In my last post, I shared a photo of the beginning of a sweater in a glorious magenta yarn – I was planning a yoked sweater, but then after knitting most of the yoke, I tried it on, and just wasn’t happy with the fit. The gauge was tighter than I intended, which made the fabric too stiff to lay right, and the neckline i-cord was too tight, so it was sitting wrong, and the more I thought about it, the more I thought I might rather have a set-in sleeve pullover instead of a yoked one.
So I ripped it out and started over. Well, first I swatched on larger needles, and then I read up on the Cocoknits method (I have the book) and did a bunch of math and prepped a worksheet (from the one PDF Cocoknits pattern I own – I now have a copy of that worksheet in my Notability app on my iPad and can edit copies of it to my heart’s content). And then I got to knitting.
Last week, I was a “business only” delegate to the (fully online, this year) Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) General Assembly for my church (which is featured in the top image; I didn’t go to our group viewing sessions though, due to not wanting to spend that long in a mask each day). There were a number of important votes happening, including a big change to our Article 2 statement of shared UU values and an Action of Immediate Witness (AIW) that was proposed by dear friends from my church calling on us to Center Love Amidst the Ongoing Impact of COVID-19 (as a high risk person who still takes COVID precautions seriously, I was very glad to support this one!). So as a delegate, I tried to listen to all of the General Sessions where things were being presented and debated before each vote. The photos you see in this post show just how much sweater I was able to knit during a couple of especially contentious General Sessions.
This is the first UUA General Assembly I’ve ever attended, and I wasn’t a full attendee (I only had access to the General Sessions and the balloting), but one thing I found very strange in terms of the way the debates were handled was that for each thing being proposed, they formed a “pro” and “con” line (in different breakout rooms) and then alternated between them, giving each person 90 seconds to speak, and there wasn’t an easily-viewable running count of how many were in each room. While I can understand the rationale behind ensuring that all perspectives are heard from, which is I assume what motivates the balanced alternation between “pro” and “con”, I found that this format created the impression that the number of supporters and opponents of each proposal was approximately equal, which it turns out it was not…many of the things that felt most contentious in the “pro” vs. “con” speaker format ended up passing quite easily. (I suspect this would feel different in person, given that you’d actually be able to see how many people are in each line, and there’s a lot more ability to “read the room”, so to speak.)
And while they did a fairly good job of moderating, there were some pretty nasty things said by opponents of our resolution “Embracing Transgender, Nonbinary, Intersex and Gender Diverse People is a Fundamental Expression of UU Religious Values.” I also got the distinct sense that at least some Jewish-affiliated UUs are incapable of hearing support for Palestinians as anything other than a rejection of support for Jewish people, and I find that so confusing…it feels to me very much like the way some white folks respond to “Black Lives Matter” as if it’s a claim that their lives don’t. Mattering is not a zero-sum game, y’all. (And I’ll just link back to what I had to say about this months ago.)
Anyway, I was very glad to have my knitting to keep me regulated (and thankful to the folks who used their time to remind us that LOVE is what we’re all about). I’m excited to see what we do with the new Article 2 statement of shared UU values! I grew up with the “7 principles and 6 sources” framework, and it’s what’s familiar to me, but one of the things I love most about UUism is that we’re always learning and growing – as we like to say, “revelation isn’t sealed”.
And I’m very happy with how the sweater is turning out so far – the fit is looking good, and OMG, I just adore this yarn (Noro Silk Garden Sock in “Ichinomiya”). The magenta makes me so happy, and the tweedy flecks of color make me think of confetti. It’s so great!
In two days, we’ll be flying up to Wisconsin to visit my family there for the first time since 2019. Here’s hoping we can stay healthy (we’re still masking indoors in public, but hardly anyone else is). And while this sweater is too big a project to tag along given that we’re flying, hopefully the socks and cowls will keep my hands busy enough. I’ll look forward to reuniting with this glorious magenta sweater when we get home!
whit::knits 