I haven’t been feeling up to writing, and I haven’t been taking pictures. Could this be due to the COVID? Hmmm. The numbers have been very high in Hawaii, keeping me close to home for the sake of my parents and myself. The three of us have gotten our vaccinations, but it seems to be better safe than sorry with this new Delta variant.

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I wanted to share this little side project I’ve been crocheting. It’s for a HOMA (Honolulu Museum of Art) exhibit, Joyful Return—Recover. They asked for handmade ʻōhiʻa leaves in crochet, knit, or sewn for use in this exhibit.

ʻŌhia Lehua, a beautiful native plant, is suffering the plight of rapid ʻōhiʻa death—killing millions of trees across the island. It is a fungal infection that once the trees are infected, they die, and there is no cure.

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This plight makes me sad as the mighty ʻōhiʻa is one of the plants we see on the many hiking trails in Hawaii. We find them perched on the sides of the mountains trails, standing firm in the winds.

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This community-based project creates fiber installations around the museum to bring awareness to the ʻōhiʻa’s plight and its recovery. It uses the handmade leaves from the community and pompom ʻōhiʻa to transform the space into an ʻōhiʻa lehua forest. Here’s the link to the Joyful Return Exhibit at HOMA: https://honolulumuseum.org/current_exhibitions/joyful-return/

I hoped to crochet more than I have. But my giant blanket project got in away. Hope this helps fill out their ʻōhiʻa forest. For more information on the ʻōhiʻa lehua, here’s a link to article: https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-ohia-lehua-flower/