When knitting is a radical act
When knitting is a radical act
and other invitations for quietly resolute knitters (like you and me)
Hello to all the new knitters and makers who are here, and a warm welcome back if you’ve been with me for a while. It’s been a meaningful break for me, and I’m so happy to be sitting here with you again, in the quiet of January.
The holidays are over, I took down the Christmas tree yesterday, and I am sinking into the quiet but surprisingly fresh energy of early January. I usually feel the “new year” energy in September, so it feels surprising and odd that this January is surging with new energy for me. How about you? How is your heart?
It may be the full Wolf Moon (which I enjoy every evening when I take Molly the beagle out for her last potty break of the evening), or it may be that I’m nearly finished with my Brooklyn Raglan sweater (having finally decided on some modifications and dyed a bit more yarn for it), or it may be that I’m anticipating a new cast-on this weekend, but the new year energy is here for me.
2023 is my 10th year of running a small yarn business.
I want to pause here and just say, wow. When I left a job I loved in 2013 to better balance mothering and ambitious work, I had no idea what was to come: the Trump years, a racial reckoning, a pandemic, a personal season of wintering.
When I think back, not only have my shop offerings shifted in so many ways over the last 10 years, especially after three pandemic years, but the larger world of knitting has changed so much, too. High-profile businesses have closed. Lots of new people have learned to knit, including, famously, Michelle Obama. Ravelry is longer the one-stop spot for knitting the way it used to be. And, not only have things changed, but it feels like the pace of change is accelerating too.
I’ve decided to put my New Year’s energy to good use and I am kicking off a new project that will span the next two weeks: a Big Survey of Knitters.
I want to learn more about you—whether you've bought yarn or kits from me in the past, or not.
If you’ve been in my circle for a while, you know that I really like to understand systems. I’m a strategist and analyst at heart, and understanding who I’m reaching with my platform and what we have in common will really help me, in this season of wintering, to recalibrate my work. Plus, it will just simply be so wonderful to know more about who you are.
There are almost 3,500 of you who receive this newsletter every Sunday. There are about 14.5 thousand of you who’ve opted to follow me on Instagram. I’ve sent almost 30,000 individual orders to knitters all over the world, on four different continents.
I have always been clear about why I do this work: to help all of us take small but tangible steps towards a better, more diverse, more joyful, more just world. I just happen to do this, right now, with yarn and knitting and words.
Which brings me back to my request: Would you take my survey of knitters and tell me about yourself?
The survey will take about 10 minutes, and it will be open for entries through January 22, 2023.
I am super grateful for your time. Yes, it’s just 10 minutes, but the questions are thoughtful, and 10 minutes is significant. So, I’m offering a prize drawing for some of my hand-dyed yarn as a thank you. On January 23, I'll choose a baker's dozen of respondents:
1 person will get a sweater quantity (sized for your body) of my new Merino-Rambouillet DK yarn. You’ll get to choose the colorway.
12 people will each get a single skein of Merino-Rambouillet DK yarn. I will choose the color I send you.
Even though there’s a prize drawing, your answers in the survey will be completely anonymous. You will enter for the prize drawing via a link at the end of the survey.
Here’s the link again: Little Skein’s Big Survey of Knitters.
Making things better, one stitch at a time
It can sometimes feel inconsequential to think of knitting as a method of positive social change. It’s just knitting. It’s the thing late-night comedians make fun of, or that always seems to be equated with “grandma” as if to marginalize it further. Knitting doesn’t matter, they seem to say, and you don’t either.
But still. I know different, and I think you do too.
Knitting stitches, one at a time, has been consequential so many times in my life. From the beautiful sweaters I wear that are complimented by strangers (“I made it,” I love to respond), to the anxious stitches knit too tightly while in the hospital room of a loved one, to the deep friendships and chosen family I’ve met through knitting. To the knowledge that small things make a difference. That knitting can be quite radical, in the best and truest sense of the word.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for taking my Big Survey, if you can.
Whether you’re joining me in New Year energy, or whether you’re just getting by, may your stitches keep you company.
That was a fun survey! I am curious about the results as well... we knitters are a varied group, which is a very good thing!
That was a fun survey. I look forward to hearing more about what you discover from the answers. 💗