Does knitting make you yawn, think of your grandmother or the smell of snow-soggy wool mittens drying on the kitchen radiator? Newsflash: Knitting's gone organic, political, subversive, has even entered the realm of "High Art". There's knitting on buses. No, not people in  buses knitting; buses that are covered with knitting. We'll get to that.

Want to go organic with your knitting? Read Ann Budd's newest book Knitting Green: Conversations and Earth Friendly Projects, due out in April from Interweave Press. The book proved to be quite an eye-opener for me, a long-time knitter and fiber artist.  I've always regarded knitting, along with quilting as one of the original "green" pursuits because it's done primarily with natural fibers which for the most part come from the earth, in the case of cotton, and from life in the case of wool and silk.

Since one of the book's essays reminds us of "the sense of continuity inherent in practicing such an ancient art",  it's easy to regard this ancient art,  not to mention oneself, as pure and virtuous using these natural elements to create warm, functional, pretty things.

But other essays in the book, such as "The Gray of Green" and "The Meaning of Organic" really pulled this writer's head out of the sand in terms of what the term "organic" actually means.  It seems that in order to process cotton there are quite a few non-earth-friendly things that must go on. The same goes for wool and silk. I never imagined how many silk worms give their lives to produce one pound of fine silk - about 2,600! PETA alert! For more on wool production, sheep farmer and knitwear designer Kristin Nicholas' essay "Ode to Sheep", is not to be missed.

Like so many things worth doing in this life, going organic takes a certain level of commitment (and maybe a little whining) and yet its collective and cumulative benefits are irrefutable. It really does take a village Hillary, and this book clearly embraces the concepts of our interdependence and oneness. Since timing is everything it seems important to note that going organic costs more too, which makes sense once one understands the rigor involved in rendering yarn organic, but it's a tough sell in this economy. And don't forget about all the tempting value-priced synthetics at the big box craft stores, and natural yarns dyed in jaw-dropping-but-not-eco-friendly colorways found in those upscale fiber shops which can entice even the most virtuous of yarn divas.

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