What's a TOC?
I suppose that a few of you might be wondering: what's a TOC? In case you weren't aware, in July 2018 there was a worldwide yarn-craft inspired fundraising effort called the Tits Out Collective. This is a brief history summary of the story behind the TOC.
The instigator of this movement was the artist formerly known as Lindsey aka Countess Ablaze. She has honorably retired now from the yarn dyeing business, but has left a mark on the fibre world that, for me at the very least, still makes ripples across the Big Pond. All original blog posts, photos etc have now been lost to the internets, but I will try to collate here as much information as I can.
Jo from the UK (Raveler JoHarvey) writes a brief summary about the double whammy of gender discrimination and plagiarism that led to the formation of the TOC. Ravelry link here.
Here are a few blog posts from participants at the time of the TOC, describing in their words the TOC, and some of their thoughts and feelings regarding this movement. Unfortunately I never recorded much at the time, but that may well be the subject of another blog post.
- Sam Draws Things (artist)
- Hummingbird Yarns (indie yarn dyer)
- Dragon Hoard Yarn Co (indie yarn dyer)
And for a more scholarly article, please see this Article by Lynne F. Baxter. In particular, I recommend Section 7 - The Countess Ablaze, and Section 8 - Transgressions, for the full story. Oh, and scroll through for all of the pretty pictures too!
One of the few things that I did record was the TOC Story in a 5 minute music video parody (on my IGTV channel). I hope that you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed making it!
“Tits Outitty” (with sincere apologies to David Bowie and all of his fans... I am not a singer!😅)
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This is the story of the #titsoutcollective in one song. The whole 5 minute video will go up on my IGTV channel shortly... I hope...
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This was done in an uncut take, using a cobbled together studio. It was cold, I was nervous and tired after working on this all day. I’ll pop the video up on my IGTV shortly... please bear with me... 🎊💖🎊
When the muse strikes, she will not rest until her work is done. I hope that you all get a giggle out of me making a tit out of myself! 😅💕