The Intersection Between Magic, Politics, and Knitting FO: to catch or ensare by the foot socks

In the center of the Venn Diagram between magic, politics, and knitting lies these socks.

These are White Birch Fiber Arts self-striping sock yarn in the “Study In Peach Mint” colorway. (If you don’t natch right away, try saying it out loud.) I started knitting them in late January when certain political events were playing out in Washington because I’m angry and wanted to do something productive with that anger.

Let me backup a little. Let’s lay some groundwork and define some terms.

Let’s start with magic. I was taught, when I was a wee baby pagan, that magic is the “art of changing consciousness through will” (paraphrased from Dion Fortune). Another way to put that might be “you get more of what you pay attention to” if you want to take all the romance out of it. Here’s the underlying premise--humans are both incredibly powerful and incredibly limited. Our reality is largely defined by how we experience and interact with the world.

I’m not going to get into a debate about objective vs. subjective reality, not even to point out that from our limited perspective as meatsack-mecha pilots, the closest we can get to an objective understanding of reality is a communal agreement that what we’re all seeing (subjectively) is really the way it is. That’s perhaps a rant for another day.

In my practice, I approach magic through metaphor. I find meaning in symbols or stories, and use that to focus my will. A fine example of this (and a nice tie-in with the knitting piece of this equation) is the Knitting in Red shawl that I knit several years ago. The metaphor was that red thread has the power to help knit a life back together. The goal was to process through a period of deep depression. The shawl took me around four years where I spent more time ignoring it than knitting, but by the time I was done the shawl, the worst of the depression had also eased.

Yes, I understand that I was able to finish the shawl because I was less depressed. I also understand that exercising, regular sleep, and an overall reduction in daily stress were also all major contributing factors. That doesn’t mean that the shawl didn’t work -- it totally did. It allowed me a place to focus my will, time, and not inconsiderable talents towards the change that I wanted to see in my life.

My approach to magic tends toward the personal. I use magic, as I define it, to improve my life and well-being. My goals are to improve my health, both physical and mental, and to leave the world a better place than I found it. “Changing consciousness through will” works really well (or as well as it can when the will in question is stubborn and occasionally refuses to cooperate) when I’m only focusing on my own life.



So where does this connect to the political? Feminists and others of a certain age will remember the phrase “the personal is political.” This phrase rose out of Second-Wave feminism in the 1960s, challenging the prevailing idea that the “personal/private” sphere is apolitical and that the “public” sphere is the only place where political discourse belongs.

That sounds pretty great right? Government should stay the hell out of my home and my private life, right? Well, yes, except -- by depoliticizing the “private” women were in effect completely removed from politics and political discourse. (Coincidence? ...I very much think not.) Nevermind the very real consequences of having no societal conversation around things like domestic violence, which member of a household works, legal protection for divorce, etc.

“Therefore feminists argued that the personal is political from two distinct standpoints: politics should include women, who have historically been seen as private individuals; politics should include a wider range of issues, including those historically considered to be private” (source).

So let’s bring it back around - my primary magical focus has historically been personal. I am working to change the world by changing myself. I also hold it to be true that “the personal is political” (second-wave feminism was certainly not without its faults, and we’ve come a long way baby, as they say, but I think they were right about this one.)

Which means that when I use magic and metaphor to change myself, I am indeed impacting the world. When I knit a pair of socks with a snarky colorway name that encourages the removal of our current head of state because I’m absolutely livid at the cesspool that our country has become… well, what does that do, really?

What’s the actual, real world benefit of knitting angry political socks?

1. The socks are awfully damned pretty. They are also warm and comfortable. I have turned my disappointment and frustration into something positive and lovely, and that’s no small thing.
2. I have talked about what I’m knitting and why with friends, on social media etc. I used it as a vehicle for conversation.
3. It helped me to remember to vote in the primary. I had the project with me when I cast my ballot for Elizabeth Warren, but the line was so short I didn’t have time to knit them at the polling station. (No pictures either - they get squirrely when you try to take a picture inside the polls).

So as a result of this magical act I have transformed something hateful into something beautiful, and I’ve gone out into the world and acted in accordance with my beliefs. From my perspective, that makes these socks pretty strong magic, indeed.

Project Notes

Project Name: to catch or ensnare by the foot
Pattern: my standard vanilla sock, CO 68, FLK heel
Yarn: White Birch Fiber Arts 80/20 Merino/Nylon, in "Study In Peach Mint"
Total Yardage: 320 yards
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) 32" circulars, magic loop
Started: January 25, 2020
Completed: February 26, 2020
Ravelry Project Page: here