Kiss My Knits!

David Hasselhoff broke my brain.

Crazycatladymel mentioned in her journal that she had read something recently blasting knitting as anti-feminist. I responded there, but was still a bit irked, so I’m posting here too.

I believe that those who bash knitting as anti-feminist are not examining their position closely enough.

Rejecting domestic crafts because they are traditionally feminine shows an attitude which automatically devalues the work that women have done throughout the ages to keep the household running. By extension, devaluing these crafts because they are feminine exalts masculine work simply because it is masculine.

It is because of the struggle of my feminist forebears that I have the freedom to choose what pastime to engage in, rather than being forced into a one-size-fits-all mold. And if I choose to knit, it is not a rejection of feminist work. In fact, I recognize that I have the freedom to do so because of the work of feminists from my mother back to the suffragists and beyond. It is work I try to continue as I raise my daughter.

Knitting is not less valuable because it has been the province of women. And I am not less feminist because I embrace a traditionally feminine craft. I would encourage those who dismiss domestic pursuits on feminist grounds to re-think the root of their reason for doing so.

The color joins on the Jayne scarf are working out much better now. Every morning I knit another section on the scarf, then work on a hat so I don’t fall too far behind on other orders. I offered this one for $60, because I didn’t want to charge too much without knowing exactly how much yarn and time it would take. Next time, I’ll charge more.

The end is flipped up so you can see it’s stockinette on both sides. Ah, the magic of double-knitting. It’s a great technique for reversible fabrics. In this case, I’m using it because she wanted it to be little v-stitches all the way around, and I a) didn’t want to tie up my circular needle for as long as it would take to knit the scarf, and b) knew that by the time I had knit all those rows on a circular needle, I would have strangled myself with orange yarn from sheer boredom.

Actually, there’s really not much of a reason to post this, since it’s not done and I’ll probably post pics again once it’s done and has fringe attached. However, I’m feeling pretty satisfied with it and what’s the point of a ‘blog if you can’t preen a little?

Side note: I think I want a mannequin/dressform display for showing off scarves. Sadie’s great and all, but she doesn’t exactly scream “class.” Especially since she was used as a dartboard by a bunch of college boys in the 90’s. My husband, ladies and gentlemen.

I have a friend who recently had surgery and is now undergoing chemotherapy. While looking for a gift for her, I found something so perfect that it might as well have had a chorus of angels singing and a heavenly light shining down upon it to signify that this was The Gift.

She wrote today to say she had received the gift, and had been moved to tears. What an incredible sense of satisfaction. This woman is a wonderful, sweet, caring, funny person. I’m glad I was able to brighten her life just a bit, because she’s surely brightened mine.

Billy West, voice of Fry on Futurama, says on his message board that a deal has just been inked for 4 straight-to-DVD Futurama movies.

Second post from the bottom.

If this is true – and I’m going to assume it is – then I COULD NOT BE MORE ELATED!

Way to go, fans, way to go, showrunners. It’s a tribute to your determination. To quote Philip J. Fry, “You can’t give up hope because it’s hopeless! You’ve gotta hope even more, and cover your ears and go BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH!”

So. Aussie guy wants to order a hat, but he’s a starving student and is trying to figure out how to cut costs.

I, meanwhile, really want to help this guy, because I always enjoy the idea of someone in a different hemisphere wearing the hat. And c’mon, Jayne hats are just cool.

Aha! I love TimTams, having been introduced to them by my knitting Secret Pal from Secret Pal 6, the fabulous Margie! However, I can’t find them here!

Solution! Aussie guy is going to send me several packs of TimTams (we’re thinking six) and I’m going to send him a hat. It’s significantly cheaper for him, and I’m getting something that I really want but otherwise cannot easily obtain.

Yay! The barter system wins again!

So sometimes when I’m designing new jewelry for Dragonrealms, I look at Ornament Magazine (among others) for ideas.

And I can’t believe I only now realized that the woman on the cover of the Winter 2003/2004 issue has a tree fungus for a hat.

What. The. Hell.

Hope she checked herself for termites after the shoot.

After much trial and error, I got the colors to pool in a knitted object juuuust right. I’ll post pics when it’s done and gone to its destination.

In thinking of more nifty things I can do for the fest, I remembered something from long ago that will help. I hope to work on it a little tonight.

Mailed off two Jayne kits and two hats, although there’s plenty more to go.

Unhappy with the quality of the color joins on the 6 foot Jayne scarf, I unravelled what I’d done re-knitted the first part using a different method. The color joins look noticeably better now.

All in all, I am overworked and very tired, but the results are showing. A good day.

This looked like a cute little poll. Then number seven came up. Suddenly it was just weird.

I got a nifty card from my Fiber Godmother yesterday. She made it herself, the crafty thing!

Lookit! she stitched the fabric to the card! Clever, eh?

Thanks, Fiber Godmother! I’m psyched!