- When knitting site Ravelry banned all pro-Trump content it caused a schism in the community—but it also shone a spotlight on how women are using niche sites to politicize.
Her knitting pattern spelled out “Build the Wall” with a brick motif.
“Deplorable Knitter,” as she calls herself, then posted the pattern on Ravelry, the internet’s largest collective of knitters and crocheters.The response was vitriolic.
“Everyone was so angry about it,” she says.
But Deplorable Knitter, who’d previously just used the site to browse patterns, was fired up.
When Trump announced he was running for reelection last June, she designed a Trump 2020 “Keep America Great” cowl.
“That one blew up,” she says, describing threats and bullying that have forced her to remain anonymous.
Her cowl pattern got flagged for hate speech, and on June 21, Deplorable Knitter was banned from Ravelry.
She was not alone.
On June 23, the site banned “support of Donald Trump and his administration.”
In a statement at the time, Ravelry said: “We cannot provide a space that is inclusive of all and also allow support for open white supremacy. Support of the Trump administration is undeniably support for white supremacy.”...
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