alisonknits

I Love Liberal Christians

Annie Lamotts gets it. [registration may be required] Voices like hers are the antidote for hateful voices like Bill Frist saying that Democrats are "against people of faith." That statement just makes me want to spit. Against people of faith?! How DARE he?

I bought a button a few months ago that asks "Who would Jesus bomb?"

The F-word

Lately I've been thinking a lot about feminism. I have identified myself as a feminist most of my life (probably since I first heard the term); it always seemed obvious to me. The dictionary defines feminism as "the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes." Who in 2005 would disagree with that? Yet, when I ask my male friends if they are feminists, none of them can say a resounding yes. And I have pretty liberal friends. Even more alarming to me is that feminism is a dirty word even among women.

Well, explains my husband, people associate feminists with the angry, castrating bitch type. (Okay, he didn't use these exact words. But that was the jist as I heard it.) But I realized that the abhorance of the castrating bitch / feminist has to do with the notion, unconscious as it may be, that women are not supposed to be angry. Angry women are ugly. (But I am angry. Women are still earning 75 cents on the dollar. It's 2005, people! How can we still be so far behind?!)

As I chewed on this, I realized that anger is considered inappropriate and unattractive no matter what your gender. Just look at what happened to Howard Dean.

But I do think gender stereotypes and limited opportunities and the glass ceiling are all very much alive and well in our culture. They're just a little more subtle than they were 50 years ago.

Anyway... so that's what's on my mind lately. And for a critical look at the late pope's record on issues affecting women (as well as the responsibilities of the privileged), check out my friend Rev. Alison Miller's sermon from last week. It caused some controversy in our congregation, but also garnered much praise. She believes (as do I) in "comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable." Perhaps this went too far on the latter for some people.

Obligatory Knitting Content

I've been knitting on the I Do shrug and am nearly finished. I hope to finish it tonight, actually. It's a really enjoyable knit. I've also been spinning some lovely raspberry-colored corriedale wool. I spun enough to ply a bit of it to test how I've been doing, and I think it's coming out well. The only think is in my swatch you can really see the two plies, rather than it looking like one yarn. But I'm pleased with the relatively even thickness.

Pictures soon... I'm writing this at work (and surely going to hell for slacking).

Spring Knitty Fever

The spring Knitty is out, and I think it's really good.  I might make this, or this, or this. But what I'm really thinking about doing - may cast on tonight, even at this late hour - is this.  You see, I happen to have some of the discontinued Karabella Frost stashed, and have been feeling compelled to knit a lacy shrug with it.  But I also want to make a shrug that I've got designed in my head, as well as a shrug that my friend Lisa has coming out in the summer Interweave.  Well, I own about four lace shawls... maybe having three shrugs won't be such a bad thing... they seem very practical.

I also have plans to go to Seaport Yarn tomorrow to buy some Southwest Trading Company bamboo yarn for a poncho that I designed last fall but didn't get to keep the sample.  (Perhaps I could have if I had asked... but I didn't know if that would seem impertinent.  Plus this way I get to pick the color.)

And have I finished the lace top or cable cardi I'm supposedly working on?  Of course not.  The lace top is all but abandoned (long story), and I decided I wanted plain sleeves so they're not so inspiring to work on.

Meanwhile, I'm waiting with bated breath for more fiber to spin!  I ordered some raspberry-colored Corriedale and some multi-colored merino (purples and blues, of course) from Kendig Cottage, which seems to have very good service so far.  I've spun all the fiber I was given to practice with, and after attempting to knit some of what I spun, I realized that I need to spin more loosely - I'm giving it too much twist so it feels stiff to work with.  Still, I'm pretty happy with my efforts so far - I've managed to get it pretty even.  I also have ordered three spinning books to further my education.

Yup, I've definitely got my fiber mojo back.

I can make yarn!

I took a spinning class on Saturday at Yarnivore.  It was great!  Rose is a very good teacher, and there were just two of us in the class.  I had tried spinning once before, when a customer at the shop I was working in tried to show me on her drop spindle.  It seemed really hard, and I couldn't coordinate all the steps.  This time, the way Rose explained it made perfect sense and both me and the other woman in the class had little trouble picking up this new skill.

And I love it!  I spun a lot over the rest of the weekend, and here's what I had by Monday morning:

Rose also demonstrated on a wheel, and now I really want one.  I have to wait until I have a house, though - there's no way I could make space for one in my tiny apartment.  I figure that gives me several months to practice and to figure out what kind of wheel I want.

Last night I plied what I'd spun, and I have an actual ball of yarn!  I don't know if it's really useable, since it's pretty uneven, but I can definitely see how I've improved.

It's so exciting to be learning something new.