Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich

 

Knitting Friday

Knitting late at night, knitting lace late at night, can lead to disaster. So lately, I've decided that lace scarves should be sampler lace scarves with at least 4 rows of garter between each pattern. Like this in #1:

#1 Groovy Scarf

 Unblocked it looked rather lame but you can see the garter between the patterns. That way, drop some stitches and just tink back to the first garter row and using a smaller (way smaller) needle, pick up your stitches and start again. This is advice from some one who hates lifelines, even on interchangeables where their "hole" makes them so easy.

Here's the link to the Groovy scarf:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/groovys-lace-slip-stitch-scarf

 

You can see in #1 that I deviated from the pattern really fast. That's what makes lace samplers so much fun, you can add your own touches. Another reason I changed patterns: The original is worked on 20 stitch patterns. I increased it to 40 which was not a seamless expansion (not all 20 stitch pattern work doubled.) But it's a fun knit and the first one I bring as a "tag along" when I leave the house because with most lace I'm too spooked to move it from my "lace knitting chair."

 

I bought Knitter's Pride needles last week which I'm using on Groovy. Why did I buy them? They were soooo cheap with free shipping and I want to test the constant mantra: the India-made Knitter's Pride interchangeables work with the older KP needles (once made in the same factory but now made in China.) Haven't tried this yet but I'm very happy with the needles. Here's the package:

#2 Knitter's Pride

You get the typical US 4 through US 11 and 4 cords from 24" to 40" (I think.) with stoppers and tightening keys. There are only three pictured here since one is on my needles.

They are acrylic which I like for lace since they have a grip.

For quite some time, Lion Brand free patterns have had the dubious honor of being one step up from Drops patterns in confusion/errors. I think they've fixed any problems they have had since the claret shawl/very, very big scarf pictured last week was from LB Summer Mesh and this scarf/shawl (#3) is from the LB Barbizon Shawl pattern.

#3 LB Barbizon Scarf

 

With this sampler scarf, you don't have any garter dividers but you're using DK and I'm using US 11 so the whole thing seems sturdier.

Here's the link to the pattern:

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/90648AD.html

Once again, you can add your own lace patterns to this scarf, and I probably since you only get four patterns to repeat in the original. And, the one change I would make: at least 4 stitches ES for the edging, not 2. Otherwise, on DK and US 11 needles, this is a fast easy knit.

Now that I'm looking at LB again, I'm tempted by this cable scarf (shown as a shawl):

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L32038.html?utm_source=20130927_Sept27_Split2&utm_medium=Emails&utm_campaign=Weeklynewsletter&utm_content=P-ModernCableScarf

It came yesterday as a e-mail which was a preview peak of their new catalog. Even if you're not signed up for LB e-mails, plugging in Modern Cable Scarf at LB should get you to this free pattern.

I like the pattern chart, pretty straight-forward for such a lot of cables but the later knitted-on edging sounds like a bear. I really don't like to finish a pattern and then have to decipher edging instructions. (Though the Groovy Scarf has an add-on knit picot edging which I'm going to replace with an easier crochet picot edging.)

The edging on the Modern Cable Scarf got me thinking: What to do to replace the called-for edging?  This has to be a fairly simple edging to match the cables so I thought: What about a knit-along I cord?

 

There are a lot of I-cord instructions out there, some where you add on the I-cord later; some where you attach it as you knit the pattern. I like the latter way and this video gives a very good explanation for this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQOavWd7ehM

Which leads me to a final mini-lesson on I-cords. After I watched the video I wrote this down: (Keeping 1st & last 3 stitches in I-cord.) *Work in pattern to last 3 stitches in the row. Bring your yarn to the front++, slip the last three stitches to the left needle as purl. Turn. (Yarn is now in the back of your work.) Knit the first 3 stitches as I-cord but knit into the back loop of the first stitch.* Repeat * to * for the I-cord.++Since you are attaching your I-cord to the edges as you work your pattern, the last stitch before your last 3 may be a purl stitch and the yarn will already be in the front.

#4 Ready to start I-cord

OK, I really wrote this after I saw the video as: *Work to last 3 sts. YF, sl 3 P. Turn. K 1st 3 sts as I-cord w/1st st KBL* which abbreviated is much faster to write.

Here's a quick look if you have any questions. You're looking at a 16 stitch swatch with a stockinette pattern in the middle and the 3 beginning and ending stitches knit in I-cord. While the swatch pictured is quite a few rows up, I started the I-cord on my first row. So, after my CO row, I worked across to the last three stitches:

(And yes, I did work the I-cord on the bottom garter rows. I may experiment with that and only start once this beginning border is done as: CO x stitches. Work 4 rows in garter. Start pattern and I-cord.) #4 shows my yarn in the back with 3 more stitches to work on this row. 

#5 Yarn forward

#6 Last 3 stitches slipped purlwise

#7 Work turned

Pics # 5 - 7 take you through moving the yarn to front, slipping the last 3 stitches and turning your work. You can see how easy attached I-cords are to do. Some directions have you working to #5 and then turning your work but I like this way pictured.

#8 Don't work too tightly.

One hint from my little practice above, work evenly, not too loose and definitely not too tight. Here's a picture (#8) of an early swatch and tight knitting:

And finally, I'm eying this:

http://cherylsknitting.blogspot.com/2010/08/dishcloth-turned-bib.html

Cheryl made a dishcloth into a bib but someone on Ravelry said: How about a shawl? and I'm thinking: If you eliminate the strap will you get a crescent shape with enough rows? I do need a house shawl...... More on this another day.

That's it for today. See you next week. Happy knitting.

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich

Website Wednesday

Watching someone die slowly and realizing that without a sudden, unexpected, sometimes violent, event this is the way the human organism shuts down, one baby step at a time, the absurdity of morality and ethics in the human species hits me like a smack in the face. Most of us spend our lives in a struggle for economic survival, in moderate comfort, in obscene comfort or as pompous asses (I'm looking at you, Ted Cruz.) All of us just sifting sands, waiting or not, for a better hereafter. (Wow!  An eternal hereafter. What a depressing thought.) And all I'm culling from this time of care-giving is that we humans are really no different than any other mammalian species. Like the beaver forever building his damn dams, we just do our thing. Only difference, we bolviate constantly, the beaver has the good manners to keep his mouth shut.

Let's start with some literary picks today and a debate:

http://www.abebooks.com/books/features/50-essential-science-fiction-books.shtml

Is this list really composed of the 50 essential science fiction books? You decide. And be sure to click around this site since it will lead you to so many other great books. Unfortunately, a click on the books listed will only take you to AbeBooks.com which, say what you will about Amazon, is not the best site for reviews or info about the book.

Here's another debatable list:

http://flavorwire.com/180094/10-disturbing-novels-for-the-coldest-of-hearts/view-all

Will these novels really disturb the coldest heart? Two I've read from this list and remember well, A Handmaid's Tale and Invisible Man. Tropic of Cancer was disturbing and never finished. American Psycho, I'm not going there but I do think I should approach Game of Thrones. And I have never forgotten that O'Connor story. So take a look. On this page, the book links will take you to Amazon so you can have a lot of reading available to you if you want it.

And now, a picture:

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/Photography/Images/POD/s/silverback-gorillas-072309-xl.jpg

What is that silver-back thinking? What about that baby? Maybe mommy (or daddy) has seen the photographer and is going to investigate (not a smile on that face) or maybe she/he is abandoning the tyke. Do gorillas do that? The setting, the mist, the disparity in size; it's a picture which talks to me. You too?

http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/eco-tourism/stories/too-beautiful-to-be-real-16-surreal-landscapes-found-on-earth

I'm pretty sure I've posted MNN before but I had to share this page. What magnificent landscapes. If there is a Mother Nature she must be constantly shouting at humans: Stop crapping up my home!

This next site shows an unbelievable (to me, at least) way to create art on the edges of book pages:

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/09/fore-edge-book-paintings/

It's called fore-edge painting and the page has three silent videos, one of which "creates" this art before your eyes. For more information on just what fore-edge painting is, click the link and Wikipedia will explain all.

Well, that's it for today. See you next week.

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich

Knitting Friday

Miss A., the early years

 We are definitely looking at a big dog in the making here. She's only a couple of months and I have to position myself when I walk her so that if she takes off I won't go down for the fall. Gentle, happy, a frisky puppy who is almost through with teething.

 

Something told me to knit socks this week and I'm hoping like poor Joan of Arc, these "voices" won't get me into trouble.

#1 Socks!

 

Now any real sock knitter will look at my socks and say: Are you kidding me? since I'm using US 4 needles and DK yarn. Real sock knitters might use US 1. So I'm really a piker with this sock stuff but this pattern on Ravelry:

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/spiral-knit-tube-socks 

 

got me interested. They are tube socks (the lowest of socks, I'm sure) done on the spiral so I'm hoping they will cling to the foot and not droop all over the place as much as my first and only foray into real sock knitting did. (Used a pattern, good wool, and cotton thread to reinforce the toe and heel and still they were a disaster re: fit.) So far, this has been a neat project though the socks in #1 have been frogged and I'm starting again with a thinner yarn in bright yellow. I have always admired sock knitters because so many of them produce mini-masterpieces which are going to be placed over sweaty, smelly feet. I don't think I could be that generous with my knitting but working with DPNs and knowing this will be a fast project is very addictive.

Some pics of finished work now:

#2 LB Summer Mesh shawl

I made this shawl months ago but just got around to blocking it. It's 29" x 85" and I had to stop at 85" because I was getting so bored. Here's the pattern:

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L10288.html

 

#3 Sherbet Wrap scarf

In spite of the boredom factor (single crochets, picots and chain stitches every row), it's a lovely shawl and looks nothing like the LB picture (I used light fingering yarn and an I hook and they used an I hook with sport weight.) Some months ago, Lion Brand had a free shipping promo and I got some claret red cone wool in light fingering (they labelled it lace but my Knit Picks lace is finer.) No problems working with the yarn but on blocking, I discovered the dye wasn't stable so it needed a lot of rinsing for the water to come clear. But, as the picture shows, it blocks big and airy. (FYI: the bear wears a tag saying Grr! I'm a lion. No idea why, perhaps he doubles as a security guard at night.)

#4 Ends of Picture #3

Also, I blocked another Sherbet Wrap (#3). I only had one skein of Knit Picks lace, 431 yards, so it's a scarf and not a wrap. This one is 15" x 100" and here's are the edges I mentioned last week (#4). That was the one where since the lace had been frogged I couldn't do a foundation single crochet but managed a foundation DC. You can see both ends in #4 and I don't think they match (the finishing end is in half double crochet) but they are passable.

One thing I'm learning: if the pattern says "Begin each row with a chain 3 and end each row with a double crochet." go up one stitch. So if they ask for double crochet, work a triple crochet. If they say chain 3, chain 4. This makes it much easier at blocking.

 

# 5 SW in thick/thin yarn

Also this week, in a sherbet wrap frenzy I made one in a mystery thick-and-thin yarn (#5), This is mystery bagged yarn I picked up at A. C. Moore. It already has a companion top so I thought I would make a fall season scarf out of the rest. Because of the nature of the yarn, I just chained (no foundation sc) the beginning stitches and I worked the first row as *V shell, skip 2 chains*. If I followed the directions and only skipped 1 chain, the thing would have fanned out so it looked like I was increasing. Here's the pattern for the Sherbet Wrap again so you don't have to go hunting back for it:

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sherbet-wrap 

 

(FYI: the yarn in pic #5 started out as the Madison Scarf and I loved how that was working out. However, this yarn is very, very thin in sections and a knitted scarf might take a lifetime to finish. But I do want to get back to the Madison Scarf pattern soon.)

 

And finally, looking through last Friday's posting I noticed I promised pictures of the Sherbet Wrap in Frenzy. Sorry it slipped my mind. That wrap/very long, very wide scarf is done and packed away for the cold weather ahead. Not only was Frenzy unbelievably easy to work with, it tinked beautifully. Pictures next Friday, promise.

 

#6 Praying Mantis

One last picture of a praying mantis. You don't see that every day (at least, I don't.) What is that mantis praying for?

 

See you next week. Happy knitting.

 

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich

Website Wednesday

Caring for someone who is wanting to die and angry because death is not a "Cut! Print it!" scene as in movies but rather, without assisted suicide, a debilitating slow decline, and reading about even more mass shootings in the US, I'm in a sensory overload mode. I'm going though the motions of living, beyond any desire to understand my species, petting the dog whose wagging tail tells me there is still some good in this shit hole humans have created.

Looking at my picks today, I think my mood is pretty well reflected.

Starting with living inside an active volcano:

http://emorfes.com/2011/11/20/living-inside-a-volcano/

No different than those millions of Californians living on the San Andreas Fault. I guess it just re-enforces the fact that human stupidity doesn't stop at borders.

I'm pretty sure I've linked to Buzz Feed before but not to this page:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/chernobyldiaries/haunting-photos-of-abandoned-cities-around-the-wor-5ydt

I play a lot of escape-the-room type games and game makers, Melting-Mindz and Ainars, use abandoned sties such as these where you have to escape entire environments which are very spooky. So these pictures are depressing but I'm used to them. What I don't like to imagine when looking at them is that they were once bustling towns, not in the vein of the three store ghost town of the American West but as in small/mid-level cities. Talk about Ozymandias' fame not lasting!

OK, now let's get some inspiration so we'll want to go on living:

http://emorfes.com/2013/09/10/dramatic-finger-paintings-by-paolo-troilo/

This guy paints with his fingers! Scroll down a little to read the blurb which explains why Troilo started painting this way.

And, when the tea baggers and other crack pots start foaming when they tell you how bad government is, have them take a look at this:

http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/online/1934/index.html 

During FDR's New Deal in the 1930s, creative people were not forgotten and the above link takes you to some artistic work of this time when political leaders (not all and many joined the band wagon kicking and screaming) realized that good government is essential for the body and soul of a representative democracy. The soul was nurtured by employing creative people to contribute to the arts. If you're interested in learning more about the Public Works Art projects during the 1930s in the US, go to:

http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2009/1934/index.cfm

Trickle-down economy wackos shouldn't be allowed to sweep this important 1930s government program under the rug with their inane appellations of "socialism" or "communism".

Never to be called a "green-thumber" even I am impressed with the attractiveness of these self-contained vegetable gardens:

http://www.inspirationgreen.com/keyhole-gardens.html

Truly an idea "out of Africa", I'd like to see it catch on everywhere. Even I might be able to manage tending for my vegetable food supply in such a small, compact area.

And finally, jigsaw puzzles:

http://www.jigidi.com/

In most hospitals, the waiting area has a jigsaw puzzle set up because working these puzzles, when under unusual stress, takes your entire attention and shuts out the world for a while. I'm not ready to lug out my jigsaws and watch the pieces fling themselves to the floor and under the back corner of a sofa so web jigsaw puzzles are a great alternative. I like this site because you get to choose the topic of the puzzle and also the number of pieces. You don't seem to have to use the sign-in to play and the pieces navigate very smoothly. Under any stress? Take a break with a jigsaw puzzle.

That's it for this week.I just noticed that my picks this week are basically "eye candy", some of the sour ball flavor. Next week, I'll include two "reading" sites I have for those who miss them. See you next Wednesday.

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich 

Knitting Friday 

No pictures today. My picture man headed for north NJ in the middle of the week so I had pics but no one to upload them on Thursday night as usual. If you recall, my camera which was supposed to be such an easy upload, turned out too complicated (I don't intend to break that tiny chip!) for my small technological brain.

But I do have a lot of links, starting with my new love, socks:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/spiral-knit-tube-socks 

OK, sock purists are probably laughing their socks off when they click this link since these are the orphans of the sock world: tube socks. I'm a lousy, really lousy, sock knitter so I'm hoping with a ribbed tube even I will get a wearable fit this time.

Here's a Barbizon scarf (lace sampler )from Lion Brand: 

http://www.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/patternRating.cgi?showReview=1&itemKey=1922244598 

This is the scarf I mentioned at the end of Wednesday's blog. Most LB patterns get some rants because of the confusing instructions but I'm into the second lace pattern on this scarf and it seems well-written. I'm using Scheepjeswol from Holland (no idea where I got it) which I would list as sport or very light DK with US 11 needles. It's knitting up fast and the lace is "popping". You work the lace patterns in a continuous line so there are no "K 4 rows" instructions between patterns. At present, the patterns seem to line up (one *yo, K1, yo* is carried from Pattern 1 into Pattern 2) but I don't know if this will continue. I'm working K2 each side for the edging though the pattern calls for 2 seed stitches. As with all stockinette, there is a slight roll in which I'll fix with blocking. The K2 makes a pretty edging and I don't know if a K4 (which would probably fix the rolling) would give it a too-defined "Oh, look, it's garter." edge look.

Then there's the Downton Abbey Sampler Scarf: 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/downton-abbey-sampler-scarf 

I really admire the work and thought which went into this free pattern though I'm not a DA watcher. But, as I'm "hot" to try a sampler scarf, this pattern may be in my future. Changes I know I'd make: 1. No K rows between patterns. I'd let them flow like the Barbizon Scarf. (This may not work; I see swatching ahead) and 2. It will be all one color. Though very few knitters used one color (it's supposed to be different color/different pattern for each DA character), I liked their scarves best.

For crocheters, here's the Augusta Shawl: 

http://fairmountfibers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Manos-del-Uruguay-F38-Augusta-Shawl.pdf 

It's a very easy pattern (only one row) with an excellent crochet chart especially for the newbie to chart reading. And yes, I do have mods: 1. I would work it in only one color, 2. I would work all chain 2s between stitches and no chain 1s. If you follow the second mod, be sure to mark the center stitch which is the space with 2 dc, ch2, 2 dc. (Only the center stitch has this configuration.) and 3. I would end each row with a triple crochet and not a double crochet and begin each row with a chain 4 and not a chain 3 for more stretch.

With Mod #2 (chain 2s), you get a crescent/half-circle shape instead of a triangle, which is a preference for me. This is an easy crochet shawl; great for beginners wanting to spread their wings (using only one color may be helpful here) or more advanced crafters looking for a fast, carry-along project.

And finally, another nod to Kriskrafter, the designer of the Gallatin Scarf I mentioned last week:

http://auntekristy.blogspot.com/2013/09/new-pattern-jefferson-scarf.html 

This week it's the Jefferson Scarf where she starts with the same principle of CO 4 at the beginning of every row and builds her design around this.

I'll leave you to ponder my present dilemma: Do I knit/crochet items of clothing with all my yarn or do I concentrate more on scarves, shawls, legacy items (blankets, etc.), and gifts? The former gives me an overabundance of wearable items which, with use, will "wear down" and/or go out of favor/fashion pretty fast. The latter allows for more creativity, a longer lifetime, but also more time spent folded on shelves. Because, until very recently, I was the only knitter/crocheter in the mufti-generations of my family (which is not a large one), I've given this a lot of thought. Don't have the answer yet, but I'm working on it.

That's it for today. See you next week. Happy knitting.

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich

 

Website Wednesday

 

First my blog page came up all screwed up today (apparently, changes have been made) and I thought: More time for lace knitting. Because I have started lace knitting with DK yarn on US 11 needles and for those who don't understand a word of this, I'll just say that lace knitting on large needles is so very, very addictive and every key stroke I type is keeping me from my new BFF.

 

But my web meister fixed his/her problems so here I am and let's get started:

 

http://seriouslyforreal.com/seriously-for-real/historical-photos-part-3/ 

 

I know I bombard you with historical photos but they always fascinate me. This is quite an eclectic group and don't forget to go to Seriously For Real's home page:

http://seriouslyforreal.com/

 

for some for some more interesting, off-the-wall, all-over-the-map entries. Probably not for the office.

 

You may think I'm fixated on animals. Well, now it's animals and sunsets:

http://www.aniimals.com/beautiful-animals-and-sunsets/

 

Click around this site. I think you'll agree those faces are adorable. I am such a sucker for pretty animal faces.

 

And now that you're completely relaxed and happy, let's get serious:

http://www.livingmyths.com/What.htm

 

This site will explain myths and before your eyes roll back to the sleep position: myth is metaphor and metaphor is the land in which we live.

 

I call this site "myths lite" in that you get an overview of the universality of myths, their meaning and their importance but you're not presented with tomes retelling the zillions of myths man has invented. This is an excellent place to start your journey and, if you find this as fascinating as I do, be sure to click on Web Links to continue your journey.

And finally, because the lace is calling me and time is short:

http://www.timeout.com/new-york-kids/things-to-do/the-50-best-books-for-kids

 

If you have kids, if you ever were a kid (now there's a trick question for you), take a look at this list of the 50 best books for kids. See if you agree. See if you have read any of them. The only active link with each book is a trip to Amazon where you will get some book and author info and interesting reviews. Wow! Reading that list, I'm going through my childhood, the kids' childhoods. Talk about memory lane!

 

That's it for this Wednesday. See you next week.

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich

 

Knitting Friday

 

I did a lot of needlework this week and most of it was knitting. Except for the Bernat Frenzy I'm working with. Frenzy, to save your sanity, must be crocheted. Well, truth be told, to save your sanity, you should really leave Frenzy in the Dollar Store bin (guess how much each skein cost?) and not take it home in mass quantities because it was a bargain. But, I digress. More on the Frenzy next week.

 

First, I'm going to start with another Eureka! moment I had this week.  I learned a new way to bind off. Again, truth be told, I always knew of this method because deep in my brain whenever I get to the bind off part of knitting and I angst over whether I will have enough yarn to work the bind off row (it takes more than a regular knitting row) I remember there is a method of binding off without using any yarn. And last week, a fellow Raveler linked to a YouTube explaining it and now, I will never, ever forget this method.

#1 No Yarn Bind Off

 

 You really don't need a video to figure this method out. Here's what I would recommend:

1: Use circular needles (you'll see why)

2. Work your last row before your bind off row as loosely as possible.

3. When you are ready to bind off, slide your stitches to the other end of the circular needle so the working yarn is on the opposite end.

4. Slip the first two stitches from the left needle tip at this non-working yarn end onto the right tip of the circ. (I slip as to purl.)

5. Take the first stitch you slipped over the second stitch and off the needle (your first bind off.)

6. Take another stitch from the left tip to the right tip (two stitches on the right tip now) and bring the first stitch on the right tip over this new stitch and off the needle as before. (second bind off.)

7. Repeat Step 6 until you have one stitch remaining and you have arrived at your working yarn.

8. Cut this yarn and weave it through the last stitch to secure it.

That's it. As you can see in pic #1, if you worked your last pattern row loosely, you will have a normal bind-off. It can't be a very loose one however because you're not working with any new yarn. But, as the picture shows, this method works. I love it!

 

Now, you're probably thinking: What is that stitch pattern in #1?

 

It's the Madison Scarf:

 

http://auntekristy.blogspot.com/2013/08/free-pattern-madison-scarf.html 

#2 different look Madison Scarf

It's so nice and simple where you start with a cast on of 4 stitches and just keep casting on for length and width. Of course, I had to modify but the modification is really simple: I just made a rectangle by casting on all my stitches at once and then I followed the pattern except for the cast on of 4 stitches every row. This makes for a less interesting knit but you get a different shape.

The scarf I really like by this designer is the Gallatin Scarf:

http://auntekristy.blogspot.com/2013/08/free-pattern-gallatin-scarf.html 

That one goes from lace to solid but I'm thinking about making this one all in lace as I would with one of my generic "work to length, then work to width" shawls. I started this pattern in Frenzy which was a bad choice. Next week, I hope to have a picture of the Gallatin scarf in red DK. (P.S., in pic #2, you're looking at another no-yarn bind off.)

Also this week, I worked a swatch of the pattern from Lila's legwarmers:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lilas-legwarmers

#3 Lila's legwarmers

for the possibility of using it in a sweater or scarf/shawl. I love this pattern, especially the lateral braid. You're looking at the full pattern (about 20 rows). I had to do some slight modifications because LL is written for round knitting and some of the pattern rows were on the wrong side for flat knitting.

The one bit of crocheting I did this week is another Sherbet Wrap:

http://www.ravelry.com/people/Maris/new_library?view=shelves&type=&set=&search=sherbet

# 4 Sherbet Wrap, yummy

in pink frogged lace. Probably because it was frogged (and slightly crinkly) I just couldn't work a foundation single crochet cast on. So I did a foundation double crochet. I have to remember to repeat this type of row at my bind off. Here's a picture:

This should be finished by next week as should my modified Sherbet Wrap in Frenzy. Pictures then.

OK, that's it for today. Happy knitting.

 

 

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich

 

Website Wednesday

 

Without having to read my rantings about the noise from war drums in the US, read Tom Engelhardt's column in Tom Dispatch, And Then There Was One: Delusional Thinking in the Age of the Single Superpower:

 

http://www.tomdispatch.com/ 

 

Tom nicely traces the history back to when the world knew the madness of superpowers up to the present day lunacy created by just one superpower (USA). 

 

My approach to the world today is slightly different than his and I think Werner Herzog's remark about "cows in the fields" sums up my thoughts nicely. (Explanation below.) Engelhardt says that no way could George Orwell, who so presciently foresaw the uber-spying/uber-conflict world of today, have envisioned only one world superpower emerging in the future when he wrote 1984 in 1948, However, I put less emphasis on the importance of this only- one-superpower development than he does. Oh, I know it is very, very bad today that there is no gate-keeper providing the needed warning to the US of: Stop this nonsense or I will kick your ass. But I think whether there is one super-power, two super-powers, a zillion super-powers among humans, there are always enough bulls in the field seeing red and plotting violence at every turn and also so, so many cows in those same fields just watching them and munching grass.

 

A little explanation: Yesterday, I saw Burden of Dreams, the documentary on the making of Herzog's movie opus, Fitzcarraldo. The documentary showed the epic disaster that movie almost was. Filmed in the jungles of South America, bogged in by weather, tribal customs and clashes, ennui, war, and Murphy's Law, Herzog plodded on. At the end of the documentary he comments on this mad dream of his and says about himself, about all creative people: Without dreams we would be cows in a field. Which got me thinking: Maybe we should only breed creative people. After all, did you ever hear a war breaking out over two artists wanting to paint on the same easel? And such thoughts lead me to view this current insanity with horrified ennui because can we ever evolve out of the blood-thirst which seems always just below the surface of our species?

 

Upbeat picks today however, starting with:

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-cYsU_Rxr4

 

Watch this kid paint. You'll realize fast that he must be a street painter but I'm amazed with his ease and confidence. Then after you're finished saying: Wow!, move on to one of my loves, designing in small spaces: 

 

http://shoeboxdwelling.com/2013/08/30/living-cube/

I am so impressed with what this guy did with that cube, but be sure to visit the whole site: 

http://shoeboxdwelling.com/

It's a current blog and I like their motto: finding comfort, style & dignity in small spaces. (Which may soon become the motto of NYC as they allow smaller and smaller apartments to be rented at exorbitant rates.)

This next one is a picture story:

http://limk.com/news/photographer-vs-deadly-leopard-seal-401298154/

with a wacky twist at the end so I will say no more. I don't know anything about this site, Limk, (you need to sign up) but this page is open and interesting.

This one is purely personal:

http://inmyownstyle.com/

Fall is coming, the weather is changing and I have to re-decorate. Like geese going south, bears going night-night, I have to move furniture. In My Own Style gives me (and you) all sorts of ideas for re-doing your space - and stuff.

OK, this next one is probably personal also:

http://worldshealthiestfoods.com/foodstoc.php

Because, for sure, I have got to start eating healthy again. You may need to block a chunk of time to read this blog but it looks interesting, healthy and is obviously, a labor of love. Of itself, it says: The George Mateljan Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation with no commercial interests or advertising, is a new force for change to help make a healthier you and a healthier world. I would have to spend a lifetime researching if all their facts are correct (they give you tons of info) but their staff has professional degrees. If you're health-minded, take a look; if, for no other reasons, they have recipes!

And finally, school is starting and in keeping with kids putting on their thinking caps after a long summer (though, with us, the summer was filled with school mandated work), here are free, online college courses, many of which are current:

http://www.class-central.com/

I usually just listen to free, online, already finished courses so I get none of the class assignments. Here, it looks like you listen along with the class and get links to the reading assignments. You have to register for this site (if it's only the one page, it's a simple registration: name, e-mail and password ) but my jury's still out as to whether I'm going to register. (The NSA has so spooked me!) Take a look. There are a lot of very interesting courses from all over the world.

That's it for today. See you next week.