Oh Look, It's My Birthday!

Lesbi Crafty turned 1 today! :D

I want to thank all of you again, those of you who read my blog, for sticking with me and encouraging me to keep writing.  I've received messages telling me that I've entertained and inspired, and knowing that I've helped teach others is a really wonderful thing.

When I first started the blog, I honestly didn't have terribly high hopes.  My last blogging attempt petered out into nothingness, so I figured I wouldn't be surprised if this one did, too.  But then, people were responding.  People were sharing my posts with others and talking about them.  In the grand scheme of blogdom I'm just a speck of dust, but the fact that my words were important to people I didn't even know kept me going, and here we are!

Of course, I'm not going to stop here, either.  I have plans for Lesbi Crafty's future (though when those plans will come to fruition, I know not).  I'm going to move to a different blogging platform, and--with luck--join BlogHer's Publishing Network and start earning money doing this weird bloggy thing.

Most importantly, however, I'm going to keep writing.  As long as I keep knitting and society keeps sucking, I'm going to be writing.

Once again, thank you for sticking with me.  It means so much.

Onward, into year 2!

Can We Just STOP with the Fat-Shaming BS, Please?

Photo credit to Lydia Hudgens (Source)

So I'm going about my business, reading Jezebel like ya do, when I come across this article about how quickly a new line of "fatkinis" sold out after becoming available.  Now, I'm not surprised at all that this happened; despite statistics that show that a very large portion of the American population is fat*, it seems clothing retailers not 100% geared towards plus-size fashion vastly underestimate the demand (whether this is on purpose or not, I don't know).  I'm used to not being able to find things in my size when I go into a store, and I'm not even that fat.

Gorramit, It Never Ends: When Being Honest is Risky

(Source)

When you're a queer person, you come out to people.  A lot.  I'm only now grasping as an adult that it really truly never ends.  I thought: most of my family knows I'm queer, all of my friends know, so surely I don't need to worry anymore, right?

Nope.

As a human who sometimes likes to leave the house, I keep finding myself in situations where I could come out, or not.  I have to weigh those times very carefully.

It's different from when I was a teenager (so many years ago, right?).  Then, coming out was an active thing; I would pull trusted friends aside and tell them.  They would hug me and assure me that they still loved me.  We would go back to whatever it was we were doing.  There would be a little thrill because YAY it had gone well.

From the Bottom of My Heart, Thank You!

Yesterday, Lesbi Crafty reached 10,000 pageviews.  10,000!  Within less than a year of this little blog's existence!

I don't get to use this gif often enough.

Thank you!  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

When I started the blog on May 30th last year (there will be a birthday post :3), I didn't think that I would reach as many people as I have, especially within the first year.  I'm still not sure how this happened, but I'm incredibly grateful.  You all, dear readers, think that what I have to say is valid and interesting (or, if you're a hate-reader, you consider my blog important enough in your life to hate-read, so thanks for wasting you time on me).

The funny thing is, I don't know who a lot of you are.

Blogger can tell me some things.  I know that over two thirds of my views come from the US, and that I have people who've read the blog in Brazil, Russia, Norway, and Germany.  I know that one tenth of those views are for one post, Voting: Why You Should Care, which even now is still my most frequently read post.  I know that people have Googled me in Canada (or at least people were brought to my blog through a Google search while in Canada).

But I still don't know who many of you readers are.  I have friends and family who read me, for sure, but even within the first couple of months of blogging I knew that strangers were reading, as well.  When I started cross-posting to BlogHer, two of my pieces got featured and each of those got hundreds of views, all from people I've never met.

So, who are you?  If you're a regular reader, what keeps you coming back?  What brought you here in the first place?

I want to see actual comments! :D

And again, to all of you, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Simple Pleasures or, My Knitting High OR, How to Avoid Being a Sourpuss

This is a post about self-care, and nothing is more important to self-care than kittens. (Source)

I was chatting with a friend yesterday, who had bought some comic books for the first time in a couple of months.  He said the happiness he gets from purchasing new comics is nearly on par with an orgasm, and he hopes that I have something to get that excited about in my life.

While it's not quite as intensely enjoyable as orgasms, I think one of the most pleasurable things I do in my life is beginning and finishing knitting projects.  And by beginning, I mean walking into a yarn shop and buying materials.

Sure, I'm a social justice-y person who dislikes conspicuous consumerism* and I have plenty of days where I wish capitalism would go burn, but dang if walking out of a local yarn store (LYS) carrying a bag full of yarn, needles, and other things doesn't feel amazing.  It's like a paper bag of potential.  Balls and balls of yarn which, when I pile them on my floor, seem to just scream "Knit us!"

I don't hallucinate, I promise.

Having a Body is Hard

This body is NOT gonna last, and I want to be okay with that.

"I like giants/especially girl giants/cuz all girls feel too big sometimes/regardless of their size" -"I Like Giants" by Kimya Dawson

A couple of weeks ago, I took my measurements before ordering a dress.  Between late December and now, I have lost more than two inches in the waist; I'm smaller than I've been in a long time.

I've been caught between celebrating and being unnerved at my own celebration.  In December, my doctor told me to lose ten pounds because I had high cholesterol, and at the time I rationalized that he said "lose ten pounds" because the steps taken to do so would restore my health.  That it was all about health, not about size or weight on its own.  But now I find that even as I worked so hard to love my body no matter the size, I really truly prefer how I look at a lower weight.  I find this troubling.

I've been seeing shifts and new challenges in dealing with food and my body, as I've been getting healthier and realizing that I have it in my power to improve my health further through what I eat.  This realization hasn't been good.