Straw Man

By now you've probably heard: A few days ago, the US Olympics committee sent a cease and desist letter to Ravelry over their use of the term "ravelympics". Twitter went crazy, and the story was picked up by Gawker and NPR picked up the story. The committee wrote a somewhat lackluster apology, followed by another apology which seemed to calm everyone down, myself included. Amid this indecent, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the yarn harlot herself, wrote her own blog post on the issue, which was quickly and widely circulated. Her post was generally more level-headed than most of the other blog posts and passionate 140-character words of indignation I came across. I respect and (mostly) agree with her take on the issue: the committee had every right to defend their name, and to send the sheep and desist letter (couldn't resist- thanks to the Savvy Girls for the great pun). However, I still feel like much of the anger over the incident was totally justified.

The Yarn Harlot's post, at least if she was looking at the same arguments I was (which is a big if), was actually somewhat of a straw man argument. A straw man argument, as I learned in my Freshman-year logic and critical thinking class, is when you distort or misrepresent someone's position and then argue against THAT position, not their actual position. Here's a (somewhat silly) example:

Person A: I just don't like sock knitting. I like than I can get a nice, inexpensive pair of socks at the store. Person B: Aha! So you think that anyone who knits socks is wasting their time? I knit socks, so you're saying that I'm wasting my time!

Person B is upset, but he/she is not representing person A's argument accurately. Person A never said that it was a waste of time to knit socks, he/she just said 'I don't like it'. If person B likes it, rock on. So the Yarn Harlot's point is totally valid, IF the argument was that the committee was wrong in protecting their trademark, that we should all boycott the Olympics, and that knitting is just as hard as being an Olympic athlete. I'm sure that some of the arguments going around were just that, and I can get behind her in her counterarguments for that. There seems, though, to be a big chunk of the argument left out here. There was a particular outrage that wasn't about trademarks, or profit, or even about hurt feelings. It was about the very non-boilerplate language used in the letter (which is why people were still upset after the first apology), which was incendiary and belittling. The passage people were particularly up in arms about was:

"We believe using the name “Ravelympics” for a competition that involves an afghan marathon, scarf hockey and sweater triathlon, among others, tends to denigrate the true nature of the Olympic Games. In a sense, it is disrespectful to our country’s finest athletes and fails to recognize or appreciate their hard work."

This language is incredibly condescending. It not only implies that knitting is not work, but more more importantly, in the words of the knitmore girls, it "address[es] a group that is primarily made up of women and treat[s] us like we're foolish, stupid, and easily bullied."

We collectively decided to not be the easily bullied, sweet little grandma knitting in a rocking chair. Even many who were actually grandmas, and/or knitting in rocking chairs. I think we can be proud of that.

Starting My First Sweater, a Reflection on Knitting as a Hobby

In the recent revival of Upstairs Downstairs, there is a significant plot point which revolves around hand-winding a hank of white wool. I won't mention the details because it would spoil too much, but I will say that I caught on to the mystery more quickly than my husband because as a knitter, the inclusion of an earlier scene involving the wool left an impression on me that was lost on him. My point in bringing this up is that in the movie, the wool yarn was something that was lovingly wound and cared for, not just a means to an end. This part of the series took place around 1936. The Regency Period, on the other hand, took place from around 1790-1820. A lot changed between these times, and a lot has changed from then to now.

In the early 1800s, hand knitting was done out of necessity, either by homemakers trying to be sure their family was warmly dressed (machine knitting was still relatively new), or as a relatively low-skill and low-wage trade for the working class. Was it a hobby as well? Perhaps—I can’t say for sure since I wasn’t there. The general impression I get, though, is that before the industrial revolution and the wide-spread use of knitting machines, hand knitting was something you did out of necessity, not for fun.

Fast forward to 2011, when a brand new machine knit sweater costs about $20-$40 at a department store. Those who know I am a knitter often see me wearing one of these, and ask “did you make that?”, to which I admit that I buy sweaters just like everyone else. I’ve been knitting only a few years, and have yet to tackle an entire sweater.

However, I've decided to follow the current knit-a-long for the Knitmore Girls, where I will tackle my FIRST hand-knit sweater. It’s the Rocky Coast Cardigan from Coastal Knits. I received the pattern in the mail on Friday, and hope to go buy the yarn this weekend. I could not be more excited. And contrary to the other comments I often receive about how knitting things for yourself will save money, this sweater will cost me a great deal more than just buying one in the store. The book with the pattern in it is $27.25 after shipping. The yarn I’m hoping to get (a mid-grade wool) is approximately $55. To top that off, the time spent making the sweater will be considerably more than just hopping in the car and picking up something at the store. Believe me: I don’t knit to save money. This is my hobby.

Is anyone else doing this knit-a-long?

The Obligatory First Post

Every blog has to start somewhere. I've hemmed and hawed over what my perfect first post would be for months. Should I do a book review? A description of something I just finished knitting? An interview with an author? A funny story? What would be a good introduction to what I want to do on this blog?

In time, I decided I would just start with the litany of sentence fragments above and be done with it (many apologies to my husband, who makes his living editing such nonsense). As the name of this blog implies, I hope to write primarily about two things I love in life: knitting, and literature/movies set in the Regency period.

A few things you should know about me before we get started:
1) Jane Austen is my favorite Regency period author, but I am not at all opposed to modern day Austen knock-offs, or even fan fiction. More on that in a later post.
2) I started knitting a few summers ago on a whim, but didn't get really infatuated with it until I found out about Ravelry. Now I'm totally hooked!

Stay tuned for an upcoming review of Jane Austen Knits, published by Interweave Press. Appropriate, isn't it? I thought so, too.