Hope, Fear, and Witchcraft

My wife once described my knitting as “weird, indecipherable magic that involves cursing as an incantation”. And she’s not wrong! I’m happy to say my most recent project was a fun and easy knit that involved very little cursing, but it was definitely still a weird and indecipherable magic and it made a profound impact on me beyond the mundane creation of a pretty little blanket. In fact, most of my art creates far more than the physical items that can be worn or used or displayed.

This particular project is a baby blanket for a very dear friend expecting a baby in March. Though I wish we lived closer now, this friend was in a pod with us during peak Covid isolation, pretty much the only human outside my immediate family that I saw in person for over a year, the crucial year of my eldest child’s infancy. They are truly part of our extended chosen family, and I can’t quite express how happy and exited I am that they are growing another tiny human! And also, I’m kind of terrified for what the world might look like in March when their baby is due to enter this world, and even more so for the future of the world over the next couple decades as all our kids grow up.

It’s also been a weird and hard few weeks for me. Last week I was working on this knitting this blanket during the long car ride up to Philadelphia for the funeral of a cousin, who passed after long struggles with her mental health. She was a trans woman and a radical communist activist, and devoted her life to fighting for justice while struggling to find her place in the world. We didn’t totally agree on politics, but I often felt I understood and could relate to her better than many. Last week, I was knitting this blanket and thinking about my own battles with suicidal ideation and transphobia and ableism, and thinking about the struggles my kids will face just because they are part of a queer family (and because rising tides of fascism and impending environmental catastrophe and and and), hoping that I can be the parent they need to navigate all the challenges they’ll face in this world. I knit this blanket thinking about my friend’s baby who will soon be wrapped in it, this precious new life not yet born but that I already love so much, and fearing for the future of the world they are coming into. Every stich is knit with love and hope, a magic bringing this child joy and resiliency and beloved community.

I created a beautiful baby blanket, knit while mourning the loss and celebrating the life of a fierce trans warrior for justice, to be gifted to the beloved child of another fierce trans warrior for justice. I created weird, indecipherable magic, full of love and hope and grief and beauty and resiliency and joy, and even through the hard weeks I will continue to do what I can to wrap my beloved community in all of these things.

• Featured project: Cables go Rounds Baby Blanket
• Medium: Knitting
• Pattern: Cables go Round
• Materials: Malabrigo brand, Worsted weight, single ply, 100%Merino,
  Color= 022Sauterne
  • Purchased from Sweet Pea Fiber
  • Cost of Materials: 6 skeins at $13.45 = $80.70
• Started September 2024, Completed October 2024
  • Estimated time to Complete: 70 hours
  • Estimated total cost (labor at $25/hour + materials) if commissioned: $1,830

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