Baby Hat

Once again, thanks to Last Minute Knitted Gifts for a cute and easy pattern. My first attempt at this one came out very nicely even though I dropped a stitch and had to find a way to fix it a couple of rows later. This is not something I know how to do...but somehow I managed to end up with a flaw I'd have to point out for you to see. Woo hoo! The color is much more of a dusty blue than the picture indicates. I didn't make this for anyone in particular so it'll hang around the craft room whilst more people we know cook up some babies. I did try it on Penny, but it was too big and she didn't like it anyways.

The regulars are becoming irregular

Sometimes I just don't have any motivation - or content - to complete my regular posts on time. So I've decided to just allow them to happen when destiny dictates. Hopefully that will lead me to focus more on crafts and less on being angry about crazy people!

Joe's New Hat!

I shrunk the original hat and it's definitely wearable now, but I made another one for Joe anyways. This one is just a very basic wool in a fun red! It's the same pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts but I had more help on the sizing this time, and I got the idea for the little i-cord loop from a friend's hat. Something on top just makes the head look less bulbous.

Friday's Sweet Stuff: Studio Mela prints

Working out of the Lake Minnetonka area is Studio Mela, which makes some very cute poster prints and cards. They were posted on Etsy by Dazeychic, but I think the prints are actually made by Shelli. I had a hard time picking one to show here, so I chose three.


"So Very Happy" is a signed and number 8x10 print for $23. There is another, newer version with a pink background, too.


"So True" is an 8x10 print for $18.


"Little Flats" is a signed and numbered 8x10 print for $20.

Wednesday's Comment Call-out: More on selling virginity

Well, here it is. One of the scathing comments that lacks any resemblance to decent, human concern for each other.

"I think the oddest part of all this is something that people rarely seem to comment on in all the attention that stories like this seem to generate:

'I'm a 22-year-old woman who recently earned her Bachelor's Degree in Women's Studies, and soon I'll be entering a Masters Degree program in Marriage and Family Therapy.'

Four years of your life have been devoted to 'Women's Studies,' and this is the best you can do? This is what you've learned in four years - to sell your ass? And you're proud of yourself for having the idea? You think that with publicity like what you've had, that you're ever going to find a job in 'Marriage and Family Therapy' anywhere? Nobody who wants to run a reputable clinic is going to touch you with a ten-foot pole.

'Hi, Mr. & Mrs. Jones. We've set you up with one of our newest therapists. You may remember her as having been the woman who sold her virginity on the internets. She'll get you both fixed right up.'

While it's laughable (and beyond ironic)to see what feminism has degraded into over the last ten or twenty years, it's still sad to see people who trumpet themselves as educated wallow in prostitution and call it feminine oriented capitalism.

I weep for you and those like you."

No you don't. You love passing judgment! "Internets," by the way, is not my misspelling. Once again, I can't get over how vindictive people are to those who don't share the same views. The commentator basically wishes Natalie Dylan ill. I don't think she'll have any trouble getting a job. Natalie Dylan has to be a pretty common name, and I'm guessing she's not going to put "sold my virginity" on her resume. And I'm guessing most employers don't have a wanted poster with her photo on it behind the desk. If you're wondering where feminism is today, it's not degraded - nor is it a pillar of puritanism. It's an ideology that probably leads the employers Dylan will apply for jobs with to believe in her prerogative to do what she deems right for herself.

Monday's Wise Words: Selling your virginity

Natalie Dylan, who is selling her virginity and has received a whole lot of attention because of it, wrote an explanation of sorts for The Daily Beast recently. In the article, she describes her traditional childhood belief in purity and sanctity and so on, but that her whole moral code changed in college as she was educated on the historical and current status of "woman" and "virgin." It's interesting to see where she's coming from, and my favorite part is when she points out that "for what it's worth, the winning bid won't necessarily be the highest -- I get to choose."

My favorite comment on her story is this one:

"Okay, but seriously, the objection from the more traditional feminist viewpoint (I know, "Mom, get out of here!") is that establishing a price for sex with a virgin reinforces the patriarchy's viewpoint that the value of a woman is set by her body and that for women sex is always a means to an end and not an end unto itself (that is reserved for men, you see). Does the fact that this woman is in a privileged enough condition that she can afford not to care what men think help women who are in less fortunate conditions? You don't have to be trafficked to feel forced into Sex Work and I've talked to many dancers who feel (and are made to feel) terrible about what they do. One woman in particular stands out in my mind. She was poor, had few friends and apparently little in the way of family and had made enough mistakes that she was undereducated in a community that didn't have many opportunities. For her, dancing wasn't a shocking and empowering way of embracing her femininity, it was survival. And after she took that job, getting any other job proved almost impossible -- inevitably someone would recognize her and then the harassment would begin. But she fought back, thank goodness, found a way to get an education and eventually a job away from that community where hopefully no one would recognize her. I will always remember how happy she was when she told me the news. So, I can sympathize with the idea of embracing that scarlet letter as a way to fight against oppression and society's norms. But just remember that not everyone is as privileged as you are, and be careful not to romanticize sex work as the ultimate expression of a woman's sexual power."

An excellent point. I think someone else mentioned the perplexing fact that there really should be more talk in general of how virginity relates to men - because as it stands, virginity seems to only be important, sacred, righteous, revered - or in a noir sense, damning - when it can label a woman. I actually would thank the Jonas Brothers for recently bringing male virginity into the spotlight, even though the media has already forgotten about it but will continue to harp on Miley Cyrus's and Taylor Swift's status for years to come. Remember when Britney was claiming to be a virgin? We cared about that for way too long. Anyways, this really is an interesting social experiment.

Perhaps on Wednesday I'll talk about some of the horrible comments made toward Miss Dylan.

Friday's Sweet Stuff: Short scarves

This artist from Rochester has confirmed my suspicions that short scarves are a really good idea. They don't swing around willy-nilly or fall off your shoulders or get caught in your coat zipper. Many of hers have cute buttons like these and they all look very cozy. This one is $36, but some are as little as $24. Go to the Fennel Studio etsy page for more!

Wednesday's Comment Call-out: What a boob

"I'll try to restrain the tears. I've seen pictures of the author and she's an attractive woman. She should talk to my sister sometime, who has chronic, flaking psoriasis, and see what it's like to go through life with actual social problems and widespread abuse from shallow people. I wonder if even Ms. Ginsberg would have treated my sis with the affection she deserves. Nobody else did other than my fam. I also couldn't get out of my mind the massive number of vainglorious women who intentionally augment their breasts. Who would do that when it's so obviously horrible to have them? Hmmm, I wonder how awful this condition really is. 'Woe is me! Men want me sexually and people treat me differently because I have great big breasts and I'm pretty. Boo hoo.' I guess I should walk a mile in her shoes before getting so testy over this stuff, but I've seen the other side and it gets far nastier. Some people would love to have even one man lean out of a car to say he wants to f--k them, because nobody else has said it all their lives."

This lengthy comment was left on alternet about an article originally from RH Reality Check by Samara Ginsberg. The article is titled "Women have boobs; get over it." The author describes scenarios from her youth like being held down and groped by boys, being called slutty, being told by a teacher that he likes women with curves, and hearing about rape fantasies she inspired. Does that not count as abuse?

Here is a person sharing something very intimate and humiliating about her life and I'm shocked that some commentators don't respect that. Throwing in a "I should walk a mile" statement at the end here doesn't make up for the fact that you have just done the exact thing Ginsberg is arguing we should not do - the thing that YOU are arguing we shouldn't do: invalidate and judge people based on their physical nature and bodily concerns. The poster's sister with psoriasis undoubtedly has a tough time, but does that preclude her and her family from having sympathy for other people? It does no good to compare the two situations because everyone deals with their own burdens differently. Comparing only makes the rift between "me" and "everyone else" larger. The solution to both problems (judgments and harassment of people with large breasts and people with skin issues) is founded upon building understanding and empathy instead of alienation. Then we can start reading in between the lines for more specific solutions.

Sure, it would have been nice for Ginsberg to point out her ideas of resolution, but we can use our brains, too, when we read things like "I believe that the reason that so many women feel that it’s acceptable to mock large breasts is that there is an underlying assumption that all women want larger breasts," and "It’s as if women’s breasts are public property." So is that assumption true? Where does it come from? Who does it benefit/hurt? Who's property are they? What needs to change? What can I do?

Finally, I have to say I think it's funny that this poster seems to believe Ginsberg is feeling sorry for herself (which wouldn't necessarily be uncalled for given her story) when Ginsberg states "I’m not saying: 'Boo hoo, look how difficult life is for gorgeous women, don’t hate me because I’m beautiful!' Being regarded as attractive generally makes life much easier and puts one in a position of privilege, an unfair and wholly undeserved privilege that I am aware of having."

Check out the article and comments here.

Monday's Wise Words: Women in sports broadcasting

SNM posting on the blog Awesome & Fabulous wrote a great personal story about her childhood dream of becoming the next John Madden being stifled by the glass ceiling over the industry.

"Something had sparked a flame of feminist indignation in the pit of my stomach about watching women relegated to sideline reporting while men got to do play-by-play and color commentary in the booth."

She goes on to explain that her eventual decision to go into sports writing instead of broadcasting had something to do with the obvious conundrum of having her appearance constantly judged. She also calls out both men and women for perpetuating the systemic sexism...

"It burns me up that sexism is still such an accepted part of working in sports that women are privately--as opposed to publicly-- seething about the fact that there is a glass ceiling in sports journalism, for fear of angering the boss over a perfectly legitimate grievance."

In other words, speak up for yourself! The fact that we don't is another issue - explained quite well in the book "Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide," by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever.

Anyways, in response to the men in charge at ESPN who assert that the lack of female representation is just a product of what fans want, SNM says:

"That's the best excuse TV executives can come up with? Don't blame us, it's our pig-headed fans? The fact that this is coming from a network that posits itself as the 'Worldwide Leader in Sports' is even more ridiculous. You won't do it because you're afraid of losing a few idiot gut-scratching viewers and some ad money?...You're the Worldwide Leader, ESPN. You own so much of the frickin' sports television market you make everyone else look like a joke. Stop cow-towing to sexism and put a woman, no, two, in the booth already. On football. On a regular basis."

Read the full post.

Penny's Sweater; take two

So I followed a pattern this time and the sweater came out much better. The pattern came from the Labpugglechi blog by Caroline. Thanks!


I did add stitches to make it longer so it would become a turtle-neck sweater.