A knitting pattern made me realize cancel culture is real.

Looking back on an early moment I had to admit Republicans had a point.

Well, a knitting pattern for a sweater that was no longer available to view on Ravelry, the popular online knitting community.

I was scrolling through Harry Potter related knitting patterns in the fall of 2020, when I noticed one that didn’t have a thumbnail photo, only a gray square with the words: “Removed in solidarity with the trans community.”

I’ve redacted the username because it’s irrelevant.

Why would a sweater pattern need to be removed for the “trans community”? What possible harm could come from a knitting pattern which a thousand people might download, and even less actually knit it? I took a few screenshots and saved them in a file called “Who Is this helping?”

The apology statement next to it explaining why it was removed had the tone of a hostage note.

Note on the main pattern page explaining why it was removed.

“I’m sorry for putting this pattern out into the world after J. K. Rowling released her statements.¹ I can’t undo the hurt it’s caused, and for that I am deeply sorry and hope that those who are hurt can heal. It was not my intention to cause harm, nor do I want to continue causing harm, so the pattern has been pulled from Knitty [my note: an online knitting magazine] and the Ravelry database. Again, my deepest apologies for those who were hurt, and I hope we can all move forward together.”

You and me both, Britney.

She continues: “Please respectfully request, do not email me for the pattern pdf. This pattern was discontinued in solidarity with the trans community. It should not have been published. J. K. Rowling’s remarks inflicted deep pain and hurt, and to perpetuate that hurt in any form is not acceptable.”

There were at least a half dozen pages of comments berating this woman, if I remember correctly. The pages are no longer up, and I wish I’d taken more screenshots of them, but I remember how manipulative they were. Women saying they had a “trans kiddo” and how hurtful this sweater would be. I kept thinking to myself how insane this sounded, “this is a large country, what are the odds that your child would ever encounter this sweater in the real world? And also, are you really helping your child develop the resilience they will need in life, if this one sweater connected with Harry Potter imagery on it cannot exist—when mountains of Harry Potter books, movies, toys, and other memorabilia do?

The designer’s reply to someone thanking her for removing the pattern is so pathetic that I questioned for a bit whether she was being sarcastic, but looking at her Instagram just now I see she has done the hard work of posting the Pride Progress Flag yesterday, and something for “Trans Day of Visibility” in March. Even if she’s a true believer now, there’s no excuse for an online mob forcing a woman to remove a knitting pattern which she probably put weeks of work into developing.

Designer’s reply to someone praising her for submitting to their demands. Note the number, 29. There really were several pages of comments on this pattern.

“Thank you, but taking it down wasn’t as difficult as trans folx seeing this design. What this has taught us is that it’s hurtful for trans folx to experience any celebratory art relating back to [Harry Potter] on this platform anymore, and the needs of the trans community are more important and outweigh the wants and hopes of cis-gender folx, even if they are well-intentioned.” [emphasis mine]

I had dismissed Republican concerns about cancel culture, but when I noticed this I started to realize they might be right, even if I wasn’t ready to fully admit it to myself. The more prominent examples of cancel culture that involved well known people were less wicked than this, because those people are more established. Here we had a small mob of progressive women berating a woman on a knitting site to remove a Harry Potter sweater pattern.² No one was helped by their actions—it was all about power and control.

It’s been several years since then, and I no longer consider myself a Democrat because the cognitive dissonance of what they say and what my eyes see is too much to ignore. Cancel culture is real. Humans cannot change sex. 2 + 2 still equals 4.

1. I didn’t want this to turn into a piece on J. K. Rowling specifically here, but for anyone unfamiliar with the controversy:

J. K. Rowling had been accused of being “transphobic” because of statements she’d made on Twitter/X in support of a woman named Maya Forstater, a woman in the UK who lost her job for writing tweets saying that humans cannot change sex. There was an investigation, and she later won an employment discrimination case which said that “gender-critical beliefs” are protected and she was wrongfully persecuted. This still strikes me as off, because it’s REALITY, but it went in her favor… so, “good job, UK!” 🇬🇧

To make this short: Rowling’s support of women’s rights is interpreted as “anti-trans,” and she was the recipient of countless rape and death threats by trans activists.

Essay by J. K. Rowling on why she spoke out. 

Investigative reporter E. J. Rosetta was assigned with finding “20 transphobic J. K. Rowling quotes,” only to realize there weren’t any, and was fired as a result. Article

Lastly, I highly recommend this audio documentary series The Witch Trials of J. K. Rowling by Megan Phelps-Roper.

2. If you’re wondering what it looked like, I almost uploaded a photo I’d saved but since it’s intellectual property that’s not my own, you can see it at this link I just discovered. It’s quite nice, and took a lot of work to create. Too bad she caved. (It looks like there’s a PDF available for download, but I have not clicked it, and take no responsibility for whatever clicking it might do to your computer. I barely have the patience to knit a scarf these days, let alone a sweater.)