I am a Senior Research Scientist for the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute and this is one of several pieces made for a project called Wool and Water.

Wool and Water is a data art project that blends fiber art with scientific data to create visual representations of changing water quality conditions in the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain Basin. In association with the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute has embarked on a collaborative fiber arts project supported by the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership to showcase the legacy of protecting clean water in the Lake Champlain Basin and beyond.

A HAB is a Harmful Algal Bloom, a phenomenon that occurs when colonies of algae grow out of control, occasionally producing toxins that can kill fish, mammals, and birds and cause human illness. HABs are a growing problem in waterways everywhere, including the Adirondacks. HABs occur naturally but factors such as increased nutrient loading and pollution, alteration of food webs, introduced species, modifications of water flow, and climate change may all contribute to the increasing frequency and intensity of HABs. This bag is a representation of the frequency of reported HABs in Adirondack lakes between 2012 and 2020. The number of green dots represent the number of HABs reported across Adirondack lakes for each year beginning with 5 at the top the bag and increasing to 15 at the bottom row. It was made with Lopi and done with crochet in 2 colors, with puff stitches representing HABs. I then felted it by hand. Pattern was improvised but there are many good felted bag patterns that could be used as a model.

Data: NYSDEC Harmful Algal Bloom (HABs) Archive Page https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/83332.html