In Cat Mazza’s Stitch for Senate project
she encourages participants to take up old craft
to support the soldiers at the front. This type of
knitting has engaged Americans at the “home front”
since the war of independence. However, Mazza
reverses the process with this hands-on petition: The
knitted helmet hoods take a detour over the senate
as every senate member will get one as a reminder to
end the war in Iraq.
By networking these small knitting efforts, and
sharing the methods, Mazza uses domestic skills
to address political issues and set them off through
the Internet to create a critical mass for change. The
knitting is not something done in isolation, but a
part of a larger practical and political discourse.