Conquering the sweater

I have this goal to knit a sweater each winter. It helps me get rid of a bunch of random wool I have in an epic suitcase of yarn as well as take up those long hours of winter darkness when I can’t work outside, I’m not eating meat and potatoes, and not sleeping. Lets face it, a farmers winter is a twisted version of that relaxing summer vacation everyone envisions, except with lots and lots of winter squash and for me, knitting (and spinning!). Last year I made that huge sweater (about 10 sizes too big) out of my first attempts at spinning which turned out in the shape of a weird wool dress. I felted it to shrink it and then it was a mini weird wool dress. It soon became a dog sweater. This year, 2 years in to my life goal, I succeeded! Though I dreamed of fancy cables and other stitches I stayed simple due to the frequently changing yarn color to use up old wool of relatively similar weight. I made a top down sweater (starting from the neckline) and it was incredibly easy. Seriously. Ever want to make a sweater? Do it. It is essentially a giant tube with two tubes sticking off it as arms. And when you put it on you will be in a warm, homemade tube of wool. Yum. Here is the pattern I used. Let me know if you want a better copy lemme know and I can send one along. 

Queering the gender of occupation

This does (somewhat) relate to wool I swear... just had to comment on it the amount of times I have been told its so “feminine” and “domestic” that I like to spin and knit.

I find myself constantly occupying extreme (and oppositional) binaries, in attempts to chip away their rough walls. The realm of spinning and farming is such a place for me. Spinning and knitting are seen so connected to the domestic scene, a domestic art associated with the “female”. Farming is manual labor and involves lots of dirt so it must be a “man’s” job (though it hasn’t always been this way and things are now changing!). The gender assumptions people make separate these two areas, missing out on what could be a holistic mindset that encompasses both, free from the gender binary. It seems silly that artistic creation is seen so separate from the manual labor of farming. What is farming without creation? Farming is fostering life giving plants and designing growing systems and arrangements that help them. And within the homesteaders lifestyle there are many points that beg artistic input and ingenuity. The processing of many farm products, such as a sheep’s fleece, takes artistic incentive. Just like garlic braiding, or stringing peppers to dry. Or you could look at it the other way around, that spinning is a manual labor. But I think it is too simple to try and shove occupations into our social binary we seem so addicted to. Instead we farmers/ gardeners/ spinners/ felters/ knitters/ fiber creators should recognize that through uniting farming with the creation that stems from the fiber farm products there is the great potential of queering the binary of occupation. And if you find yourself unable to free your mind from the gender binary, think again- what is more “manly” than wrestling sheep, shaving them, and  making the clothes on your back out of their hair?