Knitting Friday
I was sitting, watching CNN around noon yesterday. That’s very unusual for me; both the sitting and watching CNN, but I was. This was the time yesterday just after one entertainment figure had died and a few hours before the death of another, more famous, entertainment figure’s death would be announced.
So I guess you could say that I was watching CNN when they were still throwing you snippets of real world news; before they moved into what they love to do best: 24-7 coverage of entertainment.
The news topic at noon was the 19% drop in the number of millionaires due to the present economic conditions. OK, this is a piece of slightly interesting demi-news. Then the co-anchor says something like: Well, you may be wondering why this is important but these are the people who create the job for us.
Wow! This bobble-head anchor is spouting Reagan’s trickle down voodoo economic theory in which the lords of the manor must be given all sorts of economic advantages (read: tax breaks) so they can bestow largess on all us, peons. Where do we get these TV fools? How do people think this way in our so-called representative democracy? Perhaps it’s time to shutter the schools and provide American kids with Nintendo games all day, every day. They might even pick up more logical thinking this way. Obviously, our schools can’t be teaching much of it.
Capitalism with a strong social purpose such as health care and education may work. Unchecked capitalism is like granting a few privileged kids unlimited access to the candy store. They get all the goodies and all they share with us is their vomit.
Before you say: Knitting Friday? This is Knitting Friday? Well, it is. Because you may be wondering after reading the above why my head didn’t explode as I watched CNN at noon yesterday. Because I was knitting. In this crazy mixed-up world of greed and illogic there are oases of calm and peace. And one such oasis is called knitting.
Outside of having my socks knocked off (and I was even wearing any) by that CNN anchor’s comment, it has been a crazy knitting week. I never did get back to the prototype for my summer sweater. I spent most of the week finishing my red Alix shawl in garter. There was a point at the end when I was goofing every row, and that’s after I thought I had counted the row correctly. I’d knit a row. I’d tink (knit spelled backward) the row. There was even one time when I wondered: Do I frog this whole thing?
Take a look at the picture of the shawl. It’s done and I love it. It’s one of the reasons serious knitters keep at the craft: every once and a while you finish something (and it’s usually a bear of a project) and you can’t believe it turned out so well.
Just to recap: This is the Alix shawl in garter which is a top down knit. I used US 8 needles and the yarn is a mystery yarn which I think is a mixture of cotton and spandex. The weight is slightly more than fingering and slightly less than sport. Unblocked (and I think it’s staying that way) it’s 53" x 26" and it has 6 blocks of pattern. The pattern is reversible, a plus, but being reversible you miss the pattern definition until it’s done. Or you can put the live stitches on a long strand of yarn to view your progress. (When I returned these stitches to the needles I had to play hide and seek with a dropped stitch - a common, annoying problem.) Oh, and don’t forget to work with the Alix chart and not the written directions. If you have never used a chart before; take the plunge.
I also finished a beige cotton crochet thread shawl this week. I have no idea why I bought this thread except I’m a sucker for sales and crochet thread. I’ll post a picture of this one next week. I’m still debating whether to block it.
For those of you who would like a shawl adventure and no charts, try:
http://www.anniesattic.com/free_pattern_day/kn_cats_paw_lace_shawl.html
It’s an Annie Attic’s free pattern and after set-up you only work two rows for the pattern body. I’m thinking about seriously reducing the body size (may need some serious thinking) and eliminating the optional fringe.
For a rectangular shawl without chart reading, there’s:
http://www.rosiesyarncellar.com/library/rosieknitsdownloads/rosieknitspdf/vladivostock.pdf
This is an 8 row lace pattern with four resting rows. It lists a wrong and right side but since it’s all knit, I think it’s reversible. The dimensions are huge (72" x 36") but the stitch multiple is given so you can adjust.
That’s it for this week. I hope to have my summer sweater up next week but my black cotton yarn is crying out for a shawl...... Happy knitting.
I was sitting, watching CNN around noon yesterday. That’s very unusual for me; both the sitting and watching CNN, but I was. This was the time yesterday just after one entertainment figure had died and a few hours before the death of another, more famous, entertainment figure’s death would be announced.
So I guess you could say that I was watching CNN when they were still throwing you snippets of real world news; before they moved into what they love to do best: 24-7 coverage of entertainment.
The news topic at noon was the 19% drop in the number of millionaires due to the present economic conditions. OK, this is a piece of slightly interesting demi-news. Then the co-anchor says something like: Well, you may be wondering why this is important but these are the people who create the job for us.
Wow! This bobble-head anchor is spouting Reagan’s trickle down voodoo economic theory in which the lords of the manor must be given all sorts of economic advantages (read: tax breaks) so they can bestow largess on all us, peons. Where do we get these TV fools? How do people think this way in our so-called representative democracy? Perhaps it’s time to shutter the schools and provide American kids with Nintendo games all day, every day. They might even pick up more logical thinking this way. Obviously, our schools can’t be teaching much of it.
Capitalism with a strong social purpose such as health care and education may work. Unchecked capitalism is like granting a few privileged kids unlimited access to the candy store. They get all the goodies and all they share with us is their vomit.
Before you say: Knitting Friday? This is Knitting Friday? Well, it is. Because you may be wondering after reading the above why my head didn’t explode as I watched CNN at noon yesterday. Because I was knitting. In this crazy mixed-up world of greed and illogic there are oases of calm and peace. And one such oasis is called knitting.
Outside of having my socks knocked off (and I was even wearing any) by that CNN anchor’s comment, it has been a crazy knitting week. I never did get back to the prototype for my summer sweater. I spent most of the week finishing my red Alix shawl in garter. There was a point at the end when I was goofing every row, and that’s after I thought I had counted the row correctly. I’d knit a row. I’d tink (knit spelled backward) the row. There was even one time when I wondered: Do I frog this whole thing?
Take a look at the picture of the shawl. It’s done and I love it. It’s one of the reasons serious knitters keep at the craft: every once and a while you finish something (and it’s usually a bear of a project) and you can’t believe it turned out so well.
Just to recap: This is the Alix shawl in garter which is a top down knit. I used US 8 needles and the yarn is a mystery yarn which I think is a mixture of cotton and spandex. The weight is slightly more than fingering and slightly less than sport. Unblocked (and I think it’s staying that way) it’s 53" x 26" and it has 6 blocks of pattern. The pattern is reversible, a plus, but being reversible you miss the pattern definition until it’s done. Or you can put the live stitches on a long strand of yarn to view your progress. (When I returned these stitches to the needles I had to play hide and seek with a dropped stitch - a common, annoying problem.) Oh, and don’t forget to work with the Alix chart and not the written directions. If you have never used a chart before; take the plunge.
I also finished a beige cotton crochet thread shawl this week. I have no idea why I bought this thread except I’m a sucker for sales and crochet thread. I’ll post a picture of this one next week. I’m still debating whether to block it.
For those of you who would like a shawl adventure and no charts, try:
http://www.anniesattic.com/free_pattern_day/kn_cats_paw_lace_shawl.html
It’s an Annie Attic’s free pattern and after set-up you only work two rows for the pattern body. I’m thinking about seriously reducing the body size (may need some serious thinking) and eliminating the optional fringe.
For a rectangular shawl without chart reading, there’s:
http://www.rosiesyarncellar.com/library/rosieknitsdownloads/rosieknitspdf/vladivostock.pdf
This is an 8 row lace pattern with four resting rows. It lists a wrong and right side but since it’s all knit, I think it’s reversible. The dimensions are huge (72" x 36") but the stitch multiple is given so you can adjust.
That’s it for this week. I hope to have my summer sweater up next week but my black cotton yarn is crying out for a shawl...... Happy knitting.
No comments:
Post a Comment