Heard at the polls......

..... or who says there shouldn't be a voter intelligence test?

First the stipulations: 1) I didn't hear these first hand, I cannot vote in our primary because I am "unaffiliated". The events were related to me by an individual whose integrity is unassailable; 2) I swear there really were one of each party flavor; 3) the individual who heard these exchanges swears no idiot was harmed in the unfolding of these events, but it was considered (by more than one person apparently).

Scene: Local poll staffed by older retirees. Generally these folk are genial and helpful. Because we have the new electronic voting machines (which can be the subject of another stupidity post), there is a younger fellow, a technician, I presume, to help those who are new, intimidated, etc. My experience of him is that he is unfailingly nice and considerate. (I'd kill myself, he has my undying admiration.) It is a few minutes to 8:00 pm EDT the time the polls close, and they are actually counting down. Not a usual event.

Event 1: There is a line and a woman steps up to the poll attendant.

Attendant: "What is your party affiliation?"
Woman: "What?"
Attendant: "Are you registered Republican or Democrat?"
Woman: "I'm for that Obama guy. What is he?"
Attendant, nonplussed: "Uh, Democrat."
Woman: "Yeah, that's it."

After looking though the Democratic rolls, then the Republican rolls, without success, they find Madam Voter is "unaffiliated".

Attendant: "I'm sorry, but you have an "unaffiliated" registration, and cannot vote in the primary."
Woman:"What? That can't be! I thought I changed it! I'm sure I did! I want to vote for that Obama guy."

Never mind that she didn't even know what party that "OBama guy" is running under..... I'm sure she changed her registration. Probably to Martian......

Event 2.

Yet another woman, this one a Republican, steps up to the voting machine, and the attendant turns the machine on and sets it to the Republican races.

Woman: "So, I can't remember - how do I vote a "straight ticket?"
Long Suffering Attendant: "Mam, this is the primary, you can only vote in the Republican races. You vote for Republicans that you want to run in the general election."
Woman: "What if I make a mistake? You know I want my votes to be counted!"
LS Attendant: "Mam, as long as you vote for the people you want, you really can't make a mistake. Your votes will most definitely be counted."
Woman: "Well you know what happened in Florida! They left all those chads and then their votes weren't counted! I don't want to leave any chads!"
LS Attendant (who is probably wishing for a good stiff drink about now): "Mam, I assure you that if you follow the directions and push the flashing red "VOTE!" button, your vote will be counted. You need not be worried about chads."
Woman: "You'd better be right! Now, how do I vote a straight ticket?"

I wish I were kidding. I am taking a little license with the actual dialog. As I said I heard it second hand. But I attest to you that the substance is true.

Now, do I hear a vote for a test before you can actually vote?

(And that test should be in English. It was pointed out to me yesterday, that there were probably illegal immigrants voting in the primary, and I could not! Where's the justice in that?)

Knitting? What knitting?

As the month from hell rolls on, I have no knitting to show for it. Not only do I have nothing to show for it, I have hardly been knitting. When I've had a few moments I can hardly keep my eyes open. Case in point......

This past weekend DH and I drove to the 'Burgh to see "Alice in Wonderland" performed by the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. It was the North American Premier of this particular rendition. The scenery, costumes, choreography, etc. were courtesy of the London Ballet. The production was amazing, but the curtain call was the funniest thing. With all the animals and characters (March Hare, door mouse, white rabbit, duchess and piglet, Mad Hatter etc.) the curtain call looked like a Star Trek convention. I just had to laugh. What does this have to do with knitting? Well, on Saturday afternoon when we drove, I should have had something like 2 hours of uninterrupted knitting time, but I was so exhausted, I didn't even bother to take out my sticks and string. So my Ribby Cardi languished. After dinner, it was all I could do to find a comfortable place to sit, and read before I fell over. I even had to reread the two or so pages that I had been reading the next day.

Same thing happened Monday night. I can't keep my wits about me enough to knit at all, and it sucks. So there is absolutely NO KNITTING going on, and I have three projects on my needles. The good news is that I am not compelled to add any more. And I don't even have any socks started.

Today is the last day, at least in the near term for the political robo calls the name calling, bitching, moaning, pimping and all things associated with the primary. After today we can go back to being a sleepy ol' state. What I find less than charming though is the realization that college students are all of a sudden deciding that they invented primary elections. This morning at a busy intersection there were Obama supporters on all four corners jumping around with signs, like Teletubbies on speed. How I wish they could put that much energy into not getting drunk on weekends.

And for me, the primaries are nothing more than a nuisance. In PA, unless you have an "R" or "D" on your registration, you cannot vote. We are being entertained though by a race for our congressional seat. There are dueling felons (OK accused felons). One got nabbed for DUI about a year ago, and the other just had charges filed for taking nekked photos of a former girlfriend, without her consent.

Who says this isn't Happy Valley?

And so it goes .....

..... when we last left our heroine, she was trying to refrain from thumping herself silly before a major work endeavor.

Well, just as I posted, the inevitable "issue" happened. A colleague, who was scheduled to present not once, but twice(!), fell ill. (And I might add here that the second presentation was a "political" presentation. Not one I would have scheduled if I had not been "requested" to add.) It fell to me to 1) find a suitable presenter substitute (read: victim); 2) make the decision in time to allow the substitute to become familiar with work that was not her own.

Let me clarify. If one produces a professional development presentation, it stands to reason that one is somewhat of an expert in the field. If one is substituting and using someone else's presentation...all bets are off. The person who got the flu, kept insisting she would be well enough to travel. It was Wednesday, the presentation was Friday, she looked terrible, I just couldn't take the risk. So I filled in for one and a friend pulled my bacon out of the fire for the other. Everything went OK, but still. I truly didn't need the stress that this invoked.

Sigh. So now the cleanup. Thank you notes, budget stuff, find my sunglasses...you know the usual.

And this morning I dropped my vehicle off for minor (ha!) bodywork. They gave me a loaner. I was expecting the little crappy thing they gave me last time.....instead, I get a 2007 (or 08) Tribecca!! Leather seats, the size of a tank, everything electronic....yoi! Makes me crazy nervous! Go figure. I want my Forester!!

Slowly sinking....

Ever coordinate a conference? If you're a conference/event planner you know from whence I speak. I am NOT a conference/event planner, however, I have the dubious honor of coordinating and organizing a conference once a year, among other smaller events as part of my position.

Consequently, with a conference sneaking up on me the end of this week, I will not be in a good "place" to post until next week, if then. I will be sitting cross legged, chanting, and probably banging my head off the nearest solid surface, until this is over. As the last week rolls by, issues "pop up". Issues that no matter how carefully one tries to avoid them happen. Sigh.

Anyway..... my Monkeys are finito!!



And they're green!! These are Mountain Colors Barefoot in Mountain Tango colorway.










Here's a closeup.


These babies have an Eye of Partridge heel, my favorite heel, and fit beautifully. This is another lovely pattern from Cookie A. She must be a much tighter knitter than I am. I usually use the same stitch count, and a size 1 needle, and it fits beautifully.







This is also my lace slog...It is a Sivia Harding Hanging Garden Stole. If I was a good lace knitter I suspect I'd be done with this by now, but I've just passed about the year mark, and still have 4 repeats to go. And yesterday I discovered I made an error, and will need to try and recover, though I doubt that it will be noticeable to anyone but me. And probably not even me, when all is said and done. How do people knit lace, with lace weight yarn, so fast? I can't imagine.



Sigh. This is probably not a good project for me to work on this week. Not if I want to keep what's left of my sanity anyway.

Well, thanks for that...

This is for the anonymous commenter, who explained that she is anonymous only because of technical issues. Please know, I appreciate your comment, regardless of mode. We might wish to agree to disagree however.

I thought you, and anyone else who cares, might like to know that the genesis of the "elderly hippy dippy" description comes from the self descriptions of elderly (or maybe aging would be a better adjective) hippy dippies of my acquaintance. Some I count among my good friends. I also never said that ALL of Brattleboro was of that description, just the few that began the idiocy on your council, and wasted tax money on a public vote. And just so you know we have plenty of those types who sit on our very own town council, and waste our tax money on a regular basis.

As for being jealous. HA! (Maybe even double ha!) I have had more people tell me how lucky we are to live here than I ever thought possible. Just this week I met a realtor in another city, who waxed poetic, about clients selling their homes to move here to retire. They don't call it Happy Valley for nothin'. So jealous....hardly. We have woods, hippy dippies, little traffic (outside of six weekends a year) and a Wegman's (which is why I'm never moving).

I am jealous of Brattleboro for one reason though, you have one of the most talented, and charming, artists I've ever had the pleasure of meeting living there. We met him something like 30+ years ago, and if he had a web site I'd give him a plug.

Some things I think, I think.

If I hold this in any longer I'm gonna 'spload....

1) Hey Buddy!! What the hell were YOU thinking?




Bill O'Reilly is calling it self-destructive behavior (a'la Beluchi)- that he wanted to get caught. I think that is too forgiving. I'm with the psychologists and Geraldine Ferraro (a friend of Spitzer's) hubris, laced with narcissism and arrogance (a'la Clinton).

And for the idiots who are saying things like, in Europe this wouldn't even be news....I have a message. Perhaps we're a little bit better than Europe. Even though, frankly, I don't care who you "do it with" I think we hold (or try to) our elected officials to a higher standard [than Europe] and actually expect them to uphold the LAW they've sworn to serve. Fancy that!!

If you don't like the law - change it. But until then...zip it (pun intended).

2) A vote for this guy

is like voting for David Duke (The Grand Wizard, or whatever he styles himself these days) or perhaps Hitler. They all traffic(ed) in hate under the guise of helping the "little guy". I used to think he was funny too. He had real talent until his bitterness took over. Now he's just dishonest and disgusting. And what is very scary is that he has a constituency, albeit small, mostly made up of the "hate Bush" kool aid drinkers. Yeah, lots of depth of thought there. Must be the kinds of drugs in the Minnesota water.....


3) Because in PA one has to actually register for one of the two political parties in order to vote in the primary, I, as a no party registrant (independent is a separate category even though I don't know what that means here), can't vote. A year ago, I decided that I would change my registration for a month in order to vote against Hill. Who could have guessed that it wouldn't be necessary? Who also would have thought that PA would matter at all? (Though DH is still encouraging me to do so. I would hate to get on those mailing and phone calling lists. Brrrrr....)

4) Because I have such fond [not!] memories of the last general election, all the robo-calls, all the crap in the mail, etc. I have decided I am going to take action. Call it my own personal protest. I am going to collect all the political garbage we get after the conventions, put it in grocery bags (I'm sure we'll get enough for several) and when I go to vote, instead of refusing the paper the volunteers try to hand me as I go in, I'm going to just hand them the bags. They can sort it out themselves or just recycle it.

5) And ultimately, and sadly, as of today, I have no one that I'd actually like to vote for in the election in November. And this is the very first time I can say that. Even if I wasn't totally sold on either candidate, I could usually make a "lesser of two evils" distinction. This year, it hasn't happened. I'm hoping it will. Otherwise, I might just have to stay home. And no, I cannot vote for Ralph Nader. That poor fellow's tin foil hat is on a wee bit too tight. Makes me very sad. To be honest, I wouldn't stay home, because we have other rather important races going on, but I may not vote for President, which would be a damn rotten shame. But it won't be an apathetic non-vote.

6) The good news is that I finished my Mountain Colors Monkey Socks and as soon as the weather cooperates I'll take a picture!

7) I can't believe I forgot this!! I would be shocked if even 10 percent of the Brattleboro Vermonter elderly hippy dippies, have even read the constitution. (You may recall these are the idiots who voted to have Bush and Chaney arrested if they ever cross the border. The charge is "crimes against the constitution".) If they had bothered to read it, then perhaps they'd be able to figure out that they themselves are simply idiots. (No constitutional lawyers in Brattleboro?) Alas, unfortunately there is no crime in idiocy. (Frankly there is lots of stuff to be pissed off at this administration about, but crimes against the constitution? Really...) The other thing they haven't figured out yet is that the rest of Vermount, just keeps them around for the entertainment value.

Yoi and Double Yoi and say "hi" to The Chief!

The world is definitely a less colorful place without you,
Myron.

But your legend will live on!

The joys ......

... of living in a college town. Those of you in An Arbor, Chapel Hill, College Station and other similar venues will probably be able to relate.

I'm watching a tape and knitting at 2:30 am on Sunday morning. (Yes, I keep odd hours on the weekend.) Our drapes are drawn, and the outside lights are out. We live in a small townhouse development that is far enough away from the campus that we don't have oddles of students around. Apparently it doesn't matter. There I was minding my own business, and the doorbell rings. I'm stunned. The doorbell! At first I think, maybe it's the newspaper carrier. (He's a middle aged fellow, with a disabled son. He delivers papers so he can stay home with his kid.) I'm thinking maybe he was delivering the Sunday paper and his car broke down, or he hit someone's vehicle or something. So I go to the back door and turn on the porch light. Nothin'. The bell rings again! Front door! Our door is solid, no way to see who is there, unless I peep out the front window (and turn on the porch light), or open the door, which leaves me very vulnerable.

Now I do have a husband, who is upstairs doing goodness knows what, and who apparently has not heard the bell. I run upstairs and say "Someone is ringing the door bell!" "You're kidding!??" As if to confirm that I'm not crazy or dreaming, the bell rings again, now for the third time. He says, "Don't open the door!" Well, duh! Look out the upstairs window and see who it is....well I can't see the person. Bell rings yet again! So I actually OPEN the upstairs window, it is in the teens by the way, and call out "Can I help you?" It is a young fellow, in his twenties probably. He says "Is Roger "Something" here?" I tell him I'm sorry but he has the wrong unit. "Do you know where he lives?" What? Do I look like directory assistance? I ask if he knows the unit number. Even a few digits would help. No, he doesn't. So, genius, why not just choose a house at random and ring the bell in the middle of the night. Great idea! Pretty much par for the course in a college town. I tell him I cannot help him, and he apologizes profusely "for bothering you", and walks away. He is clearly lost, and he is also shaky--frightened, drunk, drugs, I couldn't tell.

Now, though, I suspect it wasn't quite so random. He probably saw the lights and figured we were awake, however, unless I was in dire straits, I would not just knock on a strange door. I certainly hope it was no more nefarious than idiocy, which is in no small supply here. I wanted to ask why he didn't just call "Roger". But didn't get the chance.

I debated about calling the police, but really didn't want to wait for an officer to come and take a report. It was "THON" weekend and the town was packed with visitors.

Lest you think this is something out of the ordinary (people just randomly coming to the door and asking where "someone" lives), I once answered the back door, on a week night, only to find a young couple in formal wear. It was 11:00 pm, and I was in my jammies. The couple were as shocked to see me as I was to see them. They were looking for a party, and were told the host had a "silver" car parked in front. Our neighbor at the time had a silver car, but I didn't think she was having a party either. They just picked a house.

And to add to the fun, about two months ago, I came home to a "Code Red" message on our answering machine. It was from the local police, alerting the residents in our area that there was an armed and dangerous person being pursued in our area. At first I thought it was one of those robo-calls, and nearly blew it off, but as I listened it because obvious that it was an officer reading from a script. It spooked the hell out of me, I can tell you.

So the fun just never ends.......not even in the wee hours of the morning.

A potato's a potato......

I've had any number of serious things in my head today, and I could write a long post full of myself, and flight of ideas, but I won't, I'll only pick one for now.

It started with the Yarn Harlot "musing" about how people can say things "electonically" that they wouldn't say in person. Well, duh, we (in the higher ed arena where this monster took shape) recognized that for the double edged sword that it is. When you post to the internet three things are true: 1) It's there forever, no takee backsees 2) It's public, not private: 3) NO VOICE, it takes a mighty clever writer to put voice in electronic communications. Maybe you would prefer the world to be a sweet place were folks do not feel compelled to make negative (however mild) comments. (An aside: I for one rarely read blog comments. Particularly those that can reach into the hundreds. How many times can you read "Wow, I'm first!") But as for the negative comments...well, say hello to the tin man there in Oz. For any number of reasons someone may feel compelled to make a comment that curves away from the "popular". (I can't help but wonder what would happen if the blog was an attack on Bush, and one poster said "Whoa, let's be reasonable with the name calling and piling on." I shudder to think.) One other time comes to mind. It was, again, the Harlot's blog describing a plane trip. The guy in a seat in the same rack, told her he was uncomfortable with her knitting needles (socks on dpns). Even after she explained that she had been cleared through security, he was still nervous. Ok, I admit, he sounds like a nut job, but one of the commenters thought it must have been Rush Limbaugh (Stephanie snapped a photo of black wing tips) because "he's a weenie" (wimp or something like that). Now I have no particular love for Limbaugh. His brand of attack politics distresses me, but in this context it was a bizarre non sequitur. The point, however, is that that particular comment, an ad hominem attack, didn't even cause a ripple. I guess attacks on unpopular personalities are fine, but not negative comments about socks. I'll tell you it has me scratching my head.

Now lets talk, if not ugly, but odd. When I made these I thought they were hysterical. (Still do.) I brought them into work to show a colleague. Another colleague saw them, and asked "Who are they for?" I answered my sister and her boyfriend. "How old are they? Seven?" Do these people look seven?



But do they look like they have a sense of humor? That second colleague apparently thought the hats were weird and that only a child would be caught dead wearing it. I could have taken great umbrage. Instead, I just smiled and thought how glad I was that I had a person with a sense of humor in my family. (My sister squealed with laughter when she opened the package.)



My advice. Get over yourself...whoever you are!

Here's my new scarf. (How's about my photography...not bad? Still working on learning the camera's "ropes". If you look at the clock you can see that I'm going to be late for work!) I got a new Bean parka, and needed a scarf to match. This is made with Araucania, Aysen from Chili. It is merino/alpaca/silk (70/20/10) and is so soft and snuggly. This is the Multi-directional scarf pattern found all over the web. The yarn is closer to an aran weight and I used #9 needles (don't ask me from metric, I can barely deal with American needle sizing. One must know and gracefully accept their limitations.) I got a nice dense fabric, with a wonderful drape.



And not a moment too soon because the winds were whipping this morning like nobody's business and we're expecting it to go down into the teens tonight. When I arrived here it was in the high 30's, now 2.5 hours later and it has dropped 10 degrees WITH the sun!






But I need a hat! A matching hat!




So I got this and have begun another cloche.


It's New England Highland wool, out of New Hampshire. It's a bit harsh, and not nearly as soft as the Patons Classic Wool I used for the last one, but I could not find a good match in the Classic Wool. The color in the photo is way too pinkish. The color is actually very plummy. I didn't notice the odd coloring until now so didn't try to color correct it. I'm hoping that the felting will soften it up quite a bit or I may not be able to wear it. I'm a very delicate flower you see. I need to take some time tonight and find suitable beads to knit into the banding. And then decide how I want the banding to look. Do I want it the same as my first one? Do I want to change the position? Decisions, decisions... It may just depend on my mind set, and attitude when the time comes.

Never stop....

...evolving. I've never shied away from new things--new techniques, new innovations, etc. At least when it comes to non-lethal activities. No one ever died or had their head shaved if a beading experiment or a knitting project turned into a stinker. So after having a devil of a time with my DP sock needles slipping out of my alpaca monkey socks, I decided to give another technique a try. Which brought me to this.



Now I'm not going to say (like Cat Bordhi) that "socks soar on two circulars", but it isn't half bad for someone like me who is not very gentle with socks in progress. I spent way less time picking up stitches than I did with my previous pair. The yarn is Mountain Colors in Mountain Tango. I'm kinda surprised by the striping going on, I didn't expect it, but what the heck. These are being knit using KP size 1, 16 inchers. I don't think I'd want to use circs that were any longer for socks.

I must admit though that they are stalled for the moment. I'm attempting to finish a scarf to go with my new snuggly warm down parka. As you all know, it is in the single digits here, and I didn't have a scarf to match my new parka. So what's a knitter to do? Knit a new one of course. Duh!

An aside: I see that because of the abundant sunshine we have hit a high of 23(!) at the moment.

What I did .....

....on my Christmas vacation.


I knit hats, not one, but two!! I'm kinda hat picky. I have a head for hats. But not those tight cap type thingies that can be knit up in a snap. I look best in something with a brim that doesn't make me look like a pinhead. So I opt for hats with brims. One is B. Marie's bucket hat. The more intrepid among you can page back to last winter, when I made not one, not two, but THREE of these hats. (I'm no quitter.)All three were made with Patons SWS because I was enamored by how well it felted, soy and all. However, I was not enamored by how disproportionately the stuff felts--too much in length not enough in width. My buckets looked like hippie felts. Not bad, but not the look I wanted. So I tried yet another, but this time two things were different: 1) the yarn. I used Patons Classic merino and 2)I bossed my felting around. Even though the stuff tried to felt too short, I yanked and pulled and the proportions are so much better. It only took ONE skein of Classic merino and felted like a dream. I cast on on December 30 and was finished the evening of January 1st. Happy New Year indeed!

On the left is the cloche from Elegant Knits. It also only took one skein of Classic Merino, with a second for the contrasting stripes--but I used hardly any. It also has iris beads in the stripes. This was my traveling knitting, and literally only took a few days even with sporadic knitting. I was a tad concerned about how the neutral and white would felt, but I need not have worried. Everything felted beautifully.

This next photo is of a cat tunnel from "Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair". Every year I make something for the "kids". One year, Pi Beds, then catnip filled mice, this year a tunnel.


I'm told that "Velcro" has taken to hiding in the tunnel just to ambush his arch rival "Demetia". Glad everyone is happy....We aim to please.








And finally the Sock Monkey Hat was a huge success. Doesn't she look happy?



















So my final Christmas knitting tally is:

A Multidirectional scarf. (Fun knit will do it again)
Monkey socks (already started another pair)
Moebius scarf (many more in my future)
Two Sock Monkey Hats
Two ribbed hats
Fuzzy Feat
Cat Tunnel - which was remarkably like knitting an afghan, and which I will never do again.

So there you have it.

Now what the heck is in the water in Iowa?

Christmas Time is HERE...... Yikes!!

I'm on the last little bit of my "Christmas knitting". Thought I'd share what I've finished.



This is the moebius that I started when we were on vacation. It is fingering weight (sock) yarn from Socks that Rock in Pebble Beach.














Next up are "Fuzzy Feat". A pair of felted slippers. I made these with Paton's SWS (soy wool stripes). They're for my sister who keeps her house at frigid temperatures.







And the "piece of resistance" .........











His and Hers Sock Monkey Hats!! These are for sister and her boyfriend and were too much fun. I have enough for one more and may just have to make one for DH.











Getting ready to sign off for the day. DH will probably be at the office until way late. He just feels he has too much to do. I'm going to put everything off until next year, but that's just me.

I'll have more knitting in about a week, but for now, signing off until 2008! I hope everyone out there has a happy, healthy and Merry Christmas (no matter how you celebrate)! Stay safe.

And I thought I'd have knitting.....

..... but I have this instead. For those of you who really don't know, the "premier" weather forecasters are right here in State College. That would be Accuweather. You know that Elliot guy that you may hear on your local radio channel? He shops at Wegman's with me. Oh yeah, and the National Weather Service is based here too. And PSU has the top meteorology program (check out the live video and Bad Meteorology) in the country. In the last survey, 25% of all the working meteorologists graduated from Penn State. (Including a "TV weather reading" course where the students are required to "dress up" and read the weather in front of a green screen. To add insult to injury the course is always scheduled at 8:00am too!) We are pretty much weather central. So is it any wonder that we're all weather weenies.

Here what I see today on Accuweather:

TODAY. HEAVY SNOW IS LIKELY OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF
PENNSYLVANIA...WITH A MIXTURE OF SLEET AND SNOW BETWEEN
INTERSTATE 80 AND ROUTE 22...AND MAINLY SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN
TO THE SOUTH OF ROUTE 22. TRAVEL WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACTED
THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING.

We're in that band between 80 and 22. Now doesn't this sound like fun?

As late as the mid-nineties Accuweather was run out of three little houses on College Avenue. The roofs had satellite dishes, and unless you knew they were there, you completely passed them by. Sometime in the late nineties, they moved about 5 miles to a glass faced building that resembles [probably] Mission Control.

So these constant and ever evolving winter storms occupy most of our time on a much more "personal" level. We're pretty strange here, that's for sure.

This is going to be .....

...... a very long year. Currently, I am so sick of politics I want to run away...but to where? A few months ago I heard a priest say that with how contentious politics have become it is the new racism, and it is just as awful. I must say I agree. How in the world can you "hate" someone for supporting a certain idea, or person? How in the world can you "hate" anyone who has the balls to run for office? You might not respect their ideas, you might not trust them, maybe you wouldn't want to share a meal with them but "hate"? The mind boggles. And how is this hate different than hating someone for being a particular race, or religion? Sigh.

But on to happier things. I have some knitting! Yes, indeed. Since the recipient of this gift doesn't read my blog....here be monkeys!!




And how tacky is it that I'm trying on socks that I made for someone else? I ask you. Well, my feet were clean, and I only had them on for the few seconds it took to take the photo. I used Pacapeds yarn, a wool/alpaca blend-very soft, very lovely. I have another skein, but in pinks and purples and I think I'm going to use them for me! I used a size #1 needle, instead of the #2 called for, and I changed the pattern to add stitches to the repeat. Of course, they fit perfectly (I'd make the foot longer for me) but now I cannot remember what the heck I did. I began with the #2, but the twisted rib looked so wide, I was afraid they'd just creep down on the recipient.


So now unless I had the presence of mind to actually write down my changes, I'll have to reinvent the wheel again.

Leave it to me.

Happy Anniversary Darling!!

And no--it doesn't feel like 200 years. It just feels like a good 20!

Here's to 20 more!

The money shot....

Last week we were away--away from work, away from ringing phones, away from nearly everything we usually do....OK not away from sports, but you can't really have it all. We did what is nearly impossible to do on any vacation. You try to do a lot of different things, and end up so exhausted, the vacation ends up a lot like work. Well, somehow that didn't happen. Even though we hiked, went to a jazz concert at a museum, visited two wineries, hiked some more, went to a beaded jewelry and costume showing at a gallery (me), and visited Kentuck Knob, we didn't wear ourselves out. It was wonderful. And as a bonus, I got this shot when my dear husband, on a whim, decided to stop at Tharp Knob in Ohiopyle State Park, just to see the overlook. It had been raining all day, and I was not happy to walk across sodden meadows...that is until I saw this.



You just can't plan a shot like this. This is above the Youghiogheny River, Ohiopyle State Park and the town of Confluence. If you look closely you can see the homes of Confluence, and the bend in the Yough (lower left). Also notice how green the leaves were--still.



As we turned to leave I got this.....





Look closely [again] and you can see a kite caught in the branches of the tree on the right in the mid-ground.



Damn he does have a good idea now and again........

You have em'

... I know you do. Those festivals and fair(e)s that occur in communities all over North America. I can guarantee, however, that you do not have THIS particularly festival.

What are these men doing?



Why, silly billy, they are celebrating the culmination of The Fabulous 1890s Weekend in Mansfield, PA of course! They are costumed as football players in the 1890s. 1892 to be exact! Because in 1892, in Mansfield, PA, the first night football game was played under electric lights. The first time in the entire WORLD. The story is on the web site, but the short version is that General Electric decided to display their brand new invention, the electric light, at what was then the Mansfield Fair. Mansfield Normal School (now Mansfield University) played Wyoming Seminary (Wilkes Barre, still Wyoming Seminary "under the lights". The reenactment is hysterical, and accurate, including the plays, like the flying wedge. In 1892, there were no electric light anywhere in town, but they brought ONE in for the game.

The "fabulous" festival is little more than a community fair, but for the "football game". However, it embodies the best of small town America. Throughout the day there are demonstrations, like 1890s boxing reenactments; clogging, contra, and square dancing; a Miss 1890's pageant with the ladies dressed in period garb (sorry no pictures of that), hot air balloons...





















You name it, but the piece de resistance is the football game reenactment, down to the refs in top hats and tails, and the "medical help" being a bucket of water. (In previous years it has been in the 40's in late September in the evening, and I always felt sorry for the poor kid who ended up getting doused with a bucket of water. This year it was in the high fifties, so it didn't bother me as much.)

These photos were the best I could do with minimal lighting, but I've tried to point out the ONE light pole that is erected in the MIDDLE of the field. The players had to play around it and if a player tripped over it, so be it.



The arrow points to the replica electric light.












To close out the event we have fireworks!!

Accompanied by "The Pride of Pennsylvania" Marching Band from Mansfield University.






I gotta tell ya. It gives me goose bumps, and this year it wasn't from the cold.

And so it goes......

This morning I was doing my usual routine. I took a moment to flop on the sofa to sip my tea and peruse the newspaper. When I walked back into the kitchen, there was a note taped to my patio door. I didn't hear the gate on the fence, I didn't hear the sliding screen, I didn't hear ANYTHING, yet there is a note. The painter (condo association is having the buildings painted) wants to know which day I want my doors painted. When I tracked him down on my way out, he wanted to know when I could "give him access" so he could paint all around the door and LEAVE IT OPEN FOR AN HOUR OR SO. Hey fella, we work!! And we've had "mouse incidents" from the corn field across the street. And the place is lousy with grey squirrels. I don't know if it's a good idea to leave the doors ajar.....Sigh. Can I please have a week without drama? Please? Meanwhile, I'm recovering from my second or is it third(?) go around with this cold.

But I have pictures of FOs! Hurrah!



This is my Chevron variation of the mobius. I found this "pattern" on the Mason-Dixon blog. Ann made it up, did it double stranded with Sea Silk. Mine is Artyarns in 100% Regal Silk color 115 - with lovely AB clear 4mm square beads. Note the lovely blending color of the clothes pins......It's a little hard to see the chevron pattern.



Here's a closeup of the beads. Looks like I set them in a pattern, but I didn't they are completely random. I'll stick beads in just about anything.



This was a little "trickesy" to knit. Because of the slippery, silkiness of the yarn, I started out using Denise needles. But I couldn't get the cables to slide easily in the mobius cast on. I then went to KP Options. The cable was better, but the needles were soooo slick, I lost stitches in the YO k2tog pattern twice and had to frog. It's pretty simple knitting if you're not a clutz.

The pattern a la Ann Shayne:

5 rows k5,yo,k2tog
5 rows p5,yo,k2tog

I used a #5 needle, and an i-cord cast off. It took about a skein and a half to knit about thirty rows and cast off.

The trick is to figure out how big you want your mobius, and to cast on a multiple of 7, minus one stitch. You want to move the beginning of your round one to the left each row. Just for reference, I cast on 195 stitches, and it took me multiple tries to get it right!

Edited to add: When I displayed this creation for my hubby, he admired it appropriately, then said, "Um, I hate to tell you this, but it's twisted......" Sigh......


I <3 Bonne Marie! I finished CeCe! Just in time for cool weather! That's me! Perfect timing. Her pattern is wonderful. Very complete. Very clearly written. But I screwed up twice. It wasn't her fault. Apparently, I can't read. Here's the finished product, with our fading impatiens in the background:


I was afraid that it wasn't going to fit. That the neckline would be too low and "open" and floppy. Ahhhh, not to worry it fits great. (I just wish a smaller size fit great, but I digress.) I know you'd love to see how great it does fit, but I have a confession. I do not know how to use the timer on my [relatively new] camera. I just got it last Christmas, and I'm still fooling with it. I'll try and work it out soon so I can get a decent photo. I have not mastered the mirror shot yet. Working on it!

But there's a story here:



This is a handmade Fimo button. In the early nineties I was just beginning to teach computer science and I was teaching an intro class for the very first time. Anyone who has taught a class for the first time knows that it is fraught with pitfalls and quicksand. Add to the usual mess, tech classes especially, are prone to change at the speed of .... well .... electrons. What was valid last semester, can be gone in a matter of weeks. So this was only the first or second time I was teaching this particular class. This however, was a group of students that particularly stood out. Among the traditional students, I had a grandmother in her fifties, recently divorced, who was going to "learn this stuff" come hell or high water, a young mother, who brought her three year old once or twice just so she could finish an assignment (she was later killed in a horrible accident, all I could think about was that toddler), an adult student who couldn't understand why he needed to show up for class, particularly tests, and a professional artist. It was a tough semester for all of us, but we got through it with patience and lots of laughter. At the end of the semester, the class presented me with a gift -- a set of dry erase markers because I could never find one that worked in the classroom. The artist gave me a card of her hand made buttons. She knew I was a knitter, and told me they were for my next cardigan. I could not refuse. I've had them all these years, just waiting for that cardigan. I think it's the perfect accent! Don't you?

Specs:

Cascade Sierra (80 pima cotton/20 wool)- Sunset (I just fell in love with the color.)
4 skeins (192 yds/skein) I bought five.
I went down TWO needle sizes to even get close to gauge. I think the pattern called for 6 and 7, and I used 4 and 5. And yes I washed the swatches before measuring.

Sierra has a great hand and is not as splitty as some cottons. Thanks to the wool, I think, it is a lot lighter than I expected. It blocked beautifully. Even with my unorthodox blocking method. (Soak in sink, spin in washer.....)

I'm going to make this again, maybe even with Sierra, again, but with long sleeves. I like it THAT much and it was a fun knit. Once I learned to read. Right after I get started on the b. marie Ribby Cardi. I also have her bucket hat pattern. Great easy knit. Bonne, will you marry me? My husband won't mind.......

Finally.....yarn stuff.

One aspect of my job is that it takes me to locations all over the state. On occasion I get lucky and there is actually a yarn store in the area that I'm visiting--AND it's open. The moon has to be in the right orbit for that to happen.

It happened last month in York, PA. I was in the area to do a faculty workshop, and a LYS, Uncommon Threads, had evening hours. Eureka!

After struggling in Harrisburg traffic for much too long, I checked into my hotel, dealt with the usual issues (e.g., my key cards (both) refused to work), then got into my car to try and find the shop. I had my mapquest map in hand, and it's not like the city of York, is all that huge. Well, the problem that presented itself was that there was a carnival at "the stadium" and the locals decided to close numerous roads around the stadium. Well, it took about 30 minutes to go 5 or so miles. When I finally found the place I realized I had stumbled into their weekly stitch and bitch. Though, frankly, these people were so lovely, there wasn't a lot of bitching going on. The owner Beth (Hi Beth!) was lovely and made me feel welcome. I must admit, though, I did feel a little out of place. I had knitting with me (duh), but didn't knit. Instead, I mostly admired the work of everyone else, and talked about the knitted beaded bracelet I was wearing. Beth, a woman after my own heart, has a "thing" for knitting with beads.

And because I never know what to do when faced with an embarrassment of gorgeous, yarny, riches, I just bought sock yarn. I wanted to buy Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock because I have never used it before, but the price on each of the skeins (which were tied together, presumably to make a pair) was $19.95! Yikes, thought I, that's too rich for me. I wish I had asked though. Of course, they meant that it was $19.95 for both skeins, not each. Duh. I can be an idiot. Really. Instead I bought this.



This is Pacapeds sock yarn (20/65/15, alpaca/merino/nylon). I had never heard of it before. It is incredibly soft and lovely. I had intended to make socks using this for both mother and mother-in-law, but I think I have to try it for myself. The luster you see in the photo is pretty accurate. It is quite lovely. So one of the lovely mothers will just have to make do with Socks that Rock. Yes, I know it's a sacrifice.


I also have this from Mountain Colors. I was at Stitch Your Art Out my LYS for a Norwegian Purl class and couldn't leave without this.




I've never used Mountain Colors sock yarn for socks. The last time I used it I knit a Clapotis for my mother-in-law. It turned out great. The other weird thing is that I'm not exactly a "green" fan, but this just grabbed me. I think this has Monkey written all over it.





And if you're wondering why I haven't mentioned colors....it's because NONE of these yarns have colors on them. Weird or what?

For now I'm still tooling along on my chevron sock and my hanging gardens stole--the slog of slogs, though I'm just dying to finish it.