New year, new cast ons!

I don’t know if it’s because it’s just real JANUARY out there and I’m not leaving the house much or if the deep, existential dread of what the fuck this Trump administration is going to do is making me just want to sit on the couch with a tea… but I’m knitting a ton!

Seriously though. I’m supposed to give my small business’s money to advertise on a platform that has decided facts are now irrelevant. Which supports the platform. And I’m just struggling with that!

Meanwhile the second largest city in the US is on fire because of a climate crisis our new president is denying even exists. And, in fact, has promised to reverse even the tiniest, tiniest, tiniest climate progress the US has made recently.

And this is just the shit that has happened this week. BEFORE he is even in office! And I’m still fucking pissed about all the shit that I was already pissed about.

And I’m just here talking about knitting!

But I guess this is our reality, right? I didn’t even mean to do this, it just came out of me like this.

Here! Look at this cute swatch while I’m clearly having a meltdown!
This is the swatch for my farm themed doodle sweater for the Design Your Own Doodle Sweater Class I’m teaching with Laura.
The swatch helped me decide I need a brighter, lighter yellow for all my baby chickens and corn - haha! Make your own fun, right?

I do feel like it’s helpful to me when I know I’m not the only one who feels like puking and punching and screaming all the time but has to keep doing their job. So. I feel like puking and punching and screaming all the time!

It does feel worse now because the reality of having to exist now and keep watching all this happen and have absolutely no power, no help to offer, has seeped deep into me and I feel hopeless. There was this denial phase that happened after 2016 where you could kinda be like.. oh Russian interference, blah blah. But this is real real real. It’s what the people want! So. The REAL in REALity gets harder and harder to swallow.

I’ve been really cranking on my Sophie Hood for the knit along I’m hosting over at LauraAllyson.Party - I couldn’t make heads or tails of that pattern so I just really needed to get in there. My hood will be colorblocked with my Djo sweater leftovers! So far so good!

Anyway. Wowzers, right? What a fucking living nightmare with no escape! And I just have no answers. I think I just have to keep advertising my knitting classes on Meta, despite everything, and put that in the pile with my Amazon Prime subscription.

I also got a start on my Oraefi sweater, though it looks VERY insane right now! This is the yoke circumference on a provisional cast on. Yeah, I’m taking the class on a JOURNEY!
I can’t wait to dig into the colorwork on this one but I have to wait until class on Saturday! But I’m sure once I start I won’t be able to stop, so keep an eye out for this to start looking more like something soon!

What a fucking journey I’ve taken you on if you’ve made it to the end of this newsletter! I’m ok. And I know you’re ok. Some days are just harder than others, right?

I don’t know what I would do without knitting, and our community together. So, we control what we can control, and cast on with abandon.

Stay safe, and as sane within reason, friends 💛