I wanted to share a few interesting and/or fun things currently going on in the fiber community:
NFC Momentum Fund
First, Neighborhood Fiber Co. and it’s owner Karida Collins has been featured in a WBALtv segment on her new NFC Momentum Fund. The fund is designed to disperse donations through the Baltimore Community Foundation to a variety of non-profits and charities supporting local causes and work for justice, equality and empowerment. They are just over $6k away from their $100k goal. Baltimore is where I spent most of my childhood, and where family and friends still live, so its great to see somebody driving so much good there.
Free Knit Stars Class – Diane Ivey of Lady Dye Yarns
Through July 17th, people can watch the Knit Stars 4.0 workshop by Diane Ivey of Lady Dye Yarns in which she “shares a historical perspective and teaches us how to build more inclusive communities, together” for free.
emPower People 2020
Diane Ivey teamed up with three others: Casapinka (designer), Laverne of BzyPeach, and Ashley Jackson of AJacksonIllustrations to create emPower People 2020 . This is “a craftivism project aimed at uniting crafters of all mediums to engage people across communities to spark conversation, engagement and action in the political process to uphold social justice and human rights.” Use one of the bandana patterns (knit, crochet or sew) to make a purple bandana and show your support by wearing it when “speaking against injustice, attending gatherings, marching or voting.”
For those familiar with the pussy hats from 2016, this feels like a more carefully thought out and expanded version of the pussy hats. The sea of pink at marches was impressive and inspiring, but people rightly called out that many women’s marches felt very white (though black women had started many of them) and like they excluded the LGBTQ+ community. emPower People is committing to:
- Embrace Humanity – We all want to be treated as human beings
- Embrace Family – We all want to protect and provide for our loved ones
- Embody Community – We all want marginalized communities to be safe from law enforcement
- Emphasize Equality – We believe that women’s* rights and LGBTQIA+ rights are human rights.
(*All people who identify as women) - Emancipate Equity – We want equity and social mobility for all
Now I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that the next installment of Clan of Igor yarn is purple… because I don’t have any purple DK yarn. If not, maybe I’ll hold a skein of fingering weight double. Because I really really can’t justify buying more yarn right now…
Speaking of yarn…
If I was going to buy yarn, I’d be tempted by this years’ Bike Rally yarn by Indigodragonfly, from which “A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each skein will be donated to the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation in honour of team knit: Steph, Cameron, Pato, and Ken.” The usual Bike Rally has been cancelled due to the pandemic, but Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka Yarn Harlot) and her friends are still biking for the cause. Indigodragonfly has a post about how they designed the colors.
I think the linen/silk lace weight is particularly lovely. I’m going to stop looking at it now.
More reasons not to buy yarn
I’ve been making more of my own! I’ve started in on the latest art batt. I decided to start with the purple/white half and I love how it’s turning out:
