CLIMATE SCARF, 2015
Marine scientist Joan Sheldon used color-coded yarns to record global climate change, with one row to represent every year from 1600 to 2015.
Purple represents the average temperature; a single shade of blue was needed to show below average temperatures and multiple shades of pink through red, above-average.
If the scarf were updated to 2024, it would require two new shades of red.
Many knitters and quilters are making climate scarves and bedspreads, usually recording one year of temperatures in their location (sometimes with high and low temperatures for each day), and sometimes comparing the current year with a year in the past. Other quilters, knitters, and embroiderers are stitching data into their work, to visualize and call attention to a variety of social and environmental concerns.
Tunisian crochet in wool. Made and lent by Joan Sheldon
Connecting Threads: the Rage Made Beautiful quilt in the Grief and Remembrance section is another example of using a textile to visually represent data.