Things to see and do
The United States Institute for Theatre Technology is having their annual conference and stage expo on March 18-21, 2009 in Cincinnati, OH. One of their Wednesday classes is the apparently popular “Knots, knots, knots” a class on knots perhaps as relates to stagecraft? (via)
http://ww2.usitt.org/default.aspx?PageID=3140#505

The lunar new year celebrations continue until February 9, 2009 at Chin Swee Temple, Genting, Malaysia including Chinese knot demonstrations.
http://www.thesundaily.com/article.cfm?id=29704

In the media
There’s a campaign underway for people to advertise their support for same-sex marriage. It’s called “White Knot for Equality.” Take a white ribbon (preferably grosgrain) and tie simple (overhand) knot in the middle. Tie another one right over it and then pin it by and end to your clothes. I would have picked one of the true lovers knots myself, but this has the virtue of being very simple. Adding more marriage noise into your knot signal (via).
http://whiteknot.org/making.html

Published recently, this article is about mathematicians studying the tangling of string, which was news more than a year ago.
http://www.beaufortgazette.com/296/story/697394.html

Publicity for the book “Is God a Mathematician?” which contains “an extended section” on knot theory.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/05/AR2009020502876.html
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/02/08/a_talk_with_mario_livio/

Blogs It starts out in Chinese, but if you keep scrolling down (or search for “New Clothes” and “Chinese Knot” there’s English text and you’ll see a couple of nifty knot pictures. I particularly like the clothes and if I knew where to get some for my kids… 8)
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5c8566bd0100brrx.html

Knotty sayings
A somewhat religious mediation on the meaning of the phrase “When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”
http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20090207/LIFESTYLE/902070301

Things to buy
More knotted furniture (via). http://www.huettners.com/cms/index.php?id=10&jm_productpresentation_pi1[product_uid]=1&cHash=adb61506fd

Ever since I bought some books from Amazon France they’ve been sending me the occasional “you might be interested in…” notices (only in French, bien sûr!), although I know now that it would have been much cheaper for me (and other North Americans) to have gotten them from Amazon Canada en français. So the latest notice tells me of a new micromacrame book:

and Suzen’s latest (?) book translated to French:

It’s either this one which just came out:

or a reprint of this one which is 6 years old, so I’m guessing the above.

I also discovered that Suzen has 2 more books coming down the pike, one on micromacrame:

and one she co-authored called Compendium of Celtic Crafts:

Browsing around some more (stop shopping!!), I found this book, which I’m going to have to hunt up… Here’s the description from the publisher:

Knot one, bead two, and what have you got? Bold jewelry made from an eclectic collection of beads—one-of-a-kind lampwork beads, silver ethnic beads, exotic stones—and a selection of luscious fibers. These 30 beautiful projects show what’s possible when a time-tested technique gets a fashionable update with contemporary materials and a modern aesthetic. The knots are simple and familiar to most crafters: basic overhand, square, and hitches. And once that’s mastered the rest is easy. Create a spiraled necklace out of linen cord and a single stunning enamel and gold-leaf focus bead. Work silky ribbon yarn in an open net to make an elegant lariat beaded scarf. How-to illustrations, beauty shots, and numerous construction tips help illuminate the process.