Frozen extended digits no more with the new ergonomically designed “Occu-finger” from #OWS Fiber Arts. Knitted to help you keep exactly one finger sheltered from the elements at all times, the Occu-finger works on any digit, whether you’re showing your disdain for the NYPD or simply pointing out some of New York’s finer tourist attractions to a friend. Knitted in a variety of colours to match any outfit, the Fiber Arts Occu-finger is as at home on the runway as it is on the freeway for fashion minded activists the world over.

And what better venue to unveil our newest models than at this weekend’s Occupy Town Square III at Tompkins Square Park from 11am to 5pm on Sunday. Fiber Arts will be there with knitting by Marsha and Karen, Hearts by Patricia, Paper Cranes by Raven and Signpainting by David. Join us this weekend and flip a bird, be it a paper crane or an Occu-finger at your favourite target.

And welcome Patricia, because with her, she brings the lovely recycled sweater hearts you see here and in our new header above. Patricia will be with #OWS Fiber Arts this Saturday, 11 February, at West Park Church at W. 86th and Amsterdam to both offer hearts (and love) to the crowd but also to give instruction on how to make your own, using re-purposed materials and a bit of ingenuity. Patricia also runs the blog and real brick and mortar basement of SustainableStudio here in the city. Check it out. As an added bonus, I’m going to send an email to Bloomberg right now, cause I think he needs to show OWS a whole lot more love and one of these would look just smashing on one of his stuffy old Brooks Brothers lapels.

Widowed at a very young age and raising her family as a single mom, Karin Hofmann is no stranger to difficult times. But when she came to ask herself what she could do for the Occupy cause the answer was easy – come every day and knit for the next generation. Still paying off her student loans from too many years ago, at 69, Ms. Hofmann has felt our country’s financial crisis first hand but now finds hope in a newer generation. “The change isn’t going to come fast enough for me”, she says, “but I feel very confident, after a month (here in Zuccotti Park), that these kids – so kind, so generous, so smart – are smart enough that they’ll figure it out…they’ll figure out how to fix it.” Inspired by the energy of the Occupiers and the growing group of knitters, she became a founding member of #OWS Fiber Arts working group and continues to spread her love of the movement at Charlotte’s place and Zuccotti Park when the weather permits.
Seen most recently at the Occupy Town Square event at Washington Square, she continues, “That’s the paradigm shift – we all work together – and these kids, they know how to take care of each other – it’s inspiring”. As one of the first to broaden the generation range of the Occupy Wall Street movement, Karin Hofmann has helped to show America that working together towards a greater common goal can happen, even if it’s just one stitch at a time.