We are dancing our way into this colorful homage to dance legend, Alvin Ailey (1931-1989) with a skein of Dance, Dance, Dance! Growing up in rural Texas during the Great Depression, Alvin had the twin challenges of virulent and violent racism and homophobia working against him, all while struggling to survive extreme poverty. He and his mother moved all around the South and eventually to Los Angeles, where he met (and was mentored by) Lester Horton, a gay white dance troupe leader who prioritized racial integration and acceptance. After Lester died, Alvin took over the choreography of the dance troupe, and eventually grew it into the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which is still thriving today in NYC. The dance troupe’s cultural impact continues to be felt to this day, and their most famous work, Revelations, may be the most often-seen piece of modern dance in the world.
Dance, Dance, Dance is our colorway honoring Alvin Ailey. This colorway used to be called Hospital Wing or Madame Pomfrey.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a sample showing off this lovely colorway made up, but when you do, please make sure to share it with us!
You can find all of our in-stock True Colors yarn on our website.
Maryam Khatoon Molkara (1950-2012) was a Trans rights activist in Iran. Assigned male at birth, Maryam suffered discrimination from both her family and society at large throughout her life, including being institutionalized and injected against her will with male hormones. She was a devout Muslim, and in order to have gender affirmation surgery, she needed the blessing of an ayatolla (Muslim leader). She went to the Ayatollah Khomeni in Tehran to ask for that blessing. In order to attract as little attention as possible, she dressed in men’s clothing for the visit, but the ayatolla’s bodyguards beat her up, before his brother intervened on her behalf. She plead her case to the Ayatolla, and he gave his blessing via a fatwa (declaration), so she was able to have surgery reaffirming her gender. She campaigned for the rights of Trans individuals throughout the remainder of her life.
Affirmed is our colorway honoring Maryam Khatoon Molkara. It used to be called Love, Loyalty, and Innocence.
We are showcasing Shannon’s Ananke pattern, made up in one skein of Affirmed in Sock, today. Her kiddo Astrid again expertly modeled the pattern. 😉
You can find all of our in-stock True Colors yarn on our website.
Wilma Mankiller, the first female Principal Chief of Cherokee Nation, is our November HerStory recipient. She was born into extreme poverty in Oklahoma, the grandchild of displaced Cherokees who were forced to walk the Trail of Tears. Until she was 11, Wilma lived with extended family on land called Mankiller Flats, but her immediate family, believing in the promise of the Indian Relocation Act of 1956, moved to San Francisco looking for greater opportunities. Those opportunities didn’t pan out, and the family continued to struggle throughout her childhood.
Mankiller married at a young age and had two daughters, but she found herself constricted by her husband’s patriarchal views. She enrolled in community college and soon found a place in the activist community protesting the Vietnam War and working for Native rights through AIM, the American Indian Movement. Her activism deepened, and she founded the East Oakland Native American Youth Center and worked with the Urban Indian Resource Center to develop legislation that became the Indian Child Welfare Act.
In 1977, Wilma divorced her husband and, with her mother and children, moved back be with family and tribe in Oklahoma. After a horrific car accident that killed her best friend and left Mankiller facing a long recovery, she began to explore and embrace the Cherokee ideal of “being of good mind” (a beautiful vision of personhood which inspired our colorway name this month). Once back on her feet, Wilma put that ideal into practice, prioritizing service to others and looking to the bright side through all challenges, including some pretty major health problems.
Mankiller eventually moved to a tiny town deep in Cherokee Nation called Bell, where she worked as a community organizer and grant writer. She advocated for safe and affordable housing and clean water, with community involvement as the cornerstone of her work. Her approach became a model for other grant programs around the country, and her generosity and activism inspired many after her and paved the way for her 1983 appointment as Deputy Principal Chief of Cherokee Nation. In that role, she fought against the misogyny that came directly from colonial influence and was elected Principal Chief of Cherokee Nation. She believed that having a female chief was a first step in a return to traditional Cherokee values of balance between the sexes. Her influence can be seen today, in Native American activists’ return to tradition and rejection of the colonial mentality that has caused so much damage to their communities. It can be seen in the advancement of Native American women and girls, and in the deep community-building that occurs in Native American communities. We could all learn a thing or two by embracing the ideals that Being of Good Mind reflect, and of thinking of community first and foremost. Thank you, Wilma Mankiller, for being of such good mind and offering this inspiration to us all.
In the 1980s, Simon Nkoli (1957-1998) was a young man facing two simultaneous affronts to his person in his home country of South Africa: apartheid/racism and anti-LGBTQIA+ bigotry. He joined and organization called the Gay Association, but quickly realized that intersectionality was not top of priority. So, he started his own group of black members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and deepened his activism, both for the queer community AND against apartheid, which resulted in him being charged with treason and being sent to prison for 5 years. When he got out, he founded GLOW (Gay and Lesbian Organization of the Witwatersrand), and organized the first South African Pride in 1990. He worked with Nelson Mandela on South Africa’s post-apartheid constitution, campaigning for LGBTQIA+ protections (and, in 1996, South Africa became the first country in the world to constitutionally guarantee protection from sexual orientation-based discrimination).
This colorway, called GLOW, was originally called Felixis Felicis.
The shawl shown is Shannon’s Euanthe, which is written for either DK or Aran, but can be adapted for any weight yarn. Her kiddo Astrid is saucily modeling it.
You can find all of our in-stock True Colors yarn on our website.
Sally Ride (1951-2012) became the first American woman to go to space, in 1983. When she was young, she had two potential career paths: tennis player or physicist, and she chose science. She was in the first class of women even admitted to the NASA program, and, right before going into space, was asked by reporters: “Will the flight affect your reproductive organs?” and “Do you weep when things go wrong on the job?” AARRRRGGGHHHH!!! She was deeply personal, and it wasn’t until after her death that her life-partner of 27 years was revealed to be a woman, Tam O’Shaughnessey, who she met on the tennis circuit. Together, they not only built a life together, but wrote children’s science books and started a foundation that encourages children to learn about science together.
This colorway, called Outer Space, used to be called Forbidden Forest.
The shawl shown is Shannon’s Viriditas. It can be made with one or two skeins of fingering-weight yarn (and is very customizable, both size-wise and yarn-weight-wise, due to it’s tip-to-tip construction).
You can find all of our in-stock True Colors yarn on our website.
Over the Net is inspired by tennis player (and ophthalmologist) Renee Richards, a Trans woman who sued the US Tennis Association for her right to play after being banned for her gender. Her case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, and the results, allowing her to continue playing, paved the way for Trans athletes to play the game they were meant to, without being discriminated against. We really feel like we hit this colorway Over the Net (haha!), and hope you feel the same way.
This colorway used to be called A Poffle of Puffs.
The cowl shown is Shannon’s Roll Out the Barrel cowl, and features Over the Net paired with Carbon.
You can find all of our in-stock True Colors yarn on our website here.
We’Wha was a Zuni artisan and Ihamana. In traditional Zuni culture, the lhamana are people who are assigned male at birth, and who take on the social and ceremonial roles usually performed by women in their culture. Ihamana wear a mixture of women’s and men’s clothing and much of their work is in the areas usually occupied by Zuni women. They are also known to serve as mediators. We’Wha was born in the mid-1800s, and served as an ambassador for their people to the colonizing United States government. They were a highly-regarded weaver and potter, and were loved (and sometimes feared) and respected by their tribal community. They became an activist later in life, when conflict broke out between the Zunis and the US government, and was accused of witchcraft. They died at 47 during an annual tribal festival. Their legacy lives on in the stories told and the artistry that has survived.
Indigenous Artistry is the colorway named for We’Wha; it was originally called Magical Me.
We are sharing a shawl made in Indigenous Artistry and Lavender Menace, Shannon’s Glitterati.
You can find all of our in-stock True Colors yarn on our website here.
Jose Sarria (1922-2013) was an activist drag queen who, in his younger years, joined the US Navy because he thought their uniforms were the most attractive of all the armed services. Alas, he was denied those uniforms, as he was rejected by the Navy, so he served in the Army for years. After being discharged, he lost the love of his life, Paul, to a drunk driver, and found himself a bit adrift. Some friends encouraged him to enter a drag competition, which changed his life. The Black Cat, in Oakland, California, became his home, and he proved to be an engaging entertainer as well as an inspiring activist, working on gay rights throughout his life. He was even the first openly gay person to run for office in 1961, and, although he didn’t win, he paved the way for Harvey Milk, who won the same seat Sarria ran for 16 years later. This colorway, now called Black Cat, used to be called Dobby’s Socks.
Two socks are shared here: Slumber Slips, in our Bulky, are a bulky-weight slipper-sock, and Sundae Socks are a simple fingering-weight sock shown in our Sock base. Both patterns are by Shannon Squire.
You can find all of our True Colors on our website, including this week’s releases!
Sylvia Rivera (1951-2002) was born in New Jersey in 1951. She was assigned male at birth, but knew that she was Trans in elementary school. Her home life was so toxic that she left at the tender age of 10, and was taken in by a group of drag queens in NYC who welcomed and took care of her. This group included the woman who would become her best friend, and with whom she would make history during the Stonewall Uprising. Throughout her life as an activist, she was routinely disappointed by gay right’s groups that chose not to include Trans rights in their work. She kept on fighting, however, doing everything she could to bring attention to Trans rights, and worked hard to help Trans folk who were homeless or jailed. She inspired the formation of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, an organization dedicated to fighting for Trans rights.
This colorway used to be called Dobby’s Pillowcase.
One of our lovely sample knitters made up this dreamy Muriel’s Shawl in Greenwich Village, modeled by designer Shannon Squire.
You can find all of our True Colors on our website, including this week’s releases!
In the 1500s in Angola, Francisco Manicongo was born. Francisco was a “jimbandaa,” a person assigned male at birth but who loved men and dressed as a woman. Jimandaas were honored in their communities, as was Francisco, until they were kidnapped and enslaved in Brazil. They were enslaved by a cobbler, and remained true to themselves throughout their life, even faced with the homophobia of their enslavers. On March 9th every year in Rio de Janiero, Xica Manicongo Day is celebrated by the LGBTQIA+ community, ensuring that Francisco Manicongo’s legacy lives on.
This colorway used to be called A Memorable Exit.
We are sharing a Flotus Shawl by Shannon in Be True to You paired with Carbon (a dark grey).
You can find all of our True Colors on our website, including this week’s releases!
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