Reading · The Racontourist

Jen Geigley is on the other side of the microphone for this conversation with Robert Leonard at the Iowa State Democratic Convention in Des Moines on Saturday, June 13. Jen is an artist and an advocate and is widely recognized as a tastemaker and an expert in her field of the fiber arts.

This column is also posted at Robert Leonard’s Substack, Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture . Please consider subscribing to Robert Leonard Robert is an anthropologist a journalist and a conservationist. He is also a husband and a father and valued member of the communities he is a part of. If you value his work and can afford it, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture or buying him a cup of coffee here.

Robert convinced me that I should have a Buy me a coffee page too so I set one up. You can find that here.With “Portraits of Democracy in Action,” Jason and I continue our collaboration, highlighting Iowans from different walks of life.

Robert Leonard wrote the following words…

Jason and I attended the Iowa State Democratic Convention in Des Moines on Saturday, June 13, where we spoke with attendees, and Jason shot photographs. We began our series with interviews and photographs of three members of the Iowa Creator Corp, a new organization, and then we will continue with a few Democrats running for office, and other people at the convention.

Our first interview was with Liz Fleming, aka “Liz from Iowa,” and can be found here. The second interview, with Maddie Houser Webb, is here. This interview with Jen Geigley is the third in the series.

I wrote the narrative, and Jason did the photography and photo captions.

Jen Geigley interviews Chris Jones at the Iowa State Democratic Convention in Des Moines on Saturday, June 13. Chris is running for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture on a platform to help restore the water quality in Iowa a topic that has become a talking point with most candidates and is on the mind of voters as cancer rates rise and our habitat and waterways become unsustainable and unsafe for human contact.

Jen interviews Michael Gronstal, former Iowa State Senator and Democratic majority leader. He served from 1985 to 2017. You can see the gear Jen uses for her production. You can do so much with so little and make it available to millions almost instantly. Jen uses a phone as her camera, mounted on a tripod and uses external microphones to make sure the audio is good.

Jen Geigley is a member of the Iowa Creator Corp and was at the convention to interview candidates and other attendees.

As legacy media stumbles, people like Maddie, Liz, Jen, and other informed, honest, and passionate individuals, including members of the Iowa Creator Corps, are stepping in to provide truthful and timely digital news and progressive commentary to the masses.

Like Maddie and Liz, Jen is a public intellectual who uses digital media to meet people where they are—especially young people. Below is a screenshot of some of the videos she created based on interviews with candidates, as well as some of her policy and lifestyle commentary.

From her website, we learn that Jen also knits, writes, designs knitting patterns, creates graphics, and teaches knitting classes. Her designs have been published in Vogue Knitting, Knit Simple Magazine, Noro Magazine, Knitsy Magazine, and more. She has written six knitting books and created patterns for numerous companies.

Jen teaches knitting to students in several schools in Des Moines. She also teaches a class called Art Spectrums at the Des Moines Art Center. The class is a free program for children and teens on the autism spectrum.

Jen Geigley is an influencer in the fiber arts space. She has published books of her designs and has had her patterns reproduced by major designers and sold nationally in stores. Even with all of her success she stays humble and goes out of her way to introduce others to the art of knitting. My wife @Emma Walsmith (Stories from the Waypoint) learned to knit from Jen.

Below is the audio of our interview, followed by a lightly edited transcript. Please listen to the audio if possible to get a better sense of Jen.

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Me: Well, Jen, what are you doing here today?

Jen: I’m here with the Iowa Creator Corps, and I just wanted to be part of this election season because I think it matters more than ever. This Iowa election season is very exciting. It’s exciting to be an Iowan right now. And we are sharing stories and interviews through social media, which is where a lot of people get their news, and it’s a way to reach a lot of people these days. And so I’m just happy to be a part of it.

Me: And we’re coming up on America’s 250th anniversary. Your thoughts on that?

Jen: Yikes. (laughter) The marketing, the paper plates, yeah, the whole vibe behind it, I just can’t quite get behind it, honestly.

Me: Tell me more.

Jen: I’m just not feeling super patriotic in that way, or like celebrating right now. I think our country has a lot of change that needs to happen, and yeah, I’m not excited about that celebration.

Me: We should all be troubled about how it’s been appropriated.

Jen: Absolutely.

Me: It should be bipartisan and something for all of…

Jen: For everyone.

Me: Yeah, and it’s…

Jen: Right. It doesn’t feel that way at all. It feels very divided and very one-sided, and doesn’t feel like a togetherness celebration of who we are as a country.

Me: And I see you’re knitting.

Jen: Yeah.

Me: Tell me about that.

Jen: Today is Knit in Public Day, and you’re supposed to knit in public. Some people have gatherings. I used to have a gathering downtown at the Sculpture Park, and we would all knit together. You just kind of take your knitting wherever you are. So, I’m knitting today at the Iowa Democratic Convention, and then I’ll be knitting later this afternoon at Pride.

Me: Well, and a lot of people don’t know, is that knitting in particular and other fiber arts, mainly done by women, not exclusively, but through history mainly done by women, created by women, designed by women, has been an act of resistance.

Jen: Yes!

Me: Tell us about that.

Jen: Okay. Knitting is resistance, and AOC is a knitter, and she has given this sentiment in recent interviews. Knitting has been part of politics for many, many, many generations. It was part of wartime efforts where women would knit for the troops, but they would also act as spies and knit code into their hats and their garments, and pass them on to soldiers, and messages were relayed in that way.

And so, there’s so many different stories about how knitting is resistance and how this little craft is much, much more. So, I collaborated with RAYGUN, which is a local t-shirt company, and we made a t-shirt for a fundraiser for our Knitathon called Knit for Food. And the t-shirt says “knitting is resistance.” And from the Knitathon itself and sales from the t-shirts, we raised half a million dollars to feed Americans.

And all of the funds were divided between Feeding America, No Kid Hungry, Meals on Wheels, and World Central Kitchen. And so, knitting can make a big difference. Just one knitter gathering with other knitters and knitting all together, we can do a lot of things.

And hey, please consider joining Jason and I in September at Lake Okoboji, at Julie Gammack’s wonderful Okoboji Writers and Songwriters Retreat. We’d love to see you there!

Democracy in Action--Jen Geigley

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