I was making great progress on this sweater. That stopped on Monday. It has been in the upper 80s here, and I have rainbow socks on the needles, so my arachne has been sitting in its project bag for days. I still love it, and I’m sure I’ll be back to obsessively working on it as soon as I finish my socks.

This week I’m doing some knitting, but the thing I’m working the most on is me. I’m reading up on how to fight racism. I’m supporting makers of color. I’m working on being a better person.

GG Made It (Gaye Glasspie) is one of my favorite YouTube shows. She has an amazing video up on Instagram TV about Standing In the Gap. If you are on Instagram I encourage you to watch it.

I had never heard the phrase Stand In The Gap before. I should have known the phrase before now. I will be actively speaking out against racism instead of ignoring side comments I hear. I am done being passive. I don’t want my kids to think being passive is an option. It’s not. We need to speak up. We need to change.

I cast on my pride socks this morning, and they are flying. I decided I really want contrasting heels and toes on these socks, but I’m away from home at the moment. I popped into a big box craft store hoping to find black yarn, but all I found was cream and gray. I haven’t decided which I will use, but I’m leaning towards the gray. Or I might decide to wait until I’m home and use some scrap black I have.

It feels ridiculous to be writing about picking a color for heels on socks. It shows my privilege. People are fighting for people of color to have basic rights, like not being killed by the police, and I’m worrying if cream or gray works best as a contrast to my sparkly rainbow socks. I am committed to doing more, not just posting about what is wrong and how George Floyd was murdered. For every pair of pride socks completed during this KAL I will be donating $5 to the Southern Poverty Law Center. I highly encourage you to join me if you are able.

I know there is so much love and support in this knitting blogging community. Let’s do our part to show others the love too.

How on earth is tomorrow the first of June? The blanket continues to progress. I’ll need to order more sparkly black yarn before the end of June. I really enjoy this project. You would think that four and a half years after I started working on a square a day I would be sick of it, but I’m not. A square is part of my morning routine (coffee, square, cook breakfast), and I really enjoy it.

I’m thankful for beautiful weather. I’m thankful we have a good climbing tree in the back yard. I’m thankful that Ellio learned how to pump his own swing (this will probably be mentioned all summer because it is so awesome). I’m thankful my woolies came over for a yarn winding party (we are getting pretty good about staying at least six feet apart while knitting). I’m thankful my kids love car washes after years of being terrified of them. I’m thankful John’s parents were able to attend his sisters wedding today. I’m thankful we will be able to celebrate with her later this year. I’m thankful my kids are almost asleep so I can watch knitting podcasts and knit.

If you have been a reader here for some time, you may recall that my friend Jess and I do a very tiny self-striping sock club. We take turns selecting and buying self-striping yarn to make matching socks. It all started with our Green Bay socks, followed by the Mondim socks, and most recently it was the Gothic Rainbow socks.

Jess and I recently met up to knit with Ivy over six feet apart in lawn chairs in Ivy’s yard. She gave me our newest yarn, which I can’t wait to knit up.

The yarn is Mint Rain Hand Dyed Yarns (a new to me dyer) in the colorway Christmas in Whoville. I love the teal and pink mixed in with the reds and greens. I can wait to get started on these in July for the Christmas in July sock KAL (info on the KAL coming next month).

Monday is June 1, which is the start of Pride month. I would love it if you would join me in knitting rainbow socks to show the LGBTQ community we stand with them. I’ll be sending a progress keeper or stitch marker to anyone who joins the KAL.

I hope you have a great weekend. I hope it brings you beautiful yarn and time to knit.