A Contribution

Helen



Yarn: Fleece Artist Merino Angel (58% Merino, 30% Mohair, 12% Nylon, 366 yards), 1 skein
Needles: 5 mm, US 8
Gauge: Flexible (it's a scarf, not a bikini), but try for 15 stitches to 4 inches in stockinette
Suggested measurements: 11" by 85"

Techniques required: Provisional cast-on, yarnovers, decreases, chart reading

Notes: Only Right Side rows are included in Charts A and B. Do not forget to work the wrong sides.
Chart A is repeated twice across the row; Chart B is repeated 5 times across the row.
The charts are included at the end of the instructions. Click to enlarge.

Merino Angel is limited edition, so it may be difficult to procure. Any heavy fingering or sportweight mohair or mohair blend will work.

Instructions
Using a provisional cast-on, Cast-On 50 stitches. Knit one row.
Row 1 (RS): K2, work Row 1 of Chart A across, K2
Row 2 (and all other WS rows unless otherwise noted): K2, p to the last two stitches, K2
Work Chart A a total of 21 times, ending with a Right Side row.
Transitional Row (WS): Knit all stitches, increasing once across, 51 stitches.
Work Chart B once, ending with a Wrong Side row.
Bind off all stitches Purlwise.

Pick up the 50 stitches from the original Cast-On edge, and make certain you are ready to start a Wrong Side row. Knit one row, increasing once across, 51 stitches.
Work Chart B once, ending with a Wrong Side row.
Bind off all stitches Purlwise.

Wet block to desired measurements. Toss one end over a shoulder and parade through the streets of town like the diva you are.

Chart A



Chart B



Chart Legend
o yarnover
/ k2tog
\ ssk
^ sk2p

.........................................................................................................................
(c)2010, Bethany Hait. This pattern is provided free of charge. As such, please feel free to make a copy for personal use, or make this scarf as a gift or a charitable donation. Please do not make copies of this pattern for others, sell the scarf or pattern for profit, or redistribute or reproduce it for any other reason.

Worms

I just read this article on Yahoo! News.

OK. BEGIN RANT

First off, there's a difference between deciding that Book X does not support the mission or policy of the parent institution and therefore should not be included on the library shelves, and banning it. Lauren Myracle probably wouldn't end up on the shelves of the local college library, or in the library of the local law school, but that doesn't mean that the book is BANNED from either of them, just that it doesn't support either institution's curriculum. Peter Spier, Norman Bridwell, or Margaret Wise Brown probably wouldn't end up there either.

Secondly (and more importantly), NO ONE, not even parents, has the right to ban a book for someone else. If this parent truly feels that strongly about this book, then she can make the decision about it for HER CHILD (and she should be strongly encouraged to do so). If her child brings it home, it is her right (and responsibility) to say, "Honey, I don't want you reading that book right now, because I think it deals with issues that are more appropriate for older children. Let's take it back to the library so you can pick out something else, and in two or three years, you can check it out again."

But to say that she doesn't want ANY child who is the same age as her child to be exposed to the book is NOT within her rights. She does NOT have the right to say, "I don't believe that this book is appropriate for any child under the age of 10, and therefore, I do not want any child who is under the age of ten ever to have to come into contact with it." And it isn't her decision to say whether or not the book supports her school's curriculum, either -- and that would be the only reason why the school librarian would decide not to put it on the shelf.

Not every book in every library is all sugar and roses. There are some really racy or violent or disturbing tomes out there. There are books in my library that (if I had children) I would not want them reading. Mein Kampf comes to mind most readily. There are also books that, if I had young children, I wouldn't want them to read until they were older. Like Twilight. But if someone else were to pick up either Mein Kampf or Twilight and decide they wanted to read it, that's their right to do so, regardless of their age. And regardless of what I, or ANYONE ELSE, thinks.

So lady? Learn to do your own darn job and review the books your child picks out. And let other parents do the same for their kids.

END RANT

Tuesday Musings

1. Do people in Greece ever wear winter scarves?

2. Today is the first day of fall. So why is the weather forecast for tomorrow slated to be in the 90's?

3. What in the world is "gator gumbo"?

4. NaNoWriMo's coming up!!

5. This weekend is the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival. I'd go...except I have to work. Bummer. Maybe I can bribe someone to shop for me.

6. I cannot believe the sheer number of books that urchins can pull off library shelves in the space of a couple of hours. How fast do kids read?

Celebratory Randomness

1. Today is the first day of school, which makes me want to go running out in the streets tossing pennies to anyone who comes by in celebration. (And I totally would, except for the fact that yesterday, I celebrated by going with M to a Nationals game (they won), and, despite the fact that I used sun block, came back with some significant redness on my chest and face, which I'm pretty sure has contributed to the headache that I've had all day today.)

2. I'm looking for a good way to make boucle yarn (that's just an example). I'm not finding the article in Spin-Off very helpful.

3. Note to all you parents: The public library does not have a section specifically dedicated to "AR books." ANY book is an AR book. It may not be on your child's school list, but it will probably have a value assigned to it all the same. And we probably don't have the most up-to-date list from your school, and no, it isn't connected to our catalog even if we did.

4. I'm seriously sick of all the Chef Boyarde commercials about people getting in trouble by mentioning vegetables. For pity sakes, what is wrong with kids knowing that there are vegetables in their food??? Isn't it better that kids learn to enjoy their vegetables and know that not all veggies taste bad than to LIE to your children?

5. Four children came up to me tonight to ask about school reading lists. Ah, the joy of working with children who start their work early.

6. Why is the batter who is right behind the dude on deck referred to as being "in the hole?"

7. I really need to get back to work on the cabinet.

Funny

This is just about the funniest think I've seen in a while. Beats even the hamsters. I've been trying to embed the link to the video itself, but somehow, I'm missing something. So here's the link anyway.

Brigham Young University / BYU - New Spice | Study like a scholar, scholar

Summer Reading

Is now OVER.

Now, if we could just do something about the school year starting earlier....

It All Goes Back to a Lack of Woods

So we're getting into the time of summer when kids are coming in Mongal hords to come and check out the stack of books that they have been assigned to read over the summer. Most of them are checked out, and of course, it all will lead, in the end, to someone (usually either me or the mother) saying, "Shouldn't you have started this two months ago?"

But it's gotten me thinking. What's the point of school summer reading assignments? To stimulate thought and mental activity when school is not in session?
To get children to read when they're not being forced to do so? To keep them out of trouble? To start the school year with some of the work done?

I think educators will say that it's a combination of all those answers, but really when it comes down to it, I think the reason for summer assignments is thus: A: to make the job easier on the English teacher in the fall, and B: to ensure that the children are not bored.

But what's the big deal about being bored? BORED children climb trees. They build treehouses. They explore the great unknowns of their backyards. They rig booby traps for their neighborhood rivals. They write dark and vampant poetry. They take bike rides and go for walks. They draw and paint. They build mud pies and make flower jelly. They sort rocks and collect flowers and steal from beehives. And they read books of THEIR OWN CHOOSING.

I could go on here, but...well...My friend M would say that it all goes back to the fact that kids are no longer playing in trees anymore.

And because they aren't bored.

Fifty-seven

Is the number of days until school starts up again.

I think I can do it.

I think.

First Impressions

How do you determine what goes into the very first line of a short story or poem or novel? How you decide what you want the first impression to be? And how do some lines become famous almost to the point of cliche, while others, even on popular books or famous classics, remain comfortably in obscurity?

There are, of course, the cliches:
"It was a dark and stormy night."
"There was once upon a time..."

Then there opening lines which don't become cliche, but do end up so well-known that pretty much everyone knows where they came from:
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
"Call me, 'Ishmael'."
"Marley was dead, to begin with."

And then there are works which have no real punch to their opening lines at all, yet the greater work still retains enough punch to render the book a classic:
"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents."
"Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head."
"The first place that I can well remember was a large pleasant meadow with a pond of clear water in it."
"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
"Unemployed, at last!"

So what goes into the thinking up of the very first line?

Thoughts?

Vocab Lesson

Because I was really ticked off when I saw the Haines commercial last night about their new "Lays flat collar." Uhhh, People? The stranger dude was correct. It really is LIES flat, not lays.

So let's go over the definition of the two words again, shall we?

To lay: a transitive verb, requiring a direct object. It means to put, to place, or to set. It is conjugated thusly: I lay the book down today, I laid the book down yesterday, I have laid the book down in the past.

To lie: an intransitive verb, requiring no direct object. It means to recline, to repose, or to be situated. It is conjugated thusly: I lie down today, I lay down yesterday, I have lain down in the past.

Not to be confused with the completely different word meaning "to tell an untruth."

So just to be VERY CLEAR about this (because really, it isn't all that difficult), if something or someone is reclining or is situated in a certain way, the word to use it LIE. I lie down in my bed. The collar lies flat. The word LAY is used only when one wishes to say that something is BEING placed or set onto something. I lay the book on the desk. She lay the silverware down on the table.

So Haines? I realize you think you were being funny, really? You weren't. Please use your words correctly.

Lest We Forget

It's interesting how sometimes the most profound statements can be found in mundane places. The following is from a song by Lee Greenwood:

at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

Memorial Day has been celebrated here in the US regularly since 1866. It wasn't called anything then. It was just a day when people would go to the graves of all the men and boys they knew who had died in the Civil War. After a few years, it was called Decoration Day and established to be on May 30. It wasn't until later that it was called Memorial Day, and later still when it moved from May 30 to the last Monday in May .

(This would be a good time to point out the fact to all my Canadian friends that, while November 11 is indeed an important date, and that we would never try to downplay the sacrifices that Canadians or anyone else made during WWI or any other war, it's important to note that the reason November 11 is not as big of a holiday here in the US is because by the time WWI ended, we Americans had been celebrating Memorial Day for almost fifty years.)

But regardless of how it came to be called what and when, it's still the day that we Americans take the time to remember all the heroes, fallen and standing, of all of the wars in which we've fought. Because there's precious little in this world that's more important than remembering. Because the men who fought for freedom and liberty deserve to be remembered -- even if we don't remember their names, we at least remember what they did. Because without them, none of us would be where we are today.

So...in the words of Abraham Lincoln: "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."

Or in the words of Billy Ray Cyrus: "Love your country and live with pride
And don't forget those who died"

Either way? Never forget.

Why Are We Afraid to Disturb the Universe?

So the Harlot has a debate going right now over the definition of lace. She is offering her readers four choices:

A) Elizabeth Zimmerman's definition, which is "a series of yarn-overs with accompanying decreases used to make holes" (or something like that).

B) Holes are holes, regardless of how they're made, so even if they aren't stable and are simply a result of knitting at a loose gauge, the result could be defined as lace.

C) As long as the holes are stable, intentional, and create some sort of design, the resulting fabric can be called lace.

D) Some other definition.

It's amusing to read through all the different comments -- to read about how "real lace" has to have patterning on both sides and how it must be accompanied by tears, angst, and language unbecoming a knitter, or how maybe we are really too rigid in a lot of our definitions.

The comment that really struck me though, was that a lot of people chose the first definition because, well, that's Elizabeth Zimmerman's definition, and who are we mere mortals to go against the great Knitting Goddess of Elizabeth Zimmerman?

Personally, I'd go with the third definition (because I don't think that yarn overs are the only way to make stable holes, or that knitting is the only way to create lace), but all those comments left me wondering...and marveling at the irony of it all (is it actually irony? I'm never certain). EZ was, truly, a knitting goddess. She made knitting cool before it was cool, and she authored many books throughout her lifetime that provide great, helpful information for many a knitter.

But most importantly (and here's where the irony(?) comes in), she disturbed the universe. And she dared other knitters to disturb the universe. Her definition of the perfect length of a border is "until the knitter is sick of knitting it." She constantly told knitters not to be afraid of doing something new or different (her motto was "knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises"). The first paragraph in one of her books talks about her "unventing something." She believed that there was no such thing as a mistake in knitting, only new things or deviations from a pattern, and that the correct way to create a long-tail cast-on was just to pull out a bunch of yarn until it looked long enough and go from there.

Now, I don't have any problem with any of those people who chose the first definition of lace if that's truly what they believed the definition to be. But to choose it just because it's Elizabeth Zimmerman's definition?

In the movie Mona Lisa Smile, Julia Roberts' character pulls out a Van Gogh paint-by-number and says to her students, "Ironic, isn't it? Look at what we have done to the man who refused to conform his ideals to popular taste. Who refused to compromise his integrity. We have put him in a tiny box and asked you to copy him."

I couldn't say it better.

For Thoughts

You ever notice how some patterns take forever to do, and then others you can get done really quickly? And not for any particular reason, either. I wonder why that is...

I'm working on the Francis Revisted sweater. Now, granted, it's knit on big needles, and there's virtually NO FINISHING. But still, I started it seven days ago, and I'm almost done with it. Normally, it takes me about 2-3 weeks to do a sweater, and this one will be done in about eight days. Weird.

And that's not the only one. Monkey socks are lickety split, too. Why is that, especially when other patterns out there are slow as molasses? It can't be the actual pattern: Francis is done in plain stockinette, and Monkeys in fish-scale lace. And it's not necessarily the needle size either, because I have another sweater on the same size needles as Francis that I just frogged because it's been on the needles , so what is it about certain patterns?

What other patterns out there are uber fast?

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

You ever wonder who the old man is in that rhyme?

So, in April, it got up to 90 degrees in the first week. Now, it's May, and it's back down to the low 60's. Huh. Maybe the temperature can't decide which month it is.

I'm trying to decide whether I can swing Summer's End with my Lion Cotton.

I'm going to go with the Boys vs. Girls series. Hopefully that will generate interest on both sides of the fence. But if any child comes home with ideas, I'm denying all knowledge.

Today is Gary Paulsen's birthday. Read Hatchet if you get a chance.

Ideas

I'm looking for a series to do in the fall. It needs to be appealing to both genders, and for kids in the age range of 9-12. Anyone have any ideas? Here are the ones I've been thinking about so far:

1. Oz, by L. Frank Baum. It's fantasy adventure, which would appeal to boys, and it has plenty of strong female characters, which appeals to...well...girls. But would the fact that the protagonists are mainly female put the boys off? Also, how would I get around the fact that the program wouldn't be about the movie?

2. The Last Apprentice, by Joseph Delaney. Again, lots of fantasy adventure and great character development, but we're talking DARK here. And SCARY. Some kids might be put off by that. And then there's the fact that most of the girl characters aren't exactly the ones we want to root for.

3. Boys v. Girls, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. A different take here with present day, good-natured humor that's equally divided between girls and boys. A definite appeal to both genders...but is it old enough? The older kids might not be so into the younger siblings.

4. The Black Stallion, by Walter Farley. Horses with a male protagonist -- you can't not appeal to boys and girls here. And there's loads of adventure, with each book just a little different. But would some of the kids be put off by some of the datedness of the books?

So that's what I have so far. Anyone have any other ideas?? Comments?? Questions??

The Monkeys are done!

Random on a Friday

1. The people at Home Depot grossly overstimated the aount of dirt I needed to garden. Either that, or I need more plants.

2. Gardening is hard exercise.

3. I hate wasps and carpenter bees.

4. One Monkey sock -- DONE! I need to start the other one though, probably tonight, soas not fall victim to Second Sock Syndrome.

5. Here's hoping that Purplicious will be dompleted by MDSW a week from tomorrow. (Is it a week from tomorrow. Wow, time flies.) That, and the ugly bumblebee socks.

6. I saw a tiger swallowtail today!!

Could We At Least Pretend?

You probably all have your favorite sports team. When I was in University, the team that everyone cared about was the Toronto Maple Leafs. In grad school, it was the Steelers. Back home, it's Penn State and the Phillies.

But even though those were The Teams to support, the news stations at least pretended that a) there are other teams and other sports out there, and b) that there are other things happening in the world that don't concern them. Like, oh I don't know...maybe an extreme weather situation, or a local crime, or some big festival going on, or a natural disaster.

The day the Eagles traded DM to the Skins, there was an earthquake in California, a local police officer was killed in the line of duty, and we were in the middle of a record-breaking heatwave. Moreover, the trade took place the day before OPENING DAY in the baseball season. But were ANY of those stories the ones the news broadcasters cared about at the top of the news hour? NO. All anyone cared about was this (apparently) shocking trade.

Mind you, this is also the same network (whom I shall not identify) who claimed that Abraham Lincoln was born in Illinois, but still. Come on, people. There is a time for sports stories in the newscast, and unless this story is so huge that it affects other parts of the news (Shawn Johnson's murder, for example), the very top of the news hour, overshadowing everything else going on in the world, is not it. And while I will admit that this was a big story, when there are other things going on in the world of other major league sports, like one sport's Opening Day, or the start of another sport's playoffs, it should not take up the whole amount of the time devoted to sports.

In addition to the Skins, there are five other professional major league sports teams in our area (at least. There may be more, but those are the ones I'm aware of). And for those of you who are not aware, of those five, guess how many made the playoffs for the 2009 or 2009-2010 season?

One.

That's right. One. Three others finished dead last, and the fifth finished somewhere in the middle. The Skins? I would say their performance was mediocre. They didn't make the playoffs either.

Now, any NFL team is certainly entitled to make whatever trade they wish, as long as it is within NFL guidelines. But you know, maybe if the local news stations pretended to care a little more about the other professional teams in our area, do you think those teams might, JUST MIGHT, perform a little better?

Just a thought.

Random on a Wednesday

Spring has sprung. Although, the weather these past two days has been much cooler than the weather over the weekend. The library has cooled down considerably.

I have 12 rounds left on my Cap Shawl (that's a Ravelry link). Then I get to the border. It is going slowly.

There are three cherry trees in bloom outside the library. It makes me happy to look at them.

I am trying very hard to get my other pair of socks done before the weekend.

I am not going to discuss the new health care bill. Unless you have actually been in need of medical care in a foreign country where the hospital was willing to treat you, no questions asked and regardless of insurance, OR unless you have been on the other end and have been somewhere and denied treatment because of a lack of insurance, really, I do not wish to discuss it.

I need to get ready for storytime.

An Idea

Firstly: in light of what happened recently in Chile, I'd thought I'd reiterate my previous post about how lucky we are. Since some of the links point to Haiti, here are the links for the Chilean Embassy in D.C. and in Ottawa.

On Sunday, the Olympics came to a close, and we all went back to our normal everyday routine. It looked like quite a party, but it got me thinking, particularly in light of the hockey game Sunday afternoon.

I didn't watch the hockey game, just the brief moments that were retold later that night during the nightly news (congrats to all my Canadian friends, btw), but then I saw an interview with an American player afterward. The player was saying how disappointed he was for being forced to settle for the silver medal. He wouldn't even accept the reporter's congratulations.

Did you know that more silver medalists are depressed than anyone else who compete in the Olympics? Gold medalists are always happy. Bronze medalists are just happy to be on the podium, and everybody else who doesn't medal just feels sad that they didn't medal. But silver medalists, time and again, are depressed. If they only flew higher, jumped farther, ran faster, stopped one more goal, landed one more jump. Their lives are full of "if only's" and "what if's."

Which is a shame really. Because silver medal? That's pretty good! It means that out of everybody else in the world competing in your sport, you are better than all of them except for one. I don't see why people who win the silver medal are treated as though they had to settle for something.

Do you think that Meryl Davis and Charlie White are disappointed with the silver medal they won in ice dancing in one of their first international competitions ever? That Jaret Peterson is disappointed with the silver he won in men's freestyle aerials (he was quoted as saying that it tasted pretty sweet)? That Julia Mancuso is disappointed with the two silvers she won in women's downhill and the super-combined (she danced on the podium with a grin as big as B.C. on her face)? Or that Johnny Spillane is disappointed with the three silvers he won in men's Nordic combined (the first medals ever for any American in the event)?

And that's one of the reasons I didn't watch the hockey game (another reason is that I'm still quite bitter over the way I was treated by certain Canadians after the 2002 gold medal game, but that's a post for another time). I am not a fan of any sport, be it hockey, basketball, curling, volleyball, whatever, where the gold and silver medals come down to playing a game. Where in order to win the silver medal, you have to lose. Where athletes don't win silver medals but lose gold ones. No wonder the hockey player was down in the dumps about the game.

I feel like the awards for gold, silver, and bronze in these types of sports should be determined using some other method. In 1980 (that's the last time the US won a gold medal in men's hockey, and to all you Canadians out there? Regardless of how many medals we may or may not go on to win in future Olympics, none of them will ever top that one), the last game the US played wasn't against the Soviets, the team that ended up with the silver medal. It was against Finland, who finished fourth. So maybe we should go back to whatever method was used back then. Maybe then, the athletes can return home and feel like they've actually accomplished something, instead of feeling like they had to settle.

Ok, rant over, peace out. I'm going back to rooting for Alex Ovechkin.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm...

First off, the question of the day: Did anyone ever notice that during medal cermonies, the flag for the silver medalist is raised opposite the bronze medalist and vice versa?

Now on to the interesting stuff.

Just saw this quote on CNN. It's apparently from the Russian newspaper Pravda and is offering its opinion about the Olympics so far:

"The utter incapacity of this country to host a major international event, due to its inferiority complex, [is] born of a trauma being the skinny and weakling bro to a beefy United States and a colonial outpost to the United Kingdom."

Huh. I guess the 29 medals the Soviet Union won in 1988 and the 125 they won in 1976 were all won by Belarusians, Ukranians, and Georgians.

For the record, here is a picture of a Cossack glove...



And the above quote was the sound of it hitting the floor. I've always wondered what that sounded like.

I'd love to see Evgeny Plushenko on Dancing with the Stars. And I cannot wait for Sochi.

What's online smut good for?

Scotty Lago won a bronze medal in men's halfpipe on Wednesday. A few days later, a couple of pictures show up on a tabloid website that cause a bit of a stir. One of them shows an unidentified fan kissing Lago's medal as it hangs just below his (fully clothed) waist. The other shows the same fan biting the medal as Lago holds it in his hand.

Apparently neither the USOC nor the USSA were amused. Lago formally apologized and left Vancouver shortly after the pictures were made public. But the tabloid that published the photos is crying foul. They're saying that Lago should have been cut some slack. More exactly, "He's a snowboarder for cryin' out loud. They should have cut him a break."

They should have cut him a break because what he did wasn't all that horrible....or because he's a snowboarder?

Does that mean that if a ski jumper or a figure skater did the same thing, they shouldn't be given any slack?

And does that mean that if the photos had been originally published elsewhere, the tabloid would still be indignant?

I don't understand how being a snowboarder excuses someone from inappropriate behavior. And I don't see why the tabloid is up in arms about it. First of all, no one is denying their right to post the photos. Nor is anyone denouncing the photographs, just the actions portrayed in them. Secondly, I might suggest to this tabloid that they check out the USSA's code of conduct, which, by the way, does not differentiate between skiers and snowboarders. And if the USSA has decided that the actions in the photos are in violation of said code, then they should have the authority to act accordingly.

*sigh.* If this were a print tabloid, I'd say my normal rule about tabloids being good for only one thing applies. As this is online, I'll have to come up with something else. Any ideas?

I Take it Back

Global Warming IS a myth. Because clearly, the four and a half feet of snow we've received this month would not have happened if it weren't. We have now received a total of about 6 feet of snow so far this winter, breaking all previous records. And there's still a month of winter left.

On to other things:

Bella is progressing rapidly. Although the pattern is not written out as clearly as I would like. Evidently, the solution to this is to take notes. But it will get done on schedule. (Probably ahead of schedule, actually.)

In my humble opinion, EP is being a sore loser. I wish I could tell him, "Dude. You just won a silver medal. So it isn't gold. Get over it. The fact is, you didn't skate as cleanly as EL. Even a muggle like me could recognize that. Be a man and accept it graciously."

I love watching sporting events on tv. It equates to great knitting time.

Channeling Dr. Seuss

Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? I realized as I was driving home tonight that after putting up my rather sparkling and witty post about the upcoming Newbery awards that there is another topic out there that is much more important.

Here in the US and Canada, we are incredibly, incredibly blessed. We live in one of the richest, healthiest countries in the world, and our quality of life is incredibly high (doesn't matter if it's the US or Canada). And I can gripe all I want about some of the problems in my life, about what I can't afford to buy or where I can afford to go, or what I am able to do, but when it comes right down to it, I have it easy. Regardless of how poor I feel sometimes (and believe me, there are days), I have never truly lacked for anything. I have always had food in my cupboard, clothes on my body, and a roof over my head. Even with the economy falling apart like it has, I have never truly worried about how I was going to pay for groceries, or where I was going to sleep at night. And I know that a lot of you can say the same. We are blessed -- truly, incredibly blessed.

Since Tuesday's horrible news, I've been thinking about ways to make a difference. The situation in Port-au-Prince is NOT GOOD. Orphanages and hospitals are among the buildings that have been destroyed. Doctors and emergency personel are among the dead. Officials estimate that casualties are possibly in the tens of thousands. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in North America to begin with, and the people there need our aid desperately.

So I'm putting out a call for help. I know that a lot of us put aside some money each month for little luxuries -- whatever they are. The next time you find yourself pulling out your wallet, ask yourself, Do I really need this? Is this an actual necessity that I absolutely MUST HAVE in order to survive? Starbucks/Tim Hortons is not a necessity (I'm not saying coffee -- I'm saying expensive or fancy coffee). Yarn is not a necessity. Books (sob) are not necessities. That dinner out? A fifth pair of shoes? That fancy haircut and dye job? Seeing Sherlock Holmes, It's Complicated, Leap Year, or whatever other new flick that just hit the theatres? NOT NECESSITIES. And at the end of the next week or two, whatever money you save, could you send it on to someone whose home just got destroyed? Here are some places where you can share some of the love:

Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontiers in the U.S. and international (a word about this? if you give to this one, could you please e-mail Stephanie and let her know how much you gave? She's keeping a running total.)
The Red Cross in the U.S. and abroad
CARE
UNICEF
World Vision
Haitian Health Foundation
Haitian consulate in Washington and in Montreal

I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I know we have it in ourselves to do so much good in the world. We are so incredibly fortunate. Let us give to those who are not.

Announcement on Monday

The Newbery and Caldecott awards (along with all the other ALA children's lit awards) are going to be announced on Monday. As such, many libraries around the country have been holding mock elections to choose there own winners.

When you Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.
Interesting. I had trouble following the plot a little, but I think it was one where you just have to suspend your imagination, particularly where the physics are concerned. Good character development. I wonder if it will tesser well.

The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo
If it wins, it will be the second Newbery for KDC. The writing style is similar to Despereaux, which may or may not be a good thing. I liked it in Winn-Dixie better, but perhaps others will like it. Lilies indeed.

All the Broken Pieces by Anne E. Burg
I'm not fond of novels written in verse, but hey, it worked for Out of the Dust, so it could work here too. It seemed sad to me, and I couldn't help wondering if Matt ever did find out what happened to his biological father.

Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me by Nan Marino
The plot was easy to follow, and the characters were believable and well-developed. But I couldn't stand Tamara, and the 1960's/1970's historical fiction was a little much coming on the heels of When You Reach Me and All the Broken Pieces.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
So far so good. It was a little fantastical, and kind of reminded me of The Underneath or The Eight with all the different plots and stories. But I haven't finished reading it, so I shall have to see.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly.
I haven't read this one yet (it's on my request list, but it hasn't come in yet), but from its reviews, it kind of reminds me of Caddie Woodlawn. But I shall refrain from passing judgement on it until I actually do finish reading it.

Did I miss anything?

Global Warming Is a Myth

Actually, it's not, but don't tell the people in the southeast US that right now. They won't believe you.

Average temperatures for Atlanta in January are in the 40's. Average high is 52F, and average low is 33F. January is the city's coldest month, so that means that if the temperature ever dips below freezing there, it's pretty darn cold.

Last night, the base temperature in Atlanta was 23F, with wind chill of 14F. Tuesday morning, it's to get down to 19F. And that's without wind chill.

19F (-7C) in January is moderately normal in New Brunswick. It's an average low in Pennsylvania, and on the chilly side in Virginia. But in places where it's not supposed to get down below freezing EVER?

Dudes. That's cold.

For unto you this day...

My coworker S recently told me this story: A woman is shopping with her two children. It's the last weekend before Christmas, the malls are crowded, it's getting late, the kids are hungry and whining and fussing, and she's getting more and more frustrated with the whole experience. She's almost done, and she's struggling to get to the elevator with both kids and all her bags and her sanity. It is not going well.

The elevator is late, and when it finally comes, it's almost full, so there's barely enough room for the three of them and their bags, but they squeeze in. But by this time, the woman has had it, and all her frustration comes spewing forth, and she vents to the crowded elevator, "I don't know whose idea this whole holiday thing was, but whoever they are, they ought to be crucified!"

Behind her in the back of the elevator, a person pipes up: "He was."

Sometimes in the rush of the whole Christmas season, it's easy to lose sight of what's really important. We're so busy running around trying to get everything done -- all the baking, the shopping, the decorating -- that we forget why we're actually celebrating in the first place. That this day -- December 25 -- is, first and foremost, a birthday celebration. And that in a time when we are all supposed to be thinking about giving to others, we should all stop to think about the ultimate gift that was given to us -- Jesus.

Merry Christmas

Well

That was interesting.

The Goose Is Getting Fat

Actually, we never ate goose in our family on Christmas. We usually ate turkey. Does that mean that the goose is still getting fat, or can it stay thin?

I have finished the three out of four scarves I was planning on knitting for Christmas. I don't know if the fourth one will in fact be done in time. We shall have to see.

I have come across this website. For those nonknitters among you who are looking for gift ideas for your knitting loved ones? You might want to check it out.

Ten days until Christmas.

Random on a Saturday

I have entered the second wave of the Black Hole of Calcutta. The first was on the leg. The second is now on the foot. Remind me never again to knit another pair of kilt hose.

I am not entirely certain I like the sleeves on Espresso (Ravelry link), but so far, I have yet to encounter the major issue that other people have complained about. We shall have to see.

It is going to be interesting to see how much of the sweater I will be able to get down before Christmas.

Tomorrow is the feast day of St. Nicholas, for those of you with Dutch or Russian heritage. I have no wooden shoes, so I think I will pass, even though I actually do happen to have some Dutch in me. (Besides, I celebrated my heritage on Monday when I wore my Bruce sash to commemorate St. Andrew's Day.)

It's snowing outside! Yay!

White

According to my middle school science teacher (and corroborated by my high school science teachers), white is defined by the absence of all color. (Confuse it not with light, which is the presence of all color.) Therefore, no matter what anyone tells you, whether they be from the fashion world, or the makeup world, or the home decorating world, there is only ever one shade of white. The absence of all color. There can be many different shades of blue, or green, or purple, or red, or brown, or even offwhite (consider eggshell, nacre, ecru, beige, taupe, bone, pearl, smoke,

whatever color used to be on my bedroom ceiling



the list goes on. That picture was snapped while H and Earthling and I were painting my bedroom. And prior to it, I would have sworn the ceiling was white. Apparently not). With lots of colors, there is a whole spectrum of shades and timbres, and it's this range that provides us with such beauty in the world. And, let's face it, it's fun sometimes to confuse a man who can't see the difference between the three blues, when clearly obvious that one is navy, one is royal, and one is denim.

But not white. No matter what anyone tells you, there is only ever one white.

Pretty

This is the tree outside my front door.



The picture is a week old. Thanks to Ida, it is no longer in its magnificence, because about two thirds of its leaves have since fallen off. But I'm thinking of sending it into TWC for its Capture the Fall thingy. Anyone have an opinion on that? It costs $10 to send in a photo. Is it worth it?

Rhinebeck!

The Duchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck, New York is home to the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival on the third weekend of October, every year. This is always fun to attend -- Earthling and I went last year and had loads of fun, so we were looking forward to it this year. It's similar to Maryland's, but it's much more oriented towards families -- similar to a fall carnival. But regardless of how you look at it, it's still a lot of fun.



But really, the most important thing about Rhinebeck was that It. Was. COLD. Thursday afternoon, I left Virginia thinking, "It's October. How cold can it be, even if it is New York? I'll take my Rhinebeck cardigan (Ravelry link) and jacket, and I should be fine."

Little did I know. See this?



That's me INSIDE a barn. Yes, those are knitting needles I am holding. Yes, they really are about four feet tall. Note that I am wearing not just my sweater and jacket, but mittens and a hat as well (I'm also wearing wool socks, but you can't see those). The hat is one that I knit a couple of years ago and gave to Earthling for Christmas. The mittens, I cast on Thursday night and finished in the hotel room Friday evening, after Earthling commented that there was a chance of snow(!) for Rhinebeck on Saturday. (I don't normally knit that fast, even a pair a mittens, but this was on a deadline.)



There was no snow that day (although we did pass some on the ground on our way north), though, so we lucked out in that respect. Especially since the next day (which was the day we left, so we didn't go to the booths again), it rained, and was probably much more miserable for the attendees.



I went to Rhinebeck with a certain set of rules in my head. These rules were to help keep me from not spending too much.

Rule #1: I would use only cash. I would not pull out any of my cards or my checkbook, and I would not use the ATM at the fairgrounds.

Result: Bang on on this one. This has been my rule for pretty much every wool festival I've attended, and it's worked pretty well. When my cash is done, so am I. Earthling does the same.

Rule #2: I would not buy anything that I already owned, or that I could procure at any of my local yarn stores back home.

Result: Right. Well, I did pretty well on this one, too, except that I do know that I already own a couple of silk bells



(but not in that color. There's a difference.), and I'm pretty sure I can get one of these at With Yarn in Front:



Other than that, everything else was new. Honest.

Rule #3. I would not play with any of my new stuff until I made a sizeable dent in my current stash.

Result:



It was worth it though -- to entrance the Beasts.

There were bunnies:



There were goats:



I'm pretty sure this alpaca liked me:



Not so certain about the llama, though:



The sheep clearly couldn't care less:



Sheep Incognito was there:



We looked at the items that had been entered for judging and saw things that were beautiful:



Some things that were cute:



Some things that showed what I could aspire to:



And things that showed me that clearly, it is not my opinion that counts in anything:



I finished my Kindness Socks (in the hotel room):



It was a great time. I can't wait until next year.

Update

Lest ye think that I have been ignoring you and the house....



That, my friends, is a picture of one of my air ducts. You can't really tell, because I didn't take the vent off, but that vent right there has just been cleaned. I took no before picture, partly because I didn't think of it at the time, and partly also because I didn't want to frighten anyone with the image of my dirty air vent and thoughts of life forms living amidst my ducts (which, by the way, they were totally dirty enough to house. I kid you not).

However, last week, right before I went away to Rhinebeck, the Cardinal people came and cleaned my furnace, and the Steamatic people came and cleaned my air ducts. So now, there is no longer the possibilty of strange life forms living in my ducts, and (once I go out and procure the air filter), I can actually turn on the heat as well.

Also:



Paint. Evidence of it, although there is still considerable more to do. (Anyone who comes over to help will be fed. Please?)

Next post: Rhinebeck!

The Little Things

The other day, H and I were shopping in a bath and beauty type store, and H came across a container of hand cream that she thought smelled really nice. And she was thinking about buying some, until she looked at the price tag: $24. At which point, she turned to me and muttered that hand cream really isn't worth that much, even if it is really nicely scented.

This sparked a conversation with the clerks, because we wondered how popular the hand cream was (we didn't mention that we didn't think the cream worth the price). It turned out that the clerks sort of agreed with us: They didn't think it was worth the $24 either, but that enough of their patrons considered it their little luxuries, enough so to pay that much for the cream. One of them suggested to H that if she really liked it that much, perhaps it would become her little luxury -- the one thing she would be willing to splurge on.

That got me thinking as I drove into work the next day. I had stopped at a Starbucks for a venti caramel macchiato -- which, with taxes, cost around $4.30. I also had to wait in line for it for about ten minutes, which almost made me late for work.

I had stopped there, because Starbucks is on my way into work. But so is McDonalds, which sells caramel lattes for a lot less, and the line is much shorter. I could have stopped there instead of at Starbucks, spent $1.50 less, and waited 5 fewer minutes in line. But a caramel latte is not the same as a caramel macchiato.

I still don't know about the hand cream - to me $24 still seems like a lot to shell out. But I guess we all have our little things we feel the need to splurge on, whether it be a caramel macchiato, a jar of hand cream, a cute pair of shoes, or a tube of lipstick.

What's yours?

Before

So, as promised, here is "Before." We will start with the outside.



I spent Saturday afternoon pruning that blasted hedge. In the spring, I'm totally hiring a landscaper to come and get rid of it. I'm foreseeing it as more trouble than it's worth, and I want flowers there instead.

Here is the back of the house.



No deck, but both of my neighbors have one, so at least I know one is kosher. Maybe in a couple more years with a couple more dollars in my bank account, it will be something to think about.

The back yard.



There is foliage back here that I want gone too -- I spent considerable time back here on Saturday also.

The street out front:



Now, on to inside. Here is the foyer on the main level:



(That's my purse sitting on the floor there.)

The living room:



That's V's air mattress that she kindly lent me so that I could spend my first night as a homeowner there.

The other end of the living room. I think it was supposed to be the formal eating area, but I'm going to turn it into my office area.



The kitchen.



That box I was using as a temporary trash can. The unlit candle on the counter is acting as an air freshener.

The other end of the kitchen, which is where I have since put the dining room table:



The upstairs hallway:



The master bedroom. This is one of the few rooms in the house that is actually close to being fully done (now). The only thing missing for an "after" picture are the drapes.



The room that will end up being my guest room:



The really tiny bedroom upstairs that is going to be my craft room. I did not pick that color blue, and am thinking it might be a little much for it (it's darker in real life).



The hall bathroom upstairs. There are three full bathrooms in this place, but this is the one I've been abluting in.



The really weird room off of the garage. The previous owners stuck a wall halfway through the garage and made it into an abbreviated garage (big enough for my bike, the soon-to-be lawn mower and gardening supplies, the trash cans, and not much else) and an office. There is no window in this room, so the color is a little off. The walls are really more of a light mustard shade. I think I will use it as a large closet for now.



The family room downstairs. The bathroom there has a shower in it that is filthy almost beyond belief. I will spare you the details. Use your imagination and know that it is worse than that.



And the other half of the family room, complete with back door. This is where the futon is going to be for the time being.



It's mostly cosmetic -- what needs to be done. I've moved in and (mostly) unpacked. There is now a refrigerator in the kitchen, and new locks on all the doors. Mostly, what needs to be done is cleaning -- I had the good sense to hire someone to come and steam clean the carpet -- and painting. Pretty much every room needs to be touched up, if not completely repainted, in some way. I'm almost done with the living room and my bedroom, but I'll wait until everything is done before presenting the "after" pictures.

(The green fluffiness is all spun up now, and is in the process of being knit. Pattern: Oblique. It's not as lofty as I would like, but it seems to be knitting up well.)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Today's post was going to be about the house. I was going to post all my "before" pictures and explain what all I was planning on doing with it (and it's a lot, but mostly cosmetic), and then provide an update on all that I had done so far. That's what I had meant to do today. But this morning, when I woke up and heard a certain noise outside, I realized that there was something more important to write about.

What was that noise, you ask, that would be more important than my new house? A noise that makes me want to dance outside in the street, throwing pennies to anyone who walks by?

The noise outside was a bus shifting its gears. Which means that today, my friends, today is a most auspicous day. Today is....


THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!!!!

Well

I stayed awake all Friday night, tossing and turning on the air mattress that V lent me -- partly because every time I shifted position, the mattress would shift with me, partly because there were no drapes in the windows, and the neighbor across the street had the outside light on, and partly because I was worrying about what I had just done.

Did they really fix the furnace? What if, come November, I go to turn it on, and it doesn't work?

What if something happens and I lose my job?

What if I can't afford to make the mortgage payments (please bear in mind that the fact that I have just plopped down a substantial downpayment on this sucker kind of mutes the worry about not affording the mortgage)?

What if I can't get the stove clean?

Did I pick the right paint colors?

When will I be able to go to a locksmith? What if something happens between now and then?

And then it hit me:

Good or bad, that house is mine now.

This Is not Going Well

Or maybe it is, depending on how you look at it. But either way, when someone e-mails you about something that is clearly time sensitive, it might behoove both of you to respond with a reasonable sense of alacrity, and not until FIVE DAYS have passed, when it might be too late for either one of you to do anything about it.

Moving on...

I have finished spinning up all the green fluffiness! Now for a pattern.

Packing, packing, I fear there is no end to the packing....

I am in desperate need of bleach. And moving boxes. And a decently working vacuum.

I finished the front of the Fireside Sweater (that's a Ravelry link) and have started on the back. This is my second go-round on it, and this one, unlike the first one, will have sleeves and will be in a different yarn.

Celtic Festival coming up!

Random

Summer Reading is over.

I've finished spinning up the singles on the green fluffiness. Now for plying.

Never play with scissors. Doing so will result in injury that impairs one's knitting and typing ability.

Peach cobbler is very good but never quite as good as when Mother makes it.

Random Musings

There are six volunteers at the library currently shelving the books. It doesn't seem to have made much of a difference, but if I tell myself that it has, then it won't counteract my running back and forth to the back room for more carts.

I have started on the second bobbin of the green fluffiness.

I finished my blue socks and am almost done with the green ones!

Apparently bananas are a "complete" food that one can live almost exclusively on. Along with honey and wild salmon. Who knew?

It is exactly this long before school starts.

Frogs, Flies, and Fun

They say that time flies when you're having fun, or (as a frog would say), time's fun when you're having flies. But sometimes time flies when you're so incredibly busing because you don't have the time to notice the fact that time is actually passing. In the words of Marina Sirtis, We haven't the time to worry about time.

On the up side...

I have finished my personal programs for SRP, which means that the only things I need to worry about right now are the Foundation programs and the volunteers.

I am over halfway done spinning up the green roving. I have one pound completely spun and plied, and almost a bobbin and a half spun up of the second pound. I'm going for a heavy worsted/chunky weight, and I think I have about 550 yards in one pound.

I can't believe there are people out there who didn't like The Little Engine that Could....

I Think I Can, I Think I Can

Six more weeks until school starts.

Three more weeks until the end of summer reading.

Watty Piper never said it so well.

I can too do it

Very busy month going on right now. Summer Reading has begun (Oh Joy), which means teen voluneers, school visits (now finished, thankfully), programs, and screaming hords inundating the library every day. Three more months....

The new library opens in about two weeks.

The house hunt continues apace. I have come to the realization that, while I am quite capable of painting walls, cleaning counters, and calling Sears and Empire for a new refrigerator and carpet, the idea of dealing with an HVAC system as old as I am is well beyond my level of expertise. So that house is crossed off the list. I'm going out again tonight. Wish me luck.

But let it not be said that I cannot cope with the stress. I cope just fine. See?



These are the Ancient Oak socks, which I swore WOULD NOT GET THE BETTER OF ME (and they haven't). And you will be happy to know that in the light of finishing up the Purple People Eaters and the Ancient Oak, I have also worked on the next appropriate item in my queue:



Darn tootin. That there is a garter stitch Syrian Shawl (that's a Ravelry link) -- the best thing in the world to work on when the universe is plotting to drive you crazier than you already are. Even the edging was relatively simple.



I am happy to see that my blocking has come out much better on this one than it did with my previous shawls.

See? No problem coping.

This is the way you knit a sock

Or rather, this is the way one should knit a sock:

1) Choose pattern
2) Choose yarn (this may or may not be done prior to the completion of step 1)
3) Knit swatch to see if pattern and yarn are comparable to each other (or go wild and skip this step)
4) Knit sock 1. Try sock on recipient to ensure fit.
5) Knit sock 2. Give to recipient.

See? Not that hard. At all. Which is why I have been ready to tear my eyeballs out in seething rage in response to this last pair I've been working on. Because this is how I have been knitting a sock.

1) Choose yarn (Yummy, in colorway Truffle, which apparently isn't being made anymore)
2) Choose pattern (Ancient Oak -- that's a Ravelry link)
3) Knit swatch.
4) Realize that the pattern calls for a slightly thicker yarn and a bigger gauge than the yarn will knit up at. Employ language unbecoming a knitter.
5) Decide to work the pattern anway, changing the stitch count from 54 to 72.
6) Knit ribbing and first pattern repeat.
7) Realize that even after having increased by 18 stitches, the sock is still to small.
8) Rip out sock and cast on again, this time with 84 stitches.
9) Realize that the colorway changed when the stitch count increased and no longer looks as nice. Employ more language unbecoming a knitter, but decide to continue knitting.
10) Celebrate when, after ribbing and first pattern repeat, that this size will work. Continue onto heel.
11) Realize halfway through heel flap that the pattern called for standard stockinette rather than slipped stitch. Rip back again.
12) Reknit heel and celebrate after a successful turning that has included copious amounts of weird math in order to get the stitch count to come out right.
13) Realize after about five rounds of gussett decreases that the color is just turning out way too weird to continue knitting.
14) Call V and complain bitterly about sock
15) Rip back, using language unbecoming a knitter and sobbing knitterly sobs.
16) Go up a needle size and cast on the original 72 stitches.
17) Use more language unbecoming a knitter when the realization dawns that this is now working.
18) Realize that the copious weird math done the first time is not going to work the second time. Use more language unbecoming a knitter.
19) Rework weird math. Celebrate when the heel turns successfully.
20) Complete sock 1
21) Begin sock 2 and ask recipient to try on sock 1
22) Dance jig when sock fits recipient
23) Progress to heel of sock 2
24) Realize that you again forgot to write down the exact numbers of the complicated weird math when turning the heel. Refrain from using language unbecoming a knitter as in the presence of parents.
25) Begin working on garter stitch shawl in an effort to preserve sanity.

Finishing Up

I can't believe it's June already. Seriously? What happened to April and May? Time flies so quickly sometimes.

On the up side (speaking of which, I really want to see that movie)...

I HAVE FINISHED THE FLYING PURPLE PEOPLE EATERS!!!

Yes. It is true. Remember the shawl?



It is now this.



A closer look?



A thousand curses on the lighting in my bedroom. The first picture shows the color most accurately. V took pictures of it on me, but she has yet to send them to me, so you'll have to make do with the crappy ones I took. I'm very proud of this. It took forever, but it was so worth it.

I also finished spinning up the tussah:



There's about 750 yards of that gorgeousness right there (and the color is pretty accurate in this picture). I want to make a nice wrap or shawl with it. Unfortunatley, it's not spun evenly enough to make anything particularly lacy, but we shall see. Perhaps another Wool Peddlers.