Are we doing ourselves a disservice by not talking politics in our knitting circles?

Thanks for all the love and support on last week’s newsletter affirming this as a no-Tr*mp space.

It’s an election year, and the noise is getting loud. We are living through a not-insignificant global movement toward anti-democracy, most recently with far-right wins in the European Union.

I have very little individual influence, other than my single vote here in California, but I’m deeply interested to understand the times we are living in and to understand the longer, more interesting arc of our story.

The grandeur of life is that attempt. It’s not about the solution. It’s about being as fearless as one can and behaving as beautifully as one can under completely impossible circumstances. It’s that that makes it elegant. Good is just more interesting. More complex. More demanding. Evil is silly. It may be horrible, but at the same time, it’s not a compelling idea. It’s predictable. It need a tuxedo, it needs a headline, it needs blood, it needs fingernails. It needs all that costume in order to get anybody’s attention. But the opposite … which is survival, blossoming, endurance … those things are just more compelling intellectually, if not spiritually.

Toni Morrison on Trauma, Survival and Finding Meaning

I love talking and thinking politics.

My favorite definition of politics is that it’s the total complex of relations between people living in society. How do we care for our elderly? What common resources do we provide to all children? What actions are contrary to group safety? Whose safety? How do (or should) we enforce behavior? Who is harmed? Whose voice is heard and whose is ignored?

From all corners, it feels like we’re hearing stories about how divided the U.S. is. (I’m writing this from a U.S.-centered perspective, because that’s where I am and what I know, but I think it applies elsewhere, too.)

I wonder if “division” is only part of the story—and maybe not even the bigger part.

I believe a significant majority of people want governance that is diametrically different than right-leaning politics. 63% of us support safe and legal abortion. 58% want stricter gun laws. If you look at these two very discrete issues across the age spectrum, it’s even more striking how united young people are in their views (4 in 5 young people want stricter gun laws).

I’m not saying a “culture war” isn’t happening, but rather that maybe it’s part of a larger story. A story of our culture bending toward greater understanding, an undoing of bias, and an undoing of the white supremacy culture that harms all of us.

There is something about knitting, crocheting and hand-work that seems to attract folks who are very vocal with a view that politics have no place in knitting. That one can and should leave politics at the door and simply share a love of knitting.

But what if this is just a small but vocal group?

What if most of us have shared values that are liberal, inclusive, and democratic at their core? What if most of us believe in the common good, and that everyone has a right to it?

And what if, by not talking politics, we are inadvertently fueling the idea that Tr*mpism is anything less than extreme, bizarre, and out-of-step?

When I talk about slowing down and enjoying the simple parts of life, I hope to connect in the fullness of wanting all of us to be well, and especially the folks who are intentionally ignored and marginalized by our current systems of governance. What if this is what we have in common?

I wonder.

It’s confirmed: I will be hosting a community care (virtual) retreat, here on Substack, during Election Week 2024, with more writing like this and with specific activities to help nourish ourselves during what will likely be a trying time, no matter what the outcome. It will be for paid subscribers, and if you’d like to support the development work as well as be part of the retreat, you can upgrade your subscription now.

I have a small video offering for you this week: a bit of slowing down and yarn craft. I am currently doing a lot of dyeing, and I took the opportunity to film one of the more tactile and physical parts of yarn dyeing: washing yarn after it’s been dyed.

It’s just under one minute, and I hope you’ll enjoy this peek at my own slow process:

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Studio goings-on

This week, I am continuing my invitation to plan (and make) a sweater with my Harvest Sport yarn. I have nine perfect wardrobe essential color options for you.

Each color is a tried-and-true wardrobe workhorse: the shades you’ll reach for, over and over, with warm shades for folks who have autumnal coloring, like me, or who love autumnal warmth, and a few cool shades for those of you who love icy tones.

This picture is actually Cashmere Blend, because photographing all the permutations of my Wardrobe Essentials palette (9 colors on 8 bases, in a variety of layouts, singly and in groups) is a big big project, and I’m only partway through the shot list. But you know what? Around here, we celebrate where we are, even if it isn’t all the way to a “finish line.” Because life is happening in all these small moments, and all the steps along the way are important. 😉

This yarn is part of a larger story, too.

It’s a story of growing wool and running a small spinning mill in America, where things like worker protections and living wages (while imperfect and not good enough) make things more expensive to produce than in China or South America, where a lot of yarn for the hand-dyeing industry is produced. This yarn is closer to the true cost of making something.

Harvest Sport is fully grown, spun and made in the U.S., and it’s hand-dyed by me in San Francisco and then shipped to you. It’s as small an environmental footprint as I can get.

I want you to try a single skein of Harvest Sport and knit yourself a beautiful hat. I have lots of colors in-stock, and you get my shop-exclusive version of the Penchant hat pattern free with every purchase of Harvest Sport.

I’d love for you to pick out two skeins and knit yourself a beautiful shawl.

I’d love to dye a sweater’s worth of yarn for you in any of my Wardrobe Essential colorways and for you to knit the earth-friendly, values-filled, sweater of your dreams.

Take a few minutes and look at my bundle of my top 30 patterns (links to Ravelry) for Harvest Sport, get inspired, and plan a sweater.

I would love to dye your yarn for you.

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A well wish for today

I hope you are able to spend some time in the sunlight today, enjoying these long days of light, hopefully with your knitting or crocheting or other stitching in hand. I will be doing the same because although San Francisco has a well-earned reputation for cold, grey, foggy summers, right now, it is beautifully sunny and clear. I wish the same for you.