Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich

Knitting Friday

I see this as a learning week. I learned that I can knit a garment in lace weight but I won't be doing this any time soon, perhaps not in this lifetime.

The once & perhaps future lace top

I promised you a picture of my lace weight knitting and here it is on the right. I loved knitting with lace and what you see on the right only took me three froggings to arrive at.

Here are some things I learned about lace weight knitting:

1. Knit Picks 16" needles are OK for the neckband but with lace weight you really need the extra sharpness of ChiaGoo.

2. Wild West knitting (no swatching) is not a good idea with lace weight. Through trial and error, I finally cast on 90 stitches on US 7 with a knitted CO and worked the first row as *YO, K2tog*. This got me an opening which fit over my head.

3. You must pay total attention with such knitting. I was often capturing two strands with my K2tog and then knitting two stitches instead of one on the next row.

4. If you give yourself over to lace weight knitting it becomes Zen knitting quickly. If you work this knitting as casually as you do with other weights, it becomes Cursing knitting quickly.

5. I can knit with lace weight, I like knitting with lace weight, but I don't want to expend the time and concentration needed to do it right at this stage of my life.

So take a last look at the beginning of the red lace top above because it's gone and I am now, not happily, crocheting this yarn into a fall/winter scarf/shawl. The final frogging of this wool (Knit Picks Shadow lace) was a bear because after three times in the frog pond it sort of felts on its own.

L = KP; R = Chiagoo

I had to start the lace top project with Knit Pick needles because that's all I have in 16" and my ChiaGoos are all 32". Even after I finished the neckband and doubled my stitches I had to stay with KP 24" until I'd knitted quite a few more rows. It wasn't agony like working with Bates or Boyle and lace weight but you can see in the left picture that while the KP has a sharp point, the ChiaGoo has a sharp tip and a longer taper. That taper really helps.

I'm thinking about buying some needles (Short aside: I really do like the new Boye Needlemaster. The joins stay screwed and the tip ends are nicely sharp. But the cables are still stiff and the tips must be 5" so that using them with a 24" cable does not make for comfortable knitting. ) 

HiYa HiYa sells an interchangeable Sharp set in US 2 to US 8 which has a 16" cable (it's really not 16" but with the tips added it's 16") and that would solve all my neckband COs since I don't think I'd ever go larger than US 8 for a neckband. However, I do use larger 16" needles for knitting sleeves in the round. That means I would have to buy 2 sets and get US 2 to US 15.

I don't really get good vibes about purchasing HiYa HiYa since they have so many options: Sharp stainless, regular stainless, 4" tips, 5" tips.... I get tired just reading the specs.

Which brings me to ChiaGoo which will be bringing out their interchangeables this month with a complete set for $150 or a small or large set for $85. I'm waiting for the first reviews on Ravelry before I decide anything.

A new model

 OK, I promised to post the white shawl I was blocking last week. It's huge: 36" wide and 81" long. I'm going to modify the shawl pattern I posted last week because if you don't want the large hole mesh look on the horse (new model; the beast wants $20 per shoot!) change the *chain 5, double crochet in loop" to *chain 5, single crochet in loop.* Everything else remains the same but the loops are smaller with a sc. I'm doing that with the red lace because it's for colder wear.

Cable needle shawl pin

At left, is the same shawl the horse is wearing with the KP cable needle I use as a shawl pin. I love these cables; just wear them and you don't worry at all about the shawl shifting off your shoulders.

And finally, a crocheted scarf pattern which Queen Victoria made. I didn't know the old girl could crochet but there are pictures.

http://goodtimesithinkso.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/queen-victoria-crochet-scarf-pattern.html

The above link will take you to a modern day pattern of Vicky's scarf. It's a one row repeat of:

Row 2: ch 3, *work 3 dc under next space between the 3-double crochet cluster* end with 3 dc in ch 3.

I'm posting this row because the pattern ends at the second * and the part in red is mine. In order to keep the same number of 3-DC clusters on every row, you really have to add this last cluster.

This is a fast working, nice looking scarf. I started it in DK yarn with an N hook and was able to achieve a light, open look; very unlike the tight stiffness of the old girl's work. But then it was done in the Victorian age.

That's it for me today. Next week: I finished the non-worn cardi which, after frogging, I made into an openwork 3/4 sleeve top and I'll post a picture. Happy knitting.

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich

 

Website Wednesday

 

Headlines tout Neil Armstrong as an American hero but then the bar for heroism is pretty low in this country. Armstrong had a job in an innovative field of work. He took risks as many job holders do but he had multimillion technology, a huge support team, a salary, health care and pension behind him. He was an American explorer who did good.

 

A hero is one who believes in a cause, sometimes a very lonely cause, and is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to defend that cause.

 

A hero is one who may have to endure the disapprobation of much the world to stay true to that cause.

 

A hero is one who often holds the mirror of inequality to an uncaring world to defend those much of the world has forgotten.

 

Not always victory defines the hero and sometimes they must slip quietly into history.

 

Quixotic may often define them but their presence tells us that there is some good worth fighting for, worth dying for. They give us hope.

 

Rachel Corrie was such a hero. 

 

I found another photo website to share:

 

www.flickr.com/photos/37775831@N02/sets/72157620345353756/show/

 

It's a black and white scroll show from the past. Most people live their lives outside of the headlines and this selection shows all sorts of them captured in a moment from their "average" lives. There's a Previous/Next button on top which is good because some shots, so full of the life at the moment, scroll past too quickly.

 

My husband found this site:

 

http://www.shockwave.com/content/shuffle/sis/shuffle.swf 

 

It's a game called Shuffle. Pretty simple really; you get a take a shot, your opponent gets to take a shot and last man standing wins. You'll see early if ROUND LOST is going to appear in extremely large font but with a little practice, you'll see that skill more than luck is needed to win. Be sure to have the sound off if you play this at work.  Oh, and as you progress, you get fewer and fewer "weapons" to use but your opponent doesn't. Talk about "Not fair!"

 

OK, I'm done. I have to go prepare some math "cheat sheets". No, there's not test cheat sheets but reference pages explaining different math procedures. Today, I think I'll work on two: regrouping and fraction division. The boy might need some review in both areas before school starts. Thank goodness he's still sleeping and doesn't know the educational joy he's facing today. See you next week.

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich

 

Movie Monday

 

I'd like to talk about a book today and the movie which followed it, but mainly about a book. A book which is the summer reading assignment for the boy and a book which is a microcosm of the problem with how literature is taught to YA (young adults) and VYA (very young adults.)

 

First, in the interest of truth, my "prejudice": I am extremely in favor of the anthology approach to teaching literature and extremely opposed to the pot-shot approach of handling out of various YA paperback novels to read during the year. I am so much in favor of the anthology approach that I collect literature anthologies; newer ones in the Barnes and Noble sales annex (they are still used at the college level) and older ones at garage sales.

 

There's a wide spectrum of good world literature available and so much of it teaches us how to examine our world and ourselves. (For part of her summer reading assignment for honors English, the girl is examining Plato's allegory of the cave with study questions. Of course this is not as part of an anthology but as a copied hand-out.) In fact, there's just too much good world literature available out there so that the selections available in anthology form is the best way to present the widest cross section. 

 

In case some of you may not be as familiar with anthologies as I choose to be, a short definition: literature anthologies present parts of or all of literary selections. For example, one may contain a selection of the complete Hamlet or just the soliloquies. Some anthologies are all drama, poetry, etc., or chronologically separated: Book I, American Literature, 1600-1800. In the high school anthologies, selections are usually preceded by an introduction and followed by questions. Here's an example of a random question for Hedda Gabler, Act I from a 1963 anthology I collected: 1. Miss Tesman's character is not very complex. She is the spokesman for one human value only. What is this value, and how is it established? Does Miss Tesman's character help us understand Hedda Gabler when she enters? In college anthologies, you usually get introductions, seldom questions, and 2,000 plus pages of lit on very thin but heavy-weight paper which makes for a difficult book to prop up for bed reading and an accurate missile for a fast-moving spider.

 

If you were to trace the demise of middle school/high school anthology, you would probably find that they fell out of favor sometime in the latter half of the last century, probably when publishers realized anthologies = 1 book per  semester/year while paperbacks = many $$$$$$$$ all during the year.

 

Three years ago, the girl and I agonized through the slim book, So Be It during the school year and I fully got to realize the educational travesty in this type lit presentation. Now, I'm repeating the process with the boy with Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief which is his summer reading assignment. 

 

With So Be It, the girl had an excellent English teacher who was sending home very insightful essay questions for the book. But the book was lit-light. OK, probably it would have been fine on a very superficial level but no way could you gleam pearls of insight from this novelette. I could tell the teacher was trying; hell knows, we were trying ourselves to tears.

 

What I find equally disturbing is the fact that teachers, etc. spend so much time/are forced to spend so much time "elevating" banal works. They are really trying to get gems from stone but the dark side of this is that the subliminal message to kids is: Hey, this tripe has meaning. Who needs to read great lit? 

 

Case in point is Rick Riordan's (author of the Percy Jackson series) site for The Lightning Thief. It's an excellent site and the complete teacher's guide found there is one of the best I've seen. The boy and I are plowing through it. It's got all types of cognitive learning exercises plus a multitude of short essay questions. (Note: I found the guide for this book; the school never assigned one.)

I think The Lightning Thief is great summer reading; the boy really enjoyed it. I like the fact that the school is using a book with a male hero as the primary protagonist. and Percy's ADHD is a identifying factor for boy readers aged 11 and 12. . Plus as I just said, I'm impressed with Riordan's site for this book; whoever prepared it put a lot of thought into it.

PJ: TLT, is a fun summer read not a school assignment summer read. (And I'm not "picking" on Riordan; he's just the case in point.) But aside from the fact that I think it should only be summer/light reading, if you're using this book as a school summer assignment without a study guide, you're presenting a fantasy quest with the panoply of Greek gods cold turkey. If you think modern religious myths are tough to plod through, take a look at the Greek gods fairy tales. There's Zeus who banished his dad, Kronos, who castrated his dad, Uranus. And that's just for starters. (Plus, no way is the Annabeth from the novel the daughter of Athena; you may want to make Annabeth the brainy one but mythical Athena was virginal.) So there's a lot of interesting stuff in this book which the typical kid is skipping as he reads on his own.

 

I think you get my POV about the dearth of study-worthy YA lit being presented to kids today but you may be thinking: You can grouse but can you present an alternative? I think I can. Granted we will probably never get lit anthologies back for grades before college, how about this?

 

1. A book such as one from the Percy Jackson series, Harry Potter series, etc., as light summer reading. 

2. A handout of the first few chapters of Tom Sawyer including the famous white-washing the fence episode. This should be cheap since Tom Sawyer is in public domain. (I'm thinking boys here but there are other classic works to use.)

3.  A handout of various poems for younger readers. There are a lot of good ones out there and for many kids this would be an excellent intro to poetry.

 

Let me finish with a mini-review of The Lightning Thief movie. Once again, it's another movie which would never have grossed more than its budget on domestic sales. (Box Office MoJo: $95M+ budget; $130,000M+ gross; 60% of gross from non-US sources.) It's a movie you can sit through, not that it doesn't have its cringe-worthy moments. (Brosnan as Chiron?) By eliminating a lot of the mythical characters found in the book, I think kids understand the Olympian gods better. But in the over-the-top CGI movie world kids love to inhabit and which is fast becoming the only type of move available to adults, this movie didn't "shine." Apparently on this point, a lot of US movie goers agreed with me. (The End of the Independent Filmmaker of Non-CGI Films? might make an interesting topic for a Movie Monday.)

OK, stick a fork in me, I'm done. I'd love to hear from any of you who could recommend some anthology-type lit for the VYA crowd.

 

 

 

  

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich

 

Knitting Friday

 

I'm always content when I knit but seldom does it rise to the excitement level, until now. I'm knitting a top in lace weight. The three key words being: knitting, top, and lace weight. I love lace weight yarn and my obsession causes me to load up on any sale lace. That's why I have the mother lode. However, knitting in lace weight is a concentrated, long haul so I almost always crochet and always make shawls or scarfs. That is until last week when I experienced an awakening and mentally said: You love the Mohair Minimalist because that showed you for the first time you don't have to work raglan in a top-down garment and that's worked in lace weight. Why don't you finally give lace a try? So, I rolled a hank of lace into a ball and out came the big store (Bates or Boye) 16" circs and I worked a neckband of about 1" and started about 3" of the yoke before I frogged.

 

OK, here are some tips I discovered from this first fiasco which I'll share.

 

1. Only use lace tip needles throughout when you knit lace weight. My old, trusty 16" circs are fine for starting a top down garment in finger weight but it was a struggle to use them on just 1" in lace weight.

 

2. Go one needle size up for your CO row.

 

3. If you don't know any of the "specialty" cast-ons, use the knitted cast on. (Make a loop on your needle, bring your needle through that loop, pick up the yarn, bring it through the loop and place this yarn as the second loop on the needle. Repeat.) Of the "simple" COs, this one is the best; even but loose. The cable CO is tighter and the thumb method is too uneven.

 

4. Don't join the first row. Leave a long tail and work the first row as straight knitting. It will be much easier to join for the second row.

 

5. If you knit as I do, wild west style (that is, no swatching), I found a CO of 90 - 100 stitches goes over an average adult head in lace weight.

 

5a. But I found this works because I made my first row as "YO, K2tog* across which gives you a stretchy first row.

 

(Mohair Minimalist has a stockinette pattern on US 6 throughout with the effect of a curling neckband/waistband. I don't like straight stockinette in lace probably because I can't knit even stockinette in lace for more than a few rows. I used: Row 1: *YO, K2tog  Row 2: K)

 

6. On my typical top down tops, I work the neck in US 8 and the body in US 10. Here, I stayed with US 7 throughout. (When I start again, I may work: CO with US 7, neckband with US 6 and body with US 7.)

 

7. At one inch, I doubled all the stitches on the K row and started working the yoke on 200 stitches. (I may only increase to 180 stitches when I restarted.

 

And, I was coming along slowly until I got cocky and took this project to the pool and sat and talked and knitted. Even I know that lace knitting is your "quiet" knitting. By the time I got back, I knew I had to tink back two rows and it looked like the stitch had dropped even further than that.

 

8. Finally, some universal lace knitting tips: 

have good lighting; 

find a comfortable place to work;

have all your necessary tools on hand;

keep your work in a secure container (tote, basket, etc.);

within your container, separate the actual project (big plastic zip lock); and

be sure your knitting is pushed down on the needles when you stop knitting.

 

So the project sits in the frog pond and I'm waiting for a delivery from Knit Picks because I realized that while I have larger cabled, (24" and 32") sharp-tipped/lace-tipped needles for the body of my project, it was time to get 16" lace tipped needles for the neck. I probably would have ordered ChiaGoo lace needles in 16" but the three attractive wood cable needles from KP which I use as shawl pins have taken a hike so I wanted to order three packages of them [the heir, the spare, and the second spare] with the needles. As soon as I get my needles, I'll start posting pictures of my first ever knitted lace garment in lace weight.

Some other stuff, I've been up to:

#1 shawl pattern from 8/10

Picture #1 shows the first shawl done in the pattern I posted on August 10. It's unblocked as pictured and just changing the Ch 5 to Ch 8 at the row ends has changed the shape of the shawl. The shawl was worked in a D crochet hook and 2 strands of cotton crochet thread.

 

#2 one end of 8/10 shawl

#3 a shawl with a "collar"

 Picture #2 shows one end of the shawl and you can see it still tapers but is much more boxy. The whole shawl now has the shape of a curved triangle (at its top) rather than a modified crescent. (In picture #1, the top of the shawl is at the bottom of the picture.) I'm hoping that blocking will make this top more elongated. If it turns out I'm going to get this curved triangle effect on the top of the shawls every time I make this modified pattern, I would rather keep enough yarn available so that I can make a frilly edging for the top edge which would look like a lace collar when it's turned over as in Picture #3. (I needed all the yarn for the length in the #1 shawl and couldn't save any yarn for an edging; though blocking may change this.)

With my older, original shawl pattern, the top of the shawl was always "tighter" than the bottom. If you put on the shawl upside down with top of the shawl by your elbows and tied it, it would feel binding if you moved your arms. With the change to a Ch 8 at the end of every row, you can wear the bottom up or down and it's still comfortable.

#4 a top which was a cardi

And finally: in my alterations last week, I found a cardi in variegated cotton which I seldom wore because of the color. It's a white/green/purple cotton which was a very short-sleeved "I couldn't possibly bring it together in the front." [that's why I love shawl pins at the neck] cardi. So I frogged it, added 8 stitches to the body (96 to 104) and it looks like I'm going to get a top with enough yarn left over for pretty long sleeves. I hope to have a picture with at least one sleeve started next week.

That's it for today. Happy knitting. Next week, I'll post a picture of the blocked shawl.

 

  

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich

 

Website Wednesday

 

OK, I vote for Obama. 

 

Apologies to the world's people for voting to re-elect a president who very selectively chooses whose fight against oppression is worthy of US support. 

 

Apologies to all who bravely protest economic inequalities and face arrest and police brutality because apparently the swish of a police baton sounds like the soft breeze of spring to him. 

 

Apologies to journalists and whistle blowers who bravely try to decimate "classified" information in the face of the more and more surrealistic punishments (no public trial; indefinite detention) our "democratic" government delights in imposing. 

 

Apologies to all because our plethora of nuclear and non-nuclear weapons has the US straddling the world as an ignorant, greedy giant and with a president whose primary goal is to save capitalism, I don't see much succor for you ahead. 

 

But for all our daughters and for all women whether they understand the consequences or not, if I don't vote I'll have on my conscience that I contributed to the election of a Republican candidate who has promised to establish a constitutional ban on abortion. Some say the Republicans are moving us back to the 1950s; they are moving us back to the 19th century and into Taliban West.

 

In keeping with my existential view of the world ("the world is absurd, but you do the best job you can"), I give you:

 

http://www.disinfo.com/ 

 

which says of itself: Disinfo.com, our web presence, collects the most shocking, unusual and quirkiest news articles, podcasts and videos on the web, most of which are submitted by the site’s visitors. It is our intent that Disinformation becomes news that you did not know you needed … based on the idea that anyone can define what news is today in our hypermediated, cybercultural world. If you would like to join us in this task, just read on....We disagree with any labels such as “progressive” or “conservative,” “left” or “right,” “right” or “wrong” … How can someone truly be well-informed in an ideological box or in the echo chamber of today’s most popular blogs? If you have a difference of opinion, we welcome it.

 

I like this site because you get to read about the Pussy riots I like it because their current first article is headlined: Hitler Was Not a Leftist and then links to articles on Nazism and ideological labeling. I like it because you can read about Nikola Tesla and a proposed museum in his honor on Long Island. And, if you, like me, have only a passing knowledge of Tesla and his scientific contributions there is a link to a wickedly funny, informational site about the guy.

 

There is a biting vitality about this site that's worth a bookmark and repeat visits. Enjoy.

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich

 

Movie Monday

 

Cornell West, who can bloviate at times, got it right recently when he said that Obama was a disaster, but Romney would be a catastrophe. The difference to me is that Obama will defend social programs in his second term (that is, if he doesn't get a veto proof Republican Congress) as long as maintaining them will not hurt capitalism while Romney will gleefully wield his red pen and slash away at them. In spite of all the false accusations calling Obama everything from Muslim to Marxist, he can proudly claim to have saved capitalism as the 1% know and love it in his first four years. Not much of a legacy to his scores of 2008 progressive/liberal supporters but it'll look great on his resume if and when he ever enters the corporate world.

 

Marijuana criminalization, Julian Assange/Bradley Manning, abridgement of the Bill of Rights..... it's a very long list I'm thinking about as I decide if this November I'm going to vote for a presidential candidate. (No, in spite of my disappointment my option was never Romney.)

 

Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston (2010) is the movie I saw this week. It only got a 5 on IMDb and looking through professional critics, it didn't fare much better with them.

 

I've always found the fashion world extremely frivolous but it is also a most reliable gauge for understanding capitalism. Fashion will produce any kind of product as long as it has a buying public. Frivolous? Unnecessary? Practically unwearable? What? They worry? The goal is that consumer base. Produce it. Create the demand. Sell it. Retire it. Produce again. Create another demand........ Like last year, when I read that pink was the new black. In the billion dollar fashion world that may be. Not in the world where we mere mortals live.

 

In spite of the faults critics find with Ultrasuede, intentionally or unintentionally, it shows viewers the 1970s with its drugs, sex, and wild living which got chronicled on the evening news and helped bring forward an opposition which coalesced into the fundamentalist right we "enjoy" today. Although the hi-jinks portrayed in this film may not have visited the US heartland, places like Studio 54 in NYC were located in the media center of the world and that's what got reported on the evening news. Ultrasuede, while centered around Halston's rise and fall, presents fully a life style which unfortunately became the warning metaphor for what a society would look like if it were ruled by the "left." 

 

So, if you ever ask: How did the right get so entrenched that it wields such a mighty moral sword on the political stage today? take a look at Ultrasuede and see the 1970s as portrayed on TV. A lot of it wasn't a pretty sight.

 

There are two section of Ultrasuede which got highlighted in my brain. One is when someone is explaining Halston's genius by saying that he would put the fabric on the floor, visualize the final garment and just cut. The narrator then said something like: I wish Halston had spent the time telling how he was able to do this but he was more interested in telling about all the famous people who bought his clothes. While I don't like high fashion, Halston started out with sleek, minimalist designs. They were probably all cut on the bias (more expensive; uses more fabric) so they draped well on most figures. I would like to know today how he did it, not whom he dressed.

 

The second section is peppered throughout the end of the film, first when Halston sells the rights to his name to Norton Simon. He apparently was the first designer to license himself. I'm sure he made scads of money, (he spent scads of money; apparently $100.000 yearly for flowers) but as time went on he found he sold him soul to the devil and he wasn't getting it back. Then came deals with J.C. Penney and others. Selling out for money only gets you money and for a creative person, that's the death knell. The life style of drugs, parties, fame and sex didn't help this boy from Iowa either. 

You can watch Ultraseude on two levels: a cautionary tale for creative people and the world before the fundamentalist right came to power. Maybe not a great documentary, but archivally important.

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings
Tax the Rich

 

Knitting Friday

 

The Diet: Well, I think that 1/2 hour a day on the treadmill is helping to firm the fat. That's the good news. Now, the struggle will be to remove the fat, firm or not. I'm thinking about going on a very, very low carb diet. I know in the long run then don't work but right now, I'm only looking at short term. OK, revised plan: eating nothing with a carb percentage in the 20s or more. To be continued.......

 

The weather has turned slightly dryer and cooler so I got out all my summer tops (I know that's pretty stupid since I should be getting out my fall/winter tops but then for some reason I always clean closets when I'm having a party) and pulled out the hems on five of them plus frogged two completely. One was a cardi which I never wore and I'm remaking as a top; the other is a light wool (not really summer) top in fingering. It's not because I'm losing weight. I've always work fingering weight tops on 120 stitches for the body on US 9 needles, but this one is way too big around the waist. So I recast on 100 stitches for the body and that should work. What all these alternations have taught me is that top down knitting is the way to go. There was no way I would have been able to rework the waists on these tops if I had to take them apart in pieces. 

 

I still haven't finished a shawl with the new modified pattern I post last week since those top alternations kept me busy. Unfortunately, I'm not anywhere close to being finished so pictures will be a while in coming.

 

Two weeks ago, I mentioned the Emily Ocker's cast on method. A very good video on it can be found here:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U65eywy044g 

 

I used this video to teach myself this method. Why do you need this method of cast on? Well, if you are only going to knit flat forever, you don't. But all sock, hat, mitten and glove knitters would benefit from learning it. Plus in MMario's Yahoo Group where he so generously presents probably over 100 free shawl patterns, so many of them start "Cast on 8 stitches. Join."

I have always found that when working a small cast on which must be joined I have to sit at the table (working horizontally on the table top so no stitches fall from the DPNs) with a crochet hook. Now, the EO method does use a crochet hook but in such a way that when you finally pull the yarn end to close the beginning hole, all the stitches are flat and smooth, unlike my easy-to-feel, raised crocheted cast on loop.

 

#1 Pictured DPN = your finger

I have added a few pictures to the video since the beginning confused me slightly. Picture #1 shows your finger (as played by a DPN) with the yarn end on the bottom and your working yarn on top. 

#2 Yarn end goes R; working yarn to L

Picture #2 shows where your yarn should be as you start to wrap a loop around your finger. (My picture #2 is wrong in that based on picture #1, your working yarn should go over your finger, not under - sorry, I just saw that. But you do see where the yarns go.)

 

At about .25, the video has you making the loop around your finger. It's not clear, but you are making the loop with your working yarn. So taking the top yarn from #1, bring in to the the bottom over your finger then around your finger, back to front, so that you will have two loops on your finger with the yarn positioned as in picture #2. You'll have two ends hanging down, the yarn end on the right and the working end on the right. 

 

.25 to .31 in the video shows this well, but he says something like: Make sure that the tail end of your yarn is closer to your hand. That confused me for a while because he really meant to say: Make sure that the tail end of your yarn is closer to your finger tips. (To the right.)

From .31 to 1.49, the video is great showing you how to make your beginning  crochet stitches. In fact by 1.49, you could take the loop from your finger and work it as a stand-alone but practice a few times before you try this.

#3 Loop "standing" without your finger

Picture #3 shows a few more stitches in the loop than 1.49 on the video, but you can see that I've removed my finger and the loop is very defined.

 

 

By now, if you've worked some samples as you watched the video, it should be smooth sailing to the end.

 

Just remember that every stitch on the hook starts with the hook going under the loop, and pulling through the yarn to put one stitch on the hook,. Then you bring your hook over

#4 Stitches on DPNs

the loop to grab the yarn  and bring that yarn over your loop and through the stitch you just put on your hook. Then one stitch is completed.

 

In picture #4, you see the stitches from the hook (obviously with different yarn) now on DPNS. You're looking down at the loop/hole you made with the hook and you won't close this for a while. 

#5 Hole is closed

In picture #5, I just pulled the tail end of the yarn to close up the hole. Believe me, it was breeze, once I mastered the EO cast on to knit on the DPNs. No more hugging the table to make sure I didn't twist everything into a mobius. And, no more bumpy loop at the cast on.

#6 Ready to rip out

Finally picture #6, a side view of my sample. Hole closed with yarn end on the left and no needles on the "free" stitches on the right because my sample example is done and I'm ready to rip it out. Talk about a compulsive frogger!

 

Hope these pictures helped. Enjoy working the Emily Ocker cast on. See you next week.