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

[AncientLights]

I've kept the title from the article in the print version of The Spectator 28 Sept, as I can't improve on it.

It's the most astonishing piece - well, astonishing and yet horribly familiar to us here. I'll summarise as it's not the done thing to do a big c&p job and would also be a kick in the financial teeth of the Speccy, who have done so much, via James Kirkup, to publicise the illogicality of the trans movement.

There is a knitter called Nathan Taylor whose online name is 'Sockmatician' - he sounds an interesting character, shall I say. Sockmatician seems to have cause huge offence (and here I will quote as it's so bonkers) by posting 'a poem on Instagram about 'diversknitty' in which he boasted it was a year since he had founded this hashtag, and asked that people use it kindly, rather than attacking one another'. Seems Taylor was committing violence against Bipoc (black & indigenous people of colour, it says here) by telling them how to make their arguments about inclusion, tone policing from a white man - utterly unacceptable.

The war started & raged on. Sockmatation has MH problems, was hospitalised, messages from his husband held no sway. Things got really bad with the yarn festival: yarn producers & other knitting personalities (who knew?) couldn't believe Sockmatition hadn't been uninvited, someone was glad she hadn't been able to attend after all as she'd have been unable to teach her session knowing he was down the hall. Unsupported allegations online about an assault. His patterns have been dropped from two books, one of which was the first official Harry Potter knitting book - the cover was reshot to remove Sockmatition's work. His business has suffered a 75% drop in sales.

There's a similar story about a Kate Davies who is based in the Scottish Highlands. She wouldn't join in denouncing people for their 'transgressions', so she's been attacked, too.

I read it thinking it must be an allegory but have come to the conclusion it's genuine. It is total, stark-staring madness and I can only keep saying to myself and to anyone else who will listen 'How on earth have we come to this?'

I don’t see any real discussion on the Instas that I’m looking at. I just see white people using buzzwords, trying to make themselves look good and, as a PP noted, speaking in an inaccessible language, a strange way of speaking which would never be heard in face to face conversation. I’ve read some of the statements of apology and they are so wordy and superfluous I actually struggled to understand what had happened
My impression was that it was self-indulgent waffle

The thing missing in woke politics is class. They never, ever give a fuck about class analysis or class oppression. If they did we would see that all the protagonists (regardless of race) have class privilege that they leverage. They use a language that excludes less educated people.

Yes. I've said it before and will no doubt say it again, 'woke' politics is the new etiquette and serves exactly the same purpose as the old form, excluding the plebs.

Yes. I've said it before and will no doubt say it again, 'woke' politics is the new etiquette and serves exactly the same purpose as the old form, excluding the plebs.

But that's not what's happened here. Nathan Taylor and Kate Davies are intelligent, educated, articulate people. I watched part of Nathan's video last night. I hadn't realised that his poem was a response to people like Kate being attacked for not wanting to be part of an attacking mob. So they turned on him as well.

This all seems to be about turning people into a mob to attack others who should really be on the same side. The question is why?

I was referring to woke politics more generally rather than this specific case. Sorry, should have made that clearer.

In the specific case the motivation is obvious, money. This is about driving rivals out of business.

This all seems to be about turning people into a mob to attack others who should really be on the same side. The question is why?

I think-firstly it’s what social media is all about. Me me me and being the best.
So this is about the individual and we have a mob of individuals with a common agenda -of being superior to others and scoring points.
At the moment being the best=being morally superior. It’s not what you do it’s what you appear to be doing, thinking and saying. So it’s part of the smoke and mirrors game.

Imagine if in real life I bought a copy of one of those race books and started waving it around “look what I’m reading”. I would look like such a dick. But it’s seemingly ok to post an arty photo of you reading the book and how you are working on your racism and then you will receive approbation and applause and you will look good

Am gutted by this. I was on RAvelry since beta testing.

It used to be a wonderful community, support and kind and generous.

The US centric politics has ruined it. And has ruined Casey too.

'woke' politics is the new etiquette and serves exactly the same purpose as the old form, excluding the plebs

Yes (I know it’s not strictly relevant to this thread). The pronouns thing (especially xi/xir) remind me of Versailles level etiquette. It’s all about being part of an ‘in’ group so you can exclude those not in the know

And so fucking decadent

I know, I download all my patterns the other day, just in case.

He’s been dropped from books and shops and workshops. I’m furious on his behalf. The video is here

I haven't watched all of it. I skipped through to where he describes what happened at the yarn show. And then at about 1h27 he talks about purity spirals. A guy from BBC radio 4 came to interview him for a half hour radio documentary on purity spirals. Described as ''when a community enters a bidding war to outbid each other to prove their own moral purity, and in doing so hollows out and cannibalises their own community''. Nathan does an interview and then the journalist trots off to find someone from the other side to also do an interview and describe their take. He asks around 30 people to share their side, people who have all been very free denouncing Nathan online and encouraging others to do the same. Not one of these feckers would agree to an interview, not one.

Nathan has a podcast out today, where he reads out the poem at the beginning.. he also has two fantastic new patterns and is doing a funds drive.. Ko-Fi? were you donate 3 British pounds to buy him a coffee.... pattern bought and coffee donated... I was lucky enough to meet Nathan last year when he cane out to NZ... he is a really lovely guy .. he explains what happened in his podcast... the betrayals by people he thought were friends is disgusting... did they get their jollies by destroying him? destroying his business? was it because of Jealousy... that a god forbid White Man could get that far in the crafting world... the yarnie world has become a scary place.. FFS its meant to be fun and relaxing working with yarn... and totally agree its been like a witch hunt.. and its their way you get "called out" abused and bashed... they are right and everyone who doesnt agree with them are wrong... so how do they base Person of colour.. ?? visual inspection? did this not become illegal in parts of the world... classifying people by their outward appearance???... apparently we are all white supremacists, have white privilege, and have to work out way thru work books ... to improve our selves.. there are catch phrases... of tone policing... apparently that was his crime... suggesting that we could all be nice to each other and work together in love.. and lets not forget the silence is violence catch phrase... I dont think a lot of them will be happy until the poor mans death happens... hopefully not for a very long time.. we need his knitting skills... and his character in the world

I haven't heard 'silence is violence' before. Bloody hell.

I haven't watched the video yet but that's in it a nutshell isn't it? Kate Davies was accused of silence, so was Caitlin Hunter more recently.

Designers and podcasters who post following the script are let off the hook regardless of what actions they take in real life. It's all words.

Silence is violence?

Is that a fact?

Well I'm happy not to be silent then and instead say 'fuck off'.

Totally agree... To the fuck off... The response they seem to want is along the lines of... Yes I know I have things to work on... I am trying to learn and improve daily.... Hell aren't we all...

I wonder how many Trump voters this whole thing has created.
It's a way of saying 'fuck you' without anyone hearing.
Absolute gift to the orange one. Fucking gift.

Yes it really is Countess because a lot of just aren’t particularly intelligent and you lose these people with all the pseudo-intellectual buzzwords eg “elevate BIPOC”

I’ve fallen into the rabbit hole and been trying to piece together (sewing pun) what’s happened but a lot of posts have been deleted now.

Sock man has seemingly annoyed people by doing the “be kind” thing

I think quite often when black people say they’re experiencing racism and it’s not something obviously racist, white people will seek to minimise it instead of just listening.
(This happens to us as females doesn’t it? I say “I’ve been sexually assaulted several times in life and my male colleague says well a woman slapped my arse” And you just think oh FFS)

So out of the non deleted comments there are white people saying I’m not racist I don’t see colour

Which is bollocks and getting no where

However there are a lot of white people who are only in it for their own self-promotion using this as an opportunity to look morally superior and push it too far. That has caused the most damage of all IMO

Instagram is a bad place for this debate particularly as there is the back drop of not only your reputation at stake but your business. This will make the debate inauthentic

I am so pleased he has been able to recover enough to put his own side at last.

Absolutely Siamesey.
There will be real issues of representation and discrimination behind this.
And many of the buzzwords ('tone policing', 'white tears') were coined to describe real phenomena.
It's just somehow they have been moved from being useful parts of a conversation to becoming missiles, thrown at the wrong people by people with dubious motives.

Siameasy I mean, sorry.

Related to this, there was a very interesting discussion on this morning on Good Morning Britain involving Eunice Olumide and Douglas Murray with Piers and Susannah about the use and abuse of the word 'woke'.
I rarely listen to GMB as it gives me the rage but amazingly the two guests were both allowed time to put over their points and the discussion was wide ranging with Murray emphasising the negative impact that trans demands are having on women. Made me go and buy Murray's The Madness of Crowds having listened to it.

Yes it really is Countess because a lot of just aren’t particularly intelligent and you lose these people with all the pseudo-intellectual buzzwords eg “elevate BIPOC”

Patronising as discussed briefly upthread by terf. Pseudo-intellectual buzzwords test people's patience across the intelligence spectrum.

Have just watched Sockmatician's YouTube vid. This has nothing to do with knitting.

His is a story that will be very familiar to many of us here.

It's a story of power and control, mob rule, darvo, and the erosion of truth.

Collude or be shunned.

Speak the script or be silenced.

Stand with us, or we will destroy you.

In the specific case the motivation is obvious, money. This is about driving rivals out of business.

Nathan doesn't name names, so we don't know who it was who wanted him to help to destroy the other designers, but I don't think it's as simple as people wanting to destroy his business, or others, in order for theirs to take its place.

It's a story of power and control, mob rule, darvo, and the erosion of truth.

It started for him, and for others, when they refused to become part of the mob.

There's a relevant radio programme shortly about to start on Radio 4:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008wv1

Well, I listened to the Analysis programme about " whiteness", I liked the presenter, not entirely sure it came to a cohesive conclusion, may need to listen again. However, what a difference listening to people talking it about it calmly and hearing a range of voices made: I've gone from feeling rather patronised and defensive to having much more sympathy with the ideas behind it, still think it's not necessarily the right direction to go in to actually make things better and I don't think it transfers smoothly from the US to the UK ( re. Previous issues with lack of class and the concept of indigenous) but it has made me think a bit more deeply about my biases, I hope " the other side" do too! Waiting for the programme about purity spirals now...