"Cast Off - Diversity wars are raging in the knitting world'

It’s well known that when Hitler wanted to achieve power in Germany the first thing he did was to get Goebbels to design some knitting patterns.

Yes. At least there are signs that the tide may be starting to turn, what with the Forstater case and the widespread discrediting of Stonewall.

I am reminded of nothing so much as the Cultural Revolution and other such immensely harmful totalitarian movements.

It's the US's Salem witchcraft trials (which involved both men and women), the McCarthy trials and Cambodia's Year Zero.

Well quite. Stupid, faux-pious virtue-signallers. There's a thread on here atm referencing an excellent article by Chimananda Ngozi Adichie blasting this kind of weak-minded, ignorant, woke posturing.

I was also shocked by what happened to Kate Davies. I will never buy anything again from that Scottish knitter who treated her so appallingly - they were friends in the past which makes it worse. I think it was envy from them and a desire to take her down because she's so deservedly popular and successful. Ironically, she was writing scholarly essays on her blog about topics like the historical links between the textiles industry and slavery long before they even pretended to care about such things.

I am reminded of nothing so much as the Cultural Revolution and other such immensely harmful totalitarian movements.

You're not the only one. A lot of people with closer experience saying the same thing, trying to wake people up.

North Korean defector says 'even North Korea was not this nuts' after attending Ivy League school

Of course now Democrats and other nutcases seem to think "we're doing something stupid, and the Republicans/Fox News are highlighting it" is a valid argument in favour of the stupid stuff they're doing...

Mind you, it’s hard to take seriously someone who says, “Hitler wrote Mien Campf” (sic). Kind of shows the level of knowledge and understanding they have about the history of fascism and explains a lot.

Screenshots from Tanis Gray’s Instagram feed accusing JKR of genocide

Absolutely, BrownTableMat.

I'm a big fan of JKR and own the first Harry Potter knitting book. Though I must admit I couldn't help but laugh at a thing I saw shared on social media the other day:

Gender Critical Women: "We have no platform!"

TRAs: "You have Platform 9 3/4!"

When I see that, and some of the stuff currently being directed at Tanis Gray for having the temerity to put out a book of Harry Potter knitting patterns (thus contributing directly to JKR’s murdering of transpeople, apparently) I am reminded of nothing so much as the Cultural Revolution and other such immensely harmful totalitarian movements. I wish I were exaggerating. At the moment people on Tanis’s Instagram feed are accusing JKR of ‘condoning genocide’ and Tanis of supporting this by publishing some knitting patterns. I hope they both sue.

I honestly don't know what to say about that Quillette article. It's jaw-dropping. The pompous, preening self-importance and the smug exhortations to 'do better' are just unbelievable. These people are so locked in their own bubble of virtuousness they're completely beyond all reason.

A knitted butt plug seems like A Very Bad Idea.

This is the Quillette article:
quillette.com/2019/06/07/instagrams-diversity-wars-revisited/

It's just... wow. This is like some kind of mass religious scrupulosity.

I've been a knitter all my life and been on Ravelry for a good few years. I use it purely to find and store patterns and, because it's American and I'm not, quite frankly I never gave any of the forums or even the cover page a second glance. For that reason the whole purity spiral (and the drama about the co-founder) completely passed me by - it was only when I saw a mention on here that I pieced it all together in mounting bemusement.

I remain totally gobsmacked by the whole thing and can't remember the last time I logged in, but even though it's still a fantastic practical resource for patterns/inspiration, I'm inclined to agree with lazylinguist - I'm increasingly reluctant to be associated with it in any way, really. I'll carry on knitting, though.

I just can't figure out why anyone would want butt plugs and poppers to be the public face of Pride. It's straight out of that old Onion article.

I haven't got sucked into the community,but the home page alone atm is enough to massively put me off.

Ravelry is incredibly useful as a database (though I haven't used it in years myself, I got a bit bored with knitting and just keep a few socks and gloves on the go, I don't need a database for that) but I'd agree with Alice..... it's perfectly possible to do needlework without getting sucked into some hothouse "community."

@Alicethruthelookingglass - I think a lot of people (like me) have learnt and continue to learn the skills for our own enrichment, were not particularly looking to join a community, and never had any desire to engage with any immature trendy types.

We came to Ravelry simply because it is by far the biggest and best source of online patterns (many of them free) and has excellent search features and allows you to look at how other people's versions of the patterns turned out and see what yarns work well with the patterns. It's incredibly useful. But now that I'm aware of its agenda, I don't particularly want to support it.

I've seen a couple of people on this thread say, "If that is what knitting is about, fuck it".

It is not what knitting (or any other needlework) is about and it shouldn't be. This thread is a revelation for me because I have been knitting for years now and never bothered to check out the 'communities'. Let me reassure others here that you don't need a 'community' to knit or sew. I don't bother with that and gods know if my trove of 70's/80's needlework books I've purchased at thrift stores are pc or not. I do not care.

Needlework exists to make garments and other useful items, or to embellish the same. This should not be political. Ignore the immature trendy types and learn the skills for yourself for your own enrichment, don't let idiots get in the way of the satisfaction that comes from being creative.

Tbf you can ignore a lot of the nonsense if you just stick to looking up patterns and other people’s projects. Just stay away from the front page, the forums and the groups, for dear life.

Oh dear, just looked at Ravelry. The knitting seems to be a side issue now with posts on how to indicate you are hemi/ semi gender and a flag obsession

There was also an article and radio 4 programme by Gavin Haynes:

unherd.com/2020/01/cast-out-how-knitting-fell-into-a-purity-spiral/
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000d70h

Thanks ForgotAboutThis

There's a 2019 article in Quilette about this, if you search Kate Davies Diversity it should be one of the top results.

Can anyone elaborate on the Kate Davies affair?