everman — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 13:09:40 +0000

Remember how bummed you were when your favorite sweater got a hole in it? Even with similar structural blemishes, I find it hard to part with my favorite garments — ones that have been worn during so many memorable moments. With a few snips, unravelled rows, and sections of knitting, you can easily turn these old, damaged favorites into fashionably new creations with Knitty.com’s Frankenknits column. Knitty was started back in 2002 by Toronto-based, New Jersey-born knitter Amy R Singer, who still edits and publishes the "web-only knitting magazine with a sense of humor and absolutely no doily patterns."

Each quarterly issue features 10-15 new patterns tailor to each season, as well as columns, articles, interviews, product recommendations and more. One of the consistent columns, titled "Frankenknits," is written by Kristi Porter, in which she chops up clothing, and transforms them into updated items of wonder (perfect for us reuse-loving crafters). Knitty’s Fall 2007 issue recently went live, and the Frankenknits column features two handy dress incarnations: one for women and another for baby.

Past installments of Frankenknits, which became a regular column last year, include dying wool with Kool-Aid, knitting superheros, duplicate stitching (also known as Swiss darning), intentionally adding dropped stitches into designs, transformed bags, and shibori scarfs (which make great quick gifts). If you happen to love knitting for your pooch, you should check our Kristi’s first book, Knitting for Dogs: Irresistible Patterns for Your Favorite Pup — and You!, released in 2005.

Green Style How-To: Martha’s Denim Makeovers

Victoria Everman — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 16:26:58 +0000

A mainstay in wardrobes all over the world, denim has been around since the late eighteenth century. Strong and versatile, you can find all kinds of clothing and accessories made from this basic material, including tops, dresses, shoes, and jewelry. Home accents, such as sofas and pillows, are being covered in denim, helping to extend this fabric’s reach. Sustainable denim, made from organic cotton and using vegetable dyes, have gained an immense following in just a short time on the market. Of course, if you take the other eco-shopping route and visit vintage and second-hand stores, you will find rows and rows of jeans that have been tossed aside (most likely because they don’t fit anymore).

Even after a stint in the pen, Martha Stewart is still as popular as ever. Thankfully, she has been promoting reduce, reuse, and recycle to millions of Americans. For the crafty and DIY among us, Martha’s website features a nice offering of denim transformation ideas, all of which are affordable and easy to complete. In the current issue of Blueprint magazine, a spread on denim fashion is featured, along with a couple of fantastic fashion options. First up is their Denim Coverall Dress (shown in the accompanying picture), which can be easily adjusted depending on how long you would like the dress. To complete this project, all you need is a pair of work coveralls (which you could buy brand new, but you can easily find them for cheap at a vintage store), scissors, a sewing needle, and thread. In just an hour, you can have a long-lasting dress for those breezy trips to the beach or cooler days as we venture into Fall.

Second, Blueprint offers up a simple Denim Pocket Patch, adding a splash of color and personality to a basic denim shirt. Needless to say, finding a chambray denim button-up shirt at a vintage store is as easy as pie; you’ll also need a scrap of fabric you adore and fusible web backing (which is used in place of stitching, holds longer, and is available in most craft stores). Vintage fabrics are widely available online and in stores, but if you are looking for something more modern, check out my list of green fabric sellers on my website.

In an issue from two years ago, the ever-classic Martha Stewart Living Magazine also offered up a weekend full of denim crafts, including ideas for your wardrobe and home. This is just a small, Martha Stewart-driven, collection of just what is possible with the ever-present fabric that is denim. A simple search on Google will turn up thousands and thousands of websites with ideas and patterns for you to work from - your imagination is the only limit!

Image courtesy of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia/Blueprint Magazine