Keep

Some donut left a comment on one of our workshop posts about it being “woke indoctrination.”

Woke is yet another term stolen from Black Americans and twisted by the right wing.

So what is woke? Back in the day, we’d tell each other to “stay woke.” I had a friend we used to call “woke brother James” with love (though he sometimes wasn’t that fun at a party, if you know what I mean).

Being woke means waking up to the realities of oppression and not hiding from it. It means understanding racism. Understanding history. Understanding political theory. Understanding capitalism.

Understanding, for instance, that capitalism REQUIRES a underclass. That BIPOC are more likely to be put into that underclass through discrimination in education, employment, healthcare, policing/law enforcement, food deserts, and on and on.

Being woke helps you understand what is happening to you. What is happening to your brothers, sisters and siblings around the corner and around the world.

Being woke helps you avoid falling for stupid rhetoric - like blaming immigrants from taking jobs. You understand that racism + capitalism means the brown person from across the planet is being used and the right person to blame is the boss who believes in money and exploitation over everything else.

Being woke helps you identify that trans people are being scapegoated and used. They are less than 1% of the population, so why the trumped up hubbub? (What’s the word for male hysteria?)

What they call woke indoctrination is, to me, just a call to love your neighbour and don’t judge.

I’m not trans but trans people get to decide how to live their lives. Nothing they’re doing harms me, so i can just mind my business (at the VERY least) or offer my love and support.

I don’t experience anti-Asian racism but I know how brutal racism can be, so how can I help? I listen, I learn, I act. Repeat. Love and support.

Be woke. Understand the myriad intersectional oppressions that exist and work against them. And know that ideas of “woke indoctrination” are just another way in which you’re being conned. Tricked into fighting the wrong people and distracted from the things we should all be fighting (lack of affordable housing, accessible healthcare/lack of healthcare professionals, environmental destruction and an ongoing climate crisis, low wages and a despicable work culture, corruption in government, etc.)

Stay woke y’all.

- Judith 💜💜

(Edited to correct the first sentence. Changed the word worship to workshop.)

Try your hand at rug hooking this Saturday at the Wellington Farmers Market
🎪🎪🎪🎪🎪🎪🎪🎪🎪🎪🎪

I will be hanging out with to promote our new textile market .

We will have some supplies on hand so you can give this traditional textile craft a try !

Bay will be knitting and showcasing her natural dyed yarns & wares .
🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶🧶

Hope you can pop bye , pull up a chair and hang out !

New event making in

Hope ya follow along over at

So excited to start sharing about our new contemporary textile market Gather happening May 11th, 2024 at the Crystal Palace Picton, Ont. We thought we would take the opportunity to introduce ourselves (Bay Woodyard + Bear Epp ) as the event builders + curators of Gather.

Bay Woodyard comes from a large family of artists and studied drawing and painting at the Ontario College of Art, including a year in Florence, Italy. Whether painting or creating textile art, her work is inspired by nature. These days she combines natural dyes, hand spun wool and knitting.
Bay’s farm based business, Honey Pie Hives and Herbals was founded in Prince Edward County in 2000. Her love of the agriculture and craft community has led her to organize local craft shows and take part in farmers markets.

With a background in Craft & Design from Sheridan, Niagara College, the Banff Centre for the Arts and Harbourfront Centre Craft Studios, Bear Epp has worked in the creative industry for over three decades as an artist, arts programmer, teacher and creative director. As an artist, she has exhibited in Canada and internationally and has commissioned work held in the permanent collection of the Royal Ontario Museum.

Dedicated to building community through creative exchange, Bear facilitates artist workshops and retreats throughout Ontario as well as focuses her on her own studio practice in Cherry Valley ON creating contemporary folk hand-hooked rugs inspired by her Mennonite heritage and lived experience.

Gather In The County will showcase artists, contemporary makers, small batch producers, indie dyers, traditional crafters, vintage textiles wares and local guilds all working in textiles.

We made the call to close up the shops early so we can get home and hunker down. Stay safe everyone!

You’re invited! ✨ Opening this Friday, it’s the 10 x 10 Art Show at Carbon Art and Design, a fundraiser for The Department of Illumination.

Because we're celebrating our 10th birthday there will be cake, you can sign our giant birthday card, and instead of bringing us a gift, you can take home a piece of original art for just $110! 🥳 There will be 140 artworks by 100 local artists, each 10” x 10.” ✨ We've received an incredible variety of contributions - just wait until you see them!

The opening party is Friday November 18, 5 to 8 pm (no early birds or presales!) at Carbon Art & Design - 281B Main St, Picton (down the alley beside Books & Company). ✨ There is a limited capacity in the gallery, so you may have to wait a few minutes for admission.

The show runs until December 4, Thursday through Saturday 11 - 5, Sunday and Monday 11 – 4 (closed Tuesday – Wednesday). Hope to see you there!

We have some big news & changes to share:

This Tuesday November 15th, our beloved keep]] shop will be closing in Picton and reopening in Bloomfield on December 1.

We are calling it a shuffle — keep]] will take over the space at little kokito and little kokito] will move into & share a home with . This will all take place the last two weeks of November and we will reopen at 283 and 285 Main Street Bloomfield all refreshed and ready to go December 1st.

Why the move?

We love Picton Main Street dearly — from our best-ever neighbours, to the community, and our loyal customers — but like many businesses in the county, finding consistent staffing has been an issue. After many months of hemming and hawing and trying to make it work, we landed on this tough but necessary decision.

💛 So while we are sad to say goodbye to Picton (at least for now), we love this move and think you will, too:

— None of our staff members are going anywhere! We take such pride in our amazing team, some who have been with us since the very beginning of KOKITO!
— You will still be able to shop , little kokito], and keep]] – all from Bloomfield.
— We are decking the halls at the newly refreshed shops and can’t wait to show you what we have up our sleeves.
— We’re celebrating with a sale! Join us at Bloomfield Town Hall next weekend, November 19 & 20th for some festive cheer, and some sweet discounts. will be there with treats, coffee and snacks! 🎄💫

Share with a friend. Swing by the sale. And of course, let us know if you have any Qs.

Thank you! We love you!

And that's an official wrap on the Summer season. We are closed until Friday so we can set up for the Holidays! Can't wait to show you all the great Holiday products we sourced this year. Put Friday on your calendars, you won't want to miss it. Open Friday from 10am - 4pm!