NOMAS-Boston | Boston StichFest 2005

Boston StitchFest, '05

By Matt Meyer

This past December, in the heart of the Christmas shopping season, the Boston Chapter of the National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS) along with Unitarian Universalist Men Against Domestic Violence (UUMADV), hosted the first ever Boston Stitchfest. The Sitchfest consisted of about ten people who gathered together at the Beacon Hill Friends House co-op to knit a blanket as a gift to Renewal House, a local domestic violence shelter.

Living in a society where domestic violence is a constant threat to so many, where violence seems the standard in foreign policy, and womyn are rarely looked to as equalsthose of us who seek a different way can begin to feel apathetif. Although knitting a blanket won‚t solve the problem of budget cuts to social programs, violent people and institutions, or patriarchy for that matter, it is a chance for people to get together and reclaim a sense of power through our creativity and a little collective work and community building.

As men who have felt called to work for feminism and an end to violence, it is often easy to get stuck in finding our next step to take. The role of men in the feminist movement has often been less than clearly defined. A part of male privilige is the knowledge that our opinions and declarations will often be taken more seriously, but many of us still become stumped when the time arrives for us to decide how and where to use our voice to speak out for an end to violence and oppression of women. In addition to generally raising awareness about domestic violence as a significant feminist issue, the Stitchfest provided an opportunity to create the kind of community that many of us hope to see the larger world around us. It was a safe space where people could teach and learn from each other, laugh alot, eat good food and talk about things that really matter to them.

Some folks were there for the full ten-hour day and many people came for several hours at a time to knit a square or two for the blanket . About half of the participants arrived having never held a pair of knitting needles, which lead to many one on one tutorials and a general sense of cooperative learning. The nature of knitting is that when you sit down with a bunch of strangers in a beautful coop on Beacon Hill, on a snowy December day, you can‚t help but get along. No-one‚s going anywhere for a little while, at least not until you finish the next piece of the blanket.

A highlight of the day came after dinner, when we were joined by Susan Criscione, the director of Renewal House, who came to express her appreciation as well as teach us a little about the shelter. Renewal House recently celebrated it‚s 25 year anniversary of providing not only physical safety, but also tending to the emotional and spiritual needs of the families who stay there. Susan talked about how healing requires a community of people who watch out for each other, in order to counter the negative feelings of fear that had pervaded some of these women‚s lives. Barbara Seidl, a fellow knitter who was inspired by our discussion with Susan, said, It was illuminating to learn about both the success and the challenges they were facing. And to discover that it was important to them to know that people outside of the organization cared. Knitting this small square was a way of showing that to them.

So the first Boston StitchFest seems to have been a success. It was a peaceful reprieve amid the shopping frenzy of Christmas, it was a safe space to build community, and it was a chance to work against violence with creativity and give a gift out of love and support. A better world is possible, we need only knit it!