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WHODONEKNIT2024 • RAT UTOPIA • WOOL & FOLK<br />
ISSUE <strong>11</strong><br />
ALL ABOUT EVE • DEAR MR. WEST • OH WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE...
Common Knitting & Crochet Pattern Abreviations<br />
Unless otherwise indicated the information,<br />
articles, artwork, patterns and photography<br />
published in <strong>BLOCKED</strong> Magazine are subject<br />
to copyright ©2023 <strong>BLOCKED</strong> Magazine.<br />
All rights reserved.<br />
<strong>BLOCKED</strong> Magazine permits the online<br />
distribution of the magazine in its entirety.<br />
Distribution of any of the contents of this<br />
magazine for purposes of sale or resale<br />
is strictly prohibited.<br />
Editor<br />
Neil of Uknitted Kingdom<br />
For all enquiries:<br />
blockedmagazine@gmx.com<br />
Cover Photography<br />
@shaunastiches<br />
Special thanks to all the knitters who<br />
submitted cover images for consideration.<br />
A selection is shown on page 13.<br />
Contributors:<br />
Wanda North<br />
Cezanne Pellett<br />
Little Sis from @Twosistersandsomeyarn<br />
Yelena of Scythia<br />
Uknitted Kingdom<br />
Patterns:<br />
Tabitha of Murder Knits<br />
Uknitted Kingdom<br />
Proofers:<br />
Karen Juliano<br />
Laura Neubauer<br />
Cézanne Pellett<br />
Denise Pettus<br />
Design and layouts:<br />
BS Studio<br />
Knitting Abbreviations:<br />
BO – Bind off<br />
CO – Cast on<br />
Inc – Increase<br />
Inc’d – Increased<br />
K – Knit<br />
LH – Left Hand<br />
M1L – (make one left; single left-leaning<br />
knit increase) PU strand between just<br />
worked st and next st with left needle<br />
coming from front. Insert right needle<br />
into the lifted strand through back loop<br />
and knit.<br />
M1R – (make one right; single right-leaning<br />
knit increase) PU strand between just<br />
worked st and next st with left needle<br />
coming from behind. Insert right needle<br />
into the lifted strand from left to right<br />
and knit.<br />
P – Purl<br />
PU – Pick up<br />
PM – Place Marker<br />
RH – Right Hand<br />
RS – Right Side<br />
Sl – Slip<br />
SM – Slip marker<br />
Ssk – (Slip, slip, knit) Sl 1 st as if to knit,<br />
sl next st as if to knit, then knit these<br />
2 sts together through back loop.<br />
Sts(s) – Stitch(es)<br />
Tbl – Through back loop<br />
WS – Wrong Side<br />
WYIF – With yarn in front<br />
Yo – Yarn over<br />
() – Work instructions within parentheses<br />
as many times as directed.<br />
** – Repeat instructions to this point<br />
as directed.<br />
Crochet Abbreviations:<br />
() – Work instructions within parentheses<br />
as many times as directed.<br />
Ch – Chain<br />
Sc – Single crochet<br />
Hdc – Half double crochet<br />
Sl – Slip or slip stitch<br />
St(s) – Stitch(es)
Dear Readers,<br />
It’s been an interesting few weeks since issue 10 was released.<br />
Stephen West released his annual mystery knit-a-long only for a couple of knitters to<br />
declare clue 1 was a swastika! Much drama ensued. Before the “Dustlands” could settle,<br />
Wool and Folk hosted their annual yarn festival and unknowingly created a spectacle<br />
which attracted LolaBean Yarns, Magpie Fibers, and many others into the fray. (See page<br />
22 for an expose of Felicia Eve, the Wool and Folk organizer. More details and personal<br />
accounts of the Wool and Folk experience can be found on page 4.)<br />
The theme of this issue is ‘Windmills of Your Mind’. The lyrics of this 1968 ‘Thomas<br />
Crown Affair’ soundtrack end with:<br />
Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel<br />
Never ending or beginning on an ever-spinning reel<br />
As the images unwind, like the circles that you find<br />
In the windmills of your mind!<br />
https://www.songfacts.com/lyrics/noel-harrison/the-windmills-of-your-mind<br />
The song is set after the summer as the autumn leaves fall. All very apt for this time of<br />
year (for those of us in the Northern hemisphere at least).<br />
To me, “The clock whose hands are sweeping past the minutes of its face” represents<br />
the clock changes as we leave official summertime behind.<br />
Almost all the articles and patterns in this issue can be linked to the mind, windmills,<br />
circles, spirals, tunnels, rabbit holes, eternal mobius loops, and even (pin)wheels, in one<br />
form or another.<br />
I hope you enjoy trying to find the links to the song as much as we enjoyed creating<br />
them.<br />
Yours faithfully,<br />
Neil<br />
P.S. Amongst the submissions relating to Stephen West’s 2023 MKAL was this gem:<br />
Dear Mr. West,<br />
You done messed up, A-a-ron.<br />
Sincerely,<br />
The Knittas<br />
3
By Wanda North and Cézanne Pellett<br />
MY DAY AT<br />
Wool&Folk2023<br />
4<br />
Much has been<br />
written, recorded, and<br />
shared about the disastrous<br />
Wool & Folk<br />
2023 Festival that took<br />
place on October 20,<br />
2023. Many details of<br />
the organization and<br />
execution of the festival<br />
have come to light<br />
in the past few weeks<br />
that call into question<br />
the competence and<br />
integrity of the organizers.<br />
This article will not<br />
be about the organizers<br />
or the background<br />
of the festival; there<br />
are already many<br />
sources for that information,<br />
even some in<br />
this issue of Blocked.<br />
Instead, this article will<br />
be about the experiences of<br />
one woman, Wanda, who attended<br />
the festival with her<br />
friend, V. At first, Wanda tried<br />
to quash her concerns over<br />
what happened at the festival,<br />
so she didn’t appear overly dramatic,<br />
something many others<br />
have embraced with gusto.<br />
Wanda wanted to instead focus<br />
on the fun she had with her<br />
best friend and not let that fun<br />
be tainted. After hearing more<br />
and more stories from other<br />
people with experiences at<br />
least as troubling as her own,<br />
and often much, much worse,<br />
she decided to share her story.<br />
Continued on next page...<br />
Wanda and V have<br />
been friends for years.<br />
They originally met in<br />
an online knitting<br />
group, then V bought a<br />
spinning wheel from<br />
Wanda, and they have<br />
been best friends ever<br />
since. “We are each<br />
other’s person,”<br />
Wanda explained, so<br />
much so that V was<br />
Wanda’s maid of honor<br />
at her vow renewal ceremony<br />
with her husband<br />
two years ago.<br />
Since they don’t live<br />
close to each other, the<br />
times they do get together<br />
are very special<br />
and eagerly anticipated<br />
by both women.<br />
In October, they<br />
planned to attend some of the<br />
festivals and activities surrounding<br />
the popular Sheep and<br />
Wool Festival in Rhinebeck,<br />
New York (USA), including the<br />
Wool & Folk Festival. The trip<br />
was not a cheap one for either<br />
woman. Between travel costs,<br />
food, entry fees to each festival,<br />
and a costly Air BnB rental, the<br />
cost added up quickly. They<br />
considered it to be well worth<br />
the price, however, because<br />
they were so looking forward to<br />
spending a weekend enjoying<br />
their mutual love of fiber arts.<br />
Unfortunately, their own planning<br />
could not make up for the
My Day... Continued...<br />
serious lack of planning on<br />
the part of the organizers of<br />
the Wool & Folk Festival.<br />
The first hint of trouble<br />
came three weeks before<br />
the event, when notices<br />
were sent out that the location<br />
had changed to a<br />
venue nearly 40 miles away<br />
from the original location.<br />
The pair had booked their<br />
Air BnB months in advance<br />
and had paid a pretty<br />
penny to get a nice place<br />
close to the festivals they<br />
wanted to attend. Wanda<br />
suffered a mini stroke in<br />
September and has subsequent<br />
mobility and balance<br />
issues requiring her to<br />
walk with a cane. With the<br />
change of venue, the<br />
women made the costly<br />
decision to change their<br />
lodging arrangements to<br />
someplace that wouldn’t require<br />
as much driving, leaving<br />
them more time to<br />
enjoy the festivals.<br />
Not long after, another<br />
troublesome email arrived,<br />
informing the registered attendees<br />
of the parking arrangements<br />
for the event.<br />
To say the “instructions”<br />
were confusing would be<br />
an understatement. There<br />
were multiple parking options listed and distances to the<br />
festival location. The options ranged from a limited<br />
amount of street parking a block away from the event to a<br />
Walmart parking lot well over a mile away. It was later revealed<br />
that the Walmart location had not given approval<br />
for their parking lot to be used or even informed that<br />
people would be sent there. It isn’t certain whether any of<br />
the other businesses were contacted about the use of<br />
their parking lots. From these notices, it was apparent that<br />
the organizers were well aware that the parking available<br />
at their new location was not sufficient for the number of<br />
people they anticipated.<br />
Even more troubling to Wanda and V specifically was<br />
the note that anyone who required handicap parking arrangements<br />
would have to notify<br />
the organizers ahead of time as<br />
there was a very limited number of<br />
handicap spaces available. They<br />
were also told that there would be<br />
enough for everyone who needed<br />
it, confusingly enough. This did not<br />
turn out to be the case.<br />
Despite their concerns about<br />
Wool & Folk, Wanda and V attended<br />
Cakepalooza on Friday<br />
morning and had a good time. The<br />
weather was drizzly with bouts of<br />
heavy rain and Cakepalooza was<br />
outdoors, but umbrellas, raincoats,<br />
and good planning on the part of<br />
the organizers meant that this festival,<br />
at least, was able to be enjoyed<br />
by those in attendance.<br />
After their scheduled time at<br />
Cakepalooza, V’s husband dropped<br />
the women at Wool & Folk shortly<br />
after it opened at 12:30 PM. They<br />
looked for the entrance but didn’t<br />
actually find it until after V’s husband<br />
had driven ten blocks to park<br />
the car and then walked those<br />
same ten blocks back to the venue.<br />
He never did find the shuttles referenced<br />
in the notices about parking<br />
posted on Wool & Folk’s social<br />
media. The drizzly, wet weather<br />
wasn’t letting up at all, but the<br />
weather hadn’t stopped them from<br />
enjoying Cakepalooza, so they<br />
were determined not to let it stop<br />
them at Wool & Folk either.<br />
The new location was an old mill that had been converted<br />
into an artist’s studio campus and event space,<br />
most typically used for weddings, with a stated maximum<br />
occupancy of 500 people. The campus is right at the bottom<br />
of a hill on the edge of Catskill Creek, just off the<br />
Hudson River. As the rain continued through the day,<br />
more and more water came down the hill to pool directly<br />
in the main outdoor vendor area of the festival. It wasn’t<br />
until later in the day, however, that Wanda and V noticed<br />
the water coming down the hill into the outdoor event<br />
space. Long before they noticed the water and the mud,<br />
they noticed that it was incredibly crowded.<br />
The main walkway through the outdoor vending area<br />
was only the width of a narrow sidewalk with foot traffic<br />
Continued on next page...<br />
5
My Day... Continued...<br />
6<br />
going in both directions.<br />
Anyone who has checked<br />
into Wool & Folk 2023 will<br />
know that they oversold<br />
tickets to the event by as<br />
much as ten times the<br />
space’s recommended capacity,<br />
so it is no surprise that<br />
the space was already very<br />
busy half an hour after the<br />
event opened. Wanda saw<br />
the Pacific Knit Co. booth<br />
and stopped in because she<br />
wanted to buy her first set of<br />
their Doodle Cards. The<br />
booth was obviously much<br />
smaller than the standard<br />
10’x10’ vendor stall and was<br />
so full of shoppers, tables,<br />
and merchandise that she struggled to keep her balance<br />
and move through the crowd with her cane.<br />
After buying her cards and some yarn to make a cowl,<br />
Wanda made her way back out of the booth to find V and<br />
her husband. They had discovered that there were more<br />
vendors inside one of the buildings on site, though it was<br />
difficult to know what was where since there were no signs<br />
or maps anywhere. As soon as they entered the building,<br />
Wanda wanted nothing more than to get back out of it.<br />
Inside the building, it was even more populous than it<br />
had been outside. It was also very warm and humid due to<br />
the combination of too many people and the continuing<br />
rain. It was difficult to move through the mobbed space,<br />
but Wanda, V, and V’s husband managed to get to a few of<br />
the booths on one side of the room. Wanda really wanted<br />
to get the Rhinebeck Weekend colorway from Dragon<br />
Hoard Yarns and was happily able to do so. They also<br />
stopped in at Yarn Cafe Creations and Sinful Yarn and<br />
really enjoyed getting to see their yarns and chat with the<br />
vendors despite the uncomfortable situation.<br />
Due to the lack of maps or signs, it was some time before<br />
the group discovered that there were more vendors<br />
up on the fifth floor of the building and started searching<br />
for an elevator. At this point, Wanda just wanted to get out<br />
of the swarming space, but she also wanted to spend as<br />
much time with V as she could, so she stayed with her<br />
friend. They finally found a small, rickety elevator that<br />
looked like it could have been built in the 19th century<br />
along with the rest of the building. Wanda quickly found<br />
herself smashed into the back corner of the elevator while<br />
more and more people pushed their way into the cramped<br />
space. When the doors finally closed and the elevator<br />
started moving up, she was struck<br />
with the alarming thought that<br />
with so many people packed in<br />
like sardines, they were quite possibly<br />
over the antique elevator’s<br />
weight capacity. At this point, however,<br />
she had no choice but to<br />
ignore her claustrophobia, close<br />
her eyes, and hope that wasn’t<br />
the case.<br />
When the doors opened and<br />
Wanda saw the layout of the fifth<br />
floor, she wanted to stay in the elevator<br />
so she could get back<br />
down to the first floor and out of<br />
the teeming building as quickly as<br />
possible. The fifth floor was so<br />
thronged that the three of them<br />
very quickly decided to leave, this<br />
time taking the stairs despite Wanda’s cane. The stairwell<br />
was about the same size as what would be found in a standard<br />
home, and they were shocked to find that there were<br />
even vendors stuffed into this space. Once they got down<br />
the stairs, the trio decided that their day at Wool & Folk<br />
was over.<br />
In the weeks since, Wanda has learned quite a few things<br />
about the event, some of which were surprising, and some<br />
which were not. No one who was there would be surprised<br />
to learn that tickets had been oversold; the event was obviously<br />
packed to the rafters…even outside! Between<br />
3,000 and 5,000 tickets to the event were sold, in addition<br />
to a vendor list of around 100, even though the venue has<br />
a stated a maximum occupancy of 500. After seeing the<br />
booths, it also wasn’t very surprising to learn that none of<br />
the vendors got the size of booth they were promised. It<br />
was, however, shocking to find out that vendors were<br />
charged different fees depending on the color of their<br />
skin.<br />
The event was obviously very poorly organized and managed.<br />
There were no signs or maps anywhere, nothing announcing<br />
who the sponsors were or where vendors could<br />
be found. There was supposed to be live music and food,<br />
but Wanda and V never saw any sign of either. Reports<br />
from other sources state that there was no music and only<br />
three food trucks ever showed up. The lack of handicap<br />
accessibility was especially shocking to Wanda as she is<br />
handicapped herself, but she couldn’t help thinking how<br />
much worse it would have been for someone who was<br />
more incapacitated than she was. Someone who needed a<br />
walker probably wouldn’t have been able to get five steps<br />
through the narrow walkways and a wheelchair would likely<br />
Continued on next page...
My Day... Continued...<br />
have been impossible to maneuver and<br />
even dangerous to attempt in the muddy<br />
and especially congested areas.<br />
Wanda has spoken with vendors who are<br />
attempting to get their money back from<br />
the organizers of Wool & Folk. Their<br />
requests have not only been ignored, but<br />
they have been blocked on social media by<br />
the event organizers. Wanda attempted to<br />
get her ticket refunded from Eventbrite, as<br />
she was barely able to participate in the<br />
event, but every time she has tried, the website gives her<br />
an error when she hits “submit.” Wanda isn’t as concerned<br />
about getting her $45 ticket refunded when she thinks<br />
about the vendors who paid $900 (or $450 for the nonwhite<br />
vendors) for a 10’x10’ booth who found themselves<br />
on a tiny patch of muddy ground for their brand new yarn<br />
to fall onto, in a tiny, hot, and sticky stairwell, or directly in<br />
the fragrant entrance to the over-worked restrooms at an<br />
event with up to 5,000 people in attendance.<br />
Vendors and attendees alike were promised a place to<br />
sit, knit, and mingle, but nothing like that was to be found<br />
at Wool & Folk 2023. The event organizers did issue an<br />
apology, but most people, Wanda included, found it to be<br />
half-assed at best and seemed to blame<br />
everything on the rain. Whether the<br />
weather had been fair or foul, the event<br />
would still have been oversold and underplanned.<br />
Even if the day had been bright<br />
and sunny, there were many concerning<br />
signs leading up to the event that were<br />
largely ignored until it was far too late to<br />
do anything about them.<br />
Despite the overly full location, the bad<br />
planning, and the fact that she was barely<br />
able to participate in Wool & Folk 2023, Wanda was happy<br />
she got to spend time with her best friend and make new<br />
friends during her time in Rhinebeck. I’m sure we would all<br />
love it if the organizers of Wool & Folk 2023 would not<br />
only do a better job next year, but also take responsibility<br />
for the abysmal job they did this year, but I, at least, would<br />
be satisfied if everyone could try to take a lesson from<br />
Wanda. When a bad thing has already happened and cannot<br />
be changed, let’s try to focus on the good parts and<br />
hold on to those memories. However, going forward, I<br />
think it would serve us all well to learn to keep our eyes<br />
open for the red flags that were evident well before Wool<br />
& Folk took place.<br />
7
DISHIDENT #13<br />
by UKnitted Kingdom<br />
PATTERN DESCRIPTION<br />
Each issue of Blocked will contain a ‘secret’ pattern.<br />
The design will only be revealed as you knit.<br />
The instructions might uncover an image; a<br />
design, or a word/message.<br />
When using cotton these secret squares make<br />
excellent dishcloths. If you make 4 or 5 of each<br />
square in wool or acrylic they can be seamed<br />
together at the end of the year to make a small<br />
Afghan or lap blanket.<br />
GAUGE & MATERIALS<br />
Each dishident uses approximately<br />
41 to 43g of worsted weight 100% cotton.<br />
Follow the yarn manufacturer’s<br />
recommended needle size.<br />
DIRECTIONS<br />
← Row 1 [RS]: K45<br />
→ Row 2: K45<br />
← Row 3: K45<br />
→ Row 4: K45<br />
← Row 5: K45<br />
→ Row 6: K45<br />
← Row 7: K45<br />
→ Row 8: K4, p16, k5, p16, k4<br />
← Row 9: K45<br />
→ Row 10: K4, p16, k4, (k1, p4) 2X, p7, k4<br />
← Row <strong>11</strong>: K45<br />
→ Row 12: K4, p16, k5, p2, k3, p<strong>11</strong>, k4<br />
← Row 13: K45<br />
→ Row 14: K4, p16, k10, p<strong>11</strong>, k4<br />
← Row 15: K45<br />
→ Row 16: K4, p16, k8, p13, k4<br />
← Row 17: K45<br />
→ Row 18: K4, p16, k6, p15, k4<br />
← Row 19: K45<br />
Dishident Continued on next page...<br />
8
Dishident Continued...<br />
→ Row 20: K4, p15, k6, p16, k4<br />
← Row 21: K45<br />
→ Row 22: K4, p13, k8, p16, k4<br />
← Row 23: K45<br />
→ Row 24: K4, p<strong>11</strong>, k10, p16, k4<br />
← Row 25: K45<br />
→ Row 26: K4, p<strong>11</strong>, k3, p2, k5, p16, k4<br />
← Row 27: K45<br />
→ Row 28: K4, p<strong>11</strong>, k1, p4, k5, p16, k4<br />
← Row 29: K45<br />
→ Row 30: K4, p16, k5, p16, k4<br />
← Row 31: K45<br />
→ Row 32: K4, p16, k5, p16, k4<br />
← Row 33: K45<br />
→ Row 34: K4, p16, k5, p16, k4<br />
← Row 35: K45<br />
→ Row 36: K4, p5, k27, p5, k4<br />
← Row 37: K45<br />
→ Row 38: K4, p5, k27, p5, k4<br />
← Row 39: K45<br />
→ Row 40: K4, p5, k27, p5, k4<br />
← Row 41: K45<br />
→ Row 42: K4, p16, k5, p16, k4<br />
← Row 43: K45<br />
→ Row 44: K4, p16, k5, p16, k4<br />
← Row 45: K45<br />
→ Row 46: K4, p16, k5, p16, k4<br />
← Row 47: K45<br />
→ Row 48: K4, p12, k13, p12, k4<br />
← Row 49: K45<br />
→ Row 50: K4, p12, k13, p12, k4<br />
← Row 51: K45<br />
→ Row 52: K4, p12, k13, p12, k4<br />
← Row 53: K45<br />
→ Row 54: K4, p16, k5, p16, k4<br />
← Row 55: K45<br />
→ Row 56: K4, p16, k5, p16, k4<br />
← Row 57: K45<br />
→ Row 58: K45<br />
← Row 59: K45<br />
→ Row 60: K45<br />
← Row 61: K45<br />
→ Row 62: K45<br />
TIPS<br />
If preferred, slip the first OR the last stitch of every row to create a<br />
neater edge. When purling a stitch immediately after knitting a<br />
stitch; pull the excess yarn out of the purl stitch before knitting or<br />
purling on. This helps to reduce loose/baggy knit stitches.<br />
NOTES<br />
Occasionally a dishident or secret square might not be<br />
suitable for children and ‘polite company’. Where this is<br />
the case it will be made clear.<br />
If you would like to receive notifications of our next issue!<br />
Check out our Patreon!<br />
www.patreon.com/join/BlockedMagazine<br />
9
10
Join Two Sisters and Some Yarn in our<br />
Think you have what it takes to solve a mystery?<br />
WhoDoneKnit<br />
MAL 2024<br />
https://www.youtube.com/c/TwoSistersAndSomeYarn<br />
How Can You Participate?<br />
Read and create!<br />
In early January 2024, watch our Instagram<br />
and YouTube for the sign-up form to join the<br />
fun! Each week(ish), we will release part of a<br />
murder mystery whodoneknit to be sent to<br />
you via email. All you have to do is read along<br />
with the story and enter your guess each week<br />
along with any details of what you are making<br />
via the form that will be sent with the story.<br />
The story will be released in 4(ish) parts. You<br />
do NOT have to guess each week, but<br />
you must fill out the form each week to declare<br />
your official participation in the make-along.<br />
Some of your favorite podcasters will also be<br />
sharing clues, as well as Blocked Magazine! So<br />
be sure to pay attention to emails and our social<br />
media so you don't miss any clues!<br />
What do you have to make?<br />
Whatever your murderous heart desires! Any<br />
craft, any pattern, anything! Sure, there are<br />
extra points for using the patterns and<br />
supplies of our sponsors, but we aren't picky!<br />
This should be no stress murdering!<br />
You will be warned prior to the final part of the<br />
story being released to give one last guess on<br />
who you think the murderer(s) is! Please keep<br />
your guesses off social media so that you don't<br />
spoil the fun for others! Beta readers have<br />
been sworn to secrecy! The story will be published<br />
in full at a later date!<br />
So, read, create, share the fun on social media<br />
(minus your suspicions!), put on your best detective<br />
hat and join us for the WhoDoneKnit-<br />
Mal!<br />
~Two Sisters and Some Yarn<br />
Extra “points” will be tallied for using the<br />
hashtag #whodoneknitmal on Instagram, as<br />
well as using the patterns, and yarn featured,<br />
or any other murder mystery-y themed items.<br />
Details on those vendors coming soon!<br />
<strong>11</strong>
Tilting at<br />
by Yelena of Scythia<br />
Swastikas<br />
My dearest friends, I hope you are enjoying this<br />
transition into knitting season.<br />
I had a very busy spring and summer at my dacha.<br />
Now that the harvest is complete and stores have been<br />
replenished for winter, I am back to writing on occasion.<br />
I look forward to cozying up by the wood fire with my<br />
knitting and enjoying the fruits of my labors.<br />
This brings me to one of the most anticipated<br />
events that essentially kicks off knitting season – the<br />
West Knits MKAL( mystery knitalong). Stephen West<br />
has marketed himself as an open and inclusive knitting<br />
designer who is positive and encouraging to all. He encourages<br />
creativity and not worrying about<br />
mistakes. His designs push boundaries and<br />
encourage everyone to learn new techniques<br />
and embrace challenge. His positive<br />
demeanor and creativity has made him<br />
wildly popular and successful. He is a prolific<br />
designer who obviously works very hard.<br />
His annual MKAL is a very popular event,<br />
where thousands of knitters participate.<br />
Many participants save money throughout the year so<br />
they can splurge on the “good yarn” for the MKAL. It is<br />
certainly one of the most popular events in the knitting<br />
community each year.<br />
With the culture wars raging in the knitting community,<br />
West had long been “neutral ground” where everyone<br />
can knit his designs, participate in his MKAL and<br />
other events regardless of which boxes a knitter checks.<br />
Neutral space is important for a healthy culture. It allows<br />
everyone to participate in and enjoy communal<br />
activities without engaging in political infighting. Many<br />
of our cultural institutions traditionally have been neutral<br />
spaces where everyone, regardless of ideological<br />
affiliation could participate and be friendly with others.<br />
However, over the years more and more cultural institutions<br />
have fallen to extreme left wing Marxist ideology.<br />
Very little neutral space remains. In the knitting community,<br />
West and his MKAL was one of the last large<br />
areas of neutral space. Alas, West has fallen.<br />
As a white man, West has long been in the cross<br />
hairs of the culture warriors. He had evaded their fire<br />
until the 2023 MKAL. The first clue of the MKAL is a<br />
gorgeous and interesting modular design, which is<br />
shaped like a pinwheel – a very common motif in quilts.<br />
No one should be surprised that a man who lives in the<br />
Netherlands found artistic inspiration in the windmills<br />
that dot the Dutch landscape. The design also reminds<br />
me of St. Brigid’s Cross which has significant cultural<br />
significance in Ireland.<br />
However, some people saw a swastika in the pinwheel<br />
design West created. Knitters, who swore they<br />
weren’t trying to cause trouble, just had to talk about it<br />
and cause trouble. Ravelry forums and the<br />
Craftsnark subreddit on Reddit exploded<br />
with knitters who started to whine and moan<br />
about seeing Nazis and swastikas everywhere.<br />
They all swear that they don’t think<br />
Mr. West meant to design a swastika, but it<br />
was still there. It doesn’t matter that the majority<br />
of knitters never saw a swastika, including<br />
Jewish knitters. They saw the<br />
pinwheel/St. Brigid’s Cross as West obviously intended.<br />
But of course, their opinions and experiences don’t<br />
matter and none of this mattered to the mob. West<br />
quickly, and rather pathetically, bowed to them.<br />
It wasn’t long before West issued an apology and<br />
added an alternate clue 1. However, the mob was still<br />
not satisfied. West then removed the original clue 1 and<br />
banned the posting of any images of the original clue 1<br />
to his Ravelry group and no MKAL shawls with the original<br />
clue 1 would be considered for prizes. He even had<br />
the audacity to expect people to REKNIT clue 1. It<br />
didn’t matter if MKAL participants had already completed<br />
clue 1. It didn’t matter that his design is NOT a<br />
swastika. It didn’t matter if the knitter is less well-off<br />
and couldn’t afford to rip out many small sections of cut<br />
yarn. It didn’t matter if someone is a loose knitter and<br />
could potentially run out of yarn. It didn’t matter if the<br />
knitter did not have extra time to knit clue 1 again. He<br />
still expected everyone to engage in obeisance to the<br />
mob. And on top of all this, the new clue 1 is BORING.<br />
12
Tilting Continued...<br />
West couldn’t even write the word swastika in his explanation.<br />
His caving to the mob was weak and cowardly.<br />
He destroyed his own brand that he had carefully<br />
developed over the years. He used to be tolerant and<br />
encouraging of creativity and adjustments to make a<br />
design the knitter’s own. However, this time, he expects<br />
all participants to bow to the mob with<br />
him and knit the new clue 1. If we<br />
don’t, we are intolerant and hateful.<br />
Yes, West even accused those who enjoyed<br />
the original clue 1 of being intolerant,<br />
insensitive, and hateful.<br />
While the mob cheered West’s capitulation,<br />
many ordinary knitters became<br />
upset. Granted, as someone who<br />
has no love for Marxist ideology and is<br />
an explicit anti-communist, I don’t expect<br />
left wing knitting designers to<br />
cater to me. I expect to be routinely<br />
disparaged and falsely accused of<br />
being a hateful bigot. However, I was<br />
amazed, and heartened, to see so<br />
many ordinary knitters upset. They didn’t<br />
take well to being called hateful for<br />
seeing and appreciating a lovely pinwheel<br />
design. I am encouraged by so<br />
many knitters just knitting what they<br />
want!<br />
While I don’t know what the fall out<br />
will be, I don’t think West will walk away<br />
unscathed in the long run. I am aware<br />
of West actually issuing refunds. I do<br />
think he did the right thing to issue refunds<br />
because there are knitters who<br />
felt deceived. It remains to be seen,<br />
but I expect a lot less participation in<br />
the MKAL next year. This will not be<br />
good for West Knits nor for the many<br />
yarn dyers who put together unofficial MKAL yarn kits.<br />
Times are tough with our Build Back Better economic<br />
policies in the United States, and I don’t see as many ordinary<br />
knitters wanting to spend money to participate<br />
in an MKAL that could change after it starts. West is no<br />
longer neutral space, and those who want neutral<br />
space will simply avoid it in the future.<br />
What does this all mean? I think this means that<br />
West needs to engage in some serious self-reflection.<br />
If his design really is such a hateful symbol, why didn’t<br />
he and his many test knitters see it? What kind of culture<br />
is he fostering where a test knitter who sees something<br />
troubling doesn’t feel comfortable speaking up?<br />
This whole saga tells us far more about him, the people<br />
he surrounds himself with, and all those who see Nazis<br />
and swastikas under their beds than it does us who see<br />
pinwheels and St. Brigid’s Crosses.<br />
Other implications are quite troubling.<br />
West is an artist who didn’t defend his art. A<br />
free society needs artists who are able to<br />
create freely and do not self-censor. He<br />
erased his own art. He is no better than the<br />
Soviet censors who removed people who ran<br />
afoul of Josef Stalin from photographs. West<br />
did this to himself. He sent himself to the<br />
gulag.<br />
Mr. West, you, sir, could have stood up to<br />
the mob. There are many of us who would<br />
stand up beside you against the mob. We<br />
would have supported you. We have done it<br />
before for others and will gladly do it again.<br />
We choose to not live by lies. Mr. West, I<br />
leave you with some words of the great Aleksandr<br />
Solzhenitsyn from his work “The Gulag<br />
Archipelago.”<br />
“And how we burned in the camps later,<br />
thinking: What would things have been like if<br />
every Security operative, when he went out at<br />
night to make an arrest, had been<br />
uncertain whether he would return alive and<br />
had to say good-bye to his family?<br />
Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for<br />
example in Leningrad, when they arrested<br />
a quarter of the entire city, people had not<br />
simply sat there in their lairs, paling with<br />
terror at every bang of the downstairs door<br />
and at every step on the staircase, but had<br />
understood they had nothing left to lose and<br />
had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an<br />
ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers,<br />
pokers, or whatever else was at hand? … The Organs<br />
would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers<br />
and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin’s thirst,<br />
the cursed machine would have ground to a halt! If…<br />
if…We didn’t love freedom enough. And even more –<br />
we had no awareness of the real situation…. We purely<br />
and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.”<br />
Whatever the consequences of bowing to the mob<br />
are, Mr. West, you deserve the fallout.<br />
13
SALTSTRAUMAN COWL<br />
DESCRIPTION<br />
The Saltstraumen Strait is a series of whirlpools (maelstroms)<br />
located in Norway. The strait is one of the strongest tidal currents<br />
in the world. Each module of this cowl represents one of the<br />
Strait’s whirlpools.<br />
By Uknitted Kingdom<br />
14<br />
MATERIALS<br />
• 162g (470 m) of King Cole Riot in 3440 - Waterways<br />
• 4mm/F crochet hook<br />
• Stitch marker<br />
• Tapestry needle to weave in loose ends<br />
GAUGE<br />
The diameter (edge to edge at the widest point) of each<br />
circle/octagon should be approximately 9cm (3.5”).<br />
FINISHED SIZE<br />
Approximately 27 cm/<strong>11</strong>” high x 40.5cm/16” wide<br />
NOTES<br />
All terminology is US standard crochet.<br />
Each circle/octagon uses approximately 6g of DK yarn.<br />
Do not join any round with a sl st. Work in a continuous spiral.<br />
Use a stitch marker to show the end of each round.<br />
After round 1 all stitches are made into the very back loop of the stitch.<br />
This forces the front and middle loops forward to create the spiral pattern.<br />
The 2nd round can be tricky as the back bump of a sc is often tight and<br />
hard to see.<br />
ABBREVIATIONS<br />
Ch<br />
Sc<br />
Hdc<br />
Sl<br />
St/sts<br />
chain<br />
single crochet<br />
half double crochet<br />
slip or slip stitch<br />
stitch(es)
Saltstrauman Cowl Continued...<br />
INSTRUCTIONS<br />
(MAKE 27)<br />
Make a magic circle (or ch 4 and join into a circle)<br />
Round 1: Ch 1, sc 8 into the circle. Pull circle tight.<br />
Round 2: 2hdc into the bump at the back of each sc. (16 sts)<br />
Round 3: (2hdc, 1hdc) repeat around. (24 sts)<br />
Round 4: (2hdc, 1hdc, 1hdc) repeat around. (32 sts)<br />
Round 5: (2hdc, 1hdc, 1hdc, 1hdc) repeat around. (40 sts)<br />
Round 6: (2hdc, 1hdc, 1hdc, 1hdc, 1hdc) repeat around. (48 sts)<br />
Round 7: (2hdc, 1hdc, 1hdc, 1hdc, 1hdc, 1hdc)<br />
repeat around. (56 sts)<br />
Round 8: 2hdc, 1sc, 1sc, 1sc, sl1, sl1, sl1, sl1.<br />
(only work 9 sts of the final round)<br />
Break yarn and weave in the ends.<br />
To make up<br />
Place the circles with the right sides facing inward.<br />
Using the very back loops only, sc the back loops of the<br />
circles’ corresponding stitches together (8 sc).<br />
Join the circles into 3 strips of 9.<br />
You will now have 3 strips.<br />
Join along each strip: 1 to 10, 2 to <strong>11</strong>, 3 to 12, 4 to 13, 5 to 14, 6 to 15, 7 to 16, 8 to 17, and 9 to 18.<br />
Repeat: 10 to 19, <strong>11</strong> to 20, 12 to 21, 13 to 22, 14, to 23, 15 to 24, 16 to 25, 17 to 26, and 18 to 27.<br />
To finish, join the edge of piece 1 to the edge of piece 9, join piece 10 to piece 18, and piece 19 to piece 27.<br />
Wash and block.<br />
SALTSTRAUMAN BLANKET<br />
To use the same circles/octagons to make a blanket, make as many pieces as you need to create the width of<br />
your blanket. Then repeat in strips, joining as you go, until the blanket is the size desired.<br />
15
By Uknitted Kingdom<br />
Rat Utopia, Mouse Paradise,<br />
AND KNUTTER NIRVANA<br />
16<br />
Disclaimer: I’m not a medical professional, the<br />
points made following are not armchair diagnosis, but<br />
rather, opinions based upon observation and a layman’s<br />
knowledge of mental illness and personality disorders.<br />
Anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and suicide are<br />
not new. Mental health issues can and do affect<br />
anyone without prejudice. However, there’s been a<br />
different form of mental illness taking hold almost exclusively<br />
in Western countries. It is this I will be referring<br />
to, not the common, every day, ordinary,<br />
pedestrian, “boring” mental health issues<br />
we’ve all come to accept and recognize.<br />
We’ve often said, or heard it said, that<br />
the knitting world is a concentrated microcosm<br />
of the insanity that is befalling<br />
the wider Western world. There are other<br />
microcosms out there but, arguably, the<br />
knitting world has been particularly observable<br />
from under a bell jar for some<br />
years.<br />
Whether we like to acknowledge this<br />
or not, there appear to be two very distinct,<br />
and, in the main, diametrically opposed<br />
knitting camps (there may well be<br />
a hidden silent majority supporting<br />
either of the camps).<br />
1. A larger, very vocal, very militant<br />
group of political left-wingers.<br />
2. A smaller, less vocal group, more<br />
conservative or centrist in their political beliefs.<br />
There is a trend amongst the “internet influencers”<br />
and prominent businesses from the first group; a willingness,<br />
nay, a joyful compulsion, to self-declare mental<br />
illness, personality disorders, and/or body dysmorphia,<br />
and to project the diagnosis as an essential aspect of<br />
character. Every single one of the Group One You-<br />
Tubers and public-facing businesses (that I have seen)<br />
has proclaimed a mental illness of one or several forms.<br />
This isn’t to say no one in Group Two has any mental illnesses;<br />
I’m sure many do. The notable difference is the<br />
figurative “pride parade” of over-sharing.<br />
There are a myriad of theories and explanations for<br />
these illnesses. However, I want to focus on the most<br />
disruptive and damaging (to those around them) - narcissism,<br />
queerness, and gender dysphoria.<br />
To clarify the terms.<br />
NARCISSISM<br />
When discussing narcissism, I do not mean<br />
low level vanity. I’m referring to Narcissistic Personality<br />
Disorder (NPD). This is characterized by:<br />
• A grandiose sense of self-importance.<br />
• Preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited<br />
success, power, brilliance, beauty,<br />
and/or ideal love.<br />
• Believing that they are “special”<br />
and unique and can only be<br />
understood by, or should associate<br />
with, other special or high-status<br />
people (or institutions).<br />
• Requiring excessive admiration.<br />
• A sense of entitlement (unreasonable<br />
expectations of especially<br />
favorable treatment or automatic<br />
compliance with their expectations).<br />
• Being interpersonally exploitative<br />
(taking advantage of others to<br />
achieve their own ends).<br />
• Lacking empathy (unwilling to<br />
recognize or identify with the feelings<br />
and needs of others).<br />
• Often being envious of others or believing that<br />
others are envious of them.<br />
• Showing arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.<br />
Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders:<br />
DSM-5 (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.<br />
2013. pp. 72–669. ISBN 978-0-89042-554-1.<br />
OCLC 830807378<br />
Thinking of some of the most prominent Group<br />
One yarn dyers and YouTubers, and their posts, behavior,<br />
and attitude, do you think these characteristics fit?<br />
Far be it from me to assert my own opinions as fact, but<br />
I do have my suspicions.<br />
Continued on next page...
Rat Utopia Continued...<br />
QUEERNESS<br />
“Queer” is a term used (often without consent or<br />
agreement) for any person who is not traditionally heterosexual<br />
or whose gender identity does not align with<br />
the person’s primary and secondary genitalia.<br />
It is important to note that most older homosexual<br />
men and women, and most older transgender people,<br />
do not align themselves with the “queer” identity.<br />
Please do not assume that men and women who define<br />
themselves as gay or lesbian are part of this movement.<br />
It is those who identify as “queer” who believe in the<br />
“queer agenda.”<br />
The queer identity emerged from an academic off<br />
shoot of post-structuralist critical theory called “Queer<br />
Theory.” Regardless of denials by the uneducated proponents<br />
of queerness, queerness does include and accept<br />
bestiality and pedophilia, as well as any<br />
non-traditional sexual kink, persuasion, and perversion,<br />
including scat (please don’t Google this if you don’t<br />
know what it is) and blood. Only sex and sexuality considered<br />
heteronormative (aka “normal”) is excluded.<br />
Where once Queer Theory involved reimagining<br />
popular culture through a queer lens * for an example,<br />
see “Batman, Deviance and Camp” by Andy Medhurst,<br />
Ref. 1) It is now a political and social movement with<br />
the aim to queer the world. For an example, see the<br />
“Queering the World Workshop” with Lo Moran.<br />
https://fiveoaksmuseum.org/queering-the-world-workshop-with-lo-moran/<br />
As a response to religious conversion therapies<br />
which claimed to “cure” homosexuality, this event<br />
openly plans ways to convert heterosexuals into becoming<br />
queer.<br />
“This project invites Queer people to give instructions<br />
for exercises and therapies to bring more queerness,<br />
openness and fluidity into a cis heteronormative<br />
dominated world.”<br />
Other examples follow:<br />
In this campaign the aim is to “queer the field [of<br />
science]” https://jcom.sissa.it/article/pubid/JCOM_2001_2021_C05/<br />
Friends of the Earth Australia even want us to believe<br />
the very Earth is queer!<br />
https://www.foe.org.au/queering_the_earth<br />
In her “Dismantling Hierarchy, Queering Society” article,<br />
Andrea Smith calls for a complete dismantling of<br />
the family, society and culture, and rebuild a Queer<br />
Utopia. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/609372<br />
In the knitting world we are seeing otherwise heterosexual<br />
individuals aligning as “queer” without ever<br />
having a homosexual experience.<br />
GENDER DYSPHORIA<br />
Gender dysphoria is currently at the forefront of the<br />
queer movement, closely followed by pedophilia, so it<br />
is important to define what it is in isolation.<br />
Prior to the queer movement there were different<br />
categories of “trans”:<br />
A drag queen is usually a homosexual man who<br />
mocks women by dressing and performing in highly exaggerated<br />
sexual ways. The more convincing he is as a<br />
woman the more he is described as “fishy,” or a “fish.”<br />
This is an extremely offensive term used in drag to<br />
imply women’s genitalia smells of fish.<br />
A transvestite is usually (but not always) a heterosexual<br />
man who obtains sexual gratification from wearing<br />
women’s clothing.<br />
A transexual is a homo or heterosexual person who<br />
has physically and/or hormonally altered their bodies<br />
to live as the opposite sex.<br />
A transgender person does not identify as the sex<br />
observed at birth, though surgery is not always something<br />
a transgender person will undertake. Individuals<br />
may or may not look like either gender or a composite<br />
of the two genders.<br />
When considering men, all the above may or may<br />
not be autogynephilic: a man who is sexually aroused<br />
imagining he has breasts, female genitalia, menstruates,<br />
becomes pregnant, etc.<br />
There is a similar diagnosis for women who become<br />
sexually aroused at the thought of being a man (autoandrophilia),<br />
but this is currently disputed.<br />
Since the queer movement became established;<br />
the umbrella “trans” moniker is preferred by most of the<br />
above. (Ref 2.)<br />
Non-binary is a term used by (mostly) young people<br />
to set him or herself outside of the biological reality of<br />
male and female. Often using made up pronouns (most<br />
famously the singular they/them), neopronouns (such<br />
as ze/zir, or frog/frogself) and xenopronouns (which<br />
cannot be pronounced or understood by humans – I<br />
can’t believe I’m actually writing these words!). More<br />
often than not, the non-binary person acts and presents<br />
as obviously male or female yet demands to be addressed<br />
by their constructed pronouns both in person<br />
and when not there. This is a social contagion which has<br />
spread like wildfire through high schools, colleges, and<br />
universities.<br />
Ref 1: https://academic.oup.com/mississippi-scholarship-online/book/15631/chapter-abstract/1703824<strong>11</strong>?redirectedFrom=fulltext<br />
Ref 2: https://www.thepinknews.com/2018/03/19/transsexual-transgender-transvestite-what-should-you-call-trans-people/<br />
Continued on next page...<br />
17
Rat Utopia Continued...<br />
There is one other term, “cis,” or “cisgender,” used for,<br />
what most people would describe as, normal or usual<br />
for men and women. Cis was first claimed to have been<br />
used in 1994 by Dana Defosse “I Coined The Term 'Cisgender'<br />
29 Years Ago. Here's What This Controversial<br />
Word Really Means” HuffPost. Archived from the original<br />
on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.<br />
The idea behind the term is to avoid using the usual<br />
terms of “man” and “woman” to differentiate from “trans<br />
man” and “trans woman.” It is an attempt to stop society<br />
from seeing trans people as other or abnormal.<br />
The term cisgender originates from the Latin prefix<br />
cis-, meaning “on this side of,” which is the opposite of<br />
trans-, meaning “across from” or “on the other side of.”<br />
Many view “cis” as an offensive term used specifically<br />
to decentralize what is actually normal (standard,<br />
usual, typical, or expected). If we look at statistics (this is<br />
not meant to be derogatory) queer people can in no<br />
way be described as standard, usual, typical, expected,<br />
or normal. You may have had an indoctrinated, visceral<br />
reaction to the term “normal.” It has long been frowned<br />
upon to acknowledge typicality. “What is normal?” I<br />
have often heard when someone uses the word. The<br />
answer to this is “Anything standard, usual, typical, or<br />
expected.”<br />
Returning to the knitting world.<br />
As mentioned earlier, Group One businesses and<br />
influencers will declare him/herself to be “queer” (one<br />
example uses “they” pronouns, is heterosexual, but<br />
likes to have multiple concurrent sexual partners) or<br />
make a huge deal of his or her proximity to a queer<br />
person (usually a son or daughter). Other times, in a<br />
vain attempt to appear atypical, the influencer/business<br />
will declare he/him or she/her pronouns in some misguided<br />
attempt at allyship.<br />
Again, it is important to acknowledge that Group<br />
Two businesses and influencers might also be homosexual<br />
or have queer/non binary relatives, but will rarely<br />
use this as leverage to appear more virtuous in some<br />
way. They will rarely if ever, declare pronouns, instead<br />
trusting people to see they are men or women.<br />
RAT UTOPIA, MOUSE PARADISE,<br />
AND BEHAVIORAL SINK<br />
With the terms and definitions established I can<br />
now proceed to the actual point of my observations.<br />
Between 1958 and 1962 John B. Calhoun made a<br />
series of repeatable experiments on rats. He placed<br />
them into safe enclosed spaces, protected from<br />
weather and predators, where the rats had access to<br />
unlimited amounts of food and water. As the rats bred,<br />
more food and water were made available, yet the enclosure<br />
remained the same size.<br />
As the population grew larger the following behavior<br />
was observed:<br />
“Many [female rats] were unable to carry pregnancy<br />
to full term or to survive delivery of their litters if they<br />
did. An even greater number, after successfully giving<br />
birth, fell short in their maternal functions. Among the<br />
males the behavior disturbances ranged from sexual<br />
deviation to cannibalism and from frenetic overactivity<br />
to a pathological withdrawal from which individuals<br />
would emerge to eat, drink and move about only when<br />
other members of the community were asleep.<br />
Calhoun, J. B. (1970). "Population density and social<br />
pathology". California Medicine. <strong>11</strong>3 (5): 54. PMC<br />
1501789. PMID 18730425.<br />
Between 1968 and 1972 Calhoun conducted<br />
further experiments, this time on mice.<br />
[The mice] exhibited a variety of abnormal, often<br />
destructive, behaviors including refusal to engage in<br />
courtship, and females abandoning their young. By the<br />
600th day, the population was on its way to extinction.<br />
Though physically able to reproduce, the mice had lost<br />
the social skills required to mate.<br />
"The Behavioral Sink". Cabinet Magazine. Summer<br />
20<strong>11</strong>. Archived from the original on 2020-02-15. Retrieved<br />
2012-08-24.<br />
The mice split into several groups: dominant males,<br />
subordinate males, homosexuals, extremely passive,<br />
fertile females, infertile females, and the Probers.<br />
“The aggressive, dominant animals were [observed]<br />
going berserk, attacking females, juveniles and the less<br />
active males, and showing a particular predilection -<br />
which rats do not normally display for biting other animals<br />
on the tail.”<br />
“Although they [the subordinate males] never at-<br />
18<br />
Continued on next page...
Rat Utopia Continued...<br />
tempted to engage in sexual activity with any of the females,<br />
they were likely, on those rare occasions when<br />
they encountered the dominant male, to make repeated<br />
attempts to mount him. Generally, the dominant<br />
male tolerated these advances.”<br />
“Below the dominant males both on the status scale<br />
and in their level of activity were the homosexuals-a<br />
group perhaps better described as pansexual. These<br />
animals apparently could not discriminate between appropriate<br />
and inappropriate sex partners. They made<br />
sexual advances to males, juveniles and females that<br />
were not in estrus. The males, including the dominants<br />
as well as the others of the pansexuals’ own group,<br />
usually accepted their attentions.”<br />
“A group of extremely passive mice emerged.<br />
Usually left alone by the other groups these mice, on<br />
appearance alone, “would have appeared to be the<br />
healthiest and most attractive members of the community.<br />
They were fat and sleek, and their fur showed<br />
none of the breaks and bare spots left by the fighting in<br />
which males usually engage.” These mice seemed to<br />
only be interested in self-grooming, eating, and little<br />
else.<br />
The most dangerous of the mice were labelled<br />
“Probers.” These hyperactive males would forgo all the<br />
usual mating rituals and, to put it bluntly, rape the females.<br />
“They were the most active of all the males in the<br />
experimental populations, and they persisted in their<br />
activity despite attacks by the dominant animals. In addition<br />
to being hyperactive, the probers were both hypersexual<br />
and homosexual, and in time many of them<br />
became cannibalistic.”<br />
https://gwern.net/doc/sociology/1962-calhoun.pdf<br />
In the simplest terms, the Rat Utopia and Mouse Paradise<br />
experiments showed that rodents with unlimited<br />
resources, no predators, but living in a limited environment,<br />
will, eventually, always descend into “behavioral<br />
sink.”<br />
The females will become one of the following:<br />
• Infertile<br />
• Fertile but neglects her offspring (extremely low<br />
survival rate)<br />
• A harem member where the “sister-wives” care for<br />
each other’s offspring (yet only a 50% survival rate)<br />
The males will become one of the following:<br />
• A dominant heterosexual aggressor with a harem<br />
of females yet tolerant of homosexual advances.<br />
• A subordinate male who is no longer interested in<br />
sexual activity with females but often tries to mount the<br />
dominant male.<br />
• A pansexual male, who engages in sexual activity<br />
with infertile females, other males, and juveniles.<br />
• An asexual, overweight narcissist engaging in<br />
constant self-grooming.<br />
• A hyperactive, rapist cannibal.<br />
In every case the societies collapsed.<br />
I can’t help but draw parallels with modern Western<br />
societies living in cities and overpopulated environments.<br />
Perhaps, apart from cannibalism (even this has been<br />
documented in modern humans), all of the above behaviors<br />
are becoming more and more prevalent across<br />
both genders in our society.<br />
Pedophilia, child neglect, infanticide, abortion, infertility,<br />
homosexuality, pansexuality, polygamy, obesity,<br />
narcissistic transgenderism, even the rare emergence<br />
of hyper dominant males, such as Andrew Tate, our<br />
world is accelerating toward “behavioral sink.”<br />
In the microcosm of the knitting world these behaviors<br />
are even more apparent. We even see figurative<br />
cannibalism where knitters from Group One “eat their<br />
own” in frenzied bullying attacks. At what point, if at all,<br />
will they eventually decide to chomp down on Andrea<br />
Mowry or Stephen West?<br />
This raises dozens of questions, such as: “Do the<br />
mice, and in turn we, have any choice in our behaviors?”<br />
“Are we destined to become one of the groups<br />
observed?” Or “Will these behaviors emerge in our<br />
children, or our grandchildren?”<br />
Only one thing can be certain, those displaying<br />
these behaviors want to spread the malaise. They abhor<br />
any form of traditional societal norms. Even if they<br />
didn’t choose this behavior, they do not want to adopt<br />
traditional, long-accepted behaviors.<br />
With almost every Group One knitter living in<br />
“Knutter Nirvana,” displaying one or several of these<br />
deviant traits, are we about to witness societal collapse?<br />
Is the antidote to this “doomsday scenario” to escape<br />
over population, with its relative safety and abundance<br />
of food, and go to live in a sparsely populated<br />
environment where nests have to be built, food has to<br />
be grown, reared, and worked for?<br />
I can’t say. Although I have my suspicions.<br />
19
Knitting Patterns, Hand-Dyed Yarns,<br />
Tools, Notions & More!<br />
www.knittymcpurly.com<br />
Hand-dyed yarns, Opal yarns, patterns, tools, and notions.<br />
https://www.etsy.com/de/shop/AnnaKnitterYarns<br />
New Zealand yarn store.<br />
Ships worldwide.<br />
www.skeinz.com<br />
Knitting Patterns<br />
https://www.ravelry.com/designers/liz-clothier<br />
Anne Pinkava<br />
Knitting Patterns<br />
www.lovecrafts.com/en-us/user/maker/fdba7e1e-93b6-4b6f-9f82-06ef18d0ec8c<br />
Knitting Patterns<br />
https://galilee-life.com/vendor/deplorable-knitter/<br />
20
Amigurumi/Crochet Patterns<br />
http://www.yankeerose.etsy.com/<br />
Wise Owl Knits<br />
Knitting Patterns and Tutorials<br />
www.wiseowlknits.com<br />
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Blogger<br />
& Knitter<br />
Fabrics, Sewing Patterns,<br />
and Tutorials<br />
https://littleragamuffin.com/<br />
Knitting Patterns:<br />
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Knitting Patterns and Tutorials<br />
https://www.ravelry.com/stores/birdie-beanie<br />
Love Stitched<br />
https://galilee-life.com/vendor/love-stitched/<br />
21
By Uknitted Kingdom<br />
All About (Felicia) Eve<br />
Much has been said and written about the recent<br />
Wool and Folk knitting festival (including within these<br />
very pages). I know many will be expecting me to discuss<br />
the event and many of the incidents which happened. Although<br />
these incidents are worthy of coverage, I’m more<br />
interested in the Wool and Folk organizer, Dr. Felicia<br />
Stenhouse Eve, and her privilege and political connections.<br />
Felicia Stenhouse was born in New York state in 1967.<br />
Not much information about Felicia is publicly available,<br />
however, in an interview with Kristy Glass,<br />
https://youtu.be/eZka8ogG4zY?si=31tEItQcp7y245Sf Felicia told of how<br />
she met her husband when they attended school together,<br />
lost touch during their college years and reconnected<br />
as adults. Felicia and Eric married in June 1997.<br />
The pair were married in St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in<br />
Buffalo, New York. The wedding reception was held at<br />
the nearby Brierwood County Club in Hamburg, New<br />
York. The couple honeymooned in Greece and, upon<br />
their return, moved to Washington, D.C. so Eric could<br />
commence working in the White House.<br />
https://buffalonews.com/news/dr-stenhouse-eric-eve-wed-travel-to-greece/article_9e0666f7-01ae-5d66-bfdf-fd10226208a9.html<br />
POLITICAL POWER AND CONNECTIONS<br />
Felicia’s husband, Eric V. Eve, and his family, are<br />
prominent players in the Democrat Party.<br />
Felicia’s father-in-law, Arthur O. Eve, served as a Democrat<br />
member of the New York Assembly from 1967 to<br />
2002, and Deputy Speaker of the Assembly from 1979 to<br />
2002. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Eve<br />
Felicia’s sister-in-law, Leecia R. Eve, is a New York attorney<br />
and has worked in both Federal and New York<br />
State government positions. Leecia was a candidate for<br />
Lieutenant Governor of New York during the 2006 election.<br />
She worked as an aide to both Joseph Biden and<br />
Hillary Clinton when they were U.S. Senators. Leecia<br />
served as a senior advisor during Hillary Clinton’s 2008<br />
election campaign. She was Deputy Secretary for Economic<br />
Development in the Executive Chamber of New<br />
York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. Leecia was defeated<br />
in the 2018 Democrat primary election for Attorney General<br />
for New York State.<br />
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leecia_Eve<br />
Felicia’s husband, Eric V. Eve, worked as Special Assistant<br />
for Political Affairs to President William Jefferson<br />
Clinton. He currently heads Ichor Strategies with his<br />
sister Leecia. https://www.ichorstrategies.com/eric-eve<br />
Felicia ran the “Friends of Leecia Eve” election campaign<br />
and has been extremely active in the Democrat<br />
Party. However, she certainly doesn’t appear to have<br />
been a braggadocious name-dropper in the yarn world,<br />
so one can only speculate if she or her husband knew<br />
Cuomo, Biden, or the Clintons socially.<br />
At some point prior to her marriage to Eric, Felicia<br />
qualified as a Doctor of Podiatry. There has been much<br />
speculation on knitting forums as to whether Felicia was<br />
being untruthful about being a Doctor of Podiatry. I can,<br />
however, confirm that she worked at the Washington<br />
Foot Health Center from May 2006 until August 2007.<br />
After leaving this position, she didn’t practice as a podiatrist<br />
until she launched her own business in December<br />
2014, Stenhouse Podiatry, PC, where she practiced for 8<br />
years.<br />
After the death of her mother in 2015, Felicia inherited<br />
$250,000 in cash, which she chose to invest in a yarn<br />
store. In the summer of 2017, she opened String Thing<br />
Studio in an exclusive area of Brooklyn, NY.<br />
https://www.stringthingstudio.com/<br />
As touched upon earlier, Felicia came to prominence<br />
in the yarn world after her November 2017 appearance<br />
on Kristy Glass’s YouTube channel. Felicia overlapped<br />
running the yarn store with practicing podiatry for several<br />
years.<br />
GOFUNDME<br />
In 2020, during/after Covid lockdowns Felicia, like<br />
many small business owners, appeared to be in financial<br />
difficulty. Alongside Gaye Glasspie (GG) and Shelbey<br />
Glasspie-Logan (GG’s daughter), Felicia launched a Go-<br />
FundMe fundraiser to “Keep String Thing Studio Open.”<br />
The campaign description read:<br />
Who will benefit? - The fiber community at large, but<br />
specifically the Black Fiber community. Black yarn shop<br />
owners are far and few in between. StringThing Studio is<br />
the only Black owned yarn shop in NYC and we want the<br />
shop to continue to exist.<br />
What will the funds will be used for? - To pay the rent<br />
and prepare to make the changes to be compliant so the<br />
shop can re-open.<br />
How soon do you need the funds? - As soon as possible.<br />
What does this support mean to me? - This will mean<br />
the world to me. My people have shown support already<br />
but at this particular point it will be monumental.<br />
22<br />
Continued on next page...
All about...<br />
To step up at this time means you not only support<br />
String Thing Studio, but you are also supporting this<br />
Black woman, this Black business owner. I need the<br />
community if I am to keep String Thing Studio alive and<br />
would be devastating if the shop is lost.<br />
I will be so eternally grateful to continue to build<br />
this space that is so welcoming, so inclusive and open<br />
to all craft levels. I will be most grateful to continue to<br />
shine a light for other Black owners to follow their<br />
dreams. String Thing Studio is more than a yarn shop,<br />
it’s family.<br />
https://www.gofundme.com/f/keep-string-thing-studio-open<br />
IN TOTAL, FELICIA RAISED $28,407.00.<br />
The 627 donations ranged from $10.00 to<br />
$1,000.00. Notable donors included: Shelley Brander<br />
($1,000), Espace Tricot ($500), Dami Hunter ($500),<br />
Adella Colvin ($500), Lady Dye Yarns (£250), Brooklyn<br />
Boy Knits (£250), Jodi of the Grocery Girls ($200),<br />
Stephen West ($100), Gaye Glasspie (£100), and Shelbey<br />
Glasspie-Logan ($25).<br />
Sadly, not too long after, Felicia closed the store.<br />
WOOL AND FOLK<br />
After the pandemic lockdowns, many knitters, crocheters,<br />
and yarn lovers were itching to attend fiber festivals<br />
again.<br />
Felicia launched the Wool & Folk Fiber Festival. She<br />
held the event during the lead-up to the much larger,<br />
and more established, Wool and Sheep Festival in<br />
Rhinebeck. This was a clever move on Felicia’s part. It allowed<br />
her to be “Rhinebeck adjacent” without any official<br />
affiliation. For three years (2021, 2022, and 2023)<br />
vendors who couldn’t get a booth at Rhinebeck were<br />
able to set up their stalls and sell. Many of the Rhinebeck<br />
attendees also attended Wool and Folk as an “add<br />
on” festival. If they were booking accommodation for a<br />
weekend anyway, why not add a day or two?<br />
Wool and Folk 2023 has become notorious for several<br />
reasons. There has been much talk amongst<br />
R/Craftsnarkers of vendors allegedly suing Felicia for<br />
lost income, broken contracts, and physical injury. I’m<br />
not going to write about the details of Wool and Folk<br />
2023 in this article. You can read more about it, and<br />
some of the vendor and attendee’s stories, on page 4.<br />
Almost immediately after the Wool and Folk Festival,<br />
Felicia advertised her home for rent. Her Brooklyn<br />
brownstone home was listed within days of the festival<br />
and became vacant for a tenant to occupy on 1 November<br />
2023. Of course, this could be entirely unrelated<br />
to the events of Wool and Folk, but the timing<br />
piqued my curiosity to learn more about what might be<br />
going on.<br />
When I first drafted this article, and the first set of<br />
eyes checked it for accuracy, I was asked if I had “class<br />
envy.” For a moment I felt defensive, but, if I’m honest, I<br />
do. Coming from a poor, working class area in the north<br />
of England, where I was the first in my family to attend<br />
university (self-funded by working five evenings per<br />
week whilst studying full time), I can’t imagine the idyllic<br />
lifestyle of a significantly richer, more privileged, and<br />
politically connected business owner such as Felicia.<br />
To me, holding a fundraiser, where donors do not<br />
receive anything for their donation(s), is morally bankrupt.<br />
It goes against everything I believe as a proud,<br />
working class, Northerner. I’m a product of the twin<br />
cities of Salford and Manchester, the birthplace of the<br />
Suffragettes, workers’ rights, and the Industrial Revolution.<br />
Our symbol is the worker bee. We pride ourselves<br />
on working hard, fighting for our rights,<br />
defending the underdog, and never suffering fools.<br />
When I learned of Felicia’s property portfolio I was<br />
incensed.<br />
Felicia solely owns three New York properties with<br />
15 bedrooms between them. I can’t help but imagine<br />
all the homeless people she could house. How many<br />
bedrooms does one person need?<br />
Continued on next page...<br />
23
All about...<br />
PROPERTY 1<br />
Inherited June 2016<br />
Felicia inherited her mother’s 6-bedroom Buffalo,<br />
New York home. With 2,445 square feet of living<br />
space and sitting on 4,992 square feet, the property is<br />
a stunning blue, two-story detached house with cellar<br />
and attic space. The value of the property, at the time<br />
of deed transfer in 2016, was $96,000.00.<br />
PROPERTY 2<br />
Purchased outright Feb 2022<br />
Felicia made a cash purchase of $1,800,000.00 to<br />
buy a Brooklyn brownstone townhouse, which she<br />
previously owned jointly with her husband, Eric. Features<br />
include 5 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and 4 classic<br />
marble fireplaces. The home became available to<br />
rent on 1 November 2023 at a monthly rent of<br />
$14,475.00.<br />
PROPERTY 3<br />
Purchased (with a part mortgage) Sept 2022<br />
Felicia purchased a new build, Accord,<br />
New York farmhouse for<br />
$915,000.00. As of 2022 the outstanding<br />
mortgage on the property is<br />
$516,707.00. It is currently valued at<br />
$1,019,800.00.<br />
The property is a beautiful, isolated,<br />
white, 2,520 square foot house<br />
nestled in 5 acres of Accord countryside.<br />
With no neighbors in sight, the<br />
family home boasts magnificent<br />
views. There are several rooms: Living<br />
room, family room, dining room, kitchen, 4 bedrooms,<br />
3 bathrooms, office, media room, playroom, and an<br />
enormous cellar. All the rooms have hardwood flooring<br />
with under floor heating, radiators, and a ductless<br />
cooling system.<br />
Assets do not equal disposable income, however<br />
the $173,700.00 annual rental income from just one of<br />
her properties is more than most professionals earn in<br />
a year. As a teacher, at the height of my career, I only<br />
earned a fraction of this amount. UK surgeons and<br />
doctors working for the NHS wouldn’t even match this.<br />
So yes, I’m biased. I struggle to accept a business<br />
begging for handouts from people who are clearly<br />
less affluent and clearly do not possess the same level<br />
of privilege. I understand that business is business,<br />
and a good entrepreneur should attempt to keep their<br />
business and personal finances clearly delineated. I<br />
also accept that this is why I don’t run a for-profit business<br />
myself. I do not possess the detachment required<br />
to take money from those poorer than I am.<br />
Upon further self-reflection I realize that I am applying<br />
the same standards to Felicia as those demanding<br />
reparations for black people from white people.<br />
Inheriting intergenerational wealth is perfectly acceptable<br />
regardless of how that wealth was initially<br />
earned. Felicia no more owes any of her wealth to<br />
those less privileged than her, than any other wealthy<br />
person owes his/her fortune to those less privileged.<br />
I’m still uncomfortable with rich people (relative to<br />
my own income) begging for money. It seems to me<br />
that we, of the working classes, are barely keeping<br />
afloat yet regularly get blamed for the sins of rich<br />
people’s fathers. We are expected to give the little we<br />
have, in recompense or tribute, to those richer than<br />
ourselves.<br />
Too often now, black women in particular (in the<br />
knitting world and beyond), accuse working class<br />
white people of possessing “white privilege” and intergenerational<br />
wealth gained from the sweat of black<br />
slaves in plantations across the United<br />
States and beyond. At best, this belief<br />
could be seen as being disingenuous,<br />
but for the vast majority of white<br />
people, it is simply not true.<br />
As an active black rights activist,<br />
Felicia, along with other prominent<br />
and prosperous black female makers,<br />
present as victims of white patriarchy.<br />
This is demonstrably false. It is the deceit<br />
and gaslighting required to paint<br />
oneself as underprivileged, the victim<br />
of oppression, and in need of financial support, whilst<br />
living between three properties with 15 bedrooms,<br />
that I find the most abhorrent and problematic.<br />
Preaching about inclusion, racial equality, and<br />
equity to the left, whilst practicing exclusion, racial<br />
prejudice, and discrimination to the right, is not acceptable.<br />
To reiterate this point, Felicia’s Wool and Folk website<br />
displays a statement of principles and conduct. It<br />
says:<br />
Discrimination based on gender, age, race, ethnicity,<br />
color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation,<br />
gender identity, family status, disability, medical or a<br />
genetic condition will not be tolerated.<br />
However, the ticket prices for Wool and Folk 2023<br />
clearly show that white vendors were charged TWICE<br />
the amount as their BIPOC counterparts. Where a<br />
BIPOC vendor was able to rent a booth for $450, a<br />
white vendor was charged $900, for the exact same<br />
service/product! Not only is this direct discrimination<br />
24<br />
Continued on next page...
All about...<br />
based upon an immutable racial characteristic (skin<br />
tone) it also contravenes The Civil Rights Act of 1964,<br />
which “outlaws discrimination based on race, color,<br />
religion, sex, and national origin.”<br />
The rationale behind Felicia’s decision is flawed due<br />
to several unreasonable assumptions:<br />
• All BIPOC vendors are unable to afford the full<br />
ticket price.<br />
• All white vendors are at least twice as wealthy as<br />
BIPOC vendors.<br />
• All BIPOC vendors are comfortable being subsidized<br />
by white vendors.<br />
• All White vendors feel obliged to subsidize BIPOC<br />
vendors.<br />
I would be very interested in hearing from any Wool<br />
and Folk 2023 vendors who questioned or opposed<br />
this racist charging system.<br />
I suspect this isn’t the last we’ll hear of Felicia. Having<br />
reinvented herself as a Dr, a political campaigner, a<br />
yarn store owner, a consultant, and an event organizer,<br />
I think we’ll be sure to see her in another incarnation<br />
soon enough.<br />
In trying to find out all about Felicia Eve, I have<br />
learned things I didn’t expect: my own class biases,<br />
Felicia’s overt racism, and the cost of a Brooklyn<br />
Brownstone townhouse.<br />
25
MAELSTROM HAT<br />
MATERIALS<br />
• Yarn: Chicken Lady Fiber Arts AMERICAUNA (dk)<br />
100% Superwash Merino 245 yd / <strong>11</strong>5g / 3-ply<br />
• Color A: “Blackety Black” 60g and<br />
• Color B: “Meh” 40g<br />
• 4 mm hook.<br />
• 3 mm hook for the band.<br />
• 2 Stitch markers.<br />
• Ruler or tape measure.<br />
• Tapestry needle.<br />
GAUGE<br />
• As you’re working to measurements; matching gauge isn’t essential.<br />
However, in the example shown 20 stitches x 15 rows = 4” x 4”<br />
SIZES<br />
All measurements exclude the brim. The height measurement looks short,<br />
when worn, however, the crown adds to the height.<br />
• Small, (crown diameter 5.5”, height from top of crown to bottom of band 8”)<br />
• Medium, (crown diameter 6”, height from top of crown to bottom of band 8.5”)<br />
• Large, (crown diameter 6.5”, height from top of crown to bottom of band 9”)<br />
NOTES<br />
• Do not join any round with a sl st unless the directions specify to do so.<br />
Work in a continuous spiral throughout.<br />
• Use 2 stitch markers to show the end of each half-round.<br />
• Except for row 1, all stitches are made into the very back loop of the stitches.<br />
This forces the front and middle loops forward to create the spiral pattern.<br />
• Take care when crocheting into the back bumps of sc and slip stitches.<br />
The second round can be particularly tricky as the back bump of a sc is often tight and hard to see.<br />
26
INSTRUCTIONS<br />
With color A make a magic circle.<br />
Round 1: With A, sc 4 into the circle. Place marker in 4th stitch.<br />
Join B next to the 4th stitch. Sc 4 into the circle. Place marker in the 8th stitch. (8 sts)<br />
Cinch the circle closed by gently pulling the tail of color A.<br />
From this point on, you will work half of each round in each color.<br />
Round 2: With A, 2hdc into the bump at the back of each sc until you reach the marker. (8 sts)<br />
With B, 2hdc into the bump at the back of each sc until the next marker. (8 sts) (16 sts total)<br />
After each round move both markers to the last stitch on each half of the circle.<br />
Round 3: With A, (2hdc, 1hdc) 4X. With B, (2hdc, 1hdc) 4X. Repeat around. (24 sts)<br />
Round 4: With A, (2hdc, [1hdc 2X]) 4X. With B, (2hdc, [1hdc 2X]) 4X. (32 sts)<br />
Round 5: With A, (2hdc, [1hdc 3X]) 4X. With B, (2hdc, [1hdc 3X]) 4X. (40 sts)<br />
Round 6: Following the pattern and colors as established (2hdc, [1hdc 4X]). (48 sts)<br />
Round 7: (2hdc, [1hdc 5X]). (56 sts)<br />
Continue increasing in this fashion until the diameter measures 5.5” (6”, 6.5”).<br />
Make a note of how many stitches you crocheted between increases on this final increase row.<br />
You’ll need this number (N) for the brim.<br />
From this point, 1 hdc into the back of every stitch around. Changing colors at the halfway point and moving<br />
the markers as you progress. Continue for 7.5” (8”, 8.5”) or until the hat rests just above the eyebrows.<br />
With color A: Sc1, sc1, sl1, sl1, break yarn and weave in ends.<br />
With Color B: Hdc until 8 stitches before where color A ends. Sc1, sc1, sl1, sl1, break yarn and weave in ends.<br />
BAND<br />
Turn the hat inside out. The following is the same pattern, in reverse, using one color only.<br />
Using a 3mm hook and color B, rejoin the yarn into the very back loop with a slip stitch.<br />
Sl1, sc1, sc1, hdc around for 1.5” finishing on the same side of the hat where you weaved in the ends.<br />
BRIM<br />
Turn the hat back to the right way around.<br />
Count ahead a few stitches and rejoin color B with a 4mm hook and a sl stitch.<br />
Sl1, sc1, sc1, hdc x (N), increase, hdc x(N), continue increasing in this fashion until<br />
a few stitches before the spot where you rejoined the yarn. Using a stitch marker,<br />
keep the live stitch secure.<br />
Join color A to the back bump of the next unworked stitch with a sl stitch.<br />
Sl1, sc1, sc1, hdc x (N+1), increase, hdc x (N+1), continue increases in the same way as for the crown.<br />
Continue around alternating the 2 colors and increasing in the same manner as for the<br />
crown until the brim is 1.5” deep (or your preferred depth).<br />
Continue in pattern with color B until you reach the back of the hat where you previously<br />
ejoined (the exact position isn’t important). Sc1, sc1, sl1, sl1, break yarn and weave in end.<br />
FINAL ROUND<br />
With color A: Sc into the back bump of every stitch around. Do not increase.<br />
When you complete the final round, sl1, sl1, sl1, break yarn and weave in ends.<br />
27
Dear Mr. West<br />
& fellow knitters,<br />
I take it back.<br />
Okay, I don't take it ALL back, but I take a huge<br />
chunk of what I said back in the previous issue of<br />
Blocked, about us all having a little more Stephen<br />
West in us.<br />
I do still believe we should be brave, try new<br />
things, and encourage our crafting tribe to step out of<br />
their comfort zone. I fully believe that, and I admired<br />
your zany patterns, bold color choices, and beautiful<br />
knitwear. It takes a confident knitter to follow your<br />
lead, Mr. West.<br />
Then you called us nazis. For a pattern YOU designed.<br />
For a pattern YOU had tested. For a pattern<br />
that you saw NOTHING WRONG WITH until a few select<br />
zealots chose to find hate and ugly where there<br />
was none.<br />
And I was on your side, for a bit. I said, "You know<br />
what, I can see it now that the idea was<br />
planted in my head. I COULD slightly see how someone<br />
could misconstrue the design into a hate symbol."<br />
So you offered up an alternative design, which I think<br />
was overkill. You could have nipped this ALL in the<br />
bud by simply saying "it's a pinwheel you idiots."<br />
But I get it, damage control, public relations, yada<br />
yada yada. So fine, you were kind enough to throw out<br />
an alternative pattern in ten minutes, for the whiners.<br />
Your business, your pattern, your choice. Fine. We are<br />
good to that point.<br />
Then, you dear sir, for whatever reason, decided<br />
that if anyone chose to knit the pattern that YOU designed<br />
(did we all forget that? HE DESIGNED THE<br />
DAMN THING), YOU decided and declared that those<br />
who knit the original clue, they were<br />
racists/nazis/homophobes.<br />
Um, sir? What? Excuse me? That's hella privileged<br />
to declare that folks just rip that crap right out<br />
and start over, when (from what I'm told), doing so<br />
would have likely wasted precious yarn. I don't know<br />
what rock you may live under, Mr. West, but times are<br />
tight. EVERYTHING costs more and there are many<br />
folks who save their precious dough for your stupid<br />
mystery make-a-longs, and that's the only one they'll<br />
do.<br />
Do you realize you basically just said "screw you,<br />
toss out your yarn, waste your money and if you don't<br />
you MUST be a nazi."<br />
The fact that I write this while an ENTIRE COUNTRY<br />
faces being wiped out by actual modern day 'nazi's',<br />
makes your wussy, lazy, faux rage declarations all the<br />
more abhorrent and awful. To quote Greta, how dare<br />
you? How dare you place such a description of people<br />
who simply want to make a shawl that YOU designed,<br />
because they love and admire your work? People who<br />
gave YOU their hard earned money, willing to spend<br />
their time knitting a shawl that is quite simply, a PIN-<br />
WHEEL design?<br />
I apologize for my ranting Dear Reader. So, should<br />
we still be like Stephen West?<br />
In some ways, yes. Be bold, confident, and brave in<br />
your knitting. Even if that means continuing to knit a<br />
design that very clearly is a simple pinwheel when<br />
folks tell you it's a hate symbol.<br />
But, when faced with stupidity that you know to be<br />
untrue, do not be like Mr. West and cave to the pressures<br />
of others. Know your truth, know your worth,<br />
know when you do the right thing and ignore the rest.<br />
Sometimes a pinwheel is just a pinwheel.<br />
~~Little Sis<br />
Two Sisters and Some Yarn<br />
©Yo-Yo<br />
28
Knitters were once<br />
made of tougher fiber.<br />
They saw actual<br />
swastikas on their<br />
streets, or in their skies,<br />
and did not crumble.<br />
These knitters faced<br />
physical harm and<br />
survived more than a<br />
mere bad day out at a<br />
yarn festival.<br />
"We shall go on to the<br />
end. We shall [knit] in<br />
France, we shall [knit] on<br />
the seas and oceans, we<br />
shall [knit] with growing<br />
confidence and growing<br />
strength in the air, we<br />
shall defend our<br />
[knitting], whatever the<br />
cost may be. We shall<br />
[knit] on the beaches, we<br />
shall [knit] on the<br />
landing grounds, we shall<br />
[knit] in the fields and in<br />
the streets, we shall [knit]<br />
in the hills; we shall<br />
never surrender."<br />
– Winston Churchill,<br />
1940.<br />
29
30<br />
by Tabitha of Murderkits
Bloggers<br />
& Vloggers<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
4<br />
5<br />
6<br />
7<br />
8<br />
9<br />
10<br />
<strong>11</strong><br />
12<br />
13<br />
14<br />
15<br />
16<br />
17<br />
18<br />
Adventures With Yarn - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbFHj9k5Uxc44g1pnlgiQjg<br />
For all the latest drama in the fibre world – Fun, quirky, and full of energy.<br />
Anna Knitter - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkE2h6s400fRkasl6zyX_jg<br />
A podcast about knitting and crocheting with glimpses of a roman-catholic life.<br />
Blocked Magazine - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAY880IYHF8gJ8b-UdEWAxQ<br />
For all the latest drama in the fibre world – including what didn’t make it into the magazine!<br />
Deprogrammed - https://www.youtube.com/c/KeriSmithDeprogrammed/featured<br />
Interviews intended to better understand and make sense of her old belief system, Social Justice ideology. Including those in the crafting community.<br />
Herd knitunity - https://herdknitunity.locals.com/<br />
Shepherd and ‘woolfluencer’, a sheep to sweater kinda gal.<br />
Knitty McPurly - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyIInmPUQGqoohNgUj0Zmow<br />
A virtual saint!<br />
Little Ragamuffin - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaogzXKmOJ9FO8fsjurrEcw/videos<br />
Sewing tutorials of both slow paced and quick speed styles, fun random sewing oddities, Ragamuffin news, and problematic interviews & conversations.<br />
Murder Knits - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbrSeXmJuT0_BglI_pzi1jg<br />
If your children watch, they'll become serial killers!<br />
Politically Incorrect Knitters - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm8CME6h72cFfQ7ZBNGCj5w<br />
Topical, informative, and fun!<br />
Skeinz Diaries - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCswGNOSxnHlPZsQMCC2YHxQ<br />
Take off your ‘gummies’, put your feet up and prepare for a ‘tiki tour’ of yarny goodness!<br />
High Fiber Diet - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzQ4cCawQzD6RDfwLhlZ0hQ/featured<br />
Thick skinned with no “F’s Given!”<br />
Two Sisters & Some Yarn - https://www.youtube.com/c/TwoSistersAndSomeYarn<br />
Two sisters and some yarn – is exactly what it says on the tin!<br />
Wise Owl Knits - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg8N6NhDdKf44_HigLiP4Ug<br />
Knitting Tutorials<br />
ShaunaStitches - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCOfV6wkBgB6288iVQ1V9Ww/videos<br />
Knitting, spinning, crochet, quilting, and many other crafts are shown and discussed.<br />
AStitchInTheSky - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCxq6HphzSbjU2lb7t8c6Ww/videos<br />
Knitting, sewing and all the things in between!<br />
Texas Peach Knits - https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC1zKQy-8XU8stQfmIzqe92w<br />
Knitting, crochet, sewing and all the things in between!<br />
Short Story Long - https://karensshortstorylong.blogspot.com/search/label/Knitting<br />
Knitting, photography, gardening, quilting, life.<br />
Yarn Chicken & Sh1t - https://youtube.com/@Yarn_Chicken_and_Sh1t?si=mWWmLHOJ8vNllAAh<br />
Shootin’ the Sh1t on yarn, chicken, orthodoxy and life<br />
31
SHELBEY<br />
GLASSPIE-LOGAN<br />
GAYE “GG”<br />
GLASSPIE<br />
ADELLA<br />
COLVIN<br />
GG and Shelbey<br />
organized the<br />
GoFundMe for<br />
Felicia and her<br />
String Thing Studio<br />
raising over $25K<br />
Adella organized her<br />
45,000 followers to<br />
cancel Kristy over a<br />
magazine cover.<br />
BFFs<br />
KRISTY<br />
GLASS<br />
Kristy Glass’ YouTube<br />
interview brought Felicia<br />
and her String Thing Studio<br />
into prominence.<br />
DR. FELICIA<br />
STENHOUSE EVE<br />
32
PRESIDENT<br />
BILL CLINTON<br />
SENATOR<br />
HILLARY CLINTON<br />
SENATOR<br />
JOSEPH BIDEN<br />
Felicia’s husband,<br />
Eric, worked as<br />
an advisor to<br />
President Clinton.<br />
AURTHUR<br />
EVE<br />
Felicia’s Father-in-Law<br />
was the Deputy Speaker<br />
of the NY Assembly.<br />
GOVERNOR<br />
CUOMO<br />
Felicia’s Sister-in-Law<br />
worked as an advisor<br />
to Senators Clinton,<br />
Biden and Governor<br />
Cuomo.<br />
ERIC<br />
EVE<br />
LEECIA<br />
EVE<br />
33
DISHIDENT #14<br />
by UKnitted Kingdom<br />
PATTERN DESCRIPTION<br />
Each issue of Blocked will contain a ‘secret’ pattern.<br />
The design will only be revealed as you knit.<br />
The instructions might uncover an image; a<br />
design, or a word/message.<br />
When using cotton these secret squares make<br />
excellent dishcloths. If you make 4 or 5 of each<br />
square in wool or acrylic they can be seamed<br />
together at the end of the year to make a small<br />
Afghan or lap blanket.<br />
GAUGE & MATERIALS<br />
Each dishident uses approximately<br />
41 to 43g of worsted weight 100% cotton.<br />
Follow the yarn manufacturer’s<br />
recommended needle size.<br />
DIRECTIONS<br />
← Row 1 [RS]: K45<br />
→ Row 2: K45<br />
← Row 3: K45<br />
→ Row 4: K45<br />
← Row 5: K45<br />
→ Row 6: K45<br />
← Row 7: K45<br />
→ Row 8: K4, p37, k4<br />
← Row 9: K45<br />
→ Row 10: K45<br />
← Row <strong>11</strong>: K45<br />
→ Row 12: K45<br />
← Row 13: K45<br />
→ Row 14: K45<br />
← Row 15: K45<br />
→ Row 16: K4, p37, k4<br />
← Row 17: K45<br />
→ Row 18: K4, p18, k1, p18, k4<br />
← Row 19: K45<br />
34<br />
Continued on next page...
Dishident Continued...<br />
→ Row 20: K4, p17, k3, p17, k4<br />
← Row 21: K45<br />
→ Row 22: K4, p16, (k2, p1) 2X, p15, k4<br />
← Row 23: K45<br />
→ Row 24: K4, p7, k23, p7, k4<br />
← Row 25: K45<br />
→ Row 26: K4, p8, k21, p8, k4<br />
← Row 27: K45<br />
→ Row 28: K4, p8, (p1, k2, p1) 2X, p6, (k2, p2) 2X, p7, k4<br />
← Row 29: K45<br />
→ Row 30: K4, p10, k4, p9, k4, p10, k4<br />
← Row 31: K45<br />
→ Row 32: K4, p10, (p1, k2, p10) 2X, p1, k4<br />
← Row 33: K45<br />
→ Row 34: K4, p10, k4, p9, k4, p10, k4<br />
← Row 35: K45<br />
→ Row 36: K4, p8, (p1, k2, p1) 2X, p6, (k2, p2) 2X, p7, k4<br />
← Row 37: K45<br />
→ Row 38: K4, p8, k21, p8, k4<br />
← Row 39: K45<br />
→ Row 40: K4, p7, k23, p7, k4<br />
← Row 41: K45<br />
→ Row 42: K4, p16, (k2, p1) 2X, p15, k4<br />
← Row 43: K45<br />
→ Row 44: K4, p17, k3, p17, k4<br />
← Row 45: K45<br />
→ Row 46: K4, p18, k1, p18, k4<br />
← Row 47: K45<br />
→ Row 48: K4, p37, k4<br />
← Row 49: K45<br />
→ Row 50: K45<br />
← Row 51: K45<br />
→ Row 52: K45<br />
← Row 53: K45<br />
→ Row 54: K45<br />
← Row 55: K45<br />
→ Row 56: K4, p37, k4<br />
← Row 57: K45<br />
→ Row 58: K45<br />
← Row 59: K45<br />
→ Row 60: K45<br />
← Row 61: K45<br />
→ Row 62: K45<br />
TIPS<br />
If preferred, slip the first OR the last stitch of every row to create a<br />
neater edge. When purling a stitch immediately after knitting a<br />
stitch; pull the excess yarn out of the purl stitch before knitting or<br />
purling on. This helps to reduce loose/baggy knit stitches.<br />
NOTES<br />
Occasionally a dishident or secret square might not be<br />
suitable for children and ‘polite company’. Where this is<br />
the case it will be made clear.<br />
If you would like to receive notifications of our next issue!<br />
Check out our Patreon!<br />
www.patreon.com/join/BlockedMagazine<br />
35
FOUR WINDS SHAWL<br />
DESIGNED AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY KAREN JULIANO<br />
MODEL: LEXI<br />
A few years ago, I took some photos of a beautifully weathered windmill at an outdoor wedding. After reading about<br />
the windmill-themed design challenge, I looked through those images and was inspired to make a shawl with sections<br />
that pivot like windmill blades. I sketched some ideas down on paper and then I watched the Blocked Magazine podcast<br />
episode titled, Number Knitting with Kelly of Knitswag. As I listened to them discuss Kelly’s knitting math project,<br />
the math pieces of this project came together, and I decided to rework my pattern so that the yarn would not have to be<br />
broken in honor of Virginia Woods Bellamy!<br />
MATERIALS:<br />
Needles: US 8/5mm, 40”/100cm long<br />
Yarn: Malabrigo Arroyo (100% Superwash Merino Wool 100<br />
gr/3.5 oz; 306 m/335 yds) AR043 Plomo (approx180 gr/625 –<br />
670 yds any sport weight yarn)<br />
1 stitch marker<br />
GAUGE:<br />
20 sts x 28 rows = 4” x 4” in St. st before blocking<br />
17 sts x 26 rows = 4” x 4” after blocking<br />
Exact gauge is not critical but a big variance will change the size<br />
of the finished object an the amount of yarn needed to finish.<br />
SIZE:<br />
51”/130cm wide, 22.5”/57cm deep at center “seam” after blocking<br />
NOTES:<br />
Wrapped Stitch: I use the German short-row method; here is a<br />
concise video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyg2s09Grhs<br />
Semi-stretchy bind off: K2 (pass second st over first st, yo, k1,<br />
pass yo and k1 over first st, k1) repeat.<br />
36
DIRECTIONS:<br />
FIRST BLADE<br />
CO 3 purlwise (3 st)<br />
Row 1: (RS): (K1, yo) 2X, k1 (5 sts)<br />
Row 2: (WS): (P1, k1 tbl) 2X, p1<br />
Row 3: K1, yo, k1, M1R, PM, k1, M1L, k1, yo, k1 (9 sts)<br />
Row 4: P1, k1 tbl, p5, k2<br />
Row 5: K1, yo, k3, M1R, SM, k1, M1L, k1, yo, p1, k1, p1 (13 sts)<br />
Row 6: K1, p1, k1, p to last 2 sts, k2<br />
Row 7: K1, yo, k to marker, M1R, SM, k1, M1L, k to last 5 sts,<br />
ssk, yo, k1, p1, k1 (inc’d 3 sts)<br />
Row 8: P1, k1, p1, p to last 2 sts, k2<br />
Row 9: K1, yo, k to marker, M1R, SM, k1, M1L, k to last 5 sts,<br />
ssk, yo, p1, k1, p1 (inc’d 3 sts)<br />
Row 10: K1, p1, k1, p to last 2 sts, k2<br />
Work last 4 rows 17 times more (121 sts)<br />
Work row 7 once more. (with RS facing, 80 sts to right of<br />
marker, 44 to left – 124 total stitches)<br />
Row 80: (WS): P1, k1, p1, k121<br />
Row 81: (RS): K1, yo, k79, SM, k39, ssk, yo, p1, k1, p1 (125 total<br />
sts - 81 sts to right of marker, 44 to left)<br />
Row 82: K1, p1, k to 1 st before marker, wrap st and turn.<br />
Row 83: K to last 5 sts, ssk, yo, k1, p1, k1<br />
Row 84: Work semi-stretchy bind-off: K2 (pass second st over<br />
first st, yo, k1, pass yo and k1 over first st, k1) repeat to 2 sts<br />
before marker. You now have one st on the RH needle, and the<br />
wrapped st on the LH needle. K st together with wrap, SM, k1,<br />
turn work. There should now be 3 live sts on LH needle, as well<br />
as 80 sts held from first blade.<br />
Repeat Rows 7-10 for 17x more; 2 held sts remain.<br />
Work row 7 once more. (126 sts - with RS facing right to left: 2<br />
held sts, 80 live sts right of marker, 44 live sts left of marker.)<br />
Row 80: (WS): P1, k1, p1, k to end; WYIF, sl last 2 sts to RH<br />
needle. All held sts should now be incorporated into live work.<br />
Row 81: (RS): Knit first stitch together with 2 slipped sts, yo, k<br />
to last 5 sts, ssk, yo, p1, k1, p1 (125 sts - 81 sts to right of M, 44<br />
on left) **<br />
Row 82: K1, p1, k to 1 st before marker, wrap st and turn.<br />
Row 83: K to last 5 sts, ssk, yo, k1, p1, k1<br />
Row 84: Work semi-stretchy BO to 2 sts before marker. You<br />
now have one st on the RH needle, and the wrapped st on the<br />
LH needle, K st together with wrap, SM, k1, turn.<br />
There should now be 3 sts live on LH needle, as well as 80 sts<br />
held from first blade.<br />
THIRD BLADE<br />
Work as for Second Blade.<br />
FOURTH BLADE<br />
Work as for Second Blade to **<br />
Row 82 (WS): K1, p1, k to end<br />
Row 83 (RS): K to last 5 sts, ssk, yo, k1, p1, k1<br />
Row 84: Work semi-stretchy BO until all sts are bound off.<br />
Weave in ends. Block to dimensions using blocking wires or<br />
preferred method to emphasize points.<br />
SECOND BLADE<br />
Row 1: K1, yo, SM, k1, yo, k1 (5 sts)<br />
Row 2: (P1, k1 tbl) 2X, p1, WYIF, sl 2 sts held from first blade;<br />
turn (7 sts)<br />
Row 3: Knit first stitch together with 2 slipped sts, yo, k1, M1R,<br />
SM, k1, M1L, k1, yo, k1, turn (9 sts)<br />
Row 4: P1, k1 tbl, p5, k2, WYIF, sl 2 held sts, turn (<strong>11</strong> sts)<br />
Row 5: Knit first stitch together with 2 slipped sts, yo, k3, M1R,<br />
SM, k1, M1L, k1, yo, p1, k1, p1, turn (13 sts)<br />
Row 6: K1, p1, k1, p4, SM, p4, k2, WYIF, sl 2 held sts, turn (15<br />
sts)<br />
Row 7: Knit first stitch together with 2 slipped sts, yo, k to<br />
marker, M1R, SM, k1, M1L, k to last 5 sts, ssk, yo, k1, p1, k1,<br />
turn (inc’d 3 - 16 sts)<br />
Row 8: P1, k1, p1, p to last 2 live sts, k2, WYIF, sl 2 held sts, turn<br />
(18 sts)<br />
Row 9: Knit first stitch together with 2 slipped sts, yo, k to<br />
marker, M1R, SM, k1, M1L, k to last 5 sts, ssk, yo, p1, k1, p1,<br />
turn (inc’d 3 - 19 sts)<br />
Row 10: K1, p1, k1, p to last 2 live sts, k2, WYIF, sl 2 held sts,<br />
turn (21 sts)<br />
37
NEEDS YOU!<br />
© 2022 Conley Olson, @NantucketStudios<br />
WE’RE LOOKING FOR:<br />
• Test Knitters/Crocheters<br />
• Podcasters/Vloggers<br />
• Designers<br />
• Writers<br />
• Artists<br />
If you are interested in<br />
being a contributor<br />
email: blockedmagazine@gmx.com<br />
Themes for issue submissions:<br />
Issue 12 (Dec/Jan): Under the Ivy<br />
Issue 13 (Jan/Feb): Murder/Mystery<br />
Issue 14 (Mar/Apr): Bear Arms<br />
Issue 15 (May/Jun): Heroes<br />
These themes can be interpreted literally, figuratively, or in any way the titles make you feel.<br />
For example, a designer could take ‘Under the Ivy’ literally and have intarsia ivy on a shawl or<br />
think more laterally to see what the word ‘ivy’ evokes from them.<br />
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NEXT ISSUE<br />
Triangle Shawl Recipes<br />
Mitten design competition entries<br />
Sweater Design book reviews<br />
A fabulous crochet pattern<br />
by Karen Whooley<br />
and more!<br />
Acknowledgments<br />
<strong>BLOCKED</strong> has been made<br />
possible by the generosity and<br />
goodwill of far too many people to<br />
name individually.<br />
Thank you to all the designers,<br />
writers, photographers, artists,<br />
patrons, advertisers and, of<br />
course you the reader.