Marching - On and On

That's my mother and Ian's best friend Sh

The ladyfriend and I made the trek to DC to participate in the Women's March.  As both my parents and our son live there, it was an easy trip to make (and no outrageous hotel costs to bear).  I knit five Pussy Hats with Manos Del Uruguay yarn, which felt so right as it benefits women in rural Uruguay. It was great seeing women in the hats at the rest areas along the way. 

We were a little concerned about crossing the border, having heard about Canadians and other foreign nationals being turned away at the crossing near Montreal, QC; however, we still carry American passports and decided not to pretend we were going somewhere else.

At the border, the conversation went a little bit like this:
Border guard:  Where are you headed?
Me:  Washington, DC
Border guard:  What's there?
Me:  My parents live there, and we thought we'd check out the march. (For some reason I thought "checking out a march" sounded reasonable; it was better than "I thought we'd take part in a revolution.")
Border guard asks a few standard questions - are you bringing anything in, and so forth.  Then he just looks at us, hands us back our passports, and lets us go.  Whew!

I have to say, when we came back to Canada, the Canadian border guard asked us how the march was and whether there'd been any problems.  He seemed quite interested, and not in a negative way.  Oh, Canada!

The march was fantastic.  By all accounts it was one of the largest rally/march in recent history.  I've been to a lot of marches in DC, going all the way back to the anti-apartheid marches in the '80s.  I went to the anti-Strategic Defense Initiative (aka Star Wars) rally in '84 or '85 (I shared a cab with Amy Carter while in DC - hah!), pro-choice rallies galore, and of course many Amnesty International marches and demos. 

Some images from the march -

Crowds at the Metro

Loved this!

These two guys were totally out of their element; they couldn't even handle the volume of our rally cries!  Wait 'til they experience the full extent of our wrath!

My dad and my ladyfriend

Got to meet one of my favourite fashion journalists - Lynn Jaeger!

The love is big, and the hats match!

So now we're home, and as such often the question of how to maintain the momentum arises.  However, it seems like the current administration is going to keep those fires stoked with the executive orders coming out of the White House.  But as we know, it's not enough to be incensed. These troubled times require action.  Thankfully there are a lot of ways to engage in the battle.

I've been referring back to this post, Twenty Things You Can Do When the World Is Terrifying, regularly.  (Think it was Karen who sent me to this post...)  I also believe in Craft as Solace, which reminds me of this cross stitch I uploaded here once before -

The ladyfriend and I are committed to being informed and get headlines from The Guardian and The New York Times.  I'm also listening to Democracy Now! and the NPR Politics podcast.  We've sent money to the ACLU (thank you, thank you, thank you) and will be sending money to Planned Parenthood (also a big thank you to them - I used them for gynecology exams before I had insurance, and they were ones I went to when I needed to find out whether I was pregnant).  And of course, we'll be sending postcards, marching, and resisting the normalization of the fascism we're facing.

Stay nasty, my friends!

The boy had to work but went to protests on Inauguration Day.

Feel Me, Read Me, Eat Me, Make Me

Thursday is the new Friday, at least for this week.  Lots of fun and exciting things to share.

Firstly is the new blog Carefully Worn, a project by Amanda Farquharson, which she envisions as a resource for people who care about making sound decisions around clothing.  As she wrote in her blog post introducing the new site, "By mending what we have, buying things second-hand, making our own clothes and purchasing new items from sustainable and ethical companies, we can be the voice of change and cause governments and companies to listen and adapt. We can also BE the change, by treating our garments as treasures, not as disposable discount items, and reducing our own carbon footprints as well."

I'm so excited about this, and I think I love her!

Secondly, readers of this blog (hi, Dad!) know that I have a thing for Alabama Chanin.  They're starting a Build a Wardrobe subscription/program, which will focus on finessing garment fit and construction as one builds their wardrobe (Can you hear my little heart sing?  Can you feel my panic over not having enough time to make & craft as it is?! No matter.)  Four times a year they'll send you an exclusive pattern, directions, fabric to complete it, and all the notions.

Next up, I'm totally loving this hat and am wondering if I can squeeze making one into the already-packed schedule (see panic note above).   It's a pattern from the Seamen's Church Institute's Christmas at Sea program (is there a Hannukah on Land program somewhere?). I'd love to think my hat was sailing the seas on the head of some lucky mariner, and I'm sure I have the yarn for it.

Onions au gratin are sounding pretty yummy to me, and I think I may be able to fit them into one of my holiday menus.  As well as the Desmond Mince Pies (I used to always make fruitcake, and it's fallen off the radar the past few years - sigh) and Lebkuchen, which I'm totally going to make for my parents and the boy when they come up for New Year's.

Finally, the latest podcast from Woolful is up.  I just listened to the previous episode, which featured the fabulous Pam Allen, and found myself a little teary-eyed because it makes me happy to hear the conversations "fiber folk," as Ashley Yousling, the woman behind Woolful, calls us, have.  Little things mean a lot.

We're getting our tree tomorrow!  Yay!  The ladyfriend really wants to go all out on the decorations this year (as though we haven't before).  Stay tuned!

Feel Me, Read Me. Watch Me, Eat Me

Elizabethan Collar, two by Jesse Mathes

I love this piece about a portrait artist that travels from sitting to sitting by bike.  But it's not just his transportation mode that appeals to me, it's also what he's doing and how that connects to modern life that inspires me.

Also in the love category is this artist's series based on personal space.  I can think of more than one occasion for many of the items she's created.  They're both beautiful and intimidating (see image above).

My father directed me to Gladys Bikes, a woman-focused bike shop in Portland, Oregon (I know - of course).  One of the things I really appreciate is that they are "committed to carrying as many products as they can from business and makers that are local, women-owned and USA made."  I'm sure that if they were in Canada, they'd be looking for Canadian made.

While I might often be late to the party, I really try to have a good time (and contribute to such) once I get there.   So I'm excited to listen to a new-to-me (since they've just surpassed their 100K download) podcast, Woolful.  It's not just a knitting podcast but one that deals with all kinds of fiber subjects as well as sustainability and environmental issues.

And finally, if you're cold and need a little warmth from within, try making your own hooch.  Crafty and tasty?  Let's see.

Feel Me, Eat Me, Watch Me, Read Me

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?  Hope so because I've been pretty absent this week.  The good news is that I'm done grading and will have a little space to breathe, think, craft, and blog. 

I like to listen to podcasts, when I remember they exist, and one of my current favourites is Stash and Burn.  There are many reasons to like it - from the cool name to the Sleater-Kinney intro song to the feeling of just hanging out with your knitting buddies.  I always get pattern suggestions from them, and I'm seriously considering joining their 15 Hats in 2015 knit-a-long/challenge (check out their group on Ravelry).  Check out their latest podcast here.

I've had a serious lack of imagination when it has come to dinner this week, but I'm feeling my cooking mojo coming back.  On the menu for next week is Crock Pot Green Enchilada Soup.  I'm going to use a combination of corn (non-GMO corn that I froze from the summer) and hominy instead of all corn.

Here's a shout-out to my father's biking friends who really like this blog best when it deals with bikes. Hey, I can't blame them.  I'm missing my bike right now because I'm still recovering from the MCL sprain although I did ride the recumbent at physio for five minutes today.  It felt like a small victory!

The Online Bicycle Museum has lots of great vintage images as well as information on vintage bikes.

The LA Times did an article in September (but I just found out about it) on a mobile library called the Feminist Library on Wheels (F.L.O.W.).  Bicycles, feminism, and books?  What an awesome idea.

Finally, back to the crafting zone.  In my Pinterest gazing, I came along this handy tip for adjusting the tension on your sewing machine.  I've got some plans to sew some fussy fabrics soon, and this will probably help me.

So, that's about the size of it for this week.  Enjoy your weekend!  I hope you have lots of crafting, eating, and merry-making ahead of you.