thecozycuttlefish

[thecozycuttlefish]

[thecozycuttlefish]

So tomorrow I'm going to the local Pioneer Village with some guildmates to spin wool and be a zoo exhibit for a few hours and guys

I am so tired

Not because I was up till 3am last night play WoW's new expansion and did the same today nononono where did you get that from?

[thecozycuttlefish]

i dont think whites understand how being white makes literally everything easier.

it effects everything.

being trans is easier when youre white.

being gay is easier when youre white.

being disabled is easier when youre white.

being a woman is easier when youre white.

being autistic is easier when youre white.

oppression is eased when you are white, as you get extra privileges, and your whiteness is seen as a positive characteristic that in some ways counter-balances your other forms of being a minority. whiteness controls everything.

you are automatically way more innocent in your own oppression as a gay, trans, disabled person because of your whiteness.

never forget this.

[thecozycuttlefish]

Looking at pictures of beautiful Cherokee-made river cane baskets is so difficult, though. Because not only did the colonial US uproot and kill so, so many Cherokee peoples and do its damndest to destroy their culture, but we actually destroyed the very landscape from which that culture sprang. The canebrakes are all but gone. I've never seen one. They used to be vast. Now people don't know they existed. Don't think I'll ever get over that.

But it still exists. Rivercane, North America's native bamboo is not all gone, any more than the peoples who lived in partnership with it. There are research and conservation projects out there. So here. I can't even find a good photo of a true, large canebrake, but there's this:

And for scale, if you squint, this photo came up a few times as I look:

I'd like to imagine a future where we learn to live in teamwork with this amazing plant again, using it to create beautiful things like this basket.

The source of this image and one above is well worth a read as well.

But more than that, I'd like to think we could see it as a tool to address modern problems as well, as bamboo is used in much of Asia, and a partner in the fight against climate change and environmental degradation.

I just hope that someday, maybe when I'm old, I can see with my own eyes a vast forest of rivercane, teeming with life.

[thecozycuttlefish]

doing crafts while listening to a podcast is truely an ancient activity. makes me feel like a prehistoric grandma doing nålbinding at the fire and also a young lady learning to do embroidery and also a sailor knitting in his free time on the ship and also my gay friends doing fiber arts and we're all telling each other stories

[thecozycuttlefish]

my kid has started to write stories and like, no lies, they’re funny as fuck

[thecozycuttlefish]

[thecozycuttlefish]

My neighbor framed the hobbit map I embroidered for them and is planning to put it in the nursery for the baby they have coming and I do not have words for how tight my chest feels about this

[thecozycuttlefish]

Pro tip for spinners: don't leave your scoured wool to dry outside next to your bug zapper light. You will get moths...

So anyway, I've got a bag of wool in the freezer now

[thecozycuttlefish]

Might be my best yet

[thecozycuttlefish]

I bring you gladsome tidings of a woman who needle-felts creatures from the Luttrell Psalter.

That is all.

[thecozycuttlefish]

[thecozycuttlefish]

occasionally I am struck dumb by the sublime beauty of the world in the small moments, you know?

egg

[thecozycuttlefish]

dump his ass. move to a walkable city. start hormones. get into fiber crafts. dye your hair weird. grow an herb garden. foster a distrustful cat. take a welding class. invite your friends over for tea and cake. get way too into obscure media. explore a new cuisine. lie to the police. protest in the streets. life has so many possibilities don't it?

[thecozycuttlefish]

[thecozycuttlefish]

Tough day but still fighting the good fight.

[thecozycuttlefish]

Lark and Bower / Sarah Ward - 2020

During lock down, without a loom or studio, she started stitching small woven patterns by hand, using leftover yarn and a lot patience. What began as a way to keep going became a way of working.

Now, even with her full studio back, she still creates these tiny, time-consuming pieces. They're not made to be worn or sold fast, they're made to be seen, to remind us that weaving is an art, not just something for clothes. She uses waste yarn, old stock, and plant fibers to avoid adding more to the pile of fast fashion.

via @arthunter.me and @larkandbower