Best Quote I Heard All Day
The fundamentalists have taken the fun out of the mental--Ken Kesey

Will the road trip to FibreNorth be akin to the Merry Pranksters, without the drugs?

Here's to the memory of Ken, and Hunter S. as well. Two writers who, along with Mrs. Parker, taught me that writing needs an edge, if it's going to fly.

Blah, Blah, Blah
No edgy writing this week. Every so often, when I don't have time to write for public consumption, which was the case this week, Ted emails me and asks, "Are you OK?"

Yep. Never better. In fact, I will be going back to work next Monday, back to Slovenia World, which is rapidly turning into a much better place than when I left it last year. And I'll be working for my dear friend Susan, icing on the cake.

As for my little vacation and state of public incommunicado, I was finishing up the writing of my interview with Kristin Nicholas, which culminated in a one-day blitzkrieg trip up to Massachusetts this past Saturday to photograph her, the farmhouse, and some of her new designs from her upcoming book, Kristin Knits. The interview will appear in the Winter issue of IK. I'm pleased with it.

You know that after leaving Kristin to dash on home down I91, I had to stop at WEBS. It was 5 p.m. and I had a half hour. So I bought two skeins of the new Regia Kaffe Fassett sock yarn, Landscape Storm. (Never yarn-shop when you're on your cellphone talking business. It ruins the experience.)



Let me say this about that--I was somewhat underwhelmed by the yarn. WEBS seemed to have them all, both the Landscape and the Mirage types, and I picked through them. I think that what makes this yarn so much less worthy of Kaffe's talents is the gawd-awful striping, not the colors. Somehow, the big ole stripes on the Landscape don't seem to do his colorways justice. Check out the line here and see what you think. In fairness, you must see these yarns in person to get the true colors.

Rove-ing
Thank God he's gone. However, it's too late. The damage is done. More time with his family? How nice. How unbelievable.

Watch for a major stock market crash in October. I believe my dear Neal when he says that the time is here. Already, the subprime market is in huge trouble. However, as we all know, the Maroon-in-Chief wouldn't recognize a financial disaster from a natural one. Given the fine display of his leadership abilities during Katrina--you know, the same ones that made him such a success during his tenure with the Rangers--I would expect that on the day of the crash, he'll be clearing brush in Crawford. Or perhaps reading Camus.

Open Mic Thursday
I actually opened up one of my Knit List digests today, after a very long hiatus, and happened to see responses from a few people I recognized. When I do bother to skim the digests, I often just look at the subject. When I see something like "What to do with Fun Fur?", my first inclination is to write "Burn it." Ah, the toxicity of burning Fun Fur. What a concept. Better than asbestos, I would think. Far more damaging, probably.

Here's my topic for this week:

Did the advent of knitting blogs cause the intellectual disintegration of the major knitting lists?

Of course, even back in the halcyon days of the Knit List, there were mindless idiots posting stuff of little consequence, no question. But as a rule, the discussions then were smart, interesting, and often thought-provoking. The smaller, specialized lists still have some value, I believe. Some, but not much.

Campanula Redux
When I was up visiting Kristin this weekend, I told her that I'd had enough of lace for the time being. This is true. When I look back over the past year and a half, other than the Knit Picks Fair Isle vest (a present from Mammy), the Zizzer Zazzer hat, and the Guernsey socks, everything has been lace, starting with the Melanie shawl for Corinne's wedding.

And now, I'm on my last lace project for a while, Jenn's Campanula. I do like Rowan's Cotton Glace very much, though. It's become the cotton of choice for me. The colors are sublime.


Because I posted pictures of my Campanula, I won't be posting progress pictures of this one. The only difference between the two is that I'm shortening this for Jenn--she's 5'3" to my almost 5'7", so one less pattern repeat will be a perfect length for her. When it's done, then there will be a picture.

Cape May Antics
Carol invited me down to Cape May, the tip of NJ, where she and Tom and the kidz are spending a week. So Liz and I will travel down there today for a fun-filled day at the beach, something I haven't done in years. And it will be good to see my Sissyboo Deux--haven't seen her for a while.

No pictures of us in swimsuits. I swear.

The Book
I stopped writing my book some time ago, simply because I refused to put out something that was basically a reinvention of the knitting wheel. Shit, there are too many of those books out there. And although it was suggested by a person high up in the knitting publishing world that I write a book about myself and my life in the knitting world, I nixed that idea completely.

Isn't that what this blog is about, more or less?

However, readers have pestered and I did some pondering. And yes, there is a book up in this cramped cranium but perhaps not the book that everyone might expect. I'm working on the proposal now, so we'll see who bites. I'm not going to self-publish, as I originally intended to do. More trouble than it's worth.

An author doesn't make shit from books, you know. Nor do they from articles. This I know for a fact. So when and if the book proposal is accepted, I will have more to say about it. But not much.

Surprises are rare and handy, dontcha know?

Best Quote I Heard All Day
I base my fashion on what doesn't itch--Gilda Radner

Fashion. Who the fuck cares? If it looks good on you, it's right.

Besides, I still maintain that black always looks right on anyone for any occasion. Which is why I own a lot of black garments. I can go from work to a mortuary viewing to a party without a second thought as to my garb.

However, knitting with black yarn can be a total nightmare. Try knitting a black lace shawl.

Camp Anula
Tell me that I'm not still such a mommy that I could ever turn down my dear eldest daughter's request for a Campanula of her own. Jenn acts as model for the finished garment.

As you can see, I eschewed the I-cord ties for one simple crocheted chain threaded through the neckline eyelets and polished off with two small clay beads on each end. No ties on the sleeves for me; however, Jenn would like them. So I forthwith ordered more Cotton Glace, color Damson, per her request. For her own. She doesn't get mine.

So it's Camp Anula for me this summer, evidently. I really don't mind making another. It was a pleasure to knit.

Another Masterpiece
I've been cooking quite a bit lately, especially for the annual Roberts's Family Barbecue, held last Sunday poolside. Homemade strawberry shortcake, among other delicacies, made by yrs. truly Mamoo.

So fucking Betty Crocker I am. And I have now shed my ego entirely by publishing a picture of myself in my black (of course) bathing suit, no makeup, with freshly baked shortcakes in hand, ready for the vultures down on the deck. So, does this look good or what?

As I said to Loopy, I'm almost ready for the South Beach diet. Almost. But who can turn down fresh strawberries and shortcake? Damn.

Le Tour de Fleece
Katherine's doing her Tour de Fleece again this year and this time, I decided to sign up. Why? As you know, I don't generally do these things but it's an impetus to get some Chasing Rainbows bombyx top spun. Silk is always good. Besides, I enjoy the Tour de France. Along with curling, baseball, tennis, and other suchlike sports. So if you're interested, hit the Tour de Fleece button on the sidebar and sign up. I have 4 oz. of this silk to spin starting July 7th and ending the 29th.

Whether I get it done remains to be seen.

Happy 4th?
I hope the Amurricans among us have enjoyed their 4th. It poured rain here in Jersey for most of the day, so I played catch-up on indoor activities.

The 4th was also dampened by the pardoning of Scooter Libby. Disgusting. If you watch Keith Olbermann at all, Keith gave an impassioned commentary that sums up precisely what I hope every American understands and feels. You can view it here. It is well worth watching Keith rather than just reading it.

If the neocons start screaming about patriotism, they need look no further than Keith. In my mind, he is a patriot. Now we need to take what he says and demand the resignation of the Cheney/Bush regime. All of us. That's the right we won in our fight for independence and one that we should never forget we have to use. If we love our country, let's get rid of these miserable fucks by raising our voices. That's patriotism. It's past time to save this country.

Open Mic Thursday
In the spirit of freedom and saying what the fuck you think, any time and anywhere, here's this week's topic, as suggested by a reader:

Are people influenced not to make something they previously liked if it's snarked on a fairly popular blog? Or the opposite--did they make something everyone was making, and then it sat around in their closet unworn?

So, write your pithy remarks. As far as I'm concerned, I make what I want and don't give a shit who likes it or not, as long as I do. And I've never been one to join knitting bandwagons. So that's my take on the question.

Other News
I will be doing an interview with a very well-known designer to be published next winter in a major magazine. That's all I can say right now. But I'm very happy to have the opportunity to do writing of which I can be proud, rather than just technical writing.

I have been an editor and writer of many topics throughout my career, knitting being one, antiques, collectibles, payroll, insurance, valves, web-based applications, and other arcane items being others. I even managed to get an article on Flow Blue porcelain on the cover of a magazine once. That was probably the zenith for me.

However, those who know me well know that I am ill-suited for anything else. You wouldn't want me to be your waitress for the evening, that's for sure. I can't quite see myself as selling you Avon, either.

So with that, I leave you all to attack le matière du semaine. Yeah, I was a French major for my brief sojourn at Wilson College in the fine city of Chambersburg, PA. Who knew? Rather than lean on the talents I had using my native tongue, I decided to study a not-so-rare but handy foreign language. That and Latin. Absum!

Best Quote I Heard All Day

The Ninety-Ninety Rule of Project Schedules: The first ninety percent of the task takes ninety percent of the time, and the last ten percent takes the other ninety percent--Arthur Bloch

This weekend was exceptionally gorgeous. Much time spent on the deck, in a bathing suit, working on the Campanula's final piece, the second sleeve.

Those two pieces hanging over the railing are dry. I just stuck them there for lack of a better place.

Besides, it made a close-up easier.

The Other Ninety Percent

So now I've finished all the pieces to the Campanula cardigan and now you can see why you must make the effort to block your work.

To the right is an unblocked sleeve, to the left, a blocked front. Don't need to say anything else. As I write this, the shoulder seams are done and I'm about halfway done picking up the front/neckband edging, 337 stitches. The sleeves always go in last, unless it's a raglan, because I don't need the extra weight as I work the band.

Knitting Daily

Don't know if any of you have tapped into this, but Interweave has just started a new bloglike creation, with access to free patterns, many of which were freebies for subscribers via their website or from older issues, I think. Sandi Wiseheart writes it, and although it's certainly a running ad for IK subs, it has a lot of good stuff. Nicely designed web site, too.

The Barbara Walker Chart Project

I've completed several of these transposed chart and now the question is, how am I going to archive them so they will be easily catalogued and downloaded? I have several options, one of which is to put links to them on their own blog, which I may do. The original files will be on my FTP area, which means that you will be able to download the original file. If I just put the chart right on the blog, the size would be too small.

My hosting service offers free MySQL, which is a database, for those who don't know. However, as these charts will be saved as .png files, I'm not yet sure whether I want to go the database route.

It amazes me that some people hate charts. For one thing, they allow magazines to publish much more complex designs than they could if the directions were written out. Plus, they decrease the margin of error enormously. If you look at a 40-row lace pattern written out against its charted version, it's not hard to understand why. And if you train your eye to read them, you'll find that they ultimately make your work much easier.

My own sainted mother fought against learning how to read charts for years. And finally, several years ago, she gave in. Now she hates working without them because she is very visually oriented. So if a woman who's going to be 84 in two months can use charts, what's your excuse?

Upcoming Events

One of the best things about a Sunday morning is often a phone call from Ted. We talk about once a month or so and although I'm not much for chatting on the phone, damn! Ted and I can talk for hours. Just to keep you in the loop, if you read Ted's blog, you'll know he's planning a knitters retreat the last weekend of September. I am going. I'll make the drive from NJ to Canada, absolutely. Because this will be worthwhile.

And then there's Rhinebeck, aka NYS Sheep & Wool Festival. This year, it's October 20-21. I'll be there too, along with a bunch of Wolvies. I can't imagine what I could possibly buy, having taken a keen look at my fiber stash this morning. I'm still feeding from stuff I bought at Rhinebeck two years ago.

However, it's a ways off until the autumn. So I'll continue my rare and handy swimming, and start on a shawl for daughter Jenn. "Because, Moooommmm, you made Corinne a shawl for her wedding last year, what about ME?" No, Jenn's not getting married. But ya gotta make your kids happy. So that's next.

Best Quote I Heard All Day
If somebody makes me laugh, I'm his slave for life.--Bette Midler

Ain't that the truth?

Give me a man who can make me laugh uncontrollably. Not that I'm generally in control, anyways.

A Slight Change in Schedule
Due to the fact that A) it's summer, B) work continues to pile up, and C) my social life seems to have suddenly lighted a fire under its sorry ass, I'm going to move Open Mic Tuesday to Thursdays, just so's the blog gets balanced out with entries. And then try to get an entry posted either Saturday or Sunday.

OK, so I spent a good part of today in the water, lake and pool. Fucking bite me. I could have started writing an entry earlier than 11 p.m. But it was hot and sunny outside here in NJ, and I was hot and sunny. So that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Campanula
Sounds like an Italian dessert, doesn't it? "Oh garcon, bring me a slice of that swell Campanula, heavy on the whipped cream." Well, despite my busy schedule, I've managed to complete a big chunk of the Campanula cardi. Back, one front, one sleeve--done. Here's the back:


Not a great picture, simply because it was almost 11 when I took it, plus I was out being rowdy tonight and had a couple of drinks. My bad. But this has been a terrific knit, pretty easy but kinda like a good book--you can't wait to get to the end, you're turning the pages and reading it at 2 a.m., and then when you've reached the last page, you feel bad because it's over.

Suffice it to say that it ain't over yet but I would expect I will have it done by next weekend or so.

Having seen the preview of the new Knitter's on their gawd-awful morass of a website, I have to say that this Spring issue was definitely Dragonboy on 'ludes. Or something. Because the Summer issues sucks, big time. With three of his absolutely revolting schmattehs (one on the cover, of course), plus more from that hapless crowd of Anonny Mouses known as the Knitter's Design Team (is burning at the stake too good a punishment for lousy designs?), I'd say that the X-Men are back to their usual low standards. If there were not a roll of toilet paper left on the planet, I'd wipe my ass with leaves rather than use the Summer issue of Knitter's.

OK, I feel better now.

The Bloggyversary
July 25 marks the 5th anniversary of this blog. Hard to believe that I started writing this as grief therapy and it ended up where it has (not quite sure where that is, but what the fuck).

I've decided to do a very special project to mark that occasion. It's going to be something completely different from anything I've ever done. I'll be working on it during my vacation, which blessedly starts on June 30 and runs until July 8. So stay tuned.

And a New Project
Not that I have much else to do but one of the things that's been on my mind is the transposition of Barbara Walker's stitch patterns to charts, using Knit Foundry's Knit Visualizer. (Read my review of this outstanding charting software in the sidebar.) I will, of course, give full credit to Knit Foundry and Nancy. (Incidentally, she's working on an upgrade that will include not only color capability but other enhancements and bug fixes.)

I forget which of my readers mentioned this possibility but it's been one that I've been mulling over and have decided to do. The beauty of Knit Visualizer is that it has been programmed to accept BW's abbreviations and will parse them into symbols.

So beginning this week, I will start transposing. Now, how I'm going to archive these charts is an IT issue that I have to work out. Clearly, a database is needed and being the techie that I am, I do have some solutions. That said, I will make these charts available to you guys from this blog, probably via a link.

So, you ask, what made you decide to do this? Well, for one thing, I feel the need to contribute more to the general knowledge base. And as I stated in the last entry's comments, I have abandoned the book idea simply because I am not willing to write a book about myself. I don't have any cute anecdotes about knitting. Sorry, but there's nothing cutesy about me or my knitting, other than the fact that I did knit in Carnegie Hall last night during the intermission of a piano recital.

I will start with the first volume, probably with the lace patterns and then on to the cables. As far as other textured stitches are concerned, I will save those for the last, since they are the ones that least need charting, in my opinion. Obviously, this is going to take me a hell of a long time but I think it will be more than worthwhile, for me and for the rest of you.

After all, when I think about editing written-out lace patterns back in the '80s, charts are more than rare and handy. They are now indispensable.

Best Quote I Heard All Day
The word "user" is used by the computer professional when they mean "idiot."--Dave Barry


The whole key to writing successful user manuals is targeting the material to those who may or may not understand the concept of the electrical plug and the "On" button.


Long week of inserting edited text into .xml code. For those of you who know, I need not say more.

For those of you who don't, the proper analogy would be forced knitting of 200 yards of stockinette. In laceweight on size 000s. With my glasses off.

I feel like Lili von Shtupp. Tired. But if ever there were a role I was born to play, it's Lili. With the exception of the thousands of men, again and again.



Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Codeheads
A break was needed from IT BS. I decided last week that it was too hot to work on the Lavold, with just one sleeve left to go. So I put that aside and started Celeste's Campanula lace jacket from this issue of Knitter's, in the Rowan Cotton Glace that I had bought for the Ophelia pullover in the last Rowan mag.



I have been of a mind that pullovers really do make me look excessively tit-o-licious, so I'm rather into jackets and cardis these days. And this has been a very satisfying knit, I must say. Celeste, you've outdone yourself. Bravo for the fitted sleeves.

I will say that given the weight of the Cotton Glace, which is borderline fingering and probably a bit closer to DK, that this is a relatively hefty piece of work. Nonetheless, it's doable. I have not knitted with cotton in a number of years and this is exceptionally nice yarn.

As far as the ties for the front are concerned, I may work my way around that, simply because as someone mentioned, ties are "fiddly." Indeed. I'll keep the ties on the sleeves, though, because they're relatively unobtrusive.

Spinnin' Thin
OK, so I finally got my plyed BBF alpaca on the winder. This first batch was 319 yds. and I'm not done yet, by any stretch of the imagination.



I'm happy with it.

I did promise to write about my thoughts re: spinning thin. So here they are:

• Use a fiber that lends itself to fine spinning: merino, silk, alpaca. Any of these three blended work a treat. See my piece on spinning merino in the sidebar for more information on that fiber.
  
• Use a short/worsted draw. Better control.
• The thinner you spin, the more magnified any drafting inconsistencies become. And don't think that plying will hide them. The size of the inconsistency will determine whether or not it will disappear in the plying. So it had better be tiny.
  
• You do not have to use a special high-speed whorl, for which you pay extra, to spin laceweight. Use the highest ratio you have. You may have to treadle somewhat faster but not that much.
• Keep tension to a minimum. Have just enough so that the single winds onto the bobbin easily.
• Remember that the most minute amount of fiber will stay together if it has enough twist.
  
• Practice, practice, practice. Put on the high-ratio whorl. Begin spinning as you normally would, and then immediately start introducing less and less fiber into the twist. Adjust your treadling accordingly. You will find at first that you are probably not putting enough twist into the fiber and it will drift apart. At least, that's what happened to me. Too much twist and the single will snap, like a balloon popping. Surprise.

Using a spinning wheel is much akin to driving a car. Use your treadling, not your tension, to help control your single, as you would when you drive and use the brake/gas. If you run into drafting trouble, slow the fuck down! Or stop, remove the drafting mess you probably made and start again.

And don't put the death grip on the fiber. Your hand is there only to support and guide it lightly and if you clamp down on it, you not only won't draft smoothly but you will make a nasty fibrous blob.

Much of the above info applies to spinning in general. It's always a case of your control over the equipment, not vicey versy.

One of the things that absolutely amazes me is the amount of horrible spinning that people are doing and then having the nerve to sell online for $30+ a skein as "novelty" yarn. Well, in fact, who would know if they were trying to spin thick-and-thin on purpose or just flogging their badly spun wares to the uneducated public?

Since there's a plethora of crappy handspun out there that is labeled "novelty" yarn, my guess is that it's the latter, rather than the former.

Have a Nice Cup of STFU
One of the things that I do in my job is to create Flash tutorials, using Camtasia. Of course, it's not all that exciting, recording the fucking cursor go here, there, and everywhere on the application that my company produces; however, it did give me the idea to do some audio for the blog at some point.

I'm not talking about podcasting. I don't want to be bothered with that. However, I rather thought it would be fun at some point to do the blog as an audio file, rather than a typed one. Just a thought. I promise I will say "cawfee" at least once.

Summer Sluggishness
There's nothing more relaxing than sitting on the deck, knitting amidst my geraniums. I love them and I have the full sun all day for them, too.



Of course, when the Punk Princess and her jabbering girlfriends hit the pool, the serenity comes to a shrieking halt. Fortunately, all the friends also have pools, so yesterday, they made like Burt Lancaster in "The Swimmer" and did the tour.

It must be great to be almost 15, have the whole summer ahead of you, and be able to look good in a bikini. I remember those days, 42 years ago, when I went to Montclair Beach Club with my friends and lay out tanning (no sunscreen, of course), with the jukebox in the snack bar blasting "Help Me Rhonda" by the Beach Boys, which was #1 today on June 3, 1965.

Even at 57, summer is a rare and handy time of year.