Fiction on the other hand, is all about the story.

The difference is the writer’s intent. Not what professors of language, literature or social analysis decide later, but what the author intended in the first place.

For example, it is fairly clear that Jonathan Swift and Mark Twain were using the medium of storytelling to provide commentary on their societies. Both have even commented so in non-fiction essays.

Similarly, in genre fiction there is little question in most people’s minds that mystery stories are all about solving the puzzle and romance is about relationships.

That leaves Science Fiction – which is about some kind of future – based on technology rather than magic. The wisdom about 30-40 years ago was that authors wrote their vision of the future. Meaning that science was going to lead to outbound travel while really not fixing much of anything with the people involved. Postulations of doom and gloom abounded.

What was also noticeable were the characters – present day attitudes superimposed on future science. Makes as much sense as an enlighted man of the 13th century expressing 21st century US views about the roles of men and women in society.

And then along comes Ursula Le Guin with The Left Hand of Darkness portraying a society different in concept from the known and accepted in her time. If you need a summary, perhaps you want to detour to Wikipedia or an excellent discussion of gender roles in science fiction and society by Rebecca Rass.

I originally read Left Hand of Darkness in 1969 when it was first published and was stunned by the book, the thought and the society portrayed. It is not an action adventure which was what I had quietly assumed was most science fiction (see Andre Norton, Robert Heinlein, James Blish……..) but a thoughtful portrayal of what was certainly alien to someone fighting basic gender discrimination in school.

Since this is the first one on my Classics of SciFi List, I am still decided how to approach the commentary. Assume that you will hear once to several times about each book since I am as interested in how they strike me now as when I first read them.

Perhaps that is my definition of classic – a book that keeps appearing fresh with each re-reading.

.

Anxious, bored, upset? Get a new pair of shoes.

Other than yarn, books and CDs -the shoe shopping gene seems to have missed me completely. In fact, I don’t even own more than one pair of pumps. Black they are, and suitable to be worn with dress uniform. Not to mention that most of the time I wear my only pair of dressy flats for dress-up occasions.

This morning I counted. Yes, I have more pairs of military footgear (aka boots) than I do items for dressier occasions. What I have is comfortable shoes to wear when not at work. i have a decent pair of running shoes and several pairs of LLBean shoes that pull-on.

same shoe, just different colors....

Exciting? Not really, but my feet never hurt, I can walk for hours and run if I need to.

Today the idea formed as I drove through the front gate on the mile drive to my front door on the way home. When something occurs to me, it is wise to get it down as soon as possible. I have learned through bitter experience that if I don’t stop and capture those thoughts/ideas/sentences they will flee – forever gone and irreplaceable.

There are two possible places to stop on my drive to the house. The first is by a small bridge on the left, a tiny gravel pullover that is normally occupied by fishermen’s cars. The second is on the right as you turn at Queen Victoria and the Cricket Field House.

Choosing the second, I had paper, pen, and an empty mind.

Long ago when the world was young, I wasn’t in it. Fast forward a few million or billion years, give or take. Go with a bit less than 57xx if you firmly believe in the non-evolutionary calendar and can just not be dissuaded.  Even a bit more than that and I had been born, survived to adulthood, got through school, married, the Army, children, and living overseas. For after all is said and done, all of us perceive the world from our own unique point of view of which we stand at the center. To pretend otherwise for me would not be particularly honest; my filters of what is important has grown and changed as I have aged.

I am delighted to have made this age. For a long time, several years in fact, I did not think it was going to happen. The only positive that I was willing to tell myself was – gee, if you die young then at least you will not develop Alzheimer’s, be a burden to your kids, or land in a nursing home.

Background is below. Meanwhile, I am keeping my grey hair, wrinkles, and sags as a testament to survival. I hit the gym at 0700 this morning, managed to get something done at work, and will be going to dinner with another US ex-pat and Mr Mole.

I have a wonderful family, good friends, an employer that sends me to interesting places (well, what did you expect me to say about the Army?), and non-work related activities that are satisfying. Life is good.

Back about 14 1/2 years

In 1995, I went in for what was to be routine surgery. Came out minus my thyroid, found it was not routine and had the added discomfort of getting through the next few weeks with few people being able to make eye contact with me. Seems like medical professionals especially do not wish to be smacked in the face with reminders of their own mortality (especially when it is their boss). One, our hospital’s pathologist, was able to see me as a person and Brad and I have remained good friends to this day.

Looking back, I can recognize that I was not completely sane for a while. (Who me? What self respecting doc does not want to see her own path slides and CT scans? We will not discuss getting faint and realizing that detachment wasn’t working.) Adding to it was the joys of dealing with the US system (we need to evac you to Ft Sam for radiation, chem and a bone marrow transplant) vs the German system (well, this particular version of Non-Hodgkin’s is really low grade. 50% survive 5 years. Odds are 1/3, 1/3 1/3. It might go away on its own, it might slowly progress (what it had been doing) or it can morph into something really ugly which is not likely to respond to treatment. Low grade means horrible side effects as there is not much difference between tumor and normal tissue: as many die as a result of the chemo as from the disease. You can always change your mind later if you don’t want treatment now.)

Unlike the other 98% of patients, I elected to wait and see. I had three young children (Ms Maus [you might remember her birth announcement if you were on the Kaffee Klatsch in 1993 or otherwise connected by email back then] was only 6 months old when we moved to Germany for what turned out for the family to be the last time and was now just a bit past 2) and a teenager. I wanted time with them, not to head off to the US (bone marrow mortality=10%) with the potential for future or never to return. It took about 2 years for the peripheral lymphoma cells to clear from my blood: to learn that my parathyroid had been wiped by the same disease process and was never coming back. I made a lot of people unhappy during that time.

It was extremely hard on George, and our eldest who was old enough to understand the issues. It was months before I wasn’t thinking about it every hour, years before I went days without being worried about it coming back. My attitude and coping were made worse by those well intended medical professionals later who questioned the diagnosis since I was alive and apparently disease free (Hello? What part of “confirmed by University of Heidelberg Hem/Onc Center and AFIP do you not understand?).

I am now at the point where even taking my replacement meds for my parathyroid and thyroid are just routine and the reason for doing so has not particular importance. I plan on being around for years to drive the rest of my family crazy. Plus, there is all that fabric yet to sew, yarn to knit and fiber to spin….

OTN – standing for “on the needles”

It is a neutral term, not positive like WIP (work in progress) or pejorative as is UFO – (Unfinished Object).  Rather, it provides a simple statement that this project has been started and is not yet completed.

I found the abbreviation in one of the on-line compendiums, but not in the rest. That one uses a definition that is the same as WIP (current project) which I don’t find correct.

I think there just might be a small sense of commitment. After all, you cared enough to start, to see what it might become; to handle the yarn, try out the stitches and color/s, to decide if you want to invest the time and energy. Sometimes it takes a while to make that determination. But you are allowed to change your mind, let it marinate for months or years until exactly the right time. It doesn’t matter which choice you make, just that you make one. At least at the point of which you really need those needles for another project.

Pyramide

And so, I went back to a project that had been waiting for me to progress on this sleeve,

first sleeve - 10 am

for the Faery Ring KAL project

first sleeve complete

and ready to bind in.

sleeve ready

The cuff for the second has been started. I can’t get any further till I free up the needle tips currently providing the magic loop for the first sleeve.  I might just knit the hood next.

Another couple of ridges on Pagode. The downside of this section is that each row is five stitches longer than the previous, each ridge 10 stitches longer.

knitting the back onto the front

The good thing is that once I get through the next 8-9 ridges all the stitches will be picked up and I can dump the whole thing in my lap rather than having to leave it lying flat on the floor.

Tomorrow – I am going to start the bottom ribbing on Brage. Once I am past the ribbing I am going to have to actually do a bit of planning to have the sides come out the same size since the 34 stitch cable is on one side only. And then there is the small issue of steeks vs one piece back and forth knitting.

Audio

Also completed – Mike Resnick’s Starship: Pirate which has both humor and good technical handling. The reader is excellent which really adds to the story
Black Hills by Nora Roberts. Hate to say that the story did not suffer terribly from me skipping about six hours out of the second half of the book. I got bored with all the subplots which just seemed to repeat and slow everything down.

That single time affected just about everyone born at the time. Not just those of the United States, but all those other countries from South Africa to Australia to Russia that had citizens working in the Towers and the rest of the world which watched the painful video replay over and over on the news for days and weeks after.

It shifted the face of the wars we had been fighting from those of government against government for political and economic reasons to non-government, asymmetrical battles for concepts that most of us will never comprehend. From the Geneva Convention Laws of War to completely uncontrolled conflict with one side being proud to murder civilians while giving up their own lives in the process.

A good friend’s brother was on the 96th floor of one building that day, in town for a single day meeting. An investor from Australia was able to call his family to say good-bye before the building in which he was standing collapsed. The majority of fireman from one of the close station houses died while rescuing as many as possible. Policemen, childcare workers, visitors – none of them mattered to the bombers.

In the immediate aftermath as well as the months and years of the following clean up operations, the outpouring of support for family and friends of those involved has been tremendous. Yet, it can not undo the damage that was done, the wars that were started, the civil rights that have been abridged in the name of making the US citizenry safe.

No matter where in the world you are as you read this go watch Exhibit 13 by Blue Man Group and spend a moment of Silence for those that were killed and the innocence that we, the whole world, lost that day. Not since Hiroshima and Nagasaki has such violence been perpetrated on an unsuspecting civilian population.  Obviously, the human race has evolved in the last half century and not for the better.

A moment of Silence for all the civilians and services members who have lost their lives, been killed or wounded since that day in service of their country or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I don’t see an end anytime soon to conflict, war, or the willingness of many to die as they attempt to impose their will on others. Our children are inheriting a vastly different world than the one into which I was born.  May they be better stewards than their parents generation and the next generation even more responsible.

- Holly

And the work of the righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. Nation shall not life up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more.

from the Prayer Book for Jewish Personnel in the Armed Forces of the United States – 1984 JWB.

Not a bit of thrill in the whole mess.

Ms Soprano is home and I am delighting in spending time with just her. We are hanging out (probably spending too much time on computers), going to the gym regularly and actually eating planned meals.

Half written blog posts have been stacking up. Weeks worth of photos needing to be downloaded, resized and otherwise integrated into what I am doing.

So, some spinning…..

two bobbins

while listening to audio books from iTunes (they had a good deal on some SciFi series).

31 May 2004, Monday – Memorial and Memories. Camp Doha, Kuwait

It is Memorial Day.

A time to reflect on those who have given their lives in defense of their country. A time, around the world, when military members should visit the graves of those buried in foreign soil. A time for us to remember; not to forget the cost of conflicts, battles, and wars.

In May of 2003, there were 27 different incidents resulting in one or more soldiers losing their lives in Iraq. This was just the month after the “War” was ended. In May of 2004, there were 43 such incidents, ranging from IEDs to bullets, that killed soldiers/sailors/airmen or marines.

We have seen men and women from all walks of life, religion, ethnic backgrounds, and rank die in this operation. No one wants to die, that is a given. But we have an incredible number of brave, uniformed personnel who believe in our country.

In past conflicts, we didn’t have the communications; we didn’t see the daily carnage. By broadcasting it, I think we have trivialized the sacrifice service members make, and make bleaker the future faced by their families.

I think it was clear, in the 1700s, the reason for our war; it was fought on our land, for independence. In 1812, WWI, WWII, Korea, we as a people, felt the reasons were valid, we did not start the conflicts, so accepted the responsibility and the war.

It became harder in Viet Nam to stay focused, to know what we were doing, and what was right. We had over 55,000 die in that conflict, all years, and countries combined. We have added since then: to the deaths, to those left behind.

None of this is to say that there should not be honor given to those who did what they were asked, and more.

Rather, our leadership needs to be worthy of the sacrifice our men and women are making for our country. And to make sure that it is in the name of freedom. That there are no other options, and that the civilian leadership puts the cost in lives clearly in their minds.

We honor the dead of this war, and the previous wars.

We should do them honor. The purpose of war is peace, that we may not battle in the future – that the swords may become plowshares.

circa 2003

Emptying out my suitcase this morning, I found my uniform and beret. No t-shirts, thought I had them on a shelf here in Germany. Not true as it turns out; they all migrated to the UK over the last year. Except for one old and tattered hiding behind all my SciFi Convention t-shirts.

Now for boots. I own three pairs of desert type boots, all getting kind of old and worn down. Two pairs date from my time (2003-2004) in the desert and I do have some attachment to them. The third pair are Norwegian Army boots that I was given in 1998. More than 10 years ago, I only started wearing them in the last couple of years. Dating of course from the US Army changing to the ACU (Army Combat Uniform), transitioning to desert boots from the black combat boot.

It hasn’t been bad, polishing boots was never my thing. There are draw backs; the desert boots were designed for the desert. Seems obvious, right|? Now think about Germany and the UK. It can rain. A lot. Suede does not do well with water. If you spray you boots to seal them, they don’t let your feet breathe in hot environs. Not well insulated, your feet can get quite cold in the winter even ignoring the issues with snow. I do have options. I could spend the money on new boots.

Did I mention that the Army and Air Force don’ t have the same boots? That means a run through the clothing sales store while I am back here in Germany. Lots of money that I would rather spend on, oh lets say …..yarn, audio books, downloads from iTunes, books.

But they do look a bit worn, sad, ready to be retired.

But the wall did come down, and West Germany had to cope.

My second daughter learned to walk over Thanksgiving Weekend 1990 while we were visiting friends in Berlin. Standing on the balcony overlooking one of the gates, we watched people coming through, climbing over and otherwise making an epic crossing to the west. First opportunity for most since the 1950s to cross without risk of guns, dogs, or criminal proceedings. Oranges were everywhere.

West Berlin was packed, travel that several weeks before had taken just minutes now took hours as buses were packed full.  Not on that visit, but later in the year, Cherie and I made a trip to one section of the wall, bringing home baskets of pieces. I have yet a few.

So little remains today, in most areas it is hard to distinguish where the Wall stood.  My pictures of Berlin are all hard copy stored in a box, the cupboard located in our Heidelberg home.

Remaining today are museums, and the monuments.  I can offer you the Luftbrücken-Denkmal as part of thinking about today, Reunification Day. After WWII, from 1948 to 1949,Tempelhof was used for the “Berlin Airlift” to supply Berlin during the Soviet blockade. The Airlift Monument at Platz der Luftbrücke on the one end (Coordinates: 52°29’2″N 13°23’14″E

Tempelhof Luftbrückendenmal

and the other end at Rhein-Main Airbase

Rhein-Main Airlift Memorial

in Frankfurt here (50.03786200, 8.59548200).

Knitting

Supposedly, I am finishing up things. That might explain why I took that ball of Noro Silk Garden, cast 75 stitches onto a size 5.00 mm needles and proceeded to knit garter stitch. I had looked at one of the Noro Patterns, but it called for a lot more stitches at the same gauge. Heads might be big at times in my family, but as a routine they don’t measure large.

Start of Garter Stitch Hat

Ms Copper’s Bag

In case you were wondering about the background in the last pix -

Bag Materials.

Ms Copper decided that she would like a new shoulder bag features her latest monster.

The Monster Sketch

Since I had come come a bit early, there was time to run over to The Thread Emporium for both Purple Monster Fabric and a button for the closure.

Listening

The Silk Code - Paul Levinson, downloaded from Podiobooks.  He also has some well thought out and interesting commentaries on how communications tech is changing us all.

It is that last fact most of all that makes it fall for me. School starting has always signaled the end of vacation, the end of time off, the end of summer.

Gazing out my window, the first tinges of red are visible on one tree while another shows glints of orange and gold. Green grass still predominates with the ever present dandelions getting in yet another crop of yellow heads to insure their survival.

The first day of school for the youngest two teens, sending them off by train early this morning gave me that final click. The old year is ending, the new is beginning. Never mind that it is a month till Rosh Hashannah, my internal calender has declared this fall.

Books

My reading binge continues. Probably the best explanation for why I am not providing you with nice pictures of knitting, progress on sweater, vests, and shawls.

I am rotating between novels, genre quick reads and professional “stuff.” Since I have finished the nine books I picked up at the library last week (exactly what do you think started me off anyway?)

The final book on the pile was Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. Suggested by a reading group, I was rather disappointed. I don’t mind anyone using connections to get their manuscripts read. But this trend of off-spring riding on parents’ coat tails with less than great writing…… It is a quick read, horror if anything genre. Plot moves along properly, secondary characters are pretty flat and some fact checking would have been nice.

By a deer in the back garden before six in the morning that could move rather rapidly. Much more so than my ability to get outside with the camera.

Under the tree

By setting up SQL & Apache Servers on my laptop.  By noting a new (to me) WordPress Theme – Anvil which I found from Interconnect IT’s blog.  ( Dave has a nice example of it in use. )

And by dealing with the TV Licensing Authority which is having problems getting their minds (?) around the concept of a householder without a TV. They have escalated the tone and quality of their letters. Since I have the same phone number as the previous tenant the telephone harassment will likely begin any day.

BT got it when they called the other week to market their new package:

“We would like to tell you about…., who is your current cable provider?”

“I don’t have one. I don’t have a TV.”

“Oh, well then. Thank you very much for your time.”

And she rang off.

Tying the  concepts together: what I do with my time,  not having a TV, and all those comments we all receive about “I don’t have enough time for that.”

Clay Shirky has an interesting take in his Article Gin, Television, and Social Surplus in which he traces waves of social change and society’s investment of excess time. He does it with a look at critical technologies – gin during the industrial revolution, sitcoms in the later half of the 20th Century (we know where all that excess time went….) and the new social cooperative ventures of the Internet.

And what’s astonished people who were committed to the structure of the previous society, prior to trying to take this surplus and do something interesting, is that they’re discovering that when you offer people the opportunity to produce and to share, they’ll take you up on that offer.

All of us are engaging each other. In the fiber community, besides the thousands and thousand of blogs and websites there is Ravelery. Social networking and cooperation, perhaps at its finest: yarn is being mailed around the world to help someone finish a project; forums cover everything from particular garments, locations and yarns through technology and audiobooks;working relationships are being made that span the globe.

Me? I test and use open source software, listen to podcasts from around the world, cruise blogs, and knit.

Why would I need a TV?

I don’t find that real life is all that different between those I physically meet and those with whom I maintain an email/blog/phone link. But there are some major changes in how this community is defined for me. That difference I think relates to my age.

In my professional life, I have long been connected by phone with colleagues who I never met face to face. In 1986 when my organization added email capability, this extended to electronic communications. It was only with the advent of USENET and the early Fidob BBSs that this connection passed from the professional domain into the private where I could connect with essentially total strangers with whom I had common interests.

It takes a longer time to grow true friendships in the electronic environment than in a physical world in my opinion. Words can be deceiving and the lack of body language makes checking the veracity of our correspondent a bit trickier. For as many stories of finding soul mates and boon companions, there are balancing horror stories of fraud and deceit.

Sociologically, we haven’t kept up with labels, names or words that describe our new relationships, instead focusing more on what is real and virtual.. To say that we don’t need them begs the question. Definitions lead to common understanding and communications. In the knitting world – there is an understanding when someone says lace weight, fingering or bulky yarn for a project. A podcast is not the same as a YouTube Video.

What do you think? Should we work out words that fill those social gaps between “friend” and “acquaintance” in line with the old penpal which was a clear description of both relationship and method? English to start? Or perhaps to co-opt words from French, German, Hebrew or whatever to fill in those gaps? The fiber community has not been shy about creating and adopting new language (frog, tink, WIP, SIP, UFO). The tech community does it on a daily basis.

SKP2008

Round three was released last night. Since the release time was 1200 in the US, already there are a number of people with theirs completed. I cast on this evening, just completing the cuff of the first sock this evening out of Fortissima Colori.

My printer is out of black ink. I haven’t been able to print the pattern. Will do so in the morning along with my boarding pass and knit on the way to Zurich en route to Majorca.

the last room

The last mess to clean up.

-Holly

Most of us participate occasionally, a few frequently. It is a shared social action that ties us together across countries and time zones. Since Ravelry seems to be more about discourse and databasing, I haven’t seen an impact on either the common posting or tag forms of memes and it just may have spread the quiz form that much faster.

You are all familiar with the Quizzes.  Several sites have a wide variety of choices that you take and then are provided HTML code to post to your own site. Most include a cute graphic describing you as a jelly donut or a cheesecake, or perhaps you checked to see if you were cotton, linen or wool.  The blogging effect is to increase traffic primarily to the quiz source and providing you content on a boring day.

The next group are the common or theme postings: Photo Friday, 365 Days, and the Alphabet are examples of this sort of meme. They draw a group together if it is a time limited meme and increase post reading among the participating members. The Webrings, brought over from static pages day are the only ones likely to increase outside readership.

Finally, there is the rampant meme that spreads with Tag.  The rules are simple – post the rules, leave messages on victim’s blogs to notify them of their tagged status, post your own answers, and link to whomever tagged you. The effect of these memes is to spread themselves to as many blogs as possible while increasing links between blogs, and [one hopes] increased readership as measured by hits or comments. The side effect of several of these is to spread personal information about one’s self. This information has as much potential to decrease readership as it does increase it.

It is obvious if you think about this in epidemiological terms most people actually don’t play. You are all familiar with the grain of rice and the chess board? Or the chain letter? The average meme asks you to tag five other bloggers. That is an R of 5. An infectious disease that has a replication value of 2 can easily become epidemic wrecking disaster on a population. The current models for pandemic influenza are actually in that range.

Now look at memes. What would happen if you actually tagged five people and they all did the meme? How long would it take to get around the world? Be on everyone’s board? How many cycles would it take?  I am sure that someone has done the modeling, maybe Fabienne who knit me the most wonderful socks in Sockapalooza4?

Why am I muttering around about this? I play only rarely.

Why? I find few which fit, are thought provoking or just so silly that I can’t resist. I have been posting architectural bits – Arches/Doors – for Photo Friday since I started blogging.  The following is not silly which means that it might fall into the thought provoking. Maybe. But mostly it might tell you more about me than you already know, a really scary concept.  Tagged by the Yarnarian – I lifted much of Carolyn’s intro to make my life easier:

“The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.”

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? Commanding Task Force Med Eagle in Bosnia. Co-located at the Blue Factory with NorMedCoy, we provided the medical support for MND(N) including evac by ground and air, Prev Med, Vet, Dental and Mental Health teams and the Role 3 hospital. Foremost on everyone’s mind was the upcoming 4th of July celebration. Hot topics included such important items as
1) Hanta (the band) and what were they going to play
2) weather
3) food
4) what were the chances of being allowed civilian clothes for the day given the theater dress code allowed for BDUs or PT Uniforms only.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today? Sick Parade, update my CV, finish writing up my notes from last week’s meetings, file all the strewn about papers in my office, and work on one of the UFOs.

3. Snacks I enjoy: Carrots, peanut butter, trail mix, diet sodas and herb teas.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire: After I got done paying my taxes and the balance on the mortgage, I would grab one of the people in my DHs financial group for advice on avoiding any more tax; set up trusts (family, shul, and some educational institutions), a charitable foundation (hire the Eldest to run it – she has amazing organizational skills) and …….go back to work. I might buy a few toys that I don’t have but my life otherwise for the next three years wouldn’t change a lot.

5. Places I have lived: Minnesota (MPLS, Hopkins, Minnetoka, Chaska, St. Paul); Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Wuerzburg, Kaiserslautern, and Munich Germany; Camp Doha, Kuwait; Camberely UK (the high points including only those places where I was longer than 12 months).

6. Jobs I have had: Datapunch clerk. Night lab tech, strawberry picker, physician (couple of specialities) and 19 duty positions + duty positions with the Army (same employer for the last 27 years. Now how did that happen?)

7. Bloggers: 5 people who I hope are good sports:

Debbie

Kathy

Veronika

Ebony

Cathy-Cate

I realized as I looked at their URLs, that there are two blogspots, two WordPress and a TypePad person. All of them do an amazing amount of knitting but all have different tastes. I covered a couple of continents and several states. (For those of you who are breathing a sigh of relief, I try to spread the joy around!)

Knitting

The pattern is out for SKP2008. It is going to be my knitting this weekend as I head first to Switzerland then on to Majorca. Socks, cameras and the DHs office paying a good portion of the bill. What more could I want?

I decided to knock off the baby jacket first. Since I had to hang out at Croughton this morning, it just was the thing for a waiting room.

(imagine the picture – I will insert it as soon as I free up a USB port for uploading. This laptop only has two, one is tied up with the mouse and the other with the printer.)

Books &

Good Blood by Aaron Elkins &
Shaman’s Crossing by Robin Hobb – both from the library.
on the MP3 is South Coast by Nathan Lowell. Get it from him or Podiobooks

Perfection or Completion? Perhaps it is more critical an issue for those who make their living off writing or their blogs; I think it might be worth the rest of us thinking about it. I have seen discussions about whether someone is a process knitter or a product knitter and there are those who definitely fall to one extreme or other of the spectrum. In reality, it is probably another Bell Curve with most of us falling within those 2 standard deviations.

But perfection or completion is a bit different. Besides a variety of knitting, spinning and weaving blogs I dally at some tech, sci-fi and writing locations. Jason got me thinking. Does the need for perfection in writing a post mean that you take so much time that it doesn’t happen? Does the desire for perfection slow me down and insert delays? Is that why I hit procrastinating streaks on the publish button push? Is fear of failure/being ignored compounding the problem? Is a post with no comments a failure?

Blogging has gone from being a simple journal to a social discourse. In normal day to day events we get feedback from those around us and look askance at those who wander around talking to themselves. If you write something and no one comments, is that the same as talking to yourself? That post still might be read and have an impact. One of the commentors on Jason’s board mentioned Heilein’s rules of writing: write, finish what you write and sell it. If you don’t write a post every once in a while, then no one can read it.

On the old BBSs, USENET or mailing lists, lurking was the common accepted practice. Most posted only when they had something to say on content boards. A few seemed to have to say something on every topic; the delete key was useful in eliminating all those me too comments.

The importance was social community and shared interests. This carried over into early webpage development where people set up pages relating to one thing or another, most communications being email and out of sight of the rest of that website’s readers. Keeping content fresh and current was the key to hits.

With blogging, most enable comments to facilitate feedback or discussion. For any subject, there are some well known SMEs (subject matter experts) who draw a high readership and extensive comments. There are some subjects that lend themselves well to comments and sharing and others where you just find the particular fact and scoot off. Leaving a comment on a post several years old is just not always in the forefront of your brain, especially if you don’t know how their software platform handles comments to old posts.

There are those gems of posts I find on Tikkunknitter, Treppenwitz, or Widowswalk but I am as guilty as everyone else about reading without contributing.

I realized early on that blogging is one of my hobbies. It is not my life or career. I can then write what I like, track projects and life, and just try to keep page design under control. There is no way that I really want hundreds of responses to every post. I appreciate those who do take the time to write the occasional word. Those are precious gifts.

But if I put things off, because it is not completely what I wanted to say then the post doesn’t get written. If too many days go buy it would seem natural to have readership fall away.

I don’t think I have to worry about perfection, not with my posts frequently sounding like I was asleep or thinking in Gerglish while writing.

-Holly

After all, it doesn’t make any sense to me to piss off (American here, as in get angry – not drunk) your customer base by lying about the basics.

And then there is Tesco’s Extra. Big signs all over the grounds

On the buildings

The Fuel Point (aka gas station) with petrol pumps for diesel as well as the normal grades of premium and extra (what happened to regular? Did they think that it was uncool to drive somethign that took normal, ordinary octane fuel? But I digress). Was open with people at the pumps. It is also what all of us have begun to expect as a quick type stop to include various food stuffs, muchies, auto supplies, reading materials and a wall cooler full of beverages.

But what I really wanted you to see is this!

can’t see it? How about this?

What you don’t see is the store open. Those are big steel doors rolled down. Walking around – an employee headed to his job told me “10 on Sunday.”

Not Open 24 Hours in my book.

Wool

Washed some fleece yesterday and took it back outside to dry again this morning.

Shawl

Hyacinth took up much of the rest of my relaxing day.

After completing all of the repeats, I motored on through the 22(?) rows of the edging bemoaning that it was starting to feel too long for the needle.

Then I decided to add beads a few rows back from the edging. Floss threaders are great, but it still takes forever when adding a bead every five stitches across the rim while desperately hoping you have not dropped any of the yarn overs.

I like the way it looks and the pattern that developed

Now I just have to fix one small place (something about not noticing one of those mentioned yarn overs which crawled back down a few rows) before blocking.

Now – which of the UFOs should I start?

Books etc

Precious Dragon: an Inspector Chen Mystery by Liz Williams in hardback while I finished up Playing for Keeps by Mur Lafferty and am now on the fourth episode in South Coast. By Nathan Lowell, this book is also set in his Solar Clipper Universe.

I am not a fan of reunions. I have been to exactly two in my life – a high school reunion five years after I graduated and a 25 year medical school on. The first was a total disaster and the second was attended by hardly anyone that I knew.

Let me explain. I graduated high school in a rural small town with a consolidated school district. Five years later, out of 118 in the graduating class there were only five of us still involved in obtaining an education one of whom had just returned to school after serving in Viet Nam. My average classmate was divorced with two small children. Various class members were working on the family farm, in the family store, packing pickles for Gedney or shoveling sugar beets. College, much less graduate or professional school was not the norm. Five years out, a single nerdy woman, I had even less in common with anyone than I had while attending the school.

I left early and promised myself that I would not do that particular number again.

It was a promise I managed to keep for 27 years. Then 2000 rolled around and I was lulled into thinking about seeing how the University of Minnesota had changed. There were a number of good things about the trip. I spent time with old friends not related to school. I got to gape at Mall of America and I even found some clothes that fit. None of my close classmates bothered to come. Many of them are local to the area and probably saw no need to attend.

The only tolerable part wound up being my table companions for the dinner. I managed by some fortune to sit with mostly prior military scholarship folks. As a result, we actually had something in common. Since I was pretty anti-military going through school, I really knew almost none of them (in case you are wondering – there were over 230 who graduated with me. Since the group consisted of both 3 and 4 year program students, there was little to no chance that everyone knew everyone else).

Since I went to a large state university that didn’t particularly foster school spirit or camaraderie outside of sports or the fraternity/sorority scene, attending a reunion is just outside my realm. I have no idea what has happened to the hundreds who graduated with me.

In 1948 my parents graduated from University of MN and got married. My father after having served in WWII, my mother having spent most of her growing up years in a small town. Reunions? Not likely there either.

I am fascinated by the lives and experiences of others, but I am too old to want a do-over and regrets can waste a lot of energy.

Shawls

Perhaps the Internet is not such a good thing. I was able to cruise around and buy a couple of shawl patterns from Sivia Harding and Evelyn Clark. After one false start with Misti Alpaca – I tried the Diamond Fantasy Shawl
The first few rows looked fine.

and the pattern clearly shows in a closeup

The yarn is STR medium weight; a skein of Bella-Coola that I got in the 2007 STR Club. I like the fact that the edging is part of the shawl. You should know me by now, lots of making up is just not my thing.

AudioBooks

Did a small bit of damage today at AudioBookStand. They had a number of kids CDs on sale. I have a tendency to buy and then donate to my local military library. They have plenty of cases, but no money to enlarge their collection. Plus free shipping and a couple of free audiobooks just made my day.

Podcasts

I don’t listen to fiber related podcasts. Rather, I spend that time on other subjects that interest me. Currently, I am listening to Spider on the Web. After hearing the first eight tracks of Variable Star I decided to download and catch up with his older podcasts. He has a nice combination of talk, music and personal opinion. I really wish he did a decent job of broadcast notes. Trying to write down URLs while knitting is fraught with errors.

-Holly

If you want a beautiful sweater – look at Sylvia’s Shawnee Parkway Cardigan

Me? I read, listened to some audio tracks and thought about names. Place Names, people’s names.

It really seems that those names you hear regularly as a child seem totally normal to you no matter how they sound to others. As an adult, the unfamiliar can be strange. I would say it is not a function so much of language, but that might not be completely true.

I grew up speaking a variant of American English know as Mid-West. Not all that many contractions, few abbreviations and a clear but occasionally flat diction. No extra dropped or added syllables, not an extra “r” in site. This has carried on to the present, unless I spend too much time around other regional accents. Give me a few days and my speak slides toward their norm.

But it doesn’t mean that I understand the localities naming conventions like I understand and think that Anglicized Native American names are normal. I can better deal with some German place names, since I never translate them than I can with Martin’s Heron, Canadian Water, or Middle Wallop.

I think I should start a meme about interesting or nonsensical place names. Even worse, I could add the issue of those poor children whose parent’s name them after a place. (Would you really want to grow up with a first name of Arizona, Dallas, Montana, or Kentuck if you were not a country and western singer?)

Books

Since I have obviously not been knitting, these are some of the books in the pile from the last week or so.

Beyond Reach – Karin Slaughter. Absolutely hated it. Too ugly, too violent and a really nasty ending. She is an excellent writer, but her grittiness, realism and lack of my type of ending means this is the last book of hers that I will read. I want to enjoy to a book, not to be horrified. And I want an ending that has the good team winning.

I think I have already mentioned some of the following:

Iron Kissed – Patricia Briggs. A quick and good read.
Predatory Game – Christine Feehan. Like a couple of her other series, the story is the same retold with new characters. Getting repititious..

Grimspace – Ann Aguirre. Great new SciFi voice with an origirnal character and plot twist.

Shadowing Ivy - Janelle Taylor. Female Police Officers simply aren’t this helpless and stupid. The plot and development are fine. Too much effort is put in to make this a romance and not enough research into police procedures.

And then there is

A Curious Affair – Melaine Jackson. Actually understanding cat speak? Unquestionably a mixed blessing.

Heart of Stone – CE Murphy. A new series featuring a kick-ass attorney and a gargoyle. Not bad at all. For some reason, probably being asleep while ordering, I have two copies. Anyone want the extra?

em>House of Cards – CE Murphy. Second in the series mentioned above. The action keeps moving and the character development is both believable and clever.

Cast in Secert – Michelle Sagara. I like the series for fun escape reading. Perhaps the middle book is better. In any case, this book really can’t be read as a stand-alone. But I would recommend the series, especially when they are finally released in paperback. No clue as to when that would be. I would not recommend any of these in electronic format. The publisher just doesn’t get the concept of lower prices for electronic distro.

Last week when I was on the train between Birmingham and Reading, Coach A was designated as the quiet car, with all cell phone usage prohibited. The car was packed, needless to say, so I know that I am not the only one who prefers not to know what business the man next to me is conducting. Or would rather waive the opportunity to hear the opinions of the woman six rows back. Whinging loudly at her boyfriend for clubbing this upcoming weekend, she followed with calls to three of her girlfriends to report on the previous conversation.

Inanities that I would have preferred not to hear. Frankly, I can see the boyfriends point. Who would want to spend time with this chick?

That is not to say that there are not times when a phone call is not needed or useful. I have no problems with the quick calls that let family or friends know arrival times. But to take the train car and turn it into an office? Please, get a driver or a private compartment.

Oh, these are British trains without private compartments? How about that computer plug next to your seat? Why don’t you just plug in and be quiet?

I like the idea of a bubble helmet over a person’s head, containing both them and their words. Colour me old fashion, but manners might just be important, and we all pay for our seats.

And now there is talk of allowing the usage of cell phones on airplanes, the last travel refuge.

Especially in the case of a back pack carelessly slung over one shoulder; the epitome of cool.

Is it arithmatic? Exponential? Or logarithmic, that increase of weight over time.

I can make a case for any of the above.

At the beginning of the day, fresh and full of energy with all those essentials packed carefully, your set off on your journey. The beverages are drunk, the snacks eaten as the day progresses. Perhaps a round or 40 are knit on that sock and a few photos are taken. The bag weighs heavier as the hours pass. Nothing has been added, no shopping, purchases or souvenirs accumulate for the return journey.

So why does that pack drag you down so much at the end of the day, heavier it seems by far as you trudge from the train station through town back to base?

Out the Windows

At work

And at home. Before you ask – all the mowers on my street seem to be non-operational. If it rains much more, the swath that the Mole accomplished when he was here is going to disappear.

Sock Wars III Continues

For the affectionadoes – Fran even developed a spreadsheet. I trust that none of you will use it for Spam.

There aren’t any Obits today. There are 700 (as of 2330) fallen knitters, they are just not posting. Waah.

I have had a lovely evening – listening to old Podcasts and knitting these socks. Took out the first toe just in case and I am now doing them both at the same time to make sure that I have enough yarn. STR is not generous with Silkie yardage. A progress picture – and I will post the completed pix before they go in the mail.

The Viking Ship Sweater

On hold for just the day – but this is the catch-up photo, you can see one half of the body completed. The second side is lacking four rows. Since I am doing these back and forth to accomplish the neck shaping, they are a bit slower (two handed purling anyone?).

Berlin Muster – SKP2008

Back to these tomorrow -

As we were coming into Frankfurt, it was mid 20s, and not bad at all.

And then there is London. London City airport. It is 15 degrees. And raining, let us not forget the rain. We walk down the ramp out into the rain. There is plane side pick up of luggage for those who plane side checked bags. I see my suitcase being unloaded; releaved that it made it.

Nasty day, and a bank holiday to boot. So National Rails is doing their thing, offering bus service here and there along the journey.

Rain is good on Memorial Day. At least as a member of the military forces, it is a day for reflection and thought, not for sales and picnics. So rain is fine. I much prefer funerals in the rain.

Let the heavens weep as we hear day after day of further “losses” in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why do we play with euphemisms? No one is lost, we know exactly where to find their bodies. They are dead, killed for the ambitions of others by a government that seems to think that sunk costs justify more sacrifice.

Lost to their families and friends, lost to the future. Contributions that will never be made, homecomings that will not be made.

Attend a ceremony, go to a cemetery to honor those who gave up their lives for their country.

The way to make a sacrifice not be in vain is to take courage and honor in hand. To not let events stampede us toward a future more brutal than the realities of the present. If we truly believe in democracy and the right of self determination, then we need to let other countries have that same right.

Even when they don’t chose as we would wish.

-Holly

Unlike most other languages which developed some sense several thousand years ago (and then there is Estonian and Finnish), there are no articles in Finnish. Rather, all those designations, to include prepositions, some actions and modifiers are provided by one or more of the 32 potential suffixes. That is right my friends, not only do you have to know the root word, you have to hear the rest of the word to figure things out. Even more fun than Russian with six cases. So it is not just an excess of l, j, k, m, n, v along with common t, r, and s. Or the almost never seen d, z, c, q, x, b, c. It explains all those in, en le la. Vowels, I will reassure you, are plentiful and may be used in combination. But there are really an amazing number of ls and ns out there. The grammatical process that causes those incredibly long word is agglutinative morphology.

I think it might be easier to settle for just being an erect (most days) bipedal, plantigrade being with flat nails. I will disagree with the presumption that we are the only species that passes down knowledge along with genetics. (Marine biology anyone?)

I also found yarn. Two stores, Sypressi and the Finnish equivalent of Husfliden. And then there is www.pirtinkenhraamo.fi .

The kids had the camera today. Or not, as it turned out.

In 1995, it was a Blue Bird that ran the routes. It was another of the same ilk that we rode, full battle pushing us forward on the seats, sliding off at potholes and around corners from Slav Brod to the Blue Factory in 1998.

Blue Birds were the school buses that I remember from childhood, and seeing them reincarnated out on military deployments was a shock. Many times they had a cheap paint job over the yellow and the stop sign arm had been unscrewed; rusted holes marking the side of the bus. Suspensions are best described as non-existent.

It became a right of passage and you always knew it was the right bus, that shuttle bus, because no other organization with any kind of compassion would have such hulking, uncomfortable transportation. Soldiers just endure, happy that the ride is free.

This bus was silver. Not yellow, white, blue or various rust speckled paint jobs I have seen over the years. It probably meets current safety specs including the presence of seat belts. Adults no longer jamming themselves into seats that best serve elementary school children and make sardines with the feeling of knees around your ears for anyone of late teens and up.

I took a picture, but then realized it is only a bus. One without history or charm to its comfort.

-Holly

‘Tis a fine line to walk, providing information without being insulting. Expressing an opinion that disagrees while avoiding accusations of malfeasance. Content comments can accomplish that, corrections do not.

Did I tell you that I have been known to use the almost random comma?

A long time ago, more than 40 years as a matter of fact, I was in high school English. Besides studying grammar and diagramming sentences we wrote essays. I used to be good at both of those. In those years, 1960s, there was little call for creative writing in school. In fact creative writing was what we all did on those various exam essays in an effort to fill both time and page when the knowledge of details was a bit lacking.

Now there seems to be in certain groups a conspiracy of complicity. If you don’t agree, you say nothing. Unlike real life, only nice things may be said.

Nice, read it helpful, is in the eye of the writer, not reader.

If you have not read by Lynn Truss may I suggest it to you as hilarious reading which making some excellent points about today’s society. That which she sees existing in London at any case.

We will not talk about her Eats, Shoots, and Leaves since I have already acknowledged my lack of comma properness.

I was going somewhere with this? Ah, yes.

How to provide constructive comments without starting a flame war. For those of you who are not old enough to have been on alt.rec.(insert your various groups here or various Listservs, when participant exchanges heated up past the level of discourse and dissolved into nastiness and name-calling, those exchanges were called flame wars.

The basic principle of “disagree with the idea, do not be personal” was forgotten. It is one thing to say “that is a stupid idea” and another to say “you are an idiot for saying that.” The second maybe implied from the first, but it is not explicitly so stated. Political debates in the US have degenerated into name calling and it is not pleasant, seeing it in writing preserved for eternity is not an improvement.

Providing facts and fact checking is more important in these days of unrestrained word flow. I hesitate to call it information flow. Website and blog follow each other. Blatantly incorrect information is passed along like treasure from the Victoria & Albert Museum. Woe to a person who challenges it.

On other sites, corrections and changes are welcomed as the goal is to have the most accurate information possible. As a contributor on Wikipedia, most of the exchanges are polite and simply a request for source material so that verification of corrections and updates can be accomplished. An answer that contains “program guide from the closure ceremony – would you like me to scan it and send it?” suffices.

With our knitting bloggers, email might be a better way to communicate. Most blogging software allows the blog author to delete comments. Facts and figures, along with references are not likely to survive, no matter how nicely put. (Hey, I talk to generals and survive, I can be polite and tactful when it is necessary).

I appreciate knowing when I have made an error or said something quite stupid. Personally I don’t want to be a source of misinformation. And we have all said something we think is fact without double checking our references. So please help me out when I am wrong.

And no, I have not been participating in either side of arguments or wars. But I have stopped reading several blogs because the writers have gone from interesting to personal attacks. Admittedly, several hundred yes comments on any post can be extremely boring, but I find nothing worth reading in paragraphs of personal diatribe.

Unless, of course, I can hand the writer a fistfull of commas and some capital letters.

When I was young and could not spell, no one put a fancy name on it. I just swapped letters around and made consistent mistakes; rewarded with having carry over words for next week.

At some point, probably university level, I learned to spell dyslexia and was able to put a name on my number swapping and reading misadventures. By then it didn’t matter, I had learned to compensate by keeping a dictionary handy. Looking up words became a matter of habit even when a word just didn’t look quite right.

Along come word processors followed by word processing programs. Built in spell-checkers were incorporated and I lost track of my dictionary.

There is a difficulty with depending on your word processing software. It has to have your word in its data-banks. All the words are simply not included, there are too many of them. Technical words and specialized jargon are the least likely to be included. But other words which to me seem quite ordinary might just be missing. Judiciary was one such word several years ago, as was bureaucratic.

What choices did I make, did most people make when complicated words or grammatical forms were not compatible with the program? Make is simpler, make it easier so that there are no red underlined words.

Dumb it down. Use fewer words. Contract rather than expand word usage. Otherwise, it is work, you see to find that dictionary and look up a word or go on-line to one of the extensive dictionaries to figure out what it was that you really wanted.

Haven’t you noticed that we are using a smaller number of words, quoting others and repeating ourselves?

My excuse is that I can’t spell ….

Knitting

Hodge Podge has come out of hiding. I have been working a few rows on the sleeve piece here and there. It is time to switch from straight to in the round and just buzz down the sleeves. Once I figure out where the right sized dps are, that is.

Spinning

Two more ounces of Rufus BFL went from roving into singles while I enjoyed the back garden this evening. Since the weather was holding, I went ahead and plyed up the four ounces of singles that were taking up bobbins on the Paulitz.  Even in bright light, the colour variations are fairly subtle. As a contrast yarn in stranded colourwork, I am hoping by spinning in this particular manner I will have the effect of multiple yarn colors while saving the effort of changes with all those ends to weave in.

Books & Audio

Too many books, too many locations.
Black Ice in the car and Blood Work in the living room. Both by Michael Connelly
Latte Trouble by Cleo Coyle just finished in paperback.
Spirits that Walk in Shadow by Nina Kiriki Hoffman just started in hardback.

-Holly

Without music or audio-book, I am tuned into the wildlife around me. Squirrels do battle with determined black and white birds for seed and treats. Not on purpose am I perched on the bench without electronics. The MP3 player needs to be recharged, there are no near outlets and we won’t talk of batteries.

Once again, the sunshine is warm and soft breezings are clearing the cold from the house through open windows bringing freshness to rooms grown sick of winter’s damp chill.

Bank holdiays are also apparently taken by yarn stores. I know know where both Park Lane in Basingstoke and Fibrecraft in Guildford are located. There are lots of lovely small roads along with back country rude drivers. My money is safe in my pocket.

Pat sent this link to me from the New Yorker. In a very clear way, Jared Diamond makes his point about governments, tribal societies and personal/governmental roles. I have always found him to be excellent in his writings in Anthropology, using the material to make a good assessment of the current political scene.

For those of you who are having trouble understanding why the US policies are not working in the Middle East, I would strongly recommend his books and articles

Treasures

In the regular mail came this from Australia.

Hint – a beanie apparently refers to headgear in general, and not just those with propellers on top.

The Alice Springs Festival is coming up.  Kathryn sent me the program book to remind me that there are otherthings besides yarmulkas to knit. Even so, one has to wonder at the number of geographically different that have independantly developed essentially the identical headgear.The non-art versions that is.

And then there is this from Jen -

Lovely, brown and 110 meters just looking to become a soft and gentle project. Lace scarf I am thinking to make it go the farthest. Or perhaps a cowl? Needs just the right pattern….

Books

Read Died in the Wool by Mary Kruger (aka Mary Kingsley). A bit light in the character development and with some gaping holes in plotting, I still found this cozy a fun and quick read. The wrap up was fine, leaving you wanting the next story in the series.

On the last CD of High Country by Nevada Barr. I appreciate a protagonist who is not in her 20s… Call me shallow, but my book tastes have been changing as I, too, have gotten older.

-Holly

The Knittyvritti made comment on grandmothers as she used what she calls her Virtual Grandmother to help her.

Thinking back on my two grandmothers: one did an extensive amount of handwork during the 30s. It was the depression and they had little money. To her it was a necessity, not pleasure or joy. Once she could afford store bought, Esther never looked back.

My mother felt much the same way, viewing handmade clothing and sweaters as a sign of poverty. It was only when she was extremely stressed that she turned to knitting, sewing or needlework. Her background did not let her see that handmade=loved from the point of view of her two daughters.

My other grandmother did exquisite needlework which she used to decorate fancy outfits and sweaters. That grandfather had a good job and they sailed through the depression without worries. Ann had the luxury of time to enjoy her abilities along with a social circle that appreciated her creativity.

Neither of them, nor my mother were particularly teaching minded. I started with sewing in high school, it was a mandatory part of Home Economics in those days. All girls took Home Ec, all guys took shop. (the 1960s for those of you who can’t relate.)

I wound up finding that I learned best from reading. The pattern guide, a book, a pamphlet. I have taken a few courses over the years, but find them frustrating as I like to learn at my own pace, and not that of the class. I like to figure things out on my own, look them up in a book. Occasionally I will search things out on the web, but have never watched an instructional video, YouTube clip, or a DvD. Give me a drawn illustration, a few words, a graph and I am good to go. It is my hands that will translate those directions into something.

Now, I won’t claim that something is always correct or exactly what I intended. Serendipity and errors creep in all the time.

Knitting

Tubey
This may be the reason that I am knitting Tubey from the bottom up, rather than from the sleeves back out. The directions are rather clear, and having constructed garments before by knitting a piece in work together with a finished piece, it doesn’t seem all that hard (Vejborg – Lavold; several Noro garments; after though soles).

I just have to decide if this

or this is long enough for the body

and what colour is up next.

The British Slipover is to here

and the final 7 Kippot are blocking. Since I used Sox Pixies pattern only a couple of times before modifying it – I suppose I should write up the variations.

-Holly

Charge of the Sock Brigade

Half a sock

, half a sock

Half a sock onward

Into the Valley of Panic

knit the one hundred.

‘Knit, 52pr Plungers!
Go for the line!’
Into the valley of Panic
Knit the one hundred.

‘Forward, on 52 Plungers!’
Was there a knitter dismayed?

Over committed they knew
They had blundered:
Theirs not to make whine,
With hands full of pain,
Theirs but to try, and cry,
Into the valley of Panic
Knit the one hundred.

Yarn to the right of them,
Needles to the left of them
Patterns in front of them,
Cables and Laced.
Overwhelmed with choices and blogs
Boldly they knit well
Into the Jaws of April
Into the mouth of Hell,
Knit the one hundred.

Back to my final sock….

-Holly

(and since I didn’t do anything neat for my blogversry 11 March – help finish the poem. Best contribution for each of the remaining verses will get sock yarn).

You might be over at someone’s house for an evening, usually a friend of your parents and they would drag out the slide projector to show pictures of their last trip? Your good time changed to agonizing pain as the minutes crawled by. Set after set of slides: places you had never been, people you didn’t know lined up in front of statues, buildings and trees, stiff and unsmiling. All of it blending together, you promise yourself that you will never, ever in your whole life ever do that to any company at your house when you grow up.

Fast forward more decades that you wish had past. You have an acquaintance over for dinner. There is a double reason for the invitation. The first is that you want to be nice and thank her for helping you right after your arrival. The second is that you have absolutely no clue as to how to work the flipping cooker and she just might have an idea. She is English right? This is an English cooker right?

About two nights ago I finally used the stove portion. Having had a gas range in university I was familiar with the concept of turn on the gas and light the match.

Ok, warm food from something other than the rice cooker or the microwave.

But the oven was beyond me with the gas entry way in the back.

Well, guess what? There is this little electric striker thing that you press and it lights things all by itself! That is if the gas is turned on. The broiler works. The oven does not, no gas flow.

I nuked the vegetable pie.

The last thing I would think of as a thank you for helping with the cooking problem would be to force a guest to look at family and travel pictures. She said she really wanted to see them. I thought about re-evaluating my assesment of her sanity.

Look at pictures voluntarily? OoooooK.

Being a modern sort of person, most of my pictures of the kids are on my hard-drive. And she actually enjoyed looking at them, commenting on architectural details of some of the travel pix. We spent almost two hours just going over pictures of China, the kids, the cruise.

Totally stunned here, I could never imagine that. What do I do if I get a return invitation?

Bring knitting, I guess.

Yarn

I don’t have any socks on the needles. I have one pair to go on the 52 pair plunge. Something bright I think – Fire from Fly*dyed (Monarch sock yarn – Angora Valley Fibers).

Now to find a pattern that won’t be completely overwhelmed. It is going to need to be something toe up, since I don’t normally knit those and need the practice.

Knitting

Progress again on the Shawl-Collared Vest. I am a bit happier with the colours this time around. It could be better but the top matches the bottom and next up the yarn moves into the lighter blues.

Books &

McNally’s Alibi on the car CD.
Keepers of the Flame by Robin Owens and All the Right Angles by Stef Ann Holm just finished in paper back.
Charmed (season one) on the DvD. Not sure if I like it or not.
-Holly