Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

 

Knitting Friday - on lifelines and things

#1 finished hem & mascot

  

Picture #1 is the finished top from last week with the added *K1 back loop, P1* ribbing. The bottom of the sweater no longer rolls. I wish I had had the patience to work more than 3" of ribbing but it got so boring. 

 

You can see that I decided to add a mascot to my Knitting Friday. Well originally, I thought he could model my knitting but the size is wrong. I'm keeping him though because I'm a sucker for soft, stuffed animals and the kids are way past the stuffed animal phase to care.

You can slightly see on the right in picture #1 another top. Here's the pattern I used, Arbor:

 

http://indigomouse.net/?p=82 

 

#2 Jackson Pollack sweater

Except, I only used the bodice pattern, a *K3, P2* cable stitch because I didn't think my variegated yarn would work for the lace top pattern, plus this yarn is acyclic so there could be no blocking.

 

I call the top on the left in picture #2 my Jackson Pollack top because the pooling is so wacky, just like his paintings. The only difference being, he plans his randomness, I just went from working with 160 stitches in the yoke to 140 stitches in the body (same size needles) to get this crazy pooling. And yes, in case you're wondering, the same person is going to wear both tops (me) because the stretch is unbelievable in the left top. And it doesn't stretch so much that you would say: Boy, she squeezed herself into that. I was afraid that would happen so I decided you use 140 stitches for the body. (I usually do 100  - 110 stitches for my typical lace body in DK weight.)

Which brings me to a mini-lesson for today because I learned something new and perhaps this will be new to you also: lifelines.

Now, I know what lifelines are and you can see one in that white horizontal thread running through the left top in picture #2. (There are really 2 lifelines in that picture). 

 

Lifelines are randomly placed threads through various rows in your garment. They are there because, if you make a mistake, you can drop the needles and tink back to those lifeline rows where all your stitches are secure ready for you to pick them up and repair your mistake. Lifelines are very important in lace work because, without them, if you miss a stitch you are seldom able to repair the pattern without unraveling rows and then more rows.......sometimes right back to the beginning.  Lifelines also work if you want to try on your garment because you just add a lifeline, remove your needles, try on the garment and then pick up the secured lifeline row and knit away. (Picking up this row in a much smaller needle - I used US 3 - makes everything so much easier.)

I always made lifelines by working a row and then threading a darning needle with heavy thread and weaving it through every stitch on that row. A good practice but very tedious.

I would never have made lifelines on this cable top since, unless you goofed way back past the cable row, it was an easy knit for fixing mistakes. However, I knew I would have to try this top on a few times so lifelines were necessary.

# 3 lifelines

In picture #3, the top lifeline was for my first try-on to see if this baby was knitting too big or too small. It wasn't, it was knitting just right. The second lifeline is where I decided to finish the top in the same pattern cable ribbing but go from US 10.5 to US 8 to give a tighter hem. This lifeline was necessary in case this idea was a bust and I had to tink back. Where my fingers are will be the third lifeline to try on the top to see if I have to knit more (I did: 2".)

 

You may be thinking: So she likes lifelines. What's with the mini lesson?

 

# 4 using the hole

This is the mini-lesson: using the needle hole.

 

Remember when you used to daydream in school? Well, I daydream out of school because as many times as I heard it, using the hole found in some needles (see picture #4) for lifelines was just a blur of words to me, until yesterday. In picture #4, you see my Knit Picks interchangeable needle in US 10.5 and the arrow points to the hole found just below where the needle screws into the cable. 

You take a long strand of sturdy, but thin, cotton thread (long enough to amply go around your body and then some) and thread it into this hole. See picture #5. (I'm using separate needle here for an illustration; obviously you would have your garment stitches attached to this needle.)

# 5 threading the hole

#6 the lifeline moving along

 

Then you just knit along as you regularly would pulling the lifeline through the stitches and making sure one end of the lifeline doesn't slip out of the hole (that's why you cut a very big piece of thread to start.)

In picture #6, the arrow points to the needle hole and I've pulled up a few loops of the white thread on the right to show that it's being worked into the row of the stitches. Once you finish the row, pull the needle tip forward so the stitches work their way onto the cable section and the lifeline goes through all the stitches. Be sure to tie the ends of the lifeline together so none of your stitches work free of it. After that you can remove your needles and try on your garment.

Here's a good lifeline refresher video which will make anything unclear, clear:

http://www.knitpicks.com/tutorials/How_to_Use_a_Lifeline_for_Lace_Knitting__D350.html

 

As with everything in life, things get done in relation to the bother they cause. Lifelines were always a bother for me and therefore always understood in importance but seldom used. They're no longer a bother and what really makes this nice for me is that there are a lot of lace projects I would like to tackle and now I can. 

 

I know that various brands of interchangeable needles have lifeline holes: Knit Picks, Chia Goo (still only pre-order), Addi Lace, Denise. It looks like only the interchangeable KPs have the hole so this might also be true with the other brands of fixed circulars. If you have an LYS (local yarn store) near you, you could go there and ask about needle lifeline holes or check the big box stores (Michael's, AC Moore, etc.) and see if any of their needles have the lifeline hole. 

That's it for today. Right now, with this top project ending, I'm thinking about a winter vest. More next week. Happy knitting.

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

 

Website Wednesday

 

A short post today because I think I'm coming down with the wicked cold going around NJ. And yes, you do start off by just feeling crappy and it lasts about 9 days which, every self-respecting cold knows, is two days more than what's advertised.

 

First, a site you may love, you may hate, but you should read:

 

http://www.counterpunch.org/  

 

Counterpunch, a progressive thinking magazine edited by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair  (Cockburn recently died but he's still on the banner), which makes you think even if you would rather have the dross of network news instead. Don't miss:

 

http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/09/20/the-waning-of-the-modern-ages/ 

 

which predicts the 600 year run of capitalism is in its end game. And it's not: Capitalism is bad! So there! writing but rather it walks you through the stages of that economic system and entertains some interesting thoughts about the Going Green campaign. No fluff here but a necessary read.  (I'm really cheering myself up lately by listening to an Open Course from Yale on the end of the Roman Empire.)

 

But after reading Counterpunch, don't get all nihilistic and decide to sit in a hole; take a look at: 

 

http://www.supercook.com/

 

Super Cook is a "you put in your ingredients, we generate a recipe" site. And it works fairly well.  When I typed in: chocolate, whipped cream and bread I got sent to Real Simple's chocolate croissants and foodgeeks' chocolate mousse. Not a perfect match with either because one needed croissants, the other chocolate pudding. However, I was in the ballpark with two very simple recipes.

 

And, who can not like its About: Supercook wants to make life easier for everyone who cooks at home! Our mission is to enable smarter, quicker decisions about what recipes to make and what ingredients to use using advanced technology and all the recipe content on the web.

 

So. for a fast way to get some easy recipes and read through pages (200) of easy recipes from many sources, check out Supercook.

 

And now for a very important site regarding food freshness:

 

http://www.stilltasty.com/ 

Still Tasty gives you the scoop as to whether those carrots which are buried under the onions which have the wide leaf spinach bunch covering it are still good after 7 months. 

 

Apparently not, since carrots in the fridge last up to a month. What? Are they crazy? A month! I'm in big trouble.

 

What's also nice is that you get instructions on how to store your food and I learned that throwing it in the fridge or freezer just as you brought it home from the grocery is NOT the accepted way.

 

Both these sites are easily-used compendiums of culinary wisdom. They work well with the novice and the experienced kitchen user. (I fall in the reluctant kitchen user category.) Be sure to bookmark them.

 

See you next week.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

 

Movie Monday

 

I had all good intentions of watching Underworld Awakening on Saturday and reviewing it today. It's the fourth in the series of these shoot-em'-up, CGI, vampire vs. lycan vs. human films starring the amazingly fit (yes, when you're dieting you notice things like that) Kate Beckinsale. All the Underworld films bring in more than budget (UA with a budget of $70M grossed $160+M) but I don't know if that makes them profitable since Hollywood seldom makes a profit (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.- as Monty Python used to say.) I was only starting with #4 in the series because that was the "new" film in my movie package this week and I didn't know much about the plot behind this series.

 

And it was destined to stay that way because 15 minutes before showtime, the kids descended on the TV room from the far corners of the house where kids usually squirrel into. So, I turned on C-SPAN because for the good of mankind, C-SPAN was invented to give parents free time. Sure enough, within a minute they were gone. However, my brilliant plan took an unintended turn as I started to listen to economist, Richard Wolff, talk about the flawed economic system called capitalism. An hour later, I was still hooked for not only is he a facile, well-informed speaker but, as he explained 1930s economics, I felt like Moses had placed his hand on my head and said: Yes, kid, your wacky theory wasn't that wacky after all.

 

I'm not going to go into all of Wolff's talk just the part where he explained about Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) and the 1930s worldwide depression. If you've been reading me from the get-go you may remember that in an early Movie Monday I looked at the presentation of the rich in the Hollywood movies of the 1930s. My premise was that Hollywood made a calculated decision to portray some of the rich as greedy and useless but always pulled back ((My Man Godfrey, You Can't Take It With You, Holiday, Dodsworth, Dinner at Eight, Midnight) so that the audience was never stirred up to revolution. 

 

Fast forward to last Saturday and Wolff is talking about the 1930s when the specter of communism and revolution was worldwide as was economic depression. While Roosevelt became the author of massive government programs to help the unemployed in the US, coming from a patrician family, he didn't enter office in 1933 thinking: Let's drastically up-end the traditional role of government. However, his advisers warned him early on that he'd better act quickly if he didn't want European chaos imported to the US..

 

That's when Wolff says Roosevelt had a meeting with US corporate leaders and told them that he was going to institute programs to help the unemployed and they were going to pay for it because if they didn't they would wind up paying much, much more in the future. Wolff said that about half these people signed on and that's how FDR got the seed money for what Republicans today lovingly call the welfare state.

 

When I heard that all the bells and whistles went off in my brain because my "wacky" Hollywood theory finally had some credence. After all, Hollywood was a big business leader and making movies such as I described above would not be a burden for them. Talk about early-on subtle propaganda.

 

When you have the time, google Richard D. Wolff. Unless you're married for life to the economic theory called capitalism he'll make a lot of sense. And, if it matters to you, he's got good creds: Harvard, Yale, and Stanford.

 

So I have no review this Monday because when I finally did get to see UA for a bit on Sunday, I decided not to review it. Maybe you have to start watching this series from the first movie. However, I have a movie website for you:

 

http://www.thegoldenyears.org/ 

 

It's a site which is trying to sell you movies, hence that annoying flashing sign. If you ignore it and move down and click around on the actors, films, directors, etc. links you will find the mother-lode. You get sent to a zillion websites. Some want to sell you something but most are just prepared by people who really, really like their subject.

Not that I would EVER use hyperbole but this site is a gold mine, a treasure trove, a nirvana for movie lovers of movie history. Be sure not to miss it. See you next week.

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

 

Knitting Friday

 

#1 New top

Since I mentioned my dearth of new projects last week this is the only one I've started.  It's in Knit Picks fingering Stroll. (Stroll is a lovely feeling washing wool which, I discovered late in the game, will not splice. Apparently, that's a feature of washable wool. However, since KP washable must be chemically treated, you can place the joining ends in boiling water which removes the chemical and then you can splice. Don't get burned though.)

 

As you can see I'm using my ubiquitous Row 1: *YO, K2tog*, Row 2: *K* pattern again. That's because I know two skeins (400+ yards) will make a top and I'm too lazy to swatch to see if another pattern will work.

 

Two things about this top: 1: The armholes had to have a loose bind-off because I was only binding off 30 stitches. I used the elastic bind off at:

http://slipslipknit.com/?page_id=92

 

It's not rocket science to learn and it makes an even, attractive, elastic bind off.

 

2: I really worked hard to eliminate gaps at the underarm. 

 

Here's an example of the problem in Picture #2. You can see those two single strands of yarn on the right side in the middle of the picture.

#2 Messy underarm

 And you can see the yarn just above them at the underarm look more substantial. From comments on Ravelry, this is a very common and unavoidable design problem which is in all of my tops before I figured out the fix.

#3 All fixed

 Picture #3 shows the top I'm working on now and you can see there are no single threads at the armhole as there are in Picture #2.

 

I fixed this by: I worked one round where I cast on the stitches for the underarm (10 sts each armhole) then on the next round when I reached the problem area, I used a crochet hook to pick up a thread from the "bar" of yarn at the top and perpendicular to the single threads above. (Sorry, I should have used a pointer with Picture #2) but follow those two single yarn threads up where you see a thicker column of yarn which is perpendicular to them. Just grab a yarn thread from that column and work it through both single thread and place it as an extra stitch on your needle.

#4 The fix

 

In Picture #4, you can see the fix in progress and the area in Picture #3 is not loose or open anymore. Once the stitch is on the needle, knit it together with the next stitch. You usually have to do at the same place for both armholes and sometimes when you return to this spot on the next round you have to repeat the process. Since the yellow top shown here was already done; I made the fix then tacked that stitch you see on the crochet hook (#4) to the inside of the top with yellow thread.

I know I've mentioned this armhole problem before but I hope these pictures are more helpful.

In keeping with my fix-it mode, I have another one for you: the stockinette stitch (st st) roll.

#5 The dreaded roll

Anyone who has knitted a st st pattern will, unless the st st roll is a design element, read something like: CO x sts and work 3" in rib (or seed or garter, etc.) Change to larger needles and work in st st for x inches. Because, if you don't make this hem, stockinette will curl; its the nature of the stitch.

 

Yesterday, I was moving summer tops to make way for winter ones and pulled out Picture #5. You can see the stockinette stitch curl even though I have a hem of 3 rows of crochet. Before I tell you what I did, I want to put in a plug of top-down knitting for garments. Most of the times, fixes occur at the bottom of the garment: too short, too long; too tight; rolling, etc. With top-down knitting, your bind off is at this bottom hem and any fix means just finding the yarn end at the bottom and unraveling. (OK, another tip while I'm at it: get a small notebook to use for all your projects. You can use it for elaborate notes including what pattern you are using but be sure to use it for at least this: yarn used and needle sizes used. This is so helpful when you have to alter a garment.)

 

#6 The pull out

#7 All marked

As you start to unravel the bottom of your garment, be sure to mark the first stitch of the round with a safety pin. Then, as in Picture #6, use a ruler to determine where you want the hem to start. (I like a long K1B, P1 rib so I'm going up about 5".)

 

Once you've determined how deep you want your hem, put your pin on the first stitch of that row (just travel up the garment from the original stitch you marked off) and unravel back to that round. Use a very small circular needle and pick up the stitches on that round. Transfer to the correct sized needle and work your new hem. I'm about two inches into the new hem in the top above and I'll post a picture next week.

OK, stick a fork in me, I'm done. Next week maybe I'll get some ideas for fall/winter knitting. See you then.

 

 

 

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

 

Website Wednesday

 

Something is being lost in the controversy over Mitt Romney’s, US presidential candidate (R), secretly recorded and then released remarks at a fundraising event when he said that 47% of the US population are lazy moochers on the dole. Even right wing pundits are defending this 47% by saying that he was wrong to criticize them because most of this group is hard working though needy or too old to work and therefore receiving Social Security and Medicare; this latter group containing the much cherished Republican voting base: older, white males. But this type of criticism still allows Romney to set the meme: the government allows people to be lazy moochers by providing the dole and only criticizes him because he picked on the wrong people. They’re not disagreeing with his basic premise, just tweaking it. And they and he completely do a "wink wink, you guys are OK” to all the rich in this country who can scam the system legally every day with help from corrupt, buyable lawmakers.

It seems to me our government should be there to assist its citizens and I don’t mean in tax breaks for the rich. The government should see that every citizen is provided with what are basic rights in an enlightened society: health care, education, employment. But for some reason, our much touted "best constitution in the whole world ever even though it's racist" always has that part in its preamble forgotten. You know, the part that says "promote the general welfare" Hey, our much beloved founders even managed to get in the word welfare!

 

My first website pick:

 

http://noquedanblogs.com/arte/the-art-of-clean-up-el-arte-de-ordenar/ 

 

is really only in for a quick one page view but what a page! Talk about great examples of, take your pick, anal retentive, obsessive compulsive, just plain nuts. However, there is some satisfaction in bringing order to disorder. 

You can go to: http://noquedanblogs.com/ 

 

for pages of more interesting pictures from this site. Sorry I can't say more but this is not a language I know (Spanish? Portuguese?) It's times like these that I wish I had listened more in my language courses. (Does that sentence remind anyone of Daudet's The Last Lesson?)

 

On to:  http://waveavenue.com/profiles/blogs/flying-365-illustrations

 

OK, I'm on a roll.  I love these drawings by Flying Mouse on the website Wave Avenue. WA is one of those sites where you submit your work. From its About: Wave Avenue is a visual blogging community filled with ideas, design inspirations and creative booms for the smart, playful, friendly and curious. We are inviting you to sign up get linked and perhaps start a conversation. We hope to let you share ideas and connect the way you do in a café.

 

Be sure to click on Blog Categories at the top. There's a lot of design and architectural postings but any site with Endearing Best Friends + Pet Photography is aces in my book.

 

Finally: http://www.geekfill.com/

Once again, you can submit to Geek Fill and it says of itself: GeekFill takes pride in finding the best funny images, rage comics and memes across the web so you can get your fill of geekiness. Be sure to check back every day as we're constantly adding new funny images to GeekFill.

You have 853 pages to scroll through at present and it's quite a scenic panoply. This is a happy site so be sure not to miss the laughing turtle. See you next Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

 Movie Monday - A Dangerous Method

In its genre, A Dangerous Mind is a good film with great elements, and within it there is an excellent film trying to get out. It strives to tell the disparate tales of Carl Jung's (acolyte and then rival of the great Sigmund Freud) relationship with Freud and Jung's relationship with his first patient where he used the analytical listening method invented by Freud. That's a lot for director, David Cronenburg, to attempt and given his penchant for rather short films (99 minutes), it doesn't work.

Before I throw more disapprobation on ADM, let me say that I really liked this movie. It made me think by helping me to coalesce my reaction to Jung and Freud and even had me switching my alliance with these two greats. It's also a beautiful visual movie which, in a Cronenburg (and perhaps Mortensen) way, tells a lot by saying little.

I think it's important to have this paragraph of praise early because I don't want people dismissing this movie for its flaws and walk away, thinking: OK, I'll skip this one. A one word answer to that: Don't.

We're first thrown into the plight of Sabina Spielrein, a wealthy, 19-year-old, whose persistent beatings by her father from an early age become the trigger for sexual pleasure. At 19, she is a raving hysteric and hospitalized under Jung's care. His treatment of her leads to Jung's first contact with Freud, whose new and controversial method (a dangerous method) Jung will use for the first time with Spielrein. We don't leave Spielrein as a raving lunatic since she goes on to become Jung's first mistress (once only guessed at, but recently uncovered letters confirm this) and a renown child psychiatrist.

The above summary shows a big problem with A Dangerous Method for Jung and Spielrein's relationship is a movie of its own. However, Cronenburg tries to balance this with Jung's relationship with Freud. He almost pulls this off because Viggo Mortensen gives a stellar performance as that cigar-chomping giant, but let me tell you why he doesn't.

First, Keira Knightley as Spielrein, has trouble portraying this complex character; perhaps no actress can. Her initial, over-the-top hysterics (and yes, unfortunately Knightley's jutting chin, as one commenter observed, can be very annoying) quickly morphs into a sort of very mild Tourette-like neurotic quirks. As played, I don't see anything of the "gem above all" quality Jung says she possesses. Add to this, the lack of any chemistry between Michael Fassbender as Jung and Knightley as Spielrein has the viewer watching their intimate foreplay scenes with giggles. OK, watching Fassbinder beat Knightley into ecstasy with a whip may be a difficult empathy stretch for any actor but the "going-through-the-motions" quality between these two belie any grand passion that the letters of Spielrein express. 

Perhaps, it's just the fact that both actors need better foils to play against because Fassbinder fares much better in his scenes with Mortensen and his few scenes with Vincent Cassel (great cameo performance) as Knightley does in the scene where Mortensen quietly warns her "We're Jews, my dear Miss Spielrein. And Jews we will always be.". (Mortensen perfectly portrays Freud's understanding of the Jew's place in the Aryan world at that time.)

So we have a "flat" but very crucial relationship between Fassbinder and Knightley as one peg of this movie and then a quietly dynamic relationship between Fassbender and Mortensen (Jung and Freud) as its second peg.

It is this second peg which makes the movie such worthwhile viewing. Mortensen is an actor who plays his cards close to the chest and bringing this quality to his portrayal of Freud. you don't see the actor, you see Freud.

In the scenes between Jung and Freud, for the first time, I got a clear understanding of the Freud vs. Jung controversy. I'm not going to go into here but to say that I, as a college student, always favored Jung's loosening of Freud's dogmatic view that everything goes back to sex. After ADM, I understand that the validity is with Freud on so many levels; I was wrong. (Freud: The world is as it is. Understanding and accepting that is the way to psychic health. What good can we do if our aim is simply to replace one delusion with another?)    http://www.moviequotesandmore.com/

It's these scenes which show you that perhaps by "picking a smaller apple", Cronenberg could have created a masterpiece in this genre. Mortensen and also Cassel give tour-de-force performances. That's the movie I wanted to see. (To be fair, A Dangerous Method is adapted from the play by Christopher Hampton, The Talking Cure, so Cronenburg didn't have much wiggle room.)

Watch A Dangerous Mind and see if you agree: Jung and Freud work; Jung and Spielrein don't.

And for more on Freud, go to Freud and Vienna by Lillian Furst:

http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2001/winter/furst-freud-vienna/

It's short but very worthwhile.

A final note of trivia: Box Office Mojo has this movie grossing  $27+M with 80% of this coming from foreign sources.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

Knitting Friday

I was thinking I would just bore you with my diet every two weeks but if there's anyone out there also on a diet, I just want to give a thumbs-up of encouragement. I'm in my second month and I'm slowly seeing results. That skirt I would like to fit still doesn't but, as I said last Friday, I'm not playing the Picture of Dorian Gray game every time I look in the mirror. There are days I do look in the mirror and see "heavy" but I just go with it and usually change my clothes to black. Yes, that does help. Maybe the whole world is just a magician's trick. 

I really don't have any sure-fire method for dieting. As I said, I started with exercising for a week and no dieting. It was only in the second week I stopped certain foods (like pie, ice cream and potato chips.) I don't beat myself up if I falter (I did have a big bowl of popcorn - no butter or oils - last night) but I do make sure I use the treadmill or walk for 30 minutes a day.

The combination crochet/knit top is done.  Here's the link to the original again:

http://www.classiceliteyarns.com/pdf/SundanceNotYellowTank.pdf

Those of you who crochet will have no trouble with it but I had to fudge the Round 2 yoke increases (see the revised directions for this in last Saturday's (9/8) special Knitting Friday on Saturday.) Also, I had a problem with the join after I started crocheting the bodice in the round. But before I tell you what I did, a picture:

#1 Crochet/Knit Top

On the left is the finished top before any washing. The yoke and part of the body is crocheted but then I picked up 104 stitches at the bottom (I was working with 90+ crochet stitches at the time) and, using US 10, I knitted the bottom in a simple lace of one row: *YO, K2tog and one row: K

The width of the top is about 30 inches across but it stretches for a close but comfortable fit. This top was done in acrylic, well, it was done in a pulled-out afghan which had been unused for years. I don't remember the brand but I do remember it was a "good" acrylic as opposed to those "bad" ones. The yarn felt stiff while crocheting and knitting it and there is really very little ease. (More on this later.)

#2 Side view of joined rounds

As with Round 2 of the yoke, I had trouble with crocheting the rounds once I worked the back length (I just love how this pattern was designed.) Well, the rounds were OK but joining the last round to the next proved tricky for me.

Kristin has you joining with a slip stitch to the Ch-2 of the previous row and then making your new Ch-2 and working a half double crochet (hdc) in each hdc across. I was increasing one stitch every row this way. Now, I know this was my fault because I'm not really as adept with crocheting as I am with knitting. However, with these increases I was also getting a space at the joining so the round didn't look smooth all across.

My fix: I marked the first hdc after the Ch 2 and then when I arrived at it for the next round, I made a slip stitch in the hdc I had marked and not in the Ch 2 as directed. Then I made the ch -2 and a hdc in the same stitch.*

Picture #2 shows this join. You can see it slants slightly to the right (not from the armhole because I started my fix about 2 rounds down) but there are no annoying spaces and the slant disappears when the top is wore.

*One Big Disclaimer: I didn't write down the directions for this method and I don't remember if I made that hdc in the marked hdc (where I also made the joining slip stitch.) or if I skipped that hdc and started my hdc in the next hdc. If you decide to try this method, just count your stitches in the round before and then after this round. As long as you don't add an extra stitch, you're OK. Sorry. (Better directions when I start my next top.)

#3 Wool top L and acrylic top R

Would I make this top again? Definitely. It was easy, portable and great for on-the-go try-ons. Would I keep the crochet and knit combination? Yes. I like the solid and lacy looks and I like experimenting with knitting patterns. Would I make it in acrylic again? Yes and No. Why? Look at picture #3.

You're looking at an unfinished wool top on the left which has the same width as the acrylic one on the right, about 30". However, the left top is going to stretch wildly and have a less tight fit. I understand that the yoke and bodice hdc section should be tighter since the right top was done in DK with the recommended hook and the L top is fingering on US 10 throughout. (Both the bottoms have similar patterns on 104 stitches and use US 10 needles.) I don't think it's the acrylic which makes the R top tighter but rather it's because of my yarn and hook choices. Next, I'm going to take some DK wool or DK cotton and work up the pattern to see what happens. (Note to self: Probably the cotton will work up like the acrylic.)

So, that's the long saga of my top-down crocheted top. I had been looking a very long time for a V-neck top-down top (one yarn end at the start, one yarn end at the bottom) and though I still haven't found that one, this top is close enough. I like the fact that it's low enough in the front for summer wear or vest-over-a-tee-winter wear. 

Next week: I'm down to one top (above) three cotton crochet shawls (never-ending) and one lace wool shawl. I need more projects. See you then.

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich

 

Website Wednesday

 

Before I get to my picks, there's a question which has been bugging me ever since I saw The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and recent events brought it to the front of my brain again.

 

The recent events: There's anti-American havoc in Libya and Egypt because an Israeli/American has produced an anti-Islam film which got translated into Arabic and then went viral on YouTube. The guy acts likes an agent-provocateur in that's he's quoted as standing behind his anti-Islam propaganda and his type of hate is not unusual to me since every once and a while some of my neighbors will e-mail me anti-Islam screeds full of vitriol and nonsense. (Why do people think just because you're liberal you're also a hater?)

 

When I awakened this a.m. and read about the US. embassy staffer being killed during this mayhem, I remembered the question I had after seeing TGWTDT. The scene is when the reporter links the killings to verses from  Leviticus. Harriet's voice-over quotes a passage similar to 20:16: "If a woman presents herself to a male animal to have intercourse with it, she and the animal must both be put to death. You must kill both, for they are guilty of a capital offense."

 

I know that Leviticus is known for its wacky "Shall Nots", but did people really have sex with animals back then? Laws don't usually get written unless people are doing something that the lawmakers want stopped. And to reach the level of such a draconian punishment, I'm assuming enough people did this to hit the "radar." Spooky! I've also decided on a new saying: Religions are just cults with bigger budgets.

OK, I'll start with this website today:

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/wpa/wpahome.html

These are American slave narratives which are preserved due to a  Works Progress Administration project from 1936 to 1938. Now the WPA was a government program set up by Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), during the 1930's depression in the US. (You can google WPA to read about this program.) It not only gave Americans jobs and dignity, it created this treasure trove of insight into lives of slaves in the US south before the US Civil War. The former slaves just talk about their lives with much more resignation than I think I could have felt. (But they were very old at the time of the project.) It's not an easy read because their dialect is written down as they spoke it but the cadence and understanding kicks in as you read along. Want to know what it's like when you're an object to be bought and sold? Want to have some talking points when a yahoo tells you "slavery wasn't that bad for those people?": Read this.

And now for something completely different:

http://5secondfilms.com/watch/naked-came-the-gorlac

The site is called 5 Second Films, but the film linked to above, Naked Came The Gorlac, comes from one of the site's long films. (Link in top bar.) Naked Came the Gorlac takes place at a wedding reception and hopefully a reception you'll never attend unless, of course, you're dating Gorlac. Amateur perhaps, but cleverly entertaining.

To get to the 5 second films, click on "Random Film." There seems to be a blurb about each film to the right of the screen but you had better be able to read fast because 5 seconds is really, really short.

Their About says: 5-Second Films was created by Brian “Boss Man” Firenzi in the Spring of 2005, after being disappointed by so many 5,400-second films. The rules are simple: 2 seconds of beginning titles, 5 seconds of film, 1 second of end titles. If you take umbrage with these 5sfs running at an actual length of 8 seconds, we can only assume you’re no fun at dinner parties.

 

A really fun, quirky site, probably not kid nor work friendly, but where can you get 12 films with plots and themes in 60 seconds? Enjoy. See you next Wednesday.