Resistance themed coffee cup sleeves

I was so blown away by the Women's March and the March for Science that I have been knitting resistance items for months now. I designed these Resistance-themed coffee cup sleeves to honor the efforts of the Pussy Hat Project and the Project Thinking Cap. I hope these items will serve as small reminders and inspiration to keep the resistance alive and well and stand up for science and women's rights every day.

GET THE PATTERNS:
I've decided to give away the pattern Pussy Hat cup sleeve for FREE here. If you have the means, please consider donating some money on my behalf to a progressive cause or buying the pattern bundle here on weDoNotAgree (info below).

I've decided to use these patterns to raise money for Planned Parenthood, the National Resources Defense Council, American Civil Liberties Union, or Southern Poverty Law Center. If you would like to get the bundle of ALL FIVE PATTERNS, they can be yours for a $10 donation to a progressive cause of your choice (may I suggest PP or NRDC to support women's rights and the environment) at weDoNotAgree. 

SUPPORT WeDoNotAgree:
If you have not heard of www.weDNA.org (weDoNotAgree) yet, it is like the Etsy of the resistance. Crafters donate items to sell and buyers get those items in exchange for a donation to the ACLU, SPLC, Planned Parenthood, or NRDC. Check them out and consider buying products or becoming a vendor. The entire effort there is 100% donation based so ALL proceeds go to the chosen cause. You can also follow them on Instagram to see featured products.

March for Science Knit Designs ebook

Hi all,

If you've been following along you will know that I have been busy designing knit hats and headbands for the March for Science. I've tried to be as inclusive as possible to the sciences and have designs that represent agricultural science, chemistry, physics, biology, renewable energy, computer science, archaeology and medicine. I hope you enjoy this ebook full of patterns!

In the next few weeks, I will update the pdf with some science outreach about each of the areas of science represented by each hat. Stay tuned!

I am providing these patterns for FREE as I want them to be as accessible as possible. If you appreciate this service and would like to donate to help support Craftimism's knitting and science outreach efforts, please consider giving a few dollars with the donate button on the right panel.

Heidi

Click here for more about Project Thinking Cap and the March for Science.

Click here to see the original Resistor Hat post.

Click here for a pdf of the March for Science Knit Designs ebook.

Mini Erlenmeyer Flask and Water Drop

I was challenged to design a mini Erlenmeyer Flask that could be used as a pin in the March for Science. I think I rose to the challenge and designed this super fun and fast knit. I also designed a water drop that symbolizes the need for safe drinking water. 

These could be attached to a safety pin and used as a pin. They also could be sewn onto any simple knit hat or headband for Project Thinking Cap.

Would you like to see more science minis? Let me know what you would like in the comments.

Click here for the pattern.

I designed a wider option for the flask - pictured here. Apologies for the poor picture quality. Will get a better one in time. See this PDF (Click here) for the original flask and water drop pattern, use modifications below for a wider flask.

Wide-bottomed erlenmeyer flask
© Heidi Arjes, 2017. This pattern is for personal use only. Commercial use without written permission of the author is prohibited.

With bottom color:
Cast on 16, divide onto 2 needles (8 stitches per needle), join to knit in the round.
Knit 1 round
*K2tog, K6* repeat twice

Switch to off white:
*K2tog, K5* repeat twice
*K2tog, K4* repeat twice
*K2tog, K3* repeat twice
K2tog
Now you should have 5 stitches on your needles.
Knit around for 4 rounds
Bind off by cutting yarn and weaving yarn tail through the 5 stitches and pull tight. Weave in ends

Resistor Armband/cup cozy Pattern

I have extended my line of Resistor knit items for the March for Science (see also my Resistor Hat and my Resistor Headband). I now have Resistor armbands and mug cozies! I have included an easy option with single color knitting and double knitting the pattern as well as a colorwork pattern.

This pattern if part of a 5-pattern bundle of Resistance cup cozies/armbands that can be yours for a donation to a progressive cause at weDoNotAgree.org. Check it out here.

"RESIST" bracelets featuring real resistors are also available on weDoNotAgree.org here.

Small

Small

Medium

Medium

Tall

Laboratory Glassware Headband (with option for hat)

Has anyone else ever seen the Corning glassware logo and thought "That would make a swell knit hat design." Just me? 

Anyway, I used this logo as inspiration for my latest March for Science knit hat. This headband features laboratory glassware and a bunsen burner.

The pattern will be available HERE for free until the March for Science on April 22.

If you'd like to learn more about the 3 scientists organizing the effort to get hats to DC, check it out HERE.
If you'd like to contribute to the effort to donate hats to marchers in DC,  check out ProjectThinkingCap.org. 

Also, join our Facebook group (HERE) and Ravelry group (HERE).

Fabric Resistor Headbands - Make your own for the March for Science

These Resistor Headbands are perfect for working out. They are made of a quick-dry polyester knit fabric and are very light-weight and comfortable.

Purchase the fabric here via Spoonflower! If you order today, March 10th, Spoonflower is offering free shipping! The printing/shipping process usually takes about 3 weeks, so order now to have these ready to go by the March for Science.

Make sure to choose "Performance Knit" as your fabric. 1 yard will make 20 seamed headbands and 3 tie-in-the-back headbands. Contact me if you would like to see other designs!

https://www.spoonflower.com/designs/6167508-resistor-workout-headbands-march-science-by-hidkid?view=for_sale

The instructions are in the image below. Click here for a printer-friendly pdf. :)

Resistor Headbands (with option for DNA double helix) - March for Science

Last week I posted a photo of myself wearing the Resistor Knit Hat that I designed in the  March for Science's Facebook group. (Click here to see the hat pattern as well as a little bit about resistors, my science, and why I will march in the March for Science on April 22.) Anyway, that post took off and has 13,258 "likes", "loves", and "wows" and 600 comments in the week since posting, most pouring in that very afternoon. This was my first experience going viral and I was thrilled to see the responses from everyone and I was sitting in my local coffee shop with a huge grin on my face watching them come in and trying to respond to the comments. I could hardly sleep that night I was so excited! So if you liked or commented on that photo, Thank You! You really made my day!

To celebrate, I made several variations on the resistor hat - and I even made a "Show and Tell" video with my designs:

Family Photo- 1st generation

The activation energy I gained from all of the comments was amazing! I spent pretty much all of my free time this past week knitting and designing new variations of the hat. I had several requests for a Resistor Headband pattern and for a DNA double helix pattern. While there is already a great set of DNA patterned hats here, I decided to make my own version. I made the pattern to accommodate my larger gauge and it has an option with base pairs and without. The option with just the double helix backbone is pictured above while the option with base pairs is pictured in the "family photo."

The pattern for the headbands is FREE here. If you are new to knitting and don't want to tackle the colorwork, I included an option to make a simple headband and embroider the Resistor or DNA pattern on after it is finished. Remember to use #ResistorHat to tag your projects on social media so I can see what you make. :)

For hot locations, the headband fits on a straw hat

Please contact me at my Etsy shop (https://www.etsy.com/shop/Craftimism) if you are interested in purchasing any of these hats. I am taking orders in the order I receive requests and hopefully will be able to accommodate everyone. A portion of the sale of these Resistor/DNA hats and accessories will be donated to the March for Science.  

DNA double helix knit hat

Hi everyone! This is a super short post that will be filled in at a later date. I wanted to share my pattern for the DNA double helix pattern. It is pretty much identical to the Resistor Hat pattern with a different colorwork pattern. Enjoy!

The link to the knitting pattern is here.

I hope to have a real knit hat to share with you within a day or so. :)

Update 2/12/17 in the evening - working on this now and not super happy with the base pairing - it makes the pattern look messy - I'd recommend leaving the base pairs out and just going with the backbone in the pattern.

Update 2/18/17 - the double helix pattern with base pairs is growing on me. I think I like it better than the double helix without basepairs. Waiting for a sunny day to get some better photos.

My prototype double helix hat and a double helix headband (without base pairs)

Resistor Knit Hat - March for Science

Posing in the Resistor Hat at my lab bench at Stanford University

I designed this to wear in the March for Science on April 22, 2017. This hat pattern features a circuit with a battery and 3 resistors in series (to increase the resistance). Resistors are commonly used in electronics to slow down the electric current - the 4 vertical lines on the hat represent the battery while the zig-zag represents resistors.

The bacterium Bacillus subtilis growing as individual cells (left)
and as a multicellular biofilm (right) (my photos)

I am a scientist in the Department of Bioengineering and Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University. I study bacteria - in particular, I study bacteria that grow and interact in together in communities called biofilms. In particular, I am studying how life in a community can serve as a niche for genetic diversity. I love scientific research and the scientific process. In particular, I enjoy designing the experiments to answer a specific question, performing the experiments, and analyzing the data. As a scientist, I have to be very open minded about the data - often, experiments give results that are not predicted and I have to objectively view the data and the facts and make conclusions based on all the evidence at hand. 

I have rarely used my political voice, but the current administration's disregard for scientific facts is troubling and, quite frankly, very frightening. In particular, I am continuously astounded by both the disregard for the overwhelming evidence that climate change is real and humans are causing it and the undisputed evidence that vaccines are safe and the best way to protect our communities from diseases and that they DO NOT cause autism (the one study that claimed this has long been revoked and the paper's author fully discredited). 

Source

I would like to share a personal vignette. I was chatting with a college-educated family member who is extremely smart about antibiotic resistance and how we may very well be living in a post-antibiotic world within the next few decades. The family member responded (and I paraphrase), we live in America, we should be able to make new antibiotics. I was a flabbergasted by this argument, because science knows no boundaries and antibiotic resistant bacteria do not discriminate who they infect. For more on this topic by reputable sources, see this 2015 BBC article, this news article from the Journal Nature, and this 2005 review article from the archives of medical research. 

Scientists need to stand up and demand evidence-based policy and facts. Science is not partisan. Protecting our world and the people in it is not a partisan issue. This is why I will march on April 22nd. I hope you join in the cause!

Check out this "show and tell" video about the Resistor hat and the designs that were inspired by it. :)

Here is an example of catching long floats on the wrong side .

Click here for a FREE pdf of the pattern. I hope you enjoy knitting this nerdy hat! If you are new to Fair-isle stranded colorwork, there are some good tutorials here and a good video tutorial here. I personally don't use either of those fancy techniques and I simply wrap the non-worked color around the working color before knitting the working color every few stitches during the long floats as shown in the photo above. :)

Since originally posting this, I have designed a DNA helix colorwork option (here) and headband/hatband options (here). 

Update at 7:30 pm PT 2/12/17 - found an error in the original pattern - at the end there should only be 6 stitches on the needles and I wrote 9. I've uploaded a revised pattern (linked above).

The vertical lines represent the battery which provides the current and the zig-zag pattern represents the resistors.

I am working on a series of Resistor Hats (pun intended) and other resistor knit items. Please see my Etsy shop, Craftimism on Etsy for some of the smaller items and contact me on Etsy for custom made to order knit items. Follow my Facebook page to stay up-to-date on my knitting designs. 

Thanks to Andrés Aranda Diaz for taking the photos and Dave Gutekunst for the conversation that inspired this hat.