Racism invades the knitting world -- yet again

When former First Lady Michelle Obama graced the cover of Vogue Knitting, women of color around the world were elated to see someone in their own likeness; a rare occurrence in Vogue's 89-year existence. However, the refreshing moment was short-lived once racism reared its ugly head.

According to The Daily Beast, white knitting influencer Kristy Glass quickly took to Instagram to offer critical remarks about the cover, nitpicking about the former first lady's attire and questioning whether or not her wedding ring was on the right finger.

Glass' remarks prompted backlash from women of color who were deeply offended by her comments. However, many noted that Glass' actions are an example of something that has long-existed.

“She may have other things to apologize for, but the cover stuff is some woke garbage,” one user on the CraftSnark subreddit reportedly wrote. “I’m excited that Michelle Obama is on the cover, can’t wait to buy it, but she totally should be wearing knitwear.”

Adella Colvin, a Black influencer, also took to Instagram to recount her personal encounter with Glass during which, according to The Daily Beast, "she felt the influencer had rebuffed her attempts to talk about some of these issues.

Responding to the backlash, Glass reportedly offered a backhanded statement that she shared to her Instagram story. "I now know that I should have just celebrated the cover and not questioned anything about it," she wrote.

However, her apology came a bit too late as the damage had already been done. Glass ultimately ended up removing her YouTube account, changing her Instagram profile to private, and shutting off donations to her Patreon page. In her departure note, she wrote, “Unfortunately I have made some public mistakes this week and I am not strong enough to make mistakes in public."

She also wrote, “I feel bad for the harm I have done the knitting and BIPOC community for my stories around the Vogue Cover. And I also feel bad that some have taken the opportunity to misrepresent me and my character.”