For the coming full moon, CAYA’s Grove of Artemis is focusing on the archetype of the weaver/dreamer. Obviously, this is a ritual I’m very excited about, and its gotten me thinking a lot about the work that women do in this world.

Women’s work.

What comes to mind when you hear that phrase? How do you feel about it? Do you conjure up sepia-toned images of quiling bees or the soft whiring of a spinning wheel? Or the quintessential 1950s mother cheerfully cooking dinner for her family and cleaning the house, all in heels and pearls? How about a corporate executive, with her powersuit and iPhone?

Women’s work. What is it? What does it mean?

Sifting through history you find–pardon the pun–common threads. Women create. Now, this may seem strange at first, since a glance at any art history textbook will tell you that most artists were men. But that’s just where things start to get interesting. Male artists? Are a very small percentage of the population. Most men are not artists, and most artists never move from obscurity to claim a place in the canon of western art.  Women on the other hand, well, a look through history will tell you that nearly every woman was a creator. From the poorest peasant woman spinning and stitching to keep her family warm to the most powerful noblewoman whose delicate stitchwork offered proof of of her status.

Collectively, women took the most basic needs of clothing and warmth and they turned them into things of beauty. Simple socks became stockings with intricately stitched patterns. Woven cloths used to insulate the walls and floors became storied tapestries and brilliantly patterned carpets. Blankets became quilts that told history, life events, or even led the way to freedom.  Women learned these crafts and though for centuries they were denied access to education, they taught these skills to their daughters who learned a rich history that still gets overlooked and undervalued.

Craft. A word that is scorned, marked, dropped out of “arts and crafts” until art–as decided by the mainly male, mainly white establishment–is all that’s left worthy of respect. But without craft, what do you have left? Women craft the things needed for survival, and in doing so, they craft the culture that endures through time. Women weave at their looms, and they weave together the stories and history that really matter. Not the history of conquerers and kings, but of our ordinary ancestors. Women gather for quilting bees or stitch n’ bitch nights, and who bring the community together.

I worry sometimes that this history is being lost. I am a feminist, and I am also a career woman. But sometimes I think that we’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater; now knitting or sewing or quilting is seen as hopelessy uncool in most circles (despite much trumpeting of the trendiness of craft). Even in the midst of a massive movement to rethink the way America eats, canning and gardening are viewed as hopelessly quaint, or as occassional hobbies not a way of life. We’ve lost touch with the very things that we need to do to sustain life. If we’re cold, we buy a sweater or turn up the heat, if we’re hungry, we stop at macdonalds. If our skirt tears, we toss it in the trash rather than try to mend it.

It’s time, I think, that we start taking a hard look at the value of women’s work. There is value to it, and as the economy and gluttenous society we’ve built up begins to crack and crumble, it only becomes more useful.

As a witch, I turn the wheel of the year with the seasons. As a woman, I create and stitch the same way that women have done through the ages. And together, as witches and women, I believe we can craft a future where we live in a closer relationship with the earth, and we can begin to value the work women have traditionally done and move towards a less disposable and more sustainable world.

It’s finished object Friday!

I actually finished this one a long time ago…like, in the neighborhood  of a few years. But I never quite got around to weaving in the ends so I could wear it, and it has been languishing in my almost-finished basket for ages. Last weekend, I finally picked it up and wove in those ends.

The yarn is King Tut mercenized cotton, and the pattern is Soleil from Knitty. I have no idea what size needles I used at this point. Overall, I”m pleased; I think I might make it a little longer if I did knit it again. (Or I could just do yoga and crunches and get my stomach into shape, but let’s face it, I have better odds of just kniting longer sweaters.)

As I mentioned before, I’ve started kniting Tempting.

It looks a lot like Snow White at this point, but without all the counting and shaping. I managed to get quite a bit of progress in this weekend, in between baking cupcakes for a friend’s surprise party, and watching a few more episodes of Lost.

Speaking of Lost, let me say a few things inspired by re-watching season one.

* Kate. Kate, Kate, Kate. Sawyer clearly kicks Jack’s ass in many ways. Stop being stupid.

* Shannon and Sayid really are the cutest thing ever.

* Locke is almost as annoying as Jack. And I didn’t think that was possible.

* Why does Sun not get more screen time?

* Who the hell put Jack in charge, anyway? Revolution, people!

* I <3 Sayid. Can we just change the whole show to episodes where Sayid is badass, and mabye beats people up or threatens them? Cause I’d watch.

In other TV news, I’ve also been watching Army Wives (oh, hush) and so I’ve caught some bits and pieces of Drop Dead Diva. I’m on the fence, for many reasons, including the whole dichotomy of heavy people = smart and interesting, but skinny people = flighty and shallow. Which, really, is insulting to both camps. Anyhow–Jorja Fox was guest star on the episode, so I had to watch! I won’t give spoilers, but it was great to see her on TV. Though very weird to see her looking all girly in obvious make-up and a skirt. She’s much hotter in jeans, a tank top, and maybe  a leather jacket, that’s all I’m saying.

Speaking of all things tempting–I finally watched Mad Men! I’m a bit confused, charcter-wise, but loving the atmosphere on the show. The clothes! I want them! And so much of the decor. Though, I’m pretty sure I could just raid my parent’s basement for a good chunk of it. I think I could very easily become a fan. Though I will blame everyone who told me to watch for any affect the show may have on my wardrobe. Just sayin’.

You may remember Snow White,  yes?

Alas, she is no more.

I really like the sweater, but I had made a mistake in the shaping somewhere, and was ripping out to start over. As I was doing that, I decided to go ahead and try the sweater on.

I like it–a lot–but I think I need to go up a size. This one is stretching just a tad too much, and it’s not very flattering. I don’t have enough yarn in this color to do the next size up, so Snow White is destined to eat that poison apple and go to sleep for a while.

I’ll probably get some more Andean silk in another color to make Snow White eventually; I do like this yarn for the project.

The green Andean Silk, however, is headed for another project. I cast on for Tempting, which I’ve been wanting ot make for ages. I have enough yarn, it’s soft enough to wear next to my skin, and the pattern is something I can do wihout thinking too much, which is exactly what I need right now.

I was browsing the blogosphere over the weekend, and I came across a blogger talking about the idea of hope chests. For those of you that aren’t familiar, hope chests were a tradition up until around the 1950s, I believe, though I think they began dropping out of favor before then. Girls would fill the chests with linens, housewares, dishes, even a wedding dress, in preparation for getting married and leaving their family home. Most of the things in the chest would be handmade; embroidered handkerchiefs, sheets with fancy lace edging, quilts. The chests themselves are also beautiful–my family has several antique hope chests that have been passed down, and they’re all beautifuly crafted, solid, lasting pieces of furniture. (Frequently, they are made of cedar, which can be used for protection and clearing negativity. Plus, as any knitter worth his or her salt will tell you, it will also keep moths from destroying all those beautiful things you’ve made!)

Thinking about hope chests, I was struck by the idea that this is a powerful, slow type of magic. It’s not the quick, say a spell and snap your fingers kind; this is the slow, drawn out, thoughtful kind of work. These girls were literally crafting their future life. How powerful is that?

Now, obviously society has changed a bit. Marriage isn’t the ulitmate goal for everyone, and even if it is, most people don’t go directly from their parents house to married life. But there are plenty of other ways to bring this type of magic into your life.

What are you working for? What do you want? If it is a relationship, maybe you stick with some of the traditional fancy sheets or quilts, perhaps in a traditional design. If you’re not one for traditional looking quilts, you can update most traditional blocks by using modern fabric, or you could design your own meaningful symbols. If it’s a baby, why not make some baby things and set them aside. If you knit, sweaters, booties, and hats are all quick to work up. Baby quilts or blankets would also be good (and starting before the baby is expected at least helps guarantee that you’ll have them finished before the child is a teenager).

Maybe it’s something else. Maybe you set aside a power suit for the job you want to have, or the fancy dress or accessories that you’ll wear when you have that great social life. Maybe it’s a new backpack and notebook for your return to school, or furnishings for the house you want to own. Maybe it’s a stockpile of adorable tank tops for when you finally live somewhere warm, or a cache of cozy sweaters for the day when you move to a place that has winter.

Maybe it’s a little of everything. But by creating things with intent, and putting them aside, you’re storing up some powerful magic. Our ancestors knew this, even if they didn’t call it magic. So why not try bringing a little of that into your life?

So, in addition to some major cleaning this weekend (which, sadly, is still far from being finished) I did manage to squeeze in some kniting time. (And frankly, I think I deserved it!)

Part of my cleaning and decluttering strategy involves a) whittling down my stash and b) finishing up some of the half-finished projects lying around my house. There are a lot of those.

So I picked up Princess Buttercup.

I had to rip back, owing to an unfortunate incident where I read decrease one stitch on each side of every other row for a total of 10 stiches as decrease one stitch on each side of every other row 10 times, but that wasn’t too bad, all things considered.

Then I noticed something. A couple of somethings, really.

First, where I ripped back and reknit, the yarn is all kinked. A lot of my stitches are uneven, and don’t really look so great. I have slight hopes that it might block out in the end, but I’m not sure I want to bank on that.

Second of all, I noticed something about the yarn. I’m using Malabrigo organic cotten, which is kettle dyed, without dyelots. The skiens looked very close in shade when I bought them, but now, knit up? Not so much.

See? It’s hard to see in a photograph, but there’s a very distinct line where I changed skeins. I’m not sure it’s noticeable to anyone else but me, though.

I can’t decide what I want to do. Part of me wants to keep plowing ahead just so I can finish, and hope that it all works out in the end.

On the other hand…I know what I should do. I should rip the whole thing out, reskein the yarn into hanks an hang it it in my shower ot steam the kinks out. Then reknit. I’m thinking the best plan would be to knit partway through the first skein, maybe 2/3 of the way, then begin alternating every other row with skein number two. Then, eventually, begin alternating with skein number 3, etc.

The only thing there is, what to do about the back? If I do this that way, I’m fairly sure the front and back won’t match up; but then again, at that point they will be separated by the sleeves so maybe it won’t matter?

Thoughts? If it were your sweater, what would you do?

This weekend was Lammas, which I mainly celebrated with CAYA Coven, as we held a really fantastic Lammas ritual which included invoking seven deities from two pantheons and somehow tying everything together.

Usually, I try to do something at home as well, but I didn’ do much. Well, I did make some yummy corn chowder, since one of the fruits of the first harvest is corn. And there’s nothing more soothing and harvest-y to me than cooking up a big pot of soup for the week.

But I haven’t redone my altar yet, or much else. Instead, I finally nailed down some time to have a friend who runs an organizaing business come over and help me sort through things. I’m tired of being embarrassed about my apartment, of not having people over, of feeling like I spend all of my free time trying to make a dent in things and not succeeding.

In a way, I suppose that it is a celebration of harvest. I’m taking what I need, and clearing out the rest so new things can flourish. That’s what this is all about, after all.

I’m also thinking about trying a CSA again. I like getting produce, and if I get a box delivered, I actually wind up spending less than if I go to the farmer’s market (where things are pricey, and where I tend to overbuy because everything looks so good.) But not until I’m organized enough that I have some hope of finding time to cook and eat the food, instead of just forgetting about it until it mutates in my refrigerator.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Lammas as well!