What happened on Ravelry

fiberwoolie
Admin
Joined: 2019-09-25 18:16:04
2019-11-05 17:53:16

I was asked what happened at ravelry so I'm going to try and explain it as best as I can.  If anyone knows more or I get something wrong, please feel free to jump in.  I'm obviously not privy to exact words and may have the timeline a bit wrong but this is the jist of it.

I believe it started when Karen Templar wrote a blog  you can read here. My year of color

Half way down in the comments people start the bullying, harassment ...I'm not sure what to call it.  After that things just escalated.  Everyone of course had an opinion and several people/groups thought theirs were the only right ones.  Casey (owner of R) then started a forum about diversity and inclusivity.  When people started talking on this group, he deleted any posts that said anything other than that white people were bad (I think this is where the white supremacy comes in?) and also removed conservative groups that were on R at that time.  Or at least froze them.  It is my understanding that people were being kicked off of R for commenting against this and other pro conservative things until Casey's attorney told him to stop.  He said he couldn't do that.  For one reason, members have patterns in their libraries they have paid for and have a right to access them. Some people he gave a time period to get what they want off of the site and then their membership would be removed.

Bullies went after designers or dyers like Tuskenknits (which has fabulous yarn by the way!), Kate Davis and Madelinetosh for having a yarn called "Inclusive".  Not sure what was wrong with that but Madtosh removed it I think.   The bullys just kept going after whoever used words such as gypsy, indian etc. in their designs or yarn.  They said it was racist.

Casey then made the ban on anything pro Trump and removed all projects, groups etc. You can find that on R.  After that as we know thousands of people, conservative and liberal alike left feeling it a violation of their freedom of speech. Fox News, CNN, MSNBC etc. had blurbs about this since this type of thing is happening everywhere not just the knitting community.  Something really big happened in the gaming commumity also.

Some designers/dyers lost their businesses and or thousands of dollars due to the severity of the bullying.  One of the things these bullys would do is go to designer A and tell them not to affiliate with Dyer B because she was a nazi, white supremist, racist etc.  If Designer A didn't do as they said, they would drag Desginer A's name throught the mud like they did Dyer B.  because she must be a nazi etc. also.  Sooo, not wanting that to happen they cut ties with Dyer B so now Dyer B doesn't have her yarn listed on any patterns as the yarn to use.  Hence the loss of income.  The most awful thing about this, is that this happened to people who once were friends for years.  

Here are 3 really good articles that explain it better than I do.  Also a few links to some of the main people who really got harassed, and their side of the story.

The beginning of the witch hunt

Madelintosh and others

Showdown at Yarningham

Sockmatician - My side

Unsafe space with Tusken

Freedom Knits Admin
Admin
Joined: 2019-08-14 20:27:50
2019-11-05 21:10:31

Once social media sites go down this road, they can never satisfy the perpetually offended. 

Lilgreek
Member
Joined: 2019-11-09 00:25:55
2019-11-11 02:08:45

Hello, I am new to this site & am so glad I found you.  I remember being extremely upset when Ravelry was becoming political & wouldn't allow any Designers to share Trump designs, but it was fine to share the vagina hat.  And now seeing how conservatives are being harassed by these terrorists took the cake.  This is very dangerous times that have headed our way.  As conservatives we tend to be the quiet ones behind the scenes.  Not anymore, I will no longer stay quiet when I see people bullying others for their ideas.  Thanks so much for posting the links.  They were very informative.

Heidi Fenenga
Member
Joined: 2019-11-03 21:52:51
2019-11-20 03:31:03

The online world has gotten scary. I used to scroll thru Instagram and hit Like on almost everything. Not anymore. I don't hit like unless that person is someone I follow and have vetted. I am a member of a lot of groups on FB, but I don't comment or post on most of them, except for a handful that are either conservative or anti-Ravelry. I don't/won't trust just anybody anymore, unless I heavily vet them first.  

fiberwoolie
Admin
Joined: 2019-09-25 18:16:04
2020-06-30 03:32:13

So, I'm curious. Does anyone like the new setup over at R?  All I've heard is that it's giving people migraines, making them dizzy, tired eyes etc.  So now they are fighting amongst themselves. They're saying that since people with disabilities can't use the new site, they're not being inclusive. Huh?  It didn't seem to matter when they threw off conservatives. Inclusivity didn't count then I guess.  Even the designers are complaining and moving their patterns elsewhere. Or at least giving an alternative. Finally!  I think this was the push they needed since so many people stopped purchasing patterns from R during the Conservative Exodus.