My god, it's cold. I was brushing the snow off a windshield & scraped off the better part of a fingernail. Didn't even feel it, my hands were so cold. (Of course I felt it when my hands warmed up!) Hey, where's that blood from?

I finished my last present. A kufi for my brother. If I would have bothered to put up the instructions before, I would have had them available ... but no. So I had to recreate it by staring intently at this summer's kufi.

So here's my notes for those of you intrepid enough to build your own:
p -- purl
k -- knit
O -- yarn over
/ -- knit 2 together
\ -- slip, slip, knit tog slipped stitches
M -- knit 3 together (ie: 2 st decrease - what ever fashion you like)
RT -- Right leaning baby cable (2 stitches)*
*Remember, each letter is a stitch, so even though RT is one notation, it is over 2 stitches.

Lace**:
p k k p p k k k k k p
p R T p p k O M O p ----3
p k k p p k k k k k p
p R T p p O / k \ O p ---1

** a modification of Canada Lace in Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments. I changed the direction of the cable (because I knit right twists faster than I knit left twists) and recentered the stitch order to better work in the round. Read from right to left, bottom to top - like a chart.

Here's what I do:

Cast on 88 stitches on a circular needle. (All of my hats are 88 stitches, so I don't have to guess/remember how many to cast on/decrease. To alter size, change yarn/needles/gauge.)
purl one row;
knit one row;
begin lace pattern over 11 sts 8X & follow for 6 repeats (24 rows);
purl one row, BUT maintain the 8 baby cables (ie. *p9, RT*);
*p2 tog, k6, p1, k2*, rep.;
*p1, k6, p1, RT* rep.;
*p2 tog, k5, k2* rep.;
And so forth, switching to dpns when necessary, until you get to 24 sts remaining.
*p1, RT* rep.;
*k2 tog, k1* rep. 16 stitches left.
Cut yarn w/long tail, draw through remaining stitches tightly & weave in ends.

This makes a kufi on which the lace panels are separated by cables which spiral together at the crown.

I could write this out in idiot-proof directions, but I don't feel like it. There's enough information for most anyone to replicate this if they're so inclined. And more importantly there's enough here for me not to have to rebuild it next time I want to make one.

Mind you, I'm also writing this off the top of my head, after the fact, not as I'm going along, so the directions may be a bit wonky. (I don't see any errors, though it's possible.) But you're a smart knitter; you'll figure it out.

I'm debating on whether or not to go on a rant about vaginoplasty; there's an article in the Times. Gals - just leave it be. Nobody cares about your beef curtains. If there's discomfort involved, that's one thing, but if it's just for asthetics ... get over it. By the time your partners get to that point, they're not really worried about it.


And go see Kinsey; it was good.

Well,

I'm still waiting for the mittens from my exchange. It's getting cold; I hope they come soon. it's s'posed to go below freezing tonight.

Volleyball is still going. I'm not particularly feeling love from the team this week. Probably just paranoia. I haven't really spoken to anyone to feel love or otherwise. But I've joined another league for the winter season. It will probably be in addition to my current team, but we'll see. I also found a dodgeball league. That would be fun too.

I've finally become a poker lemming. We're having a game of Texas Hold 'Em this evening. I can't believe how much poker I watch on tv. But you just get sucked into it. The editing makes the game seem more incredible than it is. How many times in your life are you going to flop a set of aces? Or have two nines in the flop, a nine on the turn, AND on the river? But both happened on one episode of Celebrity Poker, as if this were a normal occurance.

As usual, I haven't knit, spun, or woven a g-d thing. Oddly enough, I haven't brewed anything either. I'm mired in ennui. I haven't even been running. I should have yesterday; it was gorgeous. I watched the start of the NYC marathon instead. Not that that made me feel any better. Nothing like a photo of a legless man or a man in a rhino suit running, to make you feel like a total schlumpf. I've seen the rhino guy before - back in '93. Saw Fred LeBow then too.

Tucson, December 2005! (Yeah, right ....)

Still not much to report on the Fiber Front, unfortunately. I snapped the driveband on the Dundas, and instead of just making a new one, I dragged out the Millie and have been spinning on that. Which I guess is good; it's horribly under utililzed. My finger still twinges when I flex it, but it doesn't hurt nearly as badly. However, I still can't touch my palm. It's a new volleyball season, so either it'll get better or worse.

October is normally a big fiber time for me. I almost always go to Rheinbeck, but I'm going to skip it this year. There's a beer event in NYC that weekend, which sounds like much more fun. I've mentioned it to my friend to see if he can get his band to play there. Honestly though, fiber is the last thing I need to spend money on.

I've resolved to get the 6 bags of fiber out of my office this week. (The rest of the household is on vacation, so I should be able to get it stashed away without comment.)

I've still been running, although I cheated this week. I just didn't feel like it. It happens sometimes. I walked about half the route, then changed my usual path home to include some hills. Whenever I don't run the entire time, I either go farther or run harder on the parts I do run. Anyway... by changing my route I neglected to stretch (no bars/barres on this route), and my legs are still sore.

What would my life be without something or other to complain about?

My finger is still messed up. I can't touch my palm when I bend it. (All of the other fingers can do this.) It's affecting my setting in volleyball. So I haven't been spinning or knitting or whatnot. I also can't get the ring off of that finger - I've tried soap, oil, etc. It's on there for good. Weird. I'm going to have to figure this out at some point.

Back from vacation. No, I didn't look for any yarn store and I didn't knit on the plane. It was Florida for god's sake - there are other things to do. Anyway, I sprained a finger a couple of days before I left, and I barely feel like typing, much less knitting.

I finished my fittin' mitten exchange gloves before jamming my finger, so I just have to send them out. Only 3 months early - who'da thunk it?

I have to mail a b-day present today and I'm at a loss as to what to get my father. We're the type of folk who need nothing!

Mindless quiz time:




Jolly good, wot! Anyone for tennis? That'll be ten ponies, guv. You're the epitome of everything that is english. Yey :) Hoist that Union Jack!

How British are you?

this quiz was made by alanna

I finally abused the yarn too much. Last night I was out drinking with the team and I had the project in a zippered bag. The yarn got caught in the zipper. My teammate was able to get it unstuck without breaking the yarn, but when I went to pay for the cab, I saw it was stuck again. It snapped this morning, since I don't have my teammate's patience. Oh well, I have to frog it anyway. I'll use that bit for the thumb.

Knitting is boring.

There's nothing that's really a challenge anymore. I'm working on a piece that's probably the slowest thing I've ever done. Mostly because I knit it up to the thumb and then frog it EVERY DAY. It's the reversible mittens from Homespun Handknit, where you're knitting a two color mitten, but you're also knitting the same pattern inverted at the same time, so you'll be able to turn the mitten inside out and have the exact negative. It's kinda clever, but it's a bitch to implement. First of all it's on 1s in fingering weight, so there are more stitches than my usual gloves/mittens. Then I had to get used to purling in the round, with my left hand. (I'm a thrower - English knitter; I knit Continental fine, from doing stranded colorwork, but I've rarely had occasion to purl.) On top of that you have to make sure the floats are carried between the two layers, and that you're knitting the pattern correctly on both layers. This does not make for "zen"/commuter knitting.

The first time I frogged it was because I wasn't happy with my tension and my increases were sloppy. The second time I seemed to have miscounted the increase row. This time there are two lattice stitches knitted in the wrong color on the light side, and one on the dark. Feh! (Yes, I know I can just duplicate stitch them in later, but that would be cheating, wouldn't it?)

The thing is, the pattern isn't difficult; I'm just not paying attention well enough. (No matter how complicated a knitting pattern is, it's basically the same stitch mechanism as your average garter-stitch, skittle-puke, fake-fur scarf.) I can easily see myself getting bored before I get to the other mitten.

The one good thing is that my spinning has held up rather well through all of the frogging and abuse. I spun a good yarn for this. The light yarn is a little thinner than the dark, but it holds its own.

Quote of the Day:
I know I'm going to die alone and my cats are going to feed on my decaying corpse for weeks until the stench alerts the neighbors. I'm fine with it. And if no one shows up at my funeral, then I will not have made anyone cry.

One of these days I'm going to have to figure out just how fast I spindle. It seems to me that I'm pretty productive when I want to be. I'll have to just spin for an hour and skein it off/measure it.

I'm mortified that I have a sun burn. I rarely, if ever, burn. My face is peeling & I feel silly. Mind you that I was wearing SPF 30 and a hat the entire time I was out in the sun this weekend. Go figure. My arms & shoulders aren't burned, just my face. At least it doesn't hurt.

I just won a contest. Where was my luck when the $290M lottery was going? Ah well, beggars can't be choosers.

I'm exhausted.

I just did a 2 day volleyball clinic and it kicked my ass. I haven't trained that hard in decades. About a third of the group didn't come back for the second day, they were so tired. But it was good. And if I could do that, for 2 days on the beach, in the hot sun, without collapsing, it just proves that I'm not training hard enough on my runs, cuz I'm never that tired. I was so tired I was hallucinating.

There were so many things I was meaning to do this weekend, but I kept falling asleep. I did manage to ply off what was on my spindle. I've been doing laceweight lately, more than doubling my usual yardage output per spindle. Unfortunately, it now takes me 2.5 hours to ply it off too. But it's nice yarn. Maybe I'll spin enough for a shawl. I'd rather do that on the wheel, but my driveband broke. I have to make a new one. (Or just use the other wheel, duh.)

yawn!

Oh - and I did make that phone call. The store was busy so we couldn't chat, but now we both have each other's number, so I imagine I'll get a call back at some point.

When in doubt, Google:

Blacks during the Holocaust
... camp system. Lionel Romney, a sailor in the US Merchant Marine, was
imprisoned in the Mauthausen concentration camp. Jean Marcel ...
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005479

OSS
... Lionel Romney, Negro fireman, US Merchant Marine, 'SS Makis' sunk off Pantelleria 17 June 1940, captured by Italians and interned eventually in Mauthausen. ...
http://www.udt-seal.org/oss.html

I dragged the bike out for he first time this year. Cleaned off the cobwebs (literally), cleaned the chain, etc. and rode around for 2 hours. I just didn't feel like running yesterday. I guess the midnight screening of Spiderman 2 was too much for me in my old age. Either that or the fact that there was a cherry moon. I noticed it at 2:40 am, and had to go out every 10 minutes thereafter too see what color it'd darkened to ... all of the way to its setting. It was worth it I guess.

Well, anyway. I rode around for a while, then decided to swing by the local homebrew shop to see if they'd gotten the bottle washers in yet. They had. I like my local shop (the only one in the city, in fact) because the sales staff is hot. It's located near my HS and the people who work there are the same types I used to be attracted to in HS. It reminds me of my youth. So ... long story short, I was chatting with the cashier about biking, and brewing, and beer ... and I got the digits! I didn't even ask. I'm s'posed to call if I want to do an upstate bike trip. I can't get excited about it because I believe there's a significant other in the wings. But I've always thought this particular salesperson was hot. But I would never have the guts to make the first move. (Not that any move was made - but I never would have thought to suggest that we go biking together. I just brought up the idea that it would make a good outing; the bike trails are close to the brewery.) So that was kinda cool. As I was leaving I kept wondering "Did I think what just happened happen?"

Needless to say, I haven't called yet. Aren't you supposed to give it a certain number of days? And anyway, all I'm going to say is that I don't have a free weekend until the 24th; if that's cool, then pencil it in. It would seem over eager to call immediately just to say that. I'll call tomorrow. (It's on my calendar.)

After all that excitement, I had a funeral last night. It was REALLY long, but I liked the guy, so I couldn't mind. It's shitty that you don't learn the cool things about people until they're gone. I learned earlier this year that one of the family friends was a weaver. I never knew he wove. Never knew he used to own a lumber company either. The guy whose funeral was last night was my neighbor. He was 91. He always used to try to race me in the winter mornings when it snowed. Who ever got out first would shovel for both houses. You know damn well I made it my business to get up first. Anyway, I didn't know he liked languages. I knew he spoke Dutch, but I didn't know about Spanish, Papiamento, Italian, & German. And the latter two he learned in a concentration camp in Austria (Mauthausen). The weird thing is, he was black - a St. Maarten native. He was in the Dutch Merchant Marines and his ship was mined, that's how he got captured. He was imprisoned for 4 years. Why do you never hear about black people in the concentration camps? In all my life I've never heard of such a thing, and I've watched German documentaries, movies, American films, Hungarian films on the subject. He said there were a lot of North Africans there too. They showed a small film of him discussing the experience at the funeral. He would imitate the German guards and laugh. (Funny, with his accent, I understood his German and Italian better than his English.) They would refer to him as the Moor, not realizing he understood most of what they were saying. Every morning they would come in and shout Wer verstorben? (Who's dead?) to ascertain who'd died during the night. And every day they'd call out someone's number and that person never came back. The elderly were killed right away, but the younger folks worked in a factory. The tape was the first time he'd ever discussed his experiences - 40 years after.

You never know who the person is next to you.

Yeah, yeah, I forgot to do the kufi pattern again.

I've been working on socks. It's so hot & humid I'm afraid they're going to felt as I'm knitting them, but what are you going to do? They're the Aran Sandal Socks from Socks, Socks, Socks, which means (by definition), the pattern has errors. I've made them before, so I've corrected most of the errors on my working copy, but there is a minor one I'd missed. Mostly because it doesn't really matter. After you finish decreasing the gusset you're supposed to have 58 stitches left, but the diagram illustrating how many stitches are supposed to be on each needle only totals 56. I can't decide if I want to work the rest of the foot on 58 or 56 stitches. Like I said - it doesn't really matter; I think I'm just bored.

Hmm - I just looked it up and it's such a minor thing that it hasn't made anyone's errata page. Okay - executive decision time: I'm going to go with (drumroll) 58!

I'm wearing my fingerless gloves made from the same yarn (WFB Nyala) as it's FREEZING in my office. She's really soft; hardly any prickle.

Lemme see if I can go refresh my memory on how I usually make Right foot & Left foot socks.

I keep forgetting to write down that kufi pattern so I can post it here. It's rather cute, if I do say so myself.

It's spring. I have a crush on someone unavailable. What else is new? Crushes are cool. The object is irrelevant. At least you get to feel for a little while.

Spring Cleaning

I finally broke down and threw out all of the fleeces I know I won't ever use. Most of these were stored improperly anyway (read: left lying around). I don't have the energy to go through my cedar chest of 20 year old yarn. sigh. So now I just have 3 fleeces to bring home from the office, and 3 more at the processor ... and 2 in the garage ... plus the ones stored properly. sigh. This is why I can't even look at yarn catalogues any more. The only thing that interests me is Euroflax Linen. I love my linen sweater to death, and I need more of them. (And I have no intention of spinning linen.)

So right now I'm trying to find a kufi pattern. I have a partial ball of organic cotton tape yarn, from which I made a shell. I figure, if I make a kufi, it'll keep my bangs out of my face when I'm playing volleyball, and perhaps suck up some sweat. (I have a terry headband, but my dorkiness does have limits.) I considered knitting wrist bands, but I wasn't sure if it would affect my passing. Which, believe me, doesn't need any sort of impairment. (Not that I have to pass so much; I seem to be stuck as setter this season. Now if I could just get them to run a 5-1 so I won't have to receive at all .... )I used to just wear long sleeves, but we have *uniforms* now ....

I found a couple - there aren't really many out there and none of them are really what I was thinking. Don't tell me I have to design something. feh.

I found a weaving book on sale at the library today. It's Handweaving by Iona Plath. It's old enough not to have an ISBN; the copyright date is 1964. It's mostly 4 harness patterns for upholstery. The neatest thing is it still has the original receipt in it. It was purchased from National Book Company (MU2-3908), 6/30/65, for the whopping sum of $6.72 (+ 20¢ postage and insurance). National Book Company notes "Regret we cannot supply 'Swedish Handweaving'". LCM* of Lounsbury Road in Croton-on-Hudson was the purchaser.

Well, it's a good buy in that it's already provided me with more than $1's worth of entertainment.


*Name and address witheld for obvious reasons. BTW, LCM are my initials too! (And my father's, etc.)

You are Bob Herbert! You're not the most sparkling
writer, but one of the most solid and selfless
on the Op-Ed staff. You focus on New York
politics, the poor, race issues, and civil
liberties. You like to quote others, and rarely
place yourself in your columns. You keep it
real. Seriously.


Which New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I'm not sure how I got here today. I was creating a LiveJournal Account (yeah - like I'll blog there any more than I do here - not to mention I set my preferences to display in Hungarian, so it takes effort for me to navigate around.) and tried to type in another URL, but I spelled it wrong and just ended up typing "t" instead of adding "t" to what I had already typed, and that somehow brought me to Blogger. So I figured I'd post.

I finished my computer gloves. That's probably the first project I've completed in what, 6+ months? It only took about 10-15 hours. I should knit more.

I got the WFB fleeces that I wanted. First time in 5-6 years I've been able to score a jet black lamb's fleece. Cool beans. Looking forward to getting those. At least it will give me some new colors of fleece to stare at in my office.

Well, signing into Blogger got me a new Gmail account, so I'm going to go play over there for a bit.

I hear its warm out today. It's supposed to go up to 82 degrees in NYC today. 84 in Philadelphia. The northeast is warmer than Florida. But I wouldn't know, I'm stuck inside.

Now that there is no more windchill, I'm crafting more. I tend to do all of my hobbies outside. Well, except for homebrewing. I've been working on gloves for a couple of days. (Still doing ribbing on 0s) I'm also trying to spin up some space dyed roving from Rheinbeck. I've got a pile of 7 skeins of sport weight wool that I'm trying to figure a purpose for (770 yards blue, 154 yrds eggplant, 154 yrds mauve). Any suggestions?

Take the quiz: "Which American City Are You?"

Las Vegas
You Shine bright and partake in all the vices. You'd rather burn out then fade away.

Welcome back to the twice-a-month blog. (how pathetic)

Well it's only appropriate as I haven't gotten any crafting done since the last time. I have been thinking about it though. That's probably because we're coming up on shearing season again, and I'll probably buy at least 3 fleeces, despite the fact theat the 3 fleeces from last year have not yet left my office. (Bags of fleece make excellent insulation in a drafty space.)

Also I've been playing over on orkut. I think that's more up my alley at the momemnt because I can talk about homebrewing, then switch to spinning, Hungarian, bacon, or The Tick. I don't feel so pigeon-holed into posting things like "I haven't knitted anything this (week/month/year)", albeit the running theme of this blog, when in actuality, I've been doing lots of other things instead (brewing, volleyball, travelling, etc.)

Well I'm off to the Northwest US next week. Here's to hoping I don't capsize in the river again!

You are interchangeable.
Fun, free, and into everything, you've got every
eventuality covered and every opportunity just
has to be taken. Every fiber is wonderful, and
every day is a new beginning. You are good at
so many things, it's amazing, but you can
easily lose your place and forget to show up.
They have row counters for people like you!


What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Whew - has it been a month already? I can't believe I haven't posted. well I haven't touched any fiber, so what is there to say really? I've been insanely busy. You know those weeks when you haven't gotten any sleep, and worse yet, you don't foresee getting any sleep in the near future? I'm so tired. I've been having really good dreams; my body's way of trying to trick me into staying in bed longer. But I just have too much to do.

Speaking of which, why am I sitting here talking to you? I have to go buy more beer and make a list of things I need from home for the party tomorrow...

I can't believe I overslept today. I stopped using an alarm clock around Easter of 2000. I simply stopped needing it, and since then I very rarely oversleep, but today was one of those days. Yesterday was very long. I left for work at 6 am, and in the evening, I had a volleyball game that started at 10 pm. (To add insult to injury, I ended up being the setter - extra running aound.) I didn't go to bed until one, and I guess the exercise really pooped me. My eyes didn't pop open until 7 am this morning. (That's usually the time I'm getting on the bus.) Jaj!

I'm too tired to have fiber content today. Really too tired to have any content; you'd probably be better off reading NewYorkish instead. I really just logged on to add the Book Crossing link (left).

It's been a miserable two weeks.

No, wait ...

It's not been miserable in the crappening sense, I've just been strung out too thin and doing too much. Too many meals out, too many meetings, too many tasks, none of which got completed to my satisfaction. Too many things that didn't get done and not enough time to rest.

I missed my last restaurant week meal, mostly because I'd stayed out all night and wasn't appropriately dressed the next day. (It'd been a long time since I'd gone to work in yesterday's clothes....)

I've got a board meeting tonight, a volleyball game tomorrow, I have to do laundry, Hungarian homework, etc. I need to do a Fermata (like in the Nicholson Baker book) so I could just have a couple of days to eat properly and sleep.

yawn

Just 2 words for you today:

Tree Cozies

This is my vocabulary list for my first assignment


Vocabulary for New Orleans:



lay-over: az utazás rövid megszakítása
travel delay insurance: utazási biztosítás
carry-on luggage: recepció
concierge: szállodaportás
to check into a hotel: szállodába bejelentkezik
hotel reservations: szobafoglalás
restaurant reservations: asztalfoglalás
give up a plane ticket: repülo"jegyet felad
receive a free ticket in exchange: más repülO"jegyet kap cserébe
flight: járat

infection: fértO"zés

aquarium: akvárium
shark: cápa
touch-pool: érinthetO" / próba medence

Bourbon Street:

live sex acts: élO" szexcselekmények
stripper: sztriptíztáncosnO"
night club: éjszakai mulató
balcony: erkély
beads: gyöngylánc
bar: bár, kocsma




(Capitals simply reflict my inablitiy to express Hungarian diacritics in html.)

Need I say more about my trip? grin

I'm in a crappy mood and I don't want to blog.

I've had two full bobbins on my wheel for months now so I decided to ply them off. I spindle so often that I totally forget what huge bobbins my wheel has. I plied one bobbin (over)full and started to skein it off. I skeined 200 yards and barely made a dent in the bobbin. I couldn't be bothered to cut and tie it - the whole thing makes me tired. So the skein is still on my niddy and still attached to the wheel. There's probably 6-700 yards on that bobbin, and I still haven't emptied off the singles from the other two. Wish I liked the Millie more - I have 10 bobbins for that one, I wouldn't have to ply anything off.

Last semester of Hungarian, and I think I'm on my own. There are 3 people in the class, one very advanced, one with lots of vocabulary but bad grammar, and me (correct enough grammar, no vocabulary) - so I think I'm getting bumped into a private session and the other two will have class together. No.. that's not stressful. Hopefully that will make me do my homework in a more timely fashion (as opposed to ummm ... blogging?!) For Thursday I have to write a report about my last trip to New Orleans. How do you say "Show me your dick & I'll give you some beads" in Hungarian?

The news lately

I've been so quiet during this whole Mad Cow debacle. I've watched them twist and evade on the news every moring, and the next morning contradict everything they said the day before. But this quote in the Times got me today:

"The industry has been quick to point out that far more people die from salmonella and E. coli than from mad cow disease. "

thuds head on desk ... repeatedly
Objection, your honor, the defense is making my case for me. Ah, I wish I could verify that statement. Who was the rocket scientist who sought to placate the masses with that comparison? (If you're not following, salmonella and E-coli are also spread by poor carcass handling in the slaughter process.)

That was even better than these figures they've been throwing around:
(from National Cattlemen's Beef Assoc.)
___
Q5.

Has BSE ever been found in the U.S.?

A5.

The USDA has conducted a BSE surveillance program in the U.S. for 13 years and has tested over 57,362 brain specimens from cattle displaying any neurological symptoms and from non-ambulatory animals (downer cows) that might indicate BSE.
____

Wow - 57,362 in 13 years... what with 150,000-195,000 downer cows a year? (And yes, I understand that the category "downer cows" includes simple, non-neurological ailments like broken legs and other such injuries.)

Sigh, at least they're recognizing the need for change regardless of whether or not said change is cost-effective.