i throw my hands up and shout

I was began a comment for Tangledbleus's '7 Things' meme and it just started getting out of control, so I thought I'd post it here instead. She writes:

I'm a loud and rowdy feminist at heart but I love domestic things (hello this is a knitting blog). I love cooking and baking and nothing compares to the joy of a sparkling clean kitchen floor. I guess I just like the idea of taking care of others (family or otherwise) by making home a warm and inviting space.

I know exactly what she means here, and I think most of us do. Knitting is by and large considered a domestic old lady task, yet women in their youthful thousands do it for thousands of reasons, very few of which because they have had the strong arm of patriarchal oppression reign over them demanding they do so. In fact, if anything I would say that it's men who have to battle the strong arm of patriarchal oppression far more than women to pursue their knitting dreams.

Perhaps it's the soft, luxurious fibres we use that make some people think knitting and crocheting is all dainty lady-play, perhaps it's the seeming inactivity -- it certainly appears less physical than carpentry or metalwork, which necessitate a great deal of sweat and heaving muscles. Perhaps it's the lack of abuse you put your body through in order to create a knitted garment, although anyone who has developed callouses on their fingers from their needles or suffered splinters from their needles or had to lug three half-finished sweaters, complete with four types of yarn and two sets of extra needles/stitch markers per project, plus the three books the patterns can be found in, with them everywhere they go 'just in case' they have time to spare, will attest to the physicality of knitting. Likewise, anyone who has had to fend off their knitting 'friends' who only want a look at their newly acquired skeins of hand-spun, hand-dyed pure 100% cashmere will have bruises to show for it. I have one or two arguments to refute the idea of passivism of my own.

I personally knit for several reasons. I like the fact that the result is something I've created, using my own hands. Knitting is productive and creative and so deeply, subversively political it makes me shiver with feministy delight. I like making things. I like knowing that I haven't had to rely on the genius of a factory to own, wear or eat something.

This weekend I made peanut brittle as a thank you to my sister-in-common-law for helping us find our kittens. Granted it took two runs at it and a wasted bag of sugar and peanuts to get it right, but I did it and when I presented it to her she couldn't believe I'd 'taken the trouble'. If that's taking trouble, I don't want to know what easy peasy lemon squeezy is. It wasn't trouble, it was awesome! And now I can add 'making candy' to my mental culinary CV. The only industries I ended up supporting were Fairtrade sugar and peanut, and the baking soda people. I kind of dig that.

At this point in time, we in Europe and North America are incredibly priviledged; if we have the money, we can buy whatever luxury we need. It's become such that 'things' aren't luxuries any more. They're considered necessities to which we have inalienable rights. In a way, making things has become a luxury. That is, I make because I don't want to buy. Still, when you make something, it draws attention to the fact that you didn't buy it. It draws attention the fact we don't need to buy it. It does, in a small way, germinate the idea that perhaps all these things are the mere detrius of an otherwise creative existence. In knitting, we scrape back the detrius and place ourselves in the heart of the process.

Phew! Rant over.

Last night Yeti discovered I have eyebrows and nearly fainted with delight. She did that to my armpit stubble this morning. I woke up to her grooming the hairs and looking slightly delirious. My underarm stubble has never been so carefully attended, my eyebrows never looked so shiny. Apparently Matthew's getting the same treatment, so I don't think I'm particularly special in this, but is there anyone else out there with similar kitten-to-pit experiences? Is she looking for the mother cat in me? Is my general hairlessness more disappointing than I thought, so much so that a brief patch would be met with such excitement?

Comments

[Woolly Thinker]

I think some cats are just into grooming. We have 5 and one of them regular wakes us up by licking our scalps (but likes it much better when the hair is very short). One of the girl cats loves my partners armpits (the sweatier the better)

[Knit Nurse]

Baking is my favourite instant-gratification activity. And it always floors me when the recipients of my cakes/biscuits etc exclaim 'wow! did you really make it?!' Try it! You'll be surprised how easy it is (although I've had my fair share of disasters in the kitchen). Like you say, just buy twice the amount of flour/butter/eggs you need....!