Knitting has always been political!

Earlier this week, I wrote a post about how the world was reacting to our recent federal election.  In an e-mail I read from former Ontario NDP MP Charlie Angus, he included a quote from a Ukrainian journalist, Victor Kravchuk, who wrote in his piece entitled The Nation That Could Never Break: “I'VE NEVER WALKED YOUR STREETS. Never seen your beautiful lakes. I don't really know your provinces, your debates, or your daily worries. But this morning, from a war zone half a world away, I was reading about your election. And for the first time in days, I exhaled. A small, almost invisible breath. Relief. Because what you chose is not just a leader. You, my Canadian friends, you chose goodness in a collapsing world. And you saved more than just your country. You saved a piece of hope for all of us.”  In my post, I commented, “I felt such a surge of national pride. We don't often think of Canada as holding the spotlight on the world stage. Yes, we are strong and valued contributors to world democracy and we will always defend it with every ounce of our being. But, as a nation, we have usually been overshadowed - sort of like being the younger sibling of someone who is very vocal about their achievements. No longer. We have stepped out of the shadows and are standing up for the things that we value here in Canada - and the world is taking note.”

One response I received?  “I’m unfollowing because you seem to be all politics lately and I am searching for knitting things that take my mind off all that.”  Admittedly, approximately 25% of my more recent posts have included commentaries on politics and other national and international events.  We here in Canada are living in unprecedented times.  Never in our nearly 160 year existence have we been threatened with annexation by a country that we used to consider to be our neighbour and closest ally and whose citizens were like family.  We were just involved in an election where a major political party was supported by Elon Musk and JD Vance and whose platform consisted of 3-word slogans including “Canada is Broken” (so far from the truth).  The leader of this political party screened all questions from the press and would not allow follow-up questions.  His most rabid followers harassed people in the voting lines, carried “F*ck Carney” flags and promoted the truckers’ convoy with flags bearing swastikas and support for Trump.  

Yes, I am a knitter.  Yes, my business and related social media accounts are designed to share that love of the fibre arts and to ideally help folks learn what they may need to enjoy knitting as much as I do.  But that doesn’t mean that I exist solely as a form of escapism.  There is a person behind this business who is horrified by much of what has been taking place lately.  I have stated on numerous occasions (and still stand behind the statement) that, if I do not speak out against what I see as atrocities, then I am complicit.  To expect that a knitter will never speak of politics means that you don’t know history.  Tricoteuses (French knitters) were known for knitting the “red cap of liberty”, a symbol of the French Revolution.  It is claimed that these tricoteuses watched the public executions in Paris while knitting these symbols of freedom and liberty.  In “A Tale of Two Cities”, Madame Defarge, the ringleader of les tricoteuses, used stitches related to specific letters of the alphabet to create a list of names of those who were condemned to die.  More recently, knitters and crocheters united to create “pussyhats” that were worn to protest Trump, his misogynism and objectification of women.  So many pink “pussyhats” were made that the US sold out of pink yarn!

Knitting is a wonderful tool for relaxation and creates a community.  During our weekly “Ewe Love to Knit” nights, we share what’s on our needles.  We also share our lives.  Many a night, our conversations revolve around current events and politics.  Perhaps it is the calming effect of knitting, but never once has a battle broken out during these chats.  That’s why I find it so surprising that a small number of folks think that knitters should keep politics and social discourse out of their social media feeds.  I am not the only person/business in the knitting community who has faced backlash in this regard.  In 2020, Loretta Napoleoni wrote in The Power of Knitting:  “A good knitter always has the courage to undo her work and fix a big mistake.”  If we as knitters can find the mettle to frog an entire sweater that is not turning out as it should, we also have the resolve to recognize mistakes in the real world and do everything in our power to correct them in order to leave behind a better world for those whom we love and those who follow in our fibre footsteps.