More than ever these days, people are rolling up their sleeves and finding ways to help themselves.They're also interested in helping their neighbors, their country and the planet. These attitudes are commendable, compelling and powerful.

That is why today I am bringing to you a few of my favorite responsible living links. The following websites have been created for you with great thought and care. Each of these sites will reward you for the time you spend there reading. Remember, reading equals knowledge and knowledge always pays dividends.

First on my list today is the blog, DIY Life. It's one of my favorites and it's a member of our Weblogs family. The site is a fast paced, informative blog which seeks to deliver to you the "cream of the crop" in do it yourself living. I must disclose that I'm a bit biased towards their blog because my extraordinary wife is a member of their fine writing crew. Check it out if you're into the fix it and make it yourself lifestyle. On their pages you'll find everything from home remodeling and gadget tweaks to jewelry making and unique home furnishings. Their staff is dedicated to bringing you up-to-the-minute do it yourself brain storms. In their capable hands, you can never go wrong.

Back in college when I was a knitting demon and had no cash to spend on high quality wool -- I came up with a solution that worked like a charm: I would go to thrift stores and buy handmade sweaters that some ingrate had cast off.

I'd unwind all that hard work that some grandma put into a ridiculously styled poncho and end up with a trove of gorgeous wool to make something that suited my tastes. Just this morning my husband went off wearing mittens that I made from one such misshapen thrift shop sweater.

But, and I'm showing my age here, that technique hasn't worked lately. It worked best 20 years ago when it seemed that me and my college roommate were the only geeks under 70 sporting knitting needles.

Since then knitting has gotten very trendy. That's caused a multitude of problems for my yarn recycling scheme. First of all, it seems, any sweaters made of high quality yarn that end up in thrift shops are snatched up before I can find them. I also surmise that people are holding onto their hand-knitted gifts more often now since bulky sweaters with too-long sleeves and fabulous yarn are all too in fashion.

Finally, craft stores like Michael's now stock all sorts of cheap yarn. If I want cheap yarn I can go there. And if I try the unwind-a-thrift-sweater technique, I risk ending up with wool that is not special enough to warrant the effort.

That's not to say that you can't make fabulous "handmade" items from used sweaters found at a thrift shop. Sarah Gilbert introduced me to a technique I've also seen emulated by artisans in the East Village -- slicing up used sweaters and turning them into something new and chic -- like these amazing hats (see photo). Now that's real talent.

Thrift shops also have, of course, a wealth of fabulous sweaters to buy, as Barry Summerlin learned. As for me and my needles, these days I'm avoiding the thrift shop and splurging on yarn at my high end, oh so trendy New York yarn store.

This post was written as part of a series on how to thrift shop smarter. Read more on what to buy, and not to buy, at thrift stores.

As a girl, I was a perfectionist. I can remember my boxes of watercolors, and how I obsessively rinsed my brushes between colors so as not to turn them into a rainbow of blacks and browns. Pastels were even more precious, and took a soft touch to blend them on paper, but not on the instrument itself. It's hard to create when you're spending your energy focused on keeping things neat and orderly.

And then I had kids.

The first time I let my two-year-old destroy a perfectly good watercolor box in a happy hour, I took lots of deep yoga breaths and then faced facts: I was not about to run back to the art supply store after every messy creation to get a new box. Painting in the black and brown spectrum didn't faze him at all. Why fight the power of a preschooler's exuberance?

So during my next trip to the Goodwill Bins, the outlet where everything is sold by the pound, I "picked" until I found some treasures. A very good quality, but heavily used, watercolor set, missing its brush. A treasure trove of fancy pastels, half of them dumped out of their box. In five minutes, I'd gathered up all the broken and chalky bits and ended up paying less than a dollar for my artistic treasure.

It turns out that the art supplies are now partially destroyed, and I often end up discovering a brilliantly-colored pastel chunk underfoot (note to mothers out there: don't clean up pastels with vinegar. It's like dying your floor). But I don't sweat: I rescued those supplies from the trash, so I can let go of my obsessive-compulsive self and just let the little boys be. Thrifting art supplies for little ones is the way to go.

This post was written as part of a series on how to thrift shop smarter. Read more on what to buy, and not to buy, at thrift stores.