crysthewolf | Hooray for New Yarn!

So for the first time in evar and evar, I ACTUALLY have a bit of extra cash. I decided I want to spend a teeeeeeensy bit of it, on this site: http://www.knitpicks.com . The self-striping sock yarn makes me go oooo and aaaaaaaah. I’m so excited. I haven’t decided what I want to get yet tho. Here’s the self-striping sock-yarn section… any suggestions?

For the time being I’ve been working on the ever-elusive afghan project (no, it’s not a suicide bomber. Elana already beat you to that joke, sorry.) I picked a color, picked a pattern from “Beginner’s Guide - Knit Stitches and Easy Projects“, and this is what I’ve got so far:

From knitting

It makes me happy. I like the horshoe stitch in particular…

From knitting

it just feels very, flow-ey. Is that a word? And if so, am I butchering it? =)

Been mostly working it while Chris and I get caught up on Battlestar Galactica (DO NOT spoil me. I’m only just starting season 3. If you aren’t sure what you’ve seen in which season, JUST DON’T TALK ABOUT IT. I am SERIOUSLY sick of being spoiled on this show, and I WILL eat you.) I’m hoping to be caught up by the finale… and I’m equally hopeful that someone will throw a finale party.

It’s nice to be making an afghan but it’s definitely an exercise in patience. The therapist suggests DO NOT PULL OUT THE PROJECT AND START OVER.

So NOW the question becomes… do I stick with a solid color, or do I vary??? Hmmmm, decisions decisions…

Love,
Crystal

Originally published at Crystal Knits. You can comment here or there.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

mycybertuffet.livejournal.com

African American Vernacular English (i.e. Ebonics).

And c'mon ... you have to admit that the story wouldn't be half as funny if it wasn't for *how* you tell it, and not just the words she said. It's not a slam against African-American culture, but it *is* racially-based humor.

I actually think it's important to broaden the classical definition of racism, sexism, and bigotry in general. It's because we have racism so narrowly defined that people are under the delusion that it's over now that we've elected a black president. It's because sexism is viewed so narrowly that so many people seem to think that it stopped entirely now that women have the right to vote and often work outside the home - and why so many people who are *obviously* sexist can't see it in themselves. We may have a lot of the big things taken care of, but to narrowly define racism to those big things means that cease to acknowledge or fight the countless small, subtle things that, taken together, are just about as pernicious and damaging to the spirit of a people.

I'm not saying that we need to see *everything* as racism. Just that we need to acknowledge the deceptive ease with which things can slide towards that place. If we only acknowledge big, obvious things as racism, then racism becomes something that's only other peoples problem, and not something we bear any responsibility for in ourselves. We allow ourselves to become complacent under the assumption that racism is a thing of the past, or endemic to only a few super-backward types. But it's not It's everywhere. It's so everywhere that we can't even see it. And it effects everything in our society. People are still hurting - but the problem is, if racism is narrowly defined, they don't know how or why. It's like when the term "abuse" just covered physical or sexual abuse, and totally ignored emotional and psychological abuse. People who talked about them were pretty much looked at whiners. Emotional abuse is often very, very subtle, and trying to form a comprehensive definition of it that leaves no room for error is nearly impossible. But denying its existence allows it to flourish - and allows people like my parents to feel comfortable in the knowledge that they're not doing anything wrong - because after all, it's not like they *hit* thei kids or anything, right? And their victims believe that too, because after all, they haven't had anything *really* all that bad happen to them, right? They've only had their souls nibbled away almost imperceptibly over time. It's just a fact of life for everyone involved, so they don't notice.

I also think we need to keep broadening our definitions because we need to continually reach for a more perect, more just society. Before the Civil War, racism equalled slavery. Full citizenship for blacks was almost inconceivable. Forty-five years ago, rape was something violent that strangers did to you - what Joan's fiance did to her on 'Mad Men' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6zZYCb-hyQ, if you haven't seen it) was called a "bad date," something pretty much all women had, and they were viewed as something to be brushed off and forgotten. But, thank God, we broadened our definitions. And in broadening our definitions, we broadened our thinking. And by acknowledging that treating blacks as second-class citizens was racism, it didn't take anything away from what their ancestors had endured as slaves. Just as by acknowledging date rape for the horror and abomination that it is, we aren't diminishing the suffering of the women of Darfur.

From:

crysthewolf.livejournal.com

I think that people who think racism and sexism don't exist anymore are woefully (and sometimes intentionally) ignorant... but that's because true racism and sexism DO still exist... and if folks think it doesn't, I can introduce them to my mother, who really believes (somehow) that all black people are stupid and lazy and bashes them behind their backs (and sometimes to their faces), that all Mexicans are dirty liars who are trying to steal American jobs, and that women are incapable of holding public office without their periods getting in the way.

To me, if a joke I'm telling is adding to a negative-stereotype of a particular culture, then I don't want to tell it because it's destructive. And it may well be (and I'd be lying if I'd said that idea had never crossed my mind.)

I think, though, that because of my background, I don't tend to think of a particular vernacular being the sole property of a particular race.

LOL, but you haven't met Roger, have you? ;)

From:

crysthewolf.livejournal.com

This is a far heavier subject than I ever expected to have on knitting blog!!!

From:

mycybertuffet.livejournal.com

But the thing is, a lot of stereotypes do come from *somewhere* - even if the reasons behind them are more complex than just "they're weird" or "they just inherently suck." And I think it's really important to be able to acknowledge that these dynamics exist, otherwise we just shut down the conversation and paralyze everybody. We all *know* that certain cultures have certain tendencies. We can't force ourselves to deny our own perceptions of reality. Jokes, if told mindfully, are a vital way of keeping the dialogue open.

From:

crysthewolf.livejournal.com

*nods* to me, I think it depends on what effect they're having. The joke keeps a dialogue open. However, I would prefer that dialogue be about our culture, even poverty, in general at least as much as it is African American culture (because, like I said, the woman could have been from any background. What I knew about her was that she had a lot of children who were making a lot of noise and that she couldn't remember the name of the father of one of them.) However, if it becomes a point where the joke becomes fuel for a person to think that "all black people are poor" and "all black women have too many kids by too many different babies' fathers," I don't think it stops at being offensive... I think it breaks into territory where you're suddenly dealing with what people think of as a good excuse to put other people down.

One of the reasons I emphasize that I really DON'T know the culture of this woman, is that I believe that her problem goes beyond culture. The depth of complacency about her own situation that this woman was dealing with is a societal issue... and we all know that it isn't just an issue in the African American community.

I also think that where I end up with this whole thing is that I draw a sharp distinction between "racist" and "racial".

I draw a distinction between the two because I think one of the reasons people DO get up in arms is because they think that everything "racial" is automatically "racist". If I'm noticing a difference between my culture and yours, I must be putting you down, and that's not always the case.

I'll tell you something that usually pisses people off when I say it... race is a social construct. It doesn't mean it's bad, it doesn't mean it's good, and it CERTAINLY doesn't mean that racism doesn't exist... or that people shouldn't be proud of their heritage. It means that race isn't where the discussion should end, and it often does. When it comes to the ills of society, they're really only about one race... and that's humanity.

Which sounds completely cheesy I know... but it's true.

Does race, heritage, history, culture, play IN? Of course. Does that make us all a bunch of racists? Mm, no, not really.

From:

mycybertuffet.livejournal.com

Just want to say that to me, it wasn't a story making fun of black people - it was just that the way she spoke added a lot of "flavor" to it all. (In other words, don't stop telling the story, cuz it's awesome.)

I agree with you that not everything racial is racist, but I just think that there's a lot of gray area in between the two.

From:

crysthewolf.livejournal.com

*nods* very true.

From:

crysthewolf.livejournal.com

You have these discussions on a pretty regular basis. Where on EARTH do you get the energy to keep going with them?

Maybe it's just that my current job kinda wears me out, but damn girl, I gotta sleep sometime, LOL.

From:

mycybertuffet.livejournal.com

Eh, I don't have them all that often.

I think my energy comes from the fact that I'm often doing this when I *should* be doing my job. And my job is boring, so this actually *gives* me energy - it's a way for me to stay connected to the world, I guess.

From:

crysthewolf.livejournal.com

*nods* sometimes I feel like my work is draining the life out of me because I'm not really DOing anything. Just having arbitrary arguments about things that the people who SHOULD be having, aren't. =P