Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Knitting Friday

I'm posting without the promised picture but with a boring explanation and also, as a bonus, I hope, some knitting thoughts of value.

First, the explanation: Well, I'm discovering my shawl pattern design (2 stitch increase, each side, every row) works better with crocheting than with knitting. My original knit pattern of just rows of *YO, K2tog* produced a very tight and puckered edge. Which, of course, makes sense since the 2 K edge stitches produce a much tighter gauge than rows and rows of *YO, K2tog.* So that pattern, which was going to be my picture for today, returned to the frog pond.

Then, I began again on the old reliable trinity stitch and worked along quite well until I found a P3tog which was picked up as a P2tog some rows down. So this became another trip to the frog pond. (More on this below.)

Finally, I found the Vogue pattern Symphony. No, I'm not going to link because it's really the old stitch pattern I use in so many sweaters: 3 rows K; 1 row, *YO, K2tog.*

That pattern is working finally and I promise a picture next week. (It's too little right now to have it's picture taken. )

And, now on to a few random knitting/crocheting tips:

1. For waits in MD offices (or in my my case, DDS offices) bring crocheting (if you can crochet) not knitting. Not even simple knitting. Why? Because for all the faults knitters may find with crocheting, it's an easier craft to rip out. And, believe me, because I know from much hard experience, that you will make mistakes knitting in public. Especially in situations where you move from one area to another, dragging your project along.

2. Knit Picks nickel-plated interchangeable needles are really nice but P3tog needs lace tip needles. You can do P2tog,, K2tog, or ssk on regular tip needles but working lace without lace tip needles on combinations of three or more stitches joined together can lead to disaster. You must be very, very careful to gather all three stitches together and I don't look as knitting slow as knitting fun.

3. If you are a serious knitter and can afford it, buy the best needles you can. You don't have to go the whole 9 yards and buy every size in expensive needles (good needles are not cheap but they do range from moderately priced to high-priced.) Just get good needles in the sizes you use. For me, that would be US, 8, 9. 10, 10.5, and 11. Though I use US 13, 15, and 17, I think I can make do with the big store brands here. I would also get a US 6 in a lace tip and I would probably start with the US 8 through 11 sizes in lace tips though I might add the regular tips to these sizes also. Tomorrow, I'm going to AC Moore to check out the new Susan Bates line. I know it's a Big Box store but with my coupon (the new Susan Bates run $12 and that's moving up to Addi needles prices), I'm going to try only one size to start.

OK, gotta stop. I've been writing this blog since before lunch; just too many interruptions. See you next week.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Website Wednesday

As I tell everyone who will listen (or at least pretend that they're listening), I worked hard for the election of Obama almost 4 years ago because I was hoping with his election, I won't have to emigrate to Canada.

Now I'm four years older and I might be revisiting such a move since Obama may be a one-term president. That's one reason Obama is not on my "invite him to the party" list at present.

He, like Corzine (previous NJ gov who lost to Christie), fought hard to get to the position in which one failed and one has (as a former adviser said) a Titanic struggle to win reelection. Corzine left an oh-so-safe Senate seat to run for NJ gov and Obama fought hard against Hillary Clinton for his party's nomination.

Then, they both governed like they knew nothing about the art of power. They squandered achievements, ignored necessary political sound bites and watched a sea of red politics engulf them lacking the wherewithal to stem this tide.

Now, everything is converging into perfect symmetry as Christie, acting like the shy virgin at her first prom, insists he is not running for the Republican presidential nomination while making speeches with bon mots like: (Obama) still has not found the courage to lead.

Wow! Even this non-candidate knows how to eviscerate a potential opponent. Christie, bully that he is (and I don't dismiss that as a minor fault), has reduced Obama to the defensive mode, and the battle hasn't even started.

So that's where I am, folks. I haven't been a happy camper for a long time. Forget about climate change wiping out our species; Americans are going to dumb themselves to death long before that happens.

But I do have a great website pick:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/

This is the Smithsonian Magazine online and it's a treasure trove. And assuming Smithsonian = federally funded museum vs. tax-phobic Congress = budget cuts, you'd better take long looks at this site before it becomes a slashed line on next year's budget.

Where do I begin? Currently, you can read about the jaguar (that is one magnificent animal) freeway proposed from Mexico to Argentina. It's a five page article with pictures (not a USA Today summary article) written as a first person feature article so you get the folksy tone with a lot of facts.

Or read a retrospective of Willem de Kooning and be sure to click on View More Photos for over 30 examples of his work. On the last page you'll learn that the author of this article, Mark Stevens, is the co-author of a Pulitzer Prize book on de Kooning.

Check Trending Topics in the right column. One topic lists 38 articles on the US Civil War. Be sure to go through all the categories listed at the top of the page and then check the Editor's Picks (right column) for each category.

OK, if you've read these Wednesday picks before, you know the drill. Just click around and enjoy the reading and the pictures. You won't be disappointed.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Movie Monday

OK, not to beat a dead horse (what a horrible image!) though I'm about to. I'd like to revisit The Other Woman, this time with spoilers. I watched it again yesterday being mad at myself again for crying; not tearing up but just this side of bawling.

I guess I want to look at this movie for a second week because I think it shows what's wrong with American establishment cinema: the lack of character development, the plot moves and the actors just follow.

In bad movies, you see these flaws immediately but good actors can take you along for the ride and you find yourself giving a rating of 5 stars without even knowing what happened. (Let me clarify something: I can like a bad movie. I can watch and enjoy one; in fact, I've done so many times. The Land of the Lost comes to mind.)

It's not that American movies don't have important themes; it's just that these themes seem to be hammered into you with too many examples or just allowed to float into the ether without a second glance.

Let's take some themes from TOW: infidelity. Jack is as "guilty" as Emilia here. She's attracted to him. She visits his house and walks into the room where his son is watching TV. She knows she's breaking up a family. Soon, we discover Jack will accompany Emilia out of town for some routine law work (Why is a partner doing this type of work? Emilia asks - my paraphrase) and then he accompanies her to her hotel room (But we passed your floor. Emilia says.) So both conspire to betray Jack's wife.

There's a theme here, folks: young woman pursuing/being pursued by an older, wealthy married man and only considering their immediate pleasure. OK, I'm not planning to moralize about this but I do wonder: Jack blithely betrays his wife with a 20-something. Only once? Doesn't anyone think he'll be betraying Emilia in time? Does Emilia (Harvard graduate and attorney) even once think about this possibility?

Then there's the wife, Carolyn. Lisa Kudrow nails the professionally successful, bitter, spiteful woman, who is a very good mother. A fact which is lost in the cloud of her bitterness and hostility towards Emilia. But, why shouldn't she be? This young woman arrived and destroyed her marriage and she now has to share her son with the bitch. However, she is the only adult who is able to rise above her feelings. When her son is upset because Emilia thinks she smothered her 3-day daughter, Carolyn, goes out of her way (and works past her intense dislike) to research the autopsy results thoroughly and then meets with Emilia to put to rest her fears. She still loathes the young woman but she is able to think of her son's needs.

And that's more than Jack does. The movie never explores the tremendous guilt and grief a SIDS mom feels. We see the motions - looking at Isabel's pictures, participating in a walk of hope - but when Emilia, still filled with grief, lashes out at her father in front of everyone, Jack's reaction is not one of understanding. And, Jack's lack of understanding just escalates when Emilia realizing she is not guilty in Isabel's death wants a reconciliation, Jack refuses.

Wow! Infidelity Infant death. Grief management. Anger management. I'm not even going to go into the step-family dynamics and much more. All powerful themes, yet all treated like a Lifetime movie (not that there is any wrong with those.)

But some much of this is what's wrong with American cinema of this genre. We haven't moved out the 1930's mode of problems, angst, resolution, and a happy ending. We're still rewriting that script for the zillionth time.

There must be a middle ground worth exploring between saccharine and life's a bitch and then you die. It's called the middle ground where real people live but America cinema is not ready to go there. Pity.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Knitting Friday

Not a picture today. In fact, not much of anything because I just realized that September does indeed have only 30 days and if I don't work on my October newsletter ASAP, I can probably kiss that month goodbye.

However, I do have some random knitting thoughts to share:

1. My top-down wool vest in a very simple lace pattern (*YO, K2tog) using four different colors of KP Palette is coming into the home stretch. (Oh, how I love those sport allusions!) I started with the darkest color for the neck band. Then I followed that with stripes of white, very, very light beige, light beige, medium beige, and then the darkest color (dark beige) again. This wool is a dream to work it and when I finish this project, I'll only have 92 full skeins of Palette left.

2. I realized that as long as the pattern has a resting row (an all K or all P row), I can work a multiple of a 4 stitch pattern for the shawl I posted last week.

Last week, of course, was a crocheted shawl with 2 increases each side on every row. Here's a quick pattern for the same type shawl in knit which I'm making now.

CO 8 stitches.
1. K in the front and back of the first and last two stitches of every row until the shawl is as long as you want it.
2. When you reach your length, just K (no increases) the first two stitches at the beginning and end of every row.
3. When your shawl is the width you want, bind off loosely.
4. And what about the shawl pattern in-between? Right now, I'm working a variation of the trinity stitch which is:
Trinity Stitch Variation: Multiple of 4 sts.
Row 1: *(K, front, back, front in one stitch), P3tog* Note: this row can be worked with the P3tog first.
Row 2 RS: *P*
That's it. Just be sure you don't increase within the pattern. That is, if you work an extra (K, front, back, front in one stitch) at the end of a row. If you do that, your pattern won't line up properly and your shawl shape with be wonky. Be sure that your P3tog "bobbles" line up on every other Row 1.

Row 1: xxx B xxx B xxx
Row 2: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Row 1: B xxx B xxx B
Row 2: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Row 1: xxx B xxx B xxx
Row 2: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Row 1: B xxx B xxx B

See how it should look?

While this knit version seems to be working well, it is much slower, especially in lace. Now, I want to search for more 4 stitch patterns and practice with heavier yarn and larger needles.

Next week, I'll post a proper pattern and a picture.

See you then. Happy knitting!

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Website Wednesday

Lately, I've been thinking (not always a good thing to do) that the human species really has no value except perhaps as a stepping stone genetically to a species which does have some value. Of course, by saying this, I'm talking about human moral values which I believe provide a glimmer of a "soul" we may truly possess one day. But evolution is a tricky thing and the next step for mankind is a genetic crap-shoot. I can hear baboons saying as they look at man: This is an evolutionary step forward?

Of course, being an atheist I can have this thoughts. That is, I can look at the world humans have created and sink into massive depression while religious people would have to look at the shit-hole so much of the world is and just offer up another prayer. Thank god I'm an atheist!

Along the thread of this thought process, let me present my website pick:

http://www.infocobuild.com/books-and-films/social-science/terry-jones-medieval-lives.html

It's a series of videos on groups of people in the Middle Ages: peasants, damsels, minstrels, knights, outlaws, etc. It's narrated by Terry Jones of Monty Python fame so it's rather light but it looks historically accurate. Jones starts out with peasant life and then segues into the Peasant Revolt. If you remember that scene from MP and the Holy Grail where the peasants discuss philosophy and then offer the observation that you can tell a king from a peasant because he doesn't have any shit on him, you'll understand the tone and purpose of these videos: breaking down some medieval myths with humor.

Americans are long on opinions but short on historical knowledge. Unfortunately, I don't think I ever taught a kid who came into class liking history. The closest I ever got to wonderment about history was when a student was stunned that I knew so much about the Middle Ages. Implied in that astonishment was the feeling: Why bother about stuff that's not in your present world? (Except for help in passing tests, of course.)

So take a look at these videos. They're about 30 minutes each do don't forget to bookmark the site unless you have a large chunk of free time ahead.

Look at these videos as an easy way to brush up on your history. Since, like it or not, you'll living history right now and what you and I do here will affect our children's and the world's future. If we learn about our past we may be able to avoid those historical blunders which have unforeseen consequences. (Repeal of Glass-Steagall ring a bell?)

Enjoy.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Movie Monday

This should be a month when we remember Richard Gere in Chicago (where he literally tap dances around the evidence in Roxie's diary in order to convince the jury she's really innocent) as we watch the USA tap dance around the facts trying to convince the rest of the world that the Palestinians don't deserve statehood.

Remember when I commented that Obama's seemingly even-handed speech re: Israel and Mideast peace was a good start but we had to watch for the follow-up? Well, folks, the follow-up never came or rather did come in the form of more Israeli illegal settlements. I guess Obama can add the Mideast peace process to his list of "Things I'd Rather Not Tackle During My Presidency." It must be a very long list by now; I hope he has enough paper.

But let's approach two indie films, one USA and one Australia, where we can see even here how the US is out of touch with the rest of the world. The first film is The Other Woman starring Natalie Portman; the second The Japanese Story with Toni Collette. Both deal with emotions and sadness, but there the similarity ends. For in the American made TOW, we get a Lifetime channel soap-movie. It deals with family problems - infidelity, loss of a child, the step-mom - but it seems to tell us only to listen to the the female characters - Portman as the step-mom; Lisa Kudrow as the first wife (who is given the only dialogue with an edge) and Debra Monk as Portman's mom. The men just appear to be acted on. In fact, the only male who makes a difference is Portman's pre-puberty step son (no way do I believe that kid was an adolescent as stated in the blurb) who proves the deus ex machina ending American directors seem to love.

Oh yes, I cried during TOW; not teared-up, I cried. It plays on the fear of all moms but that doesn't make it a good movie. Perhaps a happy ending is so ingrained in the American psyche, especially when dealing with our sacred cow, the American family, that even with indies, if you're making a typical family drama, you had better end it happy or at least with the hope of happy.

The Japanese Story doesn't go that route. While we're not dealing with mom and apple pie here, (Collette plays a pissed off geologist who is given the job of chauffeuring the scion of the Japanese family which owns her Australian employer around the outback.) this is still is human emotion story. And when the wallop comes about 2/3 in the film, I thought: OK, that was scary. How are they going to fix it? But, of course, they don't. No deus ex machina appears. A relationship which was advancing suddenly stops dead. Shit happens and we have to deal with it.

Of course, it doesn't hurt the movie that we're treated to breathtaking scenes of the Australian outback. Perhaps that scenery was the sucker-bait; we're lulled into the beauty and danger of the country (they almost die when their jeep gets stuck in the dirt) as these two people of different cultures grow to like each other. So, while we're expecting a troubled ending (the guy is married), it's not the troubled ending we get.

Maybe that's why I can sit through foreign films, subtitles and all; foreign realism is realism (Oh yes, I know that foreign films are not immune from the boredom odometer); while US realism is just hurdle on the way to a happy ending.

How did we culturally get there? That's a field for deep study, but I do know our movies spent the Great Depression (1930s) presenting a lot of sophisticated fluff when the world was on fire and today, as the US sinks into second world status, we're keen on producing over-the top CGI movies or adolescent boys' frat movies.

So take a look at The Japanese Story. It's a small movie and worth the look. Skip The Other Woman or wait until it comes to Lifetime.

Final question: I watched as much of The Green Hornet this weekend as I could before heaving. The question: How do these dogs get financing?

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Knitting Friday

What a lousy blogger I have been! Do you want excuses? Or how about a pattern? Let's go with the latter:


The picture on the left is the shawl I have been heralding for some time now. It's my own pattern, but it's so simple that I'm ashamed to call it such. I was working along with a typical top-down shawl pattern with increases in the center and at the ends. I always have trouble with those because by Row 7, I'm forgetting if this is the row I increase both center and ends or just the ends.

So, out of laziness, I said: What would happen if I increased two stitches each side on every row?

My first project was with thin cotton crochet thread in beige and I got a summer shawl which I wore all summer. Then I bought a skein of Aunt Lydia's crochet cotton in black. I wasn't happy about this purchase because Aunt Lydia and I had never been BFFs (no problems with her products, I just didn't know her) but she was a dream to crochet. You're looking at the shawl done in 1 skein of AL on the left. As you an see, I got the crescent shape and wonder of wonders, it stays on your shoulders.

My latest crochet version of this shawl was done in Coats and Clark nylon thread. Pictures of that on another Friday but with that one, I added picots along the bottom and the crab stitch along the top.

I've made this shawl also knitted but at this point only with US 17. I want to work it out with smaller needles before posting the knitted version.

But on to the Easy Lace Crocheted Shawl:
Materials: 1 ball Aunt Lydia mercerized cotton #10, 350 yards
H hook, (Note: I was interested in making an open summer shawl. If you want a winter shawl, you can adjust the hook size to match the yarn.)
20" middle depth, 51" from tip to tip; makes a stay-on-your-shoulders, crescent shape
Increase Section:
Row 1. Ch 5 and join for a loop.
Row 2. *Ch 5 & work 1 single crochet (sc)* in loop, 2 times (xs). You have two loops. Turn
Row 3. Ch5 & 1 sc in each loop, 2 times. You have 4 loops. Turn
Row 4. Ch5 & 1 sc in 1st loop 2 times, *Ch5 & 1 sc* only one time in each loop across. Last loop: ch 5 & 1 sc 2xs. Turn. You increase (inc) 1 loop in the 1st and last loop every row. Work Row 4 to 76 loops. End your last row with 2 increases in the first and last loops. Turn
(Try the shawl on and if it's the length you want, proceed to the straight knitting. If not, continue to increase each side as above until you are at your desired length.
Straight (no increases) section:
All rows: *Ch 5 & sc* in each loop across. Turn (No incs in the 1st and last loop.)
Continue this straight section until your shawl is the width you want.
You can end the shawl by just finishing the last row or you can add picots or any other edging you want.
Blocking:
I blocked my shawl on an ironing board by stretching it out over a towel and wet blocking it with a soaking wet linen handkerchief and a hot iron which barely touched the shawl.
Once the entire shawl is blocked this way, work blocking wires or flexible tubing through the top of the shawl and hang from a clothes line to dry completely. (Note: Blocking really opens the loops. I didn't block with my nylon shawl because the weight of the thread opened the loops.)
Weave in the starting and ending yarn and it's ready to wear.
This is absolutely the easier shawl in the world to crochet. Also, it's a great traveling project and gift project. Enjoy.
(If you find any mistakes in the directions, please tell me.)