Photos

So now I have photos of my finished project, thanks to my friend taking some at our weekly get together. I have two things to say about this project – 1) I love it; 2) it was a leap of faith while I was knitting it that I would like it. I started the project on 1 January and it quickly became my easy project so was not consistently worked on. The yarn is Gleem Lace from Fyberspates in a beautiful tonal grey, I purchased in the summer of 2017 for a mystery knit along that did not work out. I finally frogged it in December last year as part of the WIP KAL. The pattern is Viajante by Martina Behm, available for purchase through Ravelry.

This photo shows why you have to trust the pattern

– it is basically a big tube and as I don’t like to work with really long cables on my circular needles I could not try on as I went. Martina has a video showing different ways the item can be worn – flat as a regular shawl/scarf or wearing the item like a poncho with the point at the side or the back. Either way I love it.

Two Finished Objects But Only One Picture

When I wrote about the WIP challenge I said that the first project I wanted to complete was the one I started on 1 January. And I have done that, although that is the project without photos so you will have to wait a bit for information on that project.

I also finished the second sock as that was the closest project to being finished.

The pattern is Monkey which I first knit in 2008. I knit the current pair as an informal Knit Along with two friends. And as is the way with these things, the person who suggested this has still not finished hers. The yarn is Quaere Fiber Tweed Sock which I bought way back in 2016 and was waiting for the right pattern. Which wasn’t happening as I wasn’t knitting socks. This is the first pair of socks I have made since these ones I made for DH at the end of 2016. I made one modification to the pattern. The pattern has a stocking stitch heel, and I changed it to a slip stitch heel with a garter stitch edge.

Whitesplaining

I am sure that there are many women who complain about mansplaining but are adept at whitesplaining. In my last post I said we don’t need saving, we certainly don’t need white people to explain racism.

What have I seen recently? A white woman calling a person of color a nazi because the POC did not agree with the views of the white woman; a white woman feeling uncomfortable with Morgan Freeman’s idea on how to end racism because what he said wasn’t right; a minority being told that they weren’t doing enough for BIPoC.

I have also read where someone said of course they like Jews, their pets have Jewish names. I’d like to think they were being ironic but in light of other things they have written and said I was inclined to believe they were serious.

But while all this ‘splaining has been going on, no hand has been given to minorities but it has allowed anger into these spaces to match the anger of the so-called allies resulting in BIPoc/BAME persons being verbally attacked. But “that’s not my fault, I’m protecting those poor black people”.

I really should finish with that statement but I wanted to add just one more thing that I read recently. “I believe firmly in empathy and understanding and forgiveness.” Isn’t that great? Except the person writing that did so in respect of their expectations of another person – not that that was how they were going to live their life.

Plus Ca Change – Turbo Version

Way back in 2007 I wrote about the nastiness of the online world. Of course nothing has changed but now it comes with a cause. And in the knitting world the cause de jour is racism. Firstly, why any knitter would be surprised that there is racism in the yarn community when there is racism throughout society, I don’t know. Secondly, racism is bad and should be combated by everyone. Thirdly, the convenient moniker of BIPoC (or BAME in the UK) does not accurately describe my family who are subjected to overt and covert racism.

So what should be done about racism in the yarn world? Obviously it is easy to recognize overt racism – offensive words, being treated differently. But what about unintentional racism? An event is all white people; not because minorities have been excluded but because they have not been included. The organizers have not been deliberately racist but the result is still the same – no minorities. But once you start to include them, minorities are more visible and (we hope) will be included more and more.

But this isn’t happening. It was to be hoped that when the racism issue was brought to the attention of white yarn people they would give a hand to their fellow citizens. Do I see my family represented in your pattern photos? Do I see any minority in your business? No. But what do I see? I see your words. I see you posting for any infraction real or perceived that a white person has committed. I see your words full of hate and vitriol whether an event is seen as all white or someone has used the N word. And how is this helping minorities? It’s not. These people, who say they are allies, do not want to give a helping hand to minorities because then what they would do? They need to be seen to be the good guy who’s speaking out for the underdog and if the community becomes more equitable, they lose their control and sense of power. But this is dangerous and offensive.
Dangerous, because when you attack everyone in the same way, and people come to their defense, real racists get the benefit of the doubt and continue their nefarious ways.

Offensive, because you haven’t asked the oppressed group what they want. Who gave you the right to be our savior? We are not your project and we do not need saving. And this is why you aren’t doing anything to bring us up. Because you want to be lauded. You were the one to stop the dyer, you were the one to make the designer apologize. But you weren’t the one to include a person of color on your pattern page; you weren’t the one to include the black person on your table at the yarn festival, you weren’t the one to make sure minorities were included at your retreat. Because you’re the savior, the big I-am, shouting at everyone on Instagram that they are terrible people for not doing these things. You’re living off the high you get from your hubris and self-importance.

But at the end of the day, you are just a bully who cares about one thing - yourself.