WARNING: This post contains an offensive image toward the middle of the text.
On August 31, 2021, Wylde & Plumb will delete its account on Ravelry.
If you have any patterns from Wylde & Plumb (previously MKDesigns/A Bit Pecular Designs) saved in your Ravelry library, please download them soon so you won't lose access to them.
Ravelry donates a portion of its profits during the month of June to a number of "charitable" organizations, certain of which claim to "support" children, but which actually target children for exploitation and profit. So in previous years I have simply turned off my sales on Ravelry during June, so I did not support these organizations that I find troubling.
But that's not why I'm deleting my account.
During the run-up to the 2020 election, Ravelry's owners announced that they would no longer permit on their website patterns or discussions about President Trump which were favorable toward him. Rather than making all Trump-related content verboten, Ravelry welcomed negative depictions of the man; Ravelry also called people who voted for Trump "bigots," "racists," and "white supremacists."
This announcement had the effect of dividing people and forcing them to choose sides. The Firefly Hook, a good friend of mine, lost business when some of her customers demanded to know on which side of the Ravelry debate she stood. She tried hard to keep politics out of her business, but because of Ravelry's childish and unprofessional behavior, she lost income that she used to support her family. At that time I turned off my Ravelry sales for good, but I left my patterns on the Ravelry site so customers could find links to them other places.
But that's not why I'm deleting my account.
I'm deleting my account because this month Ravelry celebrated Pride month by putting this image on its homepage:
This cartoon has nothing to do with yarn, knitting, or crochet. It is filled with sex, gender, and BDSM content, as well as a sex toy that is nothing short of disgusting. If you don't know what it is or how it's used, be glad and enjoy your oblivious bliss. (I envy you.)
Ever since Casey decided to call himself Cassidy, Ravelry has become more about sex, gender, and politics than about yarn, knitting, and crochet.
Here's Casey/Cassidy's profile on Ravelry. Keep in mind, this is a BUSINESS profile.
Why the bigotry about being "cis"? Why do knitters and crocheters need to know Casey/Cassidy's favorite curse word?
This is a person suffering declining mental health, and taking his business down with him.
I can no longer in good conscience participate in Ravelry's unprofessional behavior and politically-motivated decisions.
I realize this will hurt my business.
I realize people will call me names and possibly try to further damage my business and sully my reputation.
I realize I may be alone in telling Ravelry, "Enough."
But that's okay.
I'll sleep just fine tonight.
Thank You so much for the heads-up!! I am in agreement with you. I didn't even pay attention. I usually purchase through the app. I don't see the "cartoon." hich is sick!!!! I will be buying another hard drive to store all my patterns.