Give Me Four Minutes
Introducing...Give Me Four Minutes, a new colorway inspired by shit I hear while volunteering as a clinic escort.
The situation that inspired this colorway started with me minding my own business reading a book while a patient was heading toward her car.
As she walked past me she stopped to compliment some of the flair on my vest, which includes an "Abortion Is Normal" pin from Shout Your Abortion, and a pin that says “Your Shade Don’t Bug Me” from one of my besties.
We chatted for a few minutes, ignoring the pleas of an anti-abortion harasser desperate to stop people from getting basic health care.
As we parted, the anti-abortion harasser yelled that because the patient gave me 4 minutes of her time, she now owes him 2 minutes of her time. She looked at me, amused by the audacity of the request, and I shrugged and said, “That’s time you’ll never get back!” We both burst out laughing, and she went on her way, not giving the harasser him a moment of her precious time.
As we parted, the anti-abortion harasser yelled that because the patient gave me 4 minutes of her time, she now owes him 2 minutes of her time. She looked at me, amused by the audacity of the request, and I shrugged and said, “That’s time you’ll never get back!” We both burst out laughing, and she went on her way, not giving the harasser him a moment of her precious time.
That interaction got me thinking about what else I could do with four minutes. As much as I love chatting with and meeting folks while volunteering, I’d prefer that I didn't have to be there at all.
I could be doing anything else with the time I spend witnessing and interfering with anti-abortion harassment. And since I love to take those ugly moments and turn them into something beautiful, I thought maybe I could develop an entire colorway in four minutes. Spoiler alert, it was actually REALLY hard but it was also REALLY fun.
Here is a sped up version of those four frantic minutes.
After the original development of the colorway I used my notes (thank you J for writing down all the nonsense I said while panicking about getting dye on yarn in just 4 minutes) and took my time to fully develop a style and a repeatable colorway based on what I chose in my adrenaline rush.
I promise I’m taking great care in all subsequent batches, and it takes me much longer than 4 minutes to make them look great.
I hope you love this new addition to a growing collection of colorways inspired by shit I hear while volunteering. I think it’s such a special one.
