Off My Hook

Is He or Isn’t He?

So I picked up my first Rachael Ray magazine last night. My husband and I used to enjoy her old $40 a Day show way back when. (Yeah, we’re cool, we were into her before she sold out and went mainstream, man.) I’ve always thought she was a bit too “chummy”, like your goofy friend that the boys make fun of but secretly like. But hey, that happens to everyone, right? No? Well, nevermind then…I know she’s quite in vogue these days with all the tv and the Oprah and I’ve read the amusing net backlash as well. (“Raytard”. Enough said.) I only bought the issue because cooking is not my forté and I’ve been hearing that a lot of her recipes are simple, and, for lack of a better term, man-pleasing. Superbowl steak sandwiches. Chili. She wrote a book called Guy Food, for goodnes sake, And since my beloved will barely eat what I do prepare, I thought she deserved a chance.


Enough of the backstory. I’m surveying the mag after a late night grocery trip and finding nothing simple nor manpleasing. Since it’s a bit of a lifestyle magazine as well, there are cute tablesettings and household tips and such. I reach the “Everyday Faves” section, which showcases the current must-haves in fashion and home items. And what to my wandering eyes should appear? A forlorn little bunny with floppy striped ears! As surprised as I was to see crocheted toys advertised in a hip mainstream magazine, I was immediately saddened by a mental picture of the poor sweatshop workers having to mass produce them. It looks like all single crochet with color changes every three rows…I get a blister just thinking about it.

I halfheartedly closed my new useless recipe book and dragged the kids to bed alongside my sickly (and possibly malnourished) husband and fell asleep without further thought about cooking or sweatshops. So, imagine my surprise this afternoon while surfing some blogs when I saw this post pointing to a “cute, snuggly knitted bunny”. I know there is enough polarization in the fiber community, and may the great Skein in the Sky forgive me if I am wrong, but I do not believe in my heart of hearts that this animal is knit.

Rachael’s got it listed for sale at apartment48.com, a site which gives no indication of the thing’s construction. A quick google reveals he’s (and let’s call him he for the sake of argument, shall we? I’m sure no one is questioning the gender of a stuffed toy) made by Schylling and sold by dozens of progressive Ikea type boutiques online. Some sites, including Amazon, say he’s knitted, while others have been saved by the don’t ask, don’t tell policy popularized by today’s military. Notice also that he can be “long eared” or “long earred”, which only serves to add more fire to the stew. Though what really caught my attention was the total lack of copywriting originality. Each site seemed to be remixing each others’ descriptions like I did when I copied my term paper out of an encyclopedia in the 7th grade.

Listen, I know it’s tough enough to crochet in a world that caters to knitters, so let’s set the record straight if we can.

By passing over all the rhetoric, maybe we can out this bunny and bring a peace unto a nation of crafters.

Perhaps it’s true, by Stripes we can all be healed.