news flash: you don't have to be white to be an American

This weekend, we went camping with the in-laws. This is normally pretty fun. We were at a lovely place, Lake Wenatchee State Park, the weather was cooperative, and our neighbors were mostly quiet.

But on Saturday night, I had the most enraging conversation that I've had in quite a while. My sister-in-law's 15-year-old stepson said something about all the "foreigners" at the campground.

Slightly unable to believe what I was hearing, I said, "What do you mean, the Canadians?"

"What? You haven't noticed all the Indians, and how they all talk in their funny language?" And he started to make some sounds that apparently he thought sounded like ones heard on the Indian sub-continent.

My blood started to boil. "Just because they're not white, doesn't mean they're not Americans," I said flatly.

"Well, yeah, it kind of does."

Full boil. I leaned over and stared at him. "You want to look me in the face and say that again?"

He stammered, "Um, well, you kind of look white to me."

Dear god. I have not been smacked in the face with such stupidity in a long, long time. I said with a certain amount of disgust, "Just keep digging yourself a deeper hole," and said nothing else to him for the rest of the evening.

He's just a kid and I certainly don't blame him for all the racial problems in this country. Hopefully he was a little shaken up and will do some thinking about his assumptions. Maybe he'll eventually realize that white does not equate better (though of course I am ever so grateful that he thinks of me as white) and that not all true Americans have to have the same color skin that he does.

But I'm pretty sure it was the first time that my son, now 7, has heard the news that white people are better than others. That some people will look at him and only see the color of his skin. And once they've neatly labeled him as Asian (when he is only half), they will then stick him in the foreign/outsider box.

(Digression: this is pretty similar to how many people look at President Obama and never see the white half, just the black half of his parentage.)

Despite being born in this country and speaking English more correctly and precisely than the average America--this grammar nerd's dog does not respond to "lay down," only "lie down"--a fair number of people will take one look at me and assume I am from elsewhere. I thought people were getting less ignorant, though. This exchange used to be pretty common when I was in my twenties:

"Where are you from?"

"Olympia." (where I was living at the time)

"No, I mean originally?"

"Massachusetts."

"No, where are you really from?"

I once got this from an African American man. I said, "Do you know where in Africa you're 'originally' from?" He half-laughed and said, "Of course not. I'm from here." Um, well, why don't you think I'm from "here"?

So really, this is nothing new. It's just that most people don't tell me to my face that I'm not white enough to be an American.

This week, my country celebrates the anniversary of our Declaration of Independence. It seems as good a time as any, and better than most, to think about what makes us Americans--and it sure as hell isn't the color of our skin.

Summer of Fiber Fortune: winning numbers for week #1

This week’s winning numbers are:

10% discount: 52

free shipping: 3

$5 discount: 6

the Summer of Fiber Fortune begins

It's summertime--the season for fun and games! At Black Sheep Gathering last weekend, I kicked off my Summer of Fiber Fortune game. On the back of each yarn/braid label, you’ll find a fortune cookie-style message and three random numbers. All yarn and fiber purchased between now and August 31 will have these labels.

Each week during the summer, I’ll be drawing random numbers for little prizes, like free shipping, $5 store credit, 10% discount, etc. If you’ve got a label with a winning number, send me a photo (or you can post it as a comment on my blog, my Facebook page, or in my Ravelry group), and claim your prize!

All prizes and discount codes must be redeemed by the last day of Oregon Flock and Fiber, Sept 23. They cannot be applied retroactively.

Other fine print: Each winning number can be used once. If a number gets drawn for more than one type of prize, the customer will be able to choose which prize to redeem, but won’t be able to use both (e.g., either free shipping or 10% off, but not both). If she has two winning numbers with different prizes, she can use both. Discounts are not additive, so if you have two numbers for a 10% discount, you can only get 10% off a transaction, not 20%--but you can use your second discount for a second transaction.

getting ready for Black Sheep Gathering

BSG is this week, and I'm in the homestretch of prep work. In an effort to get more than nine hours of sleep during the 72-hour period before the show, I quit dyeing a few days earlier than normal, in order to do labeling and pricing. It feels utterly unnatural but I'm glad I did it. If I end up with some extra time, I'll dye a little more.

Because I'm already packing, I've taken down the fiber listings from my Etsy store. If you've had your eye on any of the yarn listings, those will be taken down on Tuesday.

I have a super fun game that I'll be launching at BSG. Details this week!

HBK at Shepherd's Harvest this weekend

I'm buried under wholesale orders right now, so just a quick post to say that my yarn, spinning fiber, and silk hankies will be in Darn Knit Anyway's booth at Shepherd's Harvest this weekend, in Lake Elmo, MN. Wish I could be there, too!

For those of you who can't be there, I've been adding listings steadily to my shop over the past week. More next week, after my wholesale orders are on their way.

new retailer, Yarnover, new listings

In the upper Midwest? Huckleberry Knits has a new retailer: Darn Knit Anyway in Stillwater, MN. They'll be at Yarnover (tomorrow!) and Shepherd's Harvest with my Willow BFL/nylon sock yarn, Cascara MCN fingering, and lots of spinning fiber. And silk hankies!

A few of the silk blends and BFL braids that DKA will have:

I also put up some new Etsy listings today: Polwarth/silk yarn, silk/merino, luscious yak/merino fiber ...

Have a great weekend!

thank you, self!

I love it when I put on a jacket I haven't worn in a while, and find money that I'd forgotten about. Sometimes, as a little treat to my future self, I deliberately leave a five or ten in a coat pocket at the end of the season.

A couple of years ago, when I knew I'd be quitting my job sooner rather than later, I bought myself a pair of my favorite Keens, and stored them away for the days when I'd no longer have a steady paycheck and might not feel comfortable about buying nice shoes anymore. I just broke them out a couple of weeks ago, and I love my old self for being so kind and thoughtful.

The latest example: I finally got my current wholesale order to the point where I felt okay about switching gears to working on taxes today. I steeled myself for the tedious task of sorting my PayPal expenses into the various categories--only to find that I'd already done it in January, before I'd even received this current crush of wholesale orders. You have no idea how grateful I was to my January self for having done that.

Now I need to think of something nice to do for myself during my next time crunch. Even though it was just planning ahead, it feels like a friend took time out of her day to think of a wonderful present for me.