tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137507942024-03-12T20:24:45.887-04:00 Jersey Knitter roundabout Exit 151Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.comBlogger843125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-72264890901895881572023-09-30T23:22:00.001-04:002023-10-01T07:23:50.404-04:00The Skies Are Cloudy All DayYesterday the region roundabout Exit 151 was awash in heavy rain and flash flooding, with some locations receiving what is ordinarily <a href="https://www.nj.com/weather/2023/09/nj-declares-state-of-emergency-as-flooding-from-torrential-rain-worsens.html" target="_blank">a month's worth of rain in a few hours</a> from a storm characterized as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/30/nyregion/climate-change-flooding-storms.html" target="_blank">smaller-scale</a>. Welcome to the <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/big-history-project/acceleration/the-anthropocene/a/the-anthropocene" target="_blank">Anthropocene</a>, when formerly 100-year weather events become both more common <i>and</i> harder to forecast. I stayed home (because I can) and worked on my <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bonfire-crescent-shawl" target="_blank">Bonfire Crescent Shawl</a> by Annie Lupton for the <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/yarnia-2/4276375/" target="_blank">Yarnia Knit Collage MAL</a>. Apologies for the bad-light photo, the sky today remains overcast.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/53221873047/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53221873047_67d21d704f.jpg" alt="Bonfire Crescent Shawl WIP" width="500"></a><br><br>
So far both the MC and the CC are thick-and-thin Spun Cloud which as its name suggests is light and soft. I'm not much liking knitting with it. I used the backwards-E cast on to reduce bulk and will carry the MC through the color changes without breaking it, also to reduce bulk. Theoretically it should be possible to spit-splice the MC and CCs together (except for Wildflower, of course), but I plan to splice the CC ends together instead to avoid weaving in. <i>To be continued....</i><br>
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-60200613792996050982023-09-28T15:08:00.001-04:002023-09-28T17:15:45.082-04:00Trying ItIn this strange time, both post-covid yet also still not over it, I've become convinced we've collectively lost our damn minds. For a personal example, I'm ignoring my <a href="https://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2023/08/excavated-object.html" target="_blank">Excavated Object</a>. For another, I tried <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/12/business/coca-cola-y3000/index.html" target="_blank">Y3000 Coke</a>, purportedly co-created using artificial intelligence. It tastes sweet n' fruity and the label is strangely soft-focus fuzzy. I don't plan to drink any more of it. I'm not sure why I drank it at all. Well, except to give it a try.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/53219416465/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53219416465_9fafbaba66.jpg" alt="Y3000 Coke" width="500"></a><br><br>
Through the end of October <a href="https://shopyarnia.com/" target="_blank">Yarnia</a> is sponsoring a <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/yarnia-2/4276375/" target="_blank">Knit Collage make-along</a>. Despite misgivings, I decided to give it a try. I bought a US size 13 (9 mm) circular needle, shown here with a pen for scale. It's really big. It's what's specified in the pattern, <a href="https://knitcollage.com/products/bonfire-shawl" target="_blank">Bonfire Crescent Shawl</a> <br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/53219472892/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53219472892_7b34e94454.jpg" alt="Size 13 needle" width="500"></a><br><br>
I bought the requisite yarn, main color <a href="https://knitcollage.com/products/spun-cloud" target="_blank">Knit Collage Spun Cloud</a> in colorway High Vibes. It's a fluffy bulky-weight thick-and-thin yarn plied with two strands of lurex.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/53218613973/in/photostream/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53218613973_a22cde2b9a.jpg" alt="Knit Collage Spun Cloud, colorway High Vibes" height="500"></a><br><br>
And I bought the contrast colors (and textures) in the <a href="https://knitcollage.com/products/minis" target="_blank">Knit Collage Yarn Sampler Mini Kit</a>, colorway Bouquet, which is comprised of 17 yd (15.5 m) lengths of Spun Cloud, colorway French Vanilla; Dreamland, colorway Circle Game; Wildflower, colorway Beatnik; Daisy Chain, colorway Grand Prismatic; Cast Away, colorway Chasing Rainbows.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/53218613978/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53218613978_35aca9be2b.jpg" alt="Knit Collage Yarn Sampler Mini Kit, colorway Bouquet" width="500"></a><br><br>
It must be admitted I am a lover of strange yarns. This bundle is passing strange. Some of the yarn is badly overspun. Dreamland and Daisy Chain are plied with random bits of lace flowers and whatnot. Wildflower is knotted strips of thin cotton fabric. I've hand-wound the yarns into balls. Y'know, for the sake of trying it. <i>To be continued....</i><br>
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-32217447825838470062023-08-29T10:32:00.002-04:002023-08-29T10:32:00.159-04:00Excavated ObjectFor the <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/sock-knitters-anonymous/4267617/" target="_blank">SKA August challenge</a>, finishing WIPs, I excavated a gray version of <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/embossed-leaves" target="_blank">Embossed Leaves</a> by Mona Schmidt that was cast on in <a href="http://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2007/12/recovery.html" target="_blank">November 2007</a>. Needless to add, it's been a UFO for a long time. The most recent photo of it was taken in <a href="http://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2008/01/wip-wednesday.html" target="_blank">January 2008</a>. Here's what the sock looked like then.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/2197485467/in/photolist-4o4YYy-4mbFSt-4mbFT8-4mbFTK-4mfJ2G-4nvJB7-4nvJB9-4nvJBd-4nvJBf-4nEVR6-4nEVRc-4nEVRk-4o4YYw-4o4YYA-4o4YYC-4oEgWa-4oEgWc-4pbu2C-4pbu2G-4pbu2L" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/2038/2197485467_14ab5d3f29.jpg" alt="WIP in January 2008" width=500></a><br><br>
It's well-preserved, in the August 25 (2023) proof of sock photo it looks like it scarcely aged a day.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/53140471457/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53140471457_4ce1b35a70.jpg" alt="Proof of Sock, August 25, 2023" width=500></a><br><br>
Er, or put another way, there hasn't been much progress on this work in progress in 16 years. Can I finish the pair before the end of the month? <i>To be continued....</i><br>
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-60307398181014341662023-08-17T12:19:00.066-04:002023-08-17T12:19:00.143-04:00Friendship Bracelet SwapOne of this summer's many pleasures has been watching the excitement surrounding the two Taylor Swift Memorial Day weekend concerts at the Meadowlands. Somehow I'd never made friendship bracelets when I was a <i>jeune fille</i>, and I was particularly agog at the Swifties and their <a href="https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a43948812/taylor-swift-friendship-bracelets-eras-tour-explained/" target="_blank">multitudinous bracelets and culture of gifting and swapping</a>. So of course I signed up for the <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/lazy-stupid-and-godless/4263931/" target="_blank">LSG Friendship Bracelet Swap</a>.<br><br>
Swifties seem to favor bracelets made of beads with in-group messages strung on elastic cord, but I went with old school knotting and embroidery floss, and later switched to tapestry cotton. It took watching <i>several</i> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@MashaKnots" target="_blank">Masha Knots tutorials</a> and a couple false starts, but I finally knotted a basic chevron bracelet out of <a href="https://www.dmc.com/US/en/products/tapestry-wool" target="_blank">DMC Soft Cotton</a> aka Cotton Retors No. 4 and sent it on its way to my downstream secret pal. The Slytherin-ish colors and 100% cotton are per specs. Be it ever so humble, it's another FO.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/53106039261/in/photostream/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53106039261_db611ccd3e.jpg" alt="Friendship bracelet sent to downstream pal" width="500"></a><br><br>
My upstream secret pal, revealed to be Andy aka CheerfulOtter's spouse, sent this distillation of summer. I love it – the bright colors, the fancy knotting, the summery vibe – <i>everything</i>.<br><br>
<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53116822683_149c17bff4.jpg" alt="Friendship bracelet received from upstream pal" width="500"></a><br><br>
I'm going to wear it everywhere during the last, luscious weeks of summer.<br>
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-22851719880040608772023-08-14T12:41:00.005-04:002023-08-14T12:41:00.156-04:00Hawai'i WildfiresI had intended to blog cheerily about my newest FO, but instead have been riveted by the devastating wildfires on the island of Maui and the island of Hawaii. After some research I've added the donate button to the right in support of a local fund addressing immediate needs on both islands through a network of churches, the <a href="https://www.hcucc.org/single-post/responding-to-wildfires-on-our-islands" target="_blank">Hawai'i 2023 Wildfires Relief Fund</a>. Or you may prefer the <a href="https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/strengthening/maui-strong-fund" target="_blank">Maui Strong Fund</a>, also local, which funds other nonprofits and focuses on the island of Maui.<br><br>
And here's the FO, a water bottle cozy. I'm quite pleased with this one. I use 'em to protect the finish on my water bottle when it's in my tote bag.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/53106450520/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53106450520_b6b5712c66.jpg" alt="Water bottle cozy FO" width=500></a><br><br>
Although the irony of finishing a water bottle cozy while watching a conflagration just <i>guts</i> me.<br>
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-53238551680113245022023-08-07T18:47:00.002-04:002023-08-07T18:47:59.975-04:00Another!If you know, you know. That scene in the diner when <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VQPS7qOJ_A" target="_blank">Thor smashes his coffee mug</a> and demands, "Another!" Also beverage-related, I've started another water bottle cozy. This is the base. There's no pattern, just crocheting around.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/53100025141/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53100025141_a187e7ed77.jpg" alt="" width="500"></a><br><br>
It seems an auspicious way to begin blogging again, again.
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-16380224412270567032022-11-11T12:35:00.000-05:002022-11-11T12:35:00.265-05:00Pocky DayIt's Pocky Day, 11.11.22. If you know, you know.<br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/52493202763/in/dateposted/" target=_blank><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52493202763_703ebc912f.jpg" alt="Pocky Day store display" width="500"></a><br>
Meanwhile, my old utili-sweater suffered a blowout. Make that multiple blowouts, but one example will suffice for illustrative purposes.<br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/52493156455/in/dateposted/" target=_blank><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52493156455_22f8e78e78.jpg" alt="Utili-sweater blowout" width="500"></a><br>
The blowouts are so many and so extensive as to preclude darning, patching, weaving, or other repairs. What to do? I wonder....
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-5430961277040321022022-08-15T10:13:00.000-04:002022-08-15T10:13:09.430-04:00Doing the DashThere's little Actual Knitting Content today. Instead, this August I'm <a href="https://www.ucc.org/do-the-mission-dash-5k-to-support-international-climate-justice-efforts/" target=_blank>Doing the Dash</a>, a fundraising effort to support <a href="https://www.globalministries.org/environment_protection/" target=_blank>environmental projects</a> mostly in the global south. The Dash includes an excellent <a href="https://www.globalministries.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/GM-MissionDash-Calendar_2022.pdf" target=_blank>Action Calendar</a> (PDF). Today's action, without irony, is <a href="https://www.drjenniferatkinson.com/breathe" target=_blank>Take Some Time for Contemplation</a>. It's about coherent breathing, plus there's a Neruda poem.<br>
<a href="https://www.drjenniferatkinson.com/breathe" target=_blank><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52287610889_fd2f480f58_o.jpg" alt="Take some time for contemplation" width="300"></a><br>
Be sure to breathe today.Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-56821403047238252742022-06-13T12:02:00.001-04:002022-06-13T15:13:29.278-04:00Stop the MadnessSomehow I never did quite summon the necessary enthusiasm for Madness. I mean the fake Internet, do-it-for-the-lulz, March <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/sock-madness-forever" target="_blank">Sock Madness</a> variety and not the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/11/world/europe/russia-momentum-ukraine.html?smid=url-share" target="_blank">real world warring madness</a> types. The latter have a way of draining the joy from everything, rendering the former empty husks. I gathered yarn, printed the <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/engelkristall" target="_blank" alt="Engelkristall by Caia Gossens">qualifying pattern</a>, tried a few color combinations, but advanced no further. Ah well.<br><br>
Instead of Madness I did a spot of baby knitting. There's nothing like babies and baby knitting to restore a sense of goodness and sanity to the world. This is <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/watermelon-baby-cardigan" target="_blank">Watermelon Baby Cardigan</a> by Stitchylinda Designs worked in King Cole Cottonsoft DK. Beautiful pattern, beautiful yarn – I especially love how the yoke increases look like watermelon seeds.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/52066183114/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52066183114_67bd80eb16.jpg" alt="Watermelon Baby Cardigan FO" width="500"></a><br><br>
That's better. On to <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/yarnia-2/4201112/" target="_blank">Yarnia Sock Bingo</a>, <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/summer-of-socks" target="_blank">Summer of Socks</a>, and the new-to-me Supersock World Championship, on <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/supersock-world-championship" target="_blank">Ravelry</a> and on a <a href="https://supersockworldchampionship.com/" target="_blank">companion website</a>. Despite its grandiose name, SWC seems reasonable and mellow and I'm hoping to qualify. But, as always, the <a href="https://supersockworldchampionship.com/countdown-clock-2" target="_blank">countdown timer</a> waits for no knitter. <i>Must knit faster</i>.
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-2920115707688528302022-02-06T07:47:00.001-05:002022-02-06T09:07:33.169-05:00And It's FebruaryAnd just like that, it's February and <a href="https://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2021/10/halloween-2021.html" target="_blank">three months since my last post</a>. The last time I started a post with "And just like that..." <a href="https://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2021/08/and-its-august.html" target="_blank">it was August</a> and I was knitting along for the <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/ravellenics-2021-summer-of-crafting" target="_blank"><del>2020</del> 2021 Summer Ravellenics</a>.<a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/ravellenic-winter-games-2022" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51863183266_369df3c05f_o.jpg" alt="2022 Winter Ravellenic Games button" width="200" align="left" hspace="10"></a> Now I'm knitting along for the <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/ravellenic-winter-games-2022" target="_blank">2022 Winter Ravellenics</a> on <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/lazy-stupid-and-godless/4176950/" target="_blank">Team BBMF</a> and registered for <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/sock-madness-forever" target="_blank">Sock Madness 16</a>, to commence next month. Some things don't change much. In the U.S. we're starting Year Three of the coronavirus pandemic. The official death toll is over 900,000 – it's estimated <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-coronavirus-deaths-surpass-900000-driven-part-by-omicron-surge-2022-02-05/" target="_blank">100,000 of those deaths were added in the eight weeks since December 12 due to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/omicron-variant.html" target="_blank">Omicron variant</a> of the virus</a>. No surprise, Thanksgiving and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/12/22/1067024598/pastors-are-scrambling-to-decide-whether-to-hold-christmas-eve-services" target="_blank">Christmas were difficult</a>. And January brought a <a href="https://www.universalhub.com/2022/snowmageddapocolypse" target="_blank">5-slice French toast alert</a>. Well, so much for catching up, on to February.<br><br>
In the bleak midwinter it may seem callous or bizarre to speak of Internet knitting and pandemic in the same paragraph. But... that is where I am: still here, still pondering ways to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10216642578520282&set=a.1379538931904&type=3&theater" target="_blank">checkmate nihilism</a>, still considering the same socks. This time I intend to finish <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/invitation-to-the-dance" target="_blank">Invitation to the Dance</a> for WIPs Dancing. After so much upheaval, there are two verities: I know where the singleton and the yarn are and it's not a bad thing to dance.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/49367613328/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49367613328_5892c3d6a7.jpg" alt="Invitation to the Dance singleton" width="500"></a><br><br>
This year I'm trying something new as well – <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CZZMyt_L-ko/?utm_medium=copy_link" target="_blank">Fiberuary Challenge 2022</a>, which takes place on Instagram, curated by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/CreativeCeci/" target="_blank">@CreativeCece</a>. I still don't quite get Insta, maybe this will help. At the very least, it will be an impetus to take better photos and maybe it will inspire more frequent posts.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CZZMyt_L-ko/?utm_medium=copy_link" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51863842110_fb52b050db.jpg" alt="Fiberuary Challenge schedule" width="500"></a><br><br>
I'm already behindhand with posting, but I'm not going to worry about that. February is too short for worries!
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-23367571627116698662021-10-31T18:56:00.002-04:002021-10-31T18:56:27.348-04:00Halloween 2021While out for a stroll in Brookdale Park I came across two random jack-o-lanterns. Why were they there? Who put them there? I know not, but they are endearingly blog-worthy. Rated: Not scary.<br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/51644743528/in/photostream/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51644743528_296a44f0f2.jpg" alt="Random jack-o-lanterns in Brookdale Park" width="500"></a><br>
While at the <a href="https://montclairfilm.org/" target="_blank">Montclair Film Festival</a> I saw <a href="https://montclairfilm.org/events/dionne-warwick-dont-make-me-over/" target="_blank"><i>Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over</i></a>. Then I saw director Dave Wooley and Dionne Warwick interviewed by Stephen Colbert. Rated: Not scary, in fact an excellent, uplifting movie. Plus in the live interview the diva charmingly commanded the stage.<br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/51643794092/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51643794092_981a101f84.jpg" alt="Dave Wooley, Dionne Warwick, Stephen Colbert" width="500"></a><br>
I finished a pair of <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/simple-skyp-socks" target="_blank">Simple Skype Socks</a>, the same in the <a href="https://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2021/08/sesquipedalian.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>. They were done in August, went on a hike, and are getting blogged now. Rated: Somewhat scary, but at least it's <i>DONE</i>.<br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/51377582352/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51377582352_a507090748.jpg" alt="Simple Skype 2 FO" width="500"></a><br>
For Halloween dinner we're having turkey <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/voraciously/wp/2019/10/24/its-almost-halloween-and-feetloaf-is-already-giving-us-nightmares" target="_blank">feetloaf</a>. Feetloaf looks nasty raw, as below, and even nastier cooked and glazed but it tastes just fine. Carving it does pose a challenge, at least for certain sensibilities: cut longitudinally the slices somewhat resemble male genitalia. Rated: Scary!<br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/51645769330/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51645769330_8c7d834cc3.jpg" alt="Raw feetloaf" width="500"></a><br>
Feetloaf reminds me: I have been to museums and seen exquisite Khmer-era statues, perfect in every detail, except they lacked feet. That's pretty much certain <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2021/met-museum-cambodian-antiquities-latchford/" target="_blank">proof they were looted</a>, given the broken feet and pedestals remain in Cambodia and can be matched with precision. Decades of war and political turmoil enabled wholesale plunder, yet efforts at return also progress. Rated: Hopeful.<br><br>
Howabout more jack-o-lanterns? (This is not my house.) Rated: Festive, not scary.<br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/51645377005/in/photostream/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51645377005_6e9aabbfdb.jpg" alt="Jack-o-lanterns on Tuxedo Road" width="500"></a><br>
Happy Halloween!
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-41375050309568779872021-08-07T20:10:00.001-04:002021-08-16T07:03:06.072-04:00SesquipedalianInspired by Ravellenics <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/ravellenics-2021-summer-of-crafting/4134311/" target="_blank">WIPs Wrestling</a>, I searched for (and retrieved from under the sofa) a UFO that is <i>this</i> close to being an FO. Half a foot is all that's lacking, literally. Put another way, between the two of them the socks have one-and-a-half feet or are, in literary terms, sesquipedalian.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/51362122693/in/photostream/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51362122693_a5470306ac.jpg" alt="Resuming Simple Skyp" width="500"></a><br>
There's a tale of sadness behind all this. Back in October 2019, a month after <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/designers/adrienne-fong" target="_blank">bellybuttonknits</a> passed away and Before Covid, I finally started knitting a replacement with this yarn for my beady, tabi-toed <a href="https://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2017/07/tabi-or-not-tabi.html" target="_blank">Send in the Clowns socks</a> that suffered a <a href="https://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2018/02/all-ahead-slow.html" target="_blank">double blowout</a> the year before. It felt right: there was a <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/sock-madness-forever/3960667/" target="_blank">BBK memorial KAL</a> and <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/send-in-the-clowns" target="_blank">Clowns</a> is a BBK pattern. But the yarn, lovely <a href="https://threeirishgirls.com/" target="_blank">Three Irish Girls</a> Adorn Luxe, colorway Big Bang, didn't want to be Clowns. Nor did it want to be <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160120133934/http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns2/socks/panda-kilauea-sock.html" target="_blank">Kilauea</a>, another BBK pattern. <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/simple-skyp-socks" target="_blank">Simple Skyp</a> just worked better, so Simple Skyp it was.<br><br>
Progress was rapid – then 2020 happened. That almost sounds like a punch line, or the equivalent of the ??? lacuna in the <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/profit" target="_blank">Profit meme</a>. As in the meme I'm not completely sure how I got from 2019 to 2021 – eventful as 2020 was, some incidents stand out crisply, but the overall sweep of time is fuzzy. A lot of last year was like that. And at some point the UFO sock ended up under the sofa, not exactly lost, more like in need of finding.<br><br>
The Ravellenics end tomorrow: while I doubt these socks will be finished in time, I don't doubt they will be finished soon thanks to the Ravellenic spirit. So maybe the socks will win no official glory, but seriously, they're socks and we're talking about fake Internet medals.<br><br>
<i>To be continued.</i>
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-76032595003615742672021-08-01T18:55:00.019-04:002021-08-01T18:55:00.192-04:00And It's AugustAnd just like that, it's August. I'm knitting along for the <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/ravellenics-2021-summer-of-crafting" target="_blank">Ravellenics <del>2020</del> 2021</a> on <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/lazy-stupid-and-godless/4140533/" target="_blank">Team BBMF</a> and for <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/yarnia-2/4136324/" target="_blank">Yarnia Sock Bingo</a>, wrassling WIPs and frogging UFOs.<a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/ravellenics-2021-summer-of-crafting" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51348852881_9e41007710_o.jpg" alt="Ravellenics 2021 button" width="200" hspace="10" align="left"></a> As one does in August. To whit...<br><br>
<a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mock-sadness" target="_blank">Mock Sadness</a> by Helle Slente Design, worked in Schachenmeyer Regia Cotton Color, colorway 2426 Tutti Frutti II. The pair is pictured with chocolate stroopwafels because the <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/sock-madness-forever/4104856/" target="_blank">pattern was the second warm-up</a> for this year's <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/sock-madness-forever" target="_blank">Sock Madness</a>. <i>Technically</i> the FO is a wrassled WIP because I started it in early July for Sock Bingo (with yarn purchased at <a href="https://shopyarnia.com/" target="_blank">Yarnia</a>), <i>before</i> the Ravellenics had started. Whatever. It's done, and <a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51348990321_c7f2a023f0_o.jpg" target="_blank">Ravellenics glory is mine</a>.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/51349587224/in/photostream/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51349587224_3675c65f2a.jpg" alt="Mock Sadness FO, with chocolate stroopwafels" width="500"></a><br>
The pattern is fun, with a bit o' everything – mirrored cables, faggoting, and a wide picot hem that I swapped out for 2x2 ribbing because the wide hem looks pretty, but in my view is too hot for summer socks. I also subbed a wedge toe for the star toe because my feet are not shaped like pencil points. The yarn reminded me why I usually prefer four-ply cotton fingering to cotton sock yarn for pretty much everything, including socks. At least the pattern repeat on the yarn is consistent.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/51349869930/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51349869930_c22bce459c.jpg" alt="Mock Sadness FO, showing mirrored cables" width="500"></a><br>
A different Sock Madness warm-up pattern, <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/how-to-tame-your-dragon" target="_blank">How to Tame Your Dragon</a> by Dots Dabbles, that has been languishing since February 2018, got frogged. It's not the pattern, it's not the yarn (Colinette Jitterbug, colorway Tapis) – yet somehow after more than three years I just wasn't feeling the love. I've reconditioned the yarn, of course.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/51349177273/in/photostream/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51349177273_8bbf79efc4_o.jpg" alt="How to Tame Your Dragon, frogged" width="500"></a><br>
In Ravellenics past, there was a medal for frogging; now there's "only" a laurel. Nonetheless, more <a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51348990331_4d851d5db6_o.jpg" target="_blank">Ravellenic glory is mine</a>.<br><br>
<i>To be continued.</i>
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-68786886362192637192021-02-26T12:39:00.002-05:002021-02-26T13:35:23.458-05:00A Long Winter's NapIt feels like it's been a long winter's nap – both the nap and the winter, and we're not out of it yet. There's either too much or not enough to say about dreamtime (or nightmaretime), so for now howabout a view of bare trees and winter moonlight?</br>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/50982664701/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50982664701_2ee016c1c1.jpg" alt="Winter moonlight" width="500"></a><br />
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Ah.</br>
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Just this morning I said to myself, "Self, March is right around the corner, isn't it about time to think about registering for Sock Madness? Maybe it's time to have a look at the <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/sock-madness-forever" target="_blank">Ravgroup</a>." Only to find – <i>of course</i> – that <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/sock-madness-forever/4096139/" target="_blank">registration for SM15 has been going on</a> all month and concludes February 28. Well, I'm glad I didn't miss it; indeed, by SM standards, there's plenty of time to spare. As I still have too many distractions and I'm not feeling hyper-competitive, I plan to ease back into knitting and blogging by joining a mellow team or the cheerleading squad.</br>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/50983122347/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50983122347_f6678f771b.jpg" alt="Rainbow socks FO" width="500"></a><br />
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Before the madness starts, let me note the last foot of last year, above: a plain sock knit in <a href="https://whitebirchfiberarts.com/" target="_blank">White Birch Fiber Arts</a> 80/20 merino self-striping, colorway Nothing says screw you like a rainbow. It's the most wonderful long-repeat stripe I've ever knit. When the yarn is this fabulous, it's best to just knit, maybe insert an afterthought heel to keep the stripe pattern lined up, and think of sunshine and rainbows to come.</br>Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-23048641601996267642020-10-18T06:08:00.002-04:002020-10-18T06:08:01.585-04:00Spoopy: The Jaws of DoomThere's been so much that's flat-out terrifying this year, and then there's <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/what-does-spoopy-mean-slang-word-history" target="_blank" title="Internet slang, defined as frightening, yet cute">spoopiness</a>.<br><br>
Behold, the insatiable maw of garden destruction! Woe and alas, it's the Jaws of Doom! They may be tiny, but they are relentless. That was the choicest tomato of the week, and it was completely consumed in a matter of minutes, as were <i>many</i> others. They always go for the big ones.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/50234311887/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50234311887_c761f7c649.jpg" alt="Jaws of Doom" width="500"></a><br><br>
And that is why the mid-October harvest is goodly, but mostly cherry tomatoes this year. Ah well, they taste good.<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/50499825536/in/photostream/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50499825536_e43f3d847c.jpg" alt="Mid-October tomato harvest" width="500"></a><br><br>
For some reason that brush with doom made me re-visit my languishing <a href="https://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-pits.html" target="_blank">Socks on a Plane</a> – and frog it. Not for the first time. Maybe third time's the charm?<br><br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/50499979647/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50499979647_f45740d444.jpg" alt="Frogged Socks on a Plane" width="500"></a><br><br>
It's time for Plan <del>B</del> C.
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-28558620722554042352020-08-04T19:29:00.004-04:002020-08-04T19:29:00.319-04:00Grateful After the StormAdd <a href="https://www.nj.com/weather/2020/08/gov-murphy-declares-state-of-emergency-as-isaias-becomes-a-hurricane.html" target="_blank"> Hurricane Isaias</a>, which plowed through the I-95 corridor, to the 2020 list of calamities. For a named storm, it did relatively little damage roundabout Exit 151. The lights flickered but stayed on and my Zoom meetings went on uninterrupted. Thank you, PSE&G and Verizon!<br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/50188433568/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50188433568_2f6c6e712f.jpg" alt="NOAA photo, Hurricane Isaias, August 4, 2020" width="500"></a><br />
I had planned for some hurricane knitting with a favorite yarn, Malabrigo Lace, colorway Violetas. The storm moved so fast I never got the chance. Things could have been worse, so file this under All's well that ends well.<br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/50124552072/in/photostream/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50124552072_47f59f1013.jpg" alt="Malabrigo Lace, colorway Violetas" width="500"></a><br />
The yarn is for <a href="https://www.theloopyewe.com/yarn-shop/blog/2020/07/camp-loopy-august-challenge" target="_blank">August Camp Loopy</a>. My order turned out to be from different dyelots that, indeed, are different. Before it shipped, Sheri thoughtfully sent a photo of the skeins and asked if I still wanted them. As I intend to knit <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/timeline-of-a-distraction" target="_blank">Timeline of a Distraction</a> by Mary-Ann Mace, I figured the different dyelots would give an attractive ombré effect, so I did. And I appreciate the thoughtful and alert customer service. Another bit of good after the storm.
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-44804690225435958372020-07-31T12:03:00.004-04:002020-07-31T12:32:15.393-04:00Bandwidth ExceededThe light is dim today, but I want to document a timely FO for <a href="https://www.theloopyewe.com/yarn-shop/blog/2020/06/camp-loopy-july-challenge" target="_blank">July Camp Loopy</a>. Behold <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/water-2" target="_blank">Water</a> by Sylvia McFadden, knit in <a href="https://www.leadingmenfiberarts.com/" target="_blank">Leading Men Fiber Arts</a> Show Stopper, colorway Koi Pond. I'll do a beauty shot later, suffice to say now that I love the fish-scale short row lenses. Six of them! Such fun to knit and ogle.<br>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/50173400597/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50173400597_d88c2904ae.jpg" alt="Water FO, blocking" width="500"></a><br>
I've mostly missed the uproar over the new Ravelry design that led to <a href="https://blog.ravelry.com/a-letter-from-jessica/" target="_blank">this post from Jessica</a>. That's not a request for breadcrumbs, nor a declaration of uncaring. It's simply an acknowledgement that I can't be everywhere at once, so am not informed.<br><br>
Then there's the straightforward, sad <a href="https://www.facebook.com/knitty/posts/10157125547426603" target="_blank">announcement</a> (and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cat.bordhi/posts/10159378280883475?__tn__=KH-R" target="_blank">followup</a>) from Cat Bordhi that she's dying of cancer, would welcome supportive <a href="mailto:ourletterstocat@gmail.com">email</a>, asks that project photos be tagged #4catbordhi, and offers a free unpublished pattern, <a href="https://catbordhi.com/patterns/comfort/cat-and-the-rio-calina-cowl/" target="_blank">Rio Calina Cowl</a>, as a lesson in letting go and a generous parting gift to knitting friends. The pattern link keeps displaying Bandwidth Exceeded, which so aptly describes how I feel right now.
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-57615459969148642462020-07-25T07:17:00.000-04:002020-07-25T07:17:00.130-04:00Briefly on WaterBriefly, it's on to the interminable edging stage of <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/water-2" target="_blank">Water</a>. The edging is simple and doesn't look like much now, hopefully it will be more distinct when blocked out. The end of the month deadline for <a href="" target="_blank">Camp Loopy</a> looms, I hope I finish on time.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/50149653793/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50149653793_a01e2bc5cb.jpg" alt="Water shawl, interminable edging" width="500"></a><br />
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The experts say last summer was a <a href="https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/mast-bumper-crop-acorn.php" target="_blank">mast year for acorns</a> followed by a mild winter, with the inevitable consequence there are <a href="https://www.vpr.org/post/its-not-just-you-there-actually-are-lot-more-chipmunks-out-there#stream/0" target="_blank">a <i>lot</i> of chipmunks</a> roundabout Exit 151 this summer. They've discovered my vegetable patch, which is very bad news. They're also fast, so I have yet to catch them on camera. Let's hope <a href="https://www.bobvila.com/articles/how-to-get-rid-of-chipmunks/" target="_blank">deterrence</a> works. <i>To be continued....</i><br />
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-32697727555858759042020-07-12T16:43:00.000-04:002020-07-25T02:42:04.194-04:00Fireworks and WaterAnd just like that, it's July.<br />
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Many of the usual <a href="https://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2010/07/glorious-weekend.html" target="_blank" title="2009">Fourth</a> <a href="https://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2008/07/souza-and-blues.html" target="_blank" title="2008">of</a> <a href="https://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2006/07/glorious-4th-trek.html" target="_blank" title="2006">July</a> <a href="https://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2005/07/4th-in-05.html" target="_blank" title="2005">festivities</a> roundabout Exit 151 were canceled due to covid19, so a neighbor took it upon himself to put on a show with big aerial fireworks that barely cleared the trees. I like fireworks well enough, but it was loud, bright, and perfectly terrifying to experience them so close up.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/50080913522/in/photostream/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50080913522_581e32cda2.jpg" alt="July 4, 2020 fireworks" width="500"></a><br />
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Happily no one got hurt, nothing was set on fire, and the next day in the blessèd peace and quiet I cast on <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/water-2" target="_blank">Water</a> by Sylvia McFadden, worked in <a href="https://www.leadingmenfiberarts.com/" target="_blank">Leading Men Fiber Arts</a> Show Stopper, colorway Koi Pond. I'm liking both pattern and yarn very much.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/50105187598/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50105187598_b0d64b584d.jpg" alt="Water WIP" width="500"></a><br />
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The project is for <a href="https://www.theloopyewe.com/yarn-shop/blog/2020/06/camp-loopy-july-challenge" target="_blank">July Camp Loopy</a>, Zoology section (koi pond, water). I decided to press on despite ::cough:: not finishing my <a href="https://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2020/06/juneteenth-2020.html" target="_blank">June project</a>. As one does. Onward.<br />
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-85113557975702204622020-06-20T07:21:00.000-04:002020-06-22T03:25:33.569-04:00Juneteenth 2020Sometimes the words come fast, sometimes they come slow, sometimes they don't come when wanted, and sometimes they maybe aren't needed. The past three weeks have felt like all of that – and suddenly it's the <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/what-is-juneteenth/" target="_blank">Juneteenth</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/50023842557/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50023842557_14fcf7a794.jpg" alt="Juneteenth banner" width="500"></a><br />
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Three weeks ago I had no clue this period would prove to be one of the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/lafayette-square-clash-still-reverberating-becomes-an-iconic-episode-in-donald-trumps-presidency/2020/06/13/9ddcc348-acb8-11ea-9063-e69bd6520940_story.html" target="_blank">most consequential</a> for the <a href="https://www.chron.com/news/article/Analysis-What-empty-seats-in-Tulsa-tell-us-about-15355871.php" target="_blank">current presidency</a> and, indeed, for the nation. On a personal level, I had no idea this satellite photo of <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/06/05/870833518/black-lives-matter-plaza-across-from-white-house-is-christened-by-d-c-leaders" target="_blank">Black Lives Matter Plaza</a> adjacent to Lafayette Square in Washington, DC would precipitate <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/black-lives-matter-plaza/" target="_blank">a haughty social media spat</a>, of the <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/george-floyds-autopsy-and-the-structural-gaslighting-of-america/" target="_blank" title="I'm a scientist, so...">structural gaslighting</a> variety. Oh well, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/wch?v=1KRqeDEQcYk" target="_blank">humor is a difficult concept</a>, and so is <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/black-lives-matter-dc-chapter-condemns-mayor-bowsers-blm-mural-as-a-distraction/ar-BB155NOH" target="_blank">performative</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/06/09/congresss-kente-cloth-spectacle-was-mess-contradictions/" target="_blank">virtue-signalling</a>. (Screenshot image below of 16th Street NW, between H and K Streets, Washington, DC from Apple Maps and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/8/21283744/black-lives-matter-satelliite-apple-maps" target="_blank">The Verge</a>.)<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/49987859327/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49987859327_0e17fc4700.jpg" alt="Black Lives Matter Plaza on Apple Maps" width="500"></a><br />
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<abbr title="Before Coronavirus">BC</abbr>, I had plans to attend a <a href="https://tsuruforsolidarity.org/" target="_blank">gathering of the clans</a> in Washington. The in-person event was cancelled, of course, but the <a href="https://tsuruforsolidarity.org/tsururising2/" target="_blank">online event</a> that replaced it was inspirational, comforting, and restorative. It was good in this time of pandemic, economic turmoil, and civil unrest to speak frankly about the realities and ongoing consequences of Native American genocide and black enslavement. It was good to recognize that the desire for justice and peace springs not only from empathy and shared experience, but also from the deep truth that my own freedom is inextricably intertwined with the freedom of others. And it was very good to honor prior commitments and to push back against later claims and the usual <abbr title="Fear Of Missing Out">FOMO</abbr>, because there is more than one way to seek the good.<br />
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For me, seeking the good includes crafty action: sewing <a href="https://global-response.dm.networkforgood.com/emails/help-make-masks-to-protect-asylum-seekers-in-matamoros-from-covid-19-248e9274-cfc8-4e4b-8813-9b6bc6ebb3d4" target="_blank">face masks for asylum seekers in Matamoros</a> and knitting prayer shawls, among other things. For others, <a href="https://www.masondixonknitting.com/danas-edit-see-me-not-just-what-i-knit/" target="_blank">knitting is no outlet</a>. Some change their <a href="https://www.moderndailyknitting.com/change/" target="_blank">names</a> or <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/confederate-monuments/" target="_blank">statues</a> or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/opinion/aunt-jemima-racist-branding.html" target="_blank">brands</a> or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/fashion/the-dress-codes-of-the-uprising.html?action=click&algo=als_engaged1_desk_filter&block=editors_picks_recirc&fellback=false&imp_id=211686138&impression_id=688588411&index=2&pgtype=Article®ion=ccolumn" target="_blank">clothes</a> or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/us/politics/juneteenth-tulsa-trump-rally.html" target="_blank">rallies</a>. And in the midst of tumultuous times, some apparently need to offer <a href="https://www.katykatikate.com/the-blog/2020/5/26/5-racist-anti-racism-responses-good-white-women-give-to-viral-posts" target="_blank">clueless allyship</a> and some apparently need to post <a href="https://www.facebook.com/philip.cardella/posts/10156836579615633" target="_blank">ugly nonsequiturs</a>, and to be <a href="https://www.thetrevorproject.org/2020/06/08/daniel-radcliffe-responds-to-j-k-rowlings-tweets-on-gender-identity/" target="_blank">gently</a> or <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/21285396/jk-rowling-transphobic-backlash-harry-potter" target="_blank">not-so-gently</a> or even <a href="https://thehardtimes.net/harddrive/progress-we-finally-have-a-female-orson-scott-card/" target="_blank">sarcastically</a> smacked down.<br />
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For <a href="https://www.theloopyewe.com/yarn-shop/blog/2020/05/its-camp-loopy-time" target="_blank">Loopy Ewe June Science Camp</a> I cast on <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mittens-from-colonial-new-england" target="_blank">Mittens from Colonial New England</a> by Marcia Lewandowski. It's a type of <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#sort=best&inline=&query=poetry%20mitten" target="_blank">poetry mitten</a>, but the pattern is so neglected there's no photo on Ravelry (gasp). My version varies from the original, as I changed the font and the verse.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/49986155477/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49986155477_984e907f29.jpg" alt="Mittens from Colonial New England wip" width="500"></a><br />
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In the time of coronavirus, of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/16/us/george-floyd-protests-police-tear-gas.html" target="_blank">tear gas</a> and <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/lizmrichardson/racial-gaslighting-instagram-explainer" target="_blank">gaslighting</a>, I'm liking it a lot.<br />
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-49432595705821586762020-05-31T23:24:00.003-04:002021-02-26T10:49:35.389-05:00Memorial Day 2020 a Week LaterOne week later, and I feel <abbr title="Overtaken By Events">OBE</abbr> yet again. Memorial Day weekend roundabout Exit 151 was somber and intermittently rainy, with the long shadow of covid19 looming over the unofficial start of summer.<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/24/us/us-coronavirus-deaths-100000.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49936512941_77ba659ff4.jpg" alt="New York Times front page, Sunday, May 24, 2020" width="250" align="right" hspace="10"></a> Many of the traditional observances at veterans cemeteries were <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/05/15/arlington-national-cemetery-will-stay-closed-to-general-public-over-memorial-day-weekend/" target="_blank">simplified and restricted to family members with passes and face coverings</a>, and some of the first-of-the-summer holiday revels took on political overtones, becoming either <a href="https://people.com/travel/photos-this-n-y-c-park-is-using-social-distancing-circles-to-keep-people-safe-and-separated/" target="_blank">cautiously mannered</a> or <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/26/memorial-day-weekend-crowds-coronavirus/" target="_blank">defiantly raucous</a>. The grinding partisanship often didn't seem to leave much room for <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/gop-governor-north-dakota-gives-emotional-plea-against-mask-shaming-n1213801" target="_blank" title="North Dakota governor speaks against mask-shaming">appeals to empathy and decency</a>.<br />
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By grim coincidence the tally of confirmed covid19 deaths in the U.S. neared 100,000 during the holiday weekend, prompting the astonishing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/24/us/us-coronavirus-deaths-100000.html" target="_blank">Sunday, May 24, 2020 New York Times front page</a> shown to the right. It's a list of names with brief obituaries of 1,000 people known to have died of covid19 in the time since the epidemic began in the U.S., less than four months. Add in the unidentified deaths to the ceaselessly growing total, and it would take over 100 pages to list them all. As the headline reads, the loss is incalculable.<br />
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It seems to me one of the better ways to honor the memory of so many dead is to keep on keeping on with the single method that is proven effective: <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/why-you-need-to-continue-to-social-distance-even-as-your-community-opens-up/" target="_blank">social distancing</a>. Attempts to foster natural herd immunity, as <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/news/editorspicks/article/Sweden-herd-immunity-experiment-backfires-covid-15289437.php" target="_blank">in Sweden</a>, have failed, at a high human cost. Many <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/7/21248734/coronavirus-antibody-tests-explained-covid-19-immunity-accurate" target="_blank">antibody tests have proven not reliable</a> as a guide for personal behavior or public policy. Efforts to invent a safe and effective vaccine continue, as they should, although in the U.S. opinions on <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/499669-half-of-americans-in-new-poll-say-they-would-get-covid-19-vaccine" target="_blank">taking a vaccine</a> are evenly split between Yes and No/Not Sure. The search for safe and effective treatments also continues. Overall, there are <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/coronavirus-studies-updates-good-news-bad-news-herd-immunity.html" target="_blank">reasons for optimism and reasons for pessimism</a>.<br />
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At the close of the holiday weekend came two incidents that pulled another veil off the reality of racism in the U.S. First, a white woman in Central Park got into a verbal argument with a black man, threatened to call the police on him, and indeed summoned police with a false story he was threatening <i>her</i>. He <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/26/nyregion/amy-cooper-dog-central-park.html" target="_blank">recorded the encounter</a>, which went viral, with <a href="https://publicseminar.org/2020/05/amy-cooper-the-paradox-of-the-shameless-white-liberal/" target="_blank">many consequences</a> and <a href="https://www.katykatikate.com/the-blog/2020/5/26/5-racist-anti-racism-responses-good-white-women-give-to-viral-posts" target="_blank">much spilled ink</a>.<br />
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The evening of Memorial Day, George Floyd died while in police custody in Minneapolis. Peaceful protests gave way to violence and looting, and <i>documented</i> concerns that white agents provocateurs like <a href="https://www.wonkette.com/something-is-definitely-up-with-all-the-white-people-doing-vandalism-at-the-george-floyd-protests" target="_blank">Umbrella Man</a> and others from <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/05/30/every-person-arrested-in-saint-paul-last-night-was-from-out-of-state-mayor-says/#2507f4a8264d" target="_blank" title="Twin Cities = St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota">outside the Twin Cities</a> had come to pursue <a href="https://www.startribune.com/walz-we-re-under-assault-from-outside-agitators/570892512/" target="_blank">violent agendas of their own</a>. The protests, violence, and suspicions spread quickly to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-protests-today-live.html" target="_blank">other cities</a> amid pleas for calm from city and state officials and a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/30/opinions/trump-twitter-minneapolis-george-floyd-gergen/index.html" target="_blank">flight from responsibility at the top</a>.<br />
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As deadly serious as all this is, I am reminded that continued existence <i>IS</i> resistance. So I completed a pair of socks, <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/waterlily-socks" target="_blank">Waterlily</a> by Sivia Harding, in time to qualify for <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/sock-knitters-anonymous/4021722/" target="_blank">April/May SKA</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/49957786333/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49957786333_a9250c6e9b.jpg" alt="Waterlily FO" width="500"></a><br />
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With so much going on, it's my first foot of 2020, and that will have to be enough.<br />
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-28362095680994221372020-05-12T06:19:00.000-04:002020-05-13T03:21:35.106-04:00Spring Election Day 2020Today is Municipal Election Day roundabout Exit 151. It was supposed to be the first use of the <a href="https://www.nj.com/opinion/2020/02/democracy-demands-a-secure-voting-machine-only-1-county-in-nj-has-managed-to-do-this-so-far.html" target="_blank">fancy new optical voting machines</a> the county bought. Instead, because of the coronavirus epidemic, it's the first use of <a href="https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/05/33-nj-towns-will-vote-by-mail-for-tuesdays-elections-heres-your-go-to-guide.html" target="_blank">100% vote by mail</a>. No polling places are open today and no provisional ballots are available. Knowing that caused a minor panic last week – I did not receive my ballot, pestered the county clerk all week, and finally received a duplicate ballot, which I returned yesterday. There's a way to track one's ballot, but the registration process isn't working for me. Argh.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/49884447337/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49884447337_107915cd23.jpg" alt="Vote By Mail, May 12" width="500"></a><br />
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Also because of the pandemic, the mighty <a href="https://sheepandwool.org/welcome-to-the-virtual-online-maryland-sheep-wool-festival/" target="_blank">MDS&W</a> morphed into an online-only festival. I bought the <a href="https://www.sheepman.com/shop/maryland-sheep-wool-festival-online/2020-maryland-sheep-wool-t-shirt/" target="_blank">T-shirt</a> and some fairings, as one does the first full weekend in May, and felt a bit mournful about all that was missing from the experience. Then came the wait for delivery. The first fairing to arrive is some lovely <a href="https://gnomespun.com/" target="_blank">Gnomespun</a> Domestic Romney, colorway Tiger's in the Night.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/49884435896/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49884435896_db150b775f.jpg" alt="Gnomespun Domestic Romney, colorway Tiger's in the Night" width="500"></a><br />
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Well. That does make things better.<br />
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In an ordinary year, I'd plan to spin it up during the Tour de Fleece or the Ravellenics. This year, with so many sporting events in abeyance, it feels like... I was about to say it feels like a contingency plan or two is needed, but no. With so many plans crumbling, perhaps rather than another plan, the good intention simply to spin is enough.<br />
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-83859176328667244852020-04-21T19:01:00.000-04:002020-04-22T09:46:29.011-04:00Overtaken By Epidemic'Way back whenever, a mere six weeks or so ago, this post started as a <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/sock-madness-forever" target="_blank">Sock Madness</a> post. I had CO the SM14 qualifier on a train somewhere between Chicago and New York and had every intention of competing. Things seemed auspicious: by the most synchronous of synchronicities, the qualifying pattern was <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wohin" target="_blank">Wohin?</a> by the ever-creative Caoua Coffee, a delight of clever technique (gentle readers know how I love technique). <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS8K-y7mD6s" target="_blank">Wohin?</a>, a lied in the Schubert song cycle "Die schöne Müllerin" (Op. 25, D. 795), translates to something like Where to?<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/49619781292/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49619781292_d867c9315a.jpg" alt="Wohin? wip" width="500"></a><br />
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Little did I suspect that the first week of March was to be the last Before Coronavirus (at least that we currently know of <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-outbreak-september-not-wuhan-1498566" target="_blank">in this region</a>) and the Land of Where To so far has been a place of constantly feeling <abbr title="Overtaken By Events -- or Epidemic">O.B.E.</abbr>.<br />
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One sign of the times is the Times itself – here's a week of headlines for March 16-21, 2020, when reality began to sink in. Ordinarily the <i>New York Times</i> doesn't do full, six-column headlines all that often, so a solid week of them is unsettling all by itself. Then there's the subject of those headlines: the public health crisis and the economic crisis touched off by the novel coronavirus and the disease it causes, covid19, and the leadership crisis in response. So much of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/19/health/us-coronavirus-sunday/index.html" target="_blank">grave import</a> has happened that it seems frivolous to note, even on a knitting blog, that there hasn't been much knitting going on at casa Jersey Knitter.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/49683418228/in/photostream/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49683418228_be178cd61d.jpg" alt="A week of NYT headlines" width="500"></a><br />
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Instead there have been many adjustments big and small, some bewildering in their rapidity and increasing severity. <abbr title="Before Coronavirus">BC</abbr>, I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show and, <abbr title="After Coronavirus">AC</abbr>, I was too occupied to blog about it. Branch Brook Park was closed during cherryblossom season, along with <a href="https://patch.com/new-jersey/montclair/montclair-coronavirus-update-schools-library-close" target="_blank" title="March 16">schools</a> and <a href="https://www.nj.com/news/2020/03/coronavirus-in-new-jersey-whats-open-whats-closed-restaurants-stores-banks-mail-delivery-malls-ups-gyms-schools-03202020.html" target="_blank" title="March 21">nonessential businesses</a>. (Including malls. In New Jersey.) Spring elections were <a href="https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/03/nj-reschedules-local-elections-because-of-coronavirus-primary-vote-remains-in-june-for-now.html" target="_blank" title="March 19">rescheduled</a> or shifted to <a href="https://patch.com/new-jersey/montclair/montclair-2020-election-will-be-mail-only-coronavirus" target="_blank" title="March 23">vote by mail</a>. Restaurants were limited to take-out or delivery only. <a href="https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2020/04/nj-supermarkets-stores-must-limit-customers-to-50-of-capacity-under-new-coronavirus-restriction.html" target="_blank" title="April 8">Supermarkets were required</a> to limit the number of customers in the store; some placed one-way arrows to direct traffic in the aisles and sneeze guards at the registers; customers were required to wear face masks and gloves – some say food stores should move to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/19/business/grocery-stores-coronavirus-pickup-delivery/index.html" target="_blank" title="April 19">curbside pickup and home delivery only</a>. Although online ordering is so swamped, shopping at <a href="https://www.nj.com/business/2020/04/amazon-fresh-whole-foods-now-have-invite-only-policy-for-grocery-delivery.html" target="_blank" title="April 19">Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods is by invitation only</a>. I learned about <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/social-distancing.html" target="_blank">social distancing</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/03/10/why-coronavirus-response-seems-so-outsized/" target="_blank">flattening the curve</a> and how to wash hands (for at least 20 seconds, with plenty of suds).<br />
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<iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TGddyTW5eMc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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With all the adjustments come all the feels. So many feels. Gabrielle Treanor's "<a href="https://gabrielletreanor.com/3-stages-of-pandemic-response/" target="_blank">3 Stages of Pandemic Response</a>" has it about right, except instead of making steady progress through the stages, I tend to pingpong back and forth between levels.<br />
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<a href="https://gabrielletreanor.com/3-stages-of-pandemic-response/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49796165482_63bc720bc4.jpg" alt="3 Stages of Pandemic Response" width="500"></a><br />
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In the pinch, some turn to activism. There's a shortage of <abbr title="Personal Protective Equipment">PPE</abbr> for healthcare workers and first responders and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/12/opinion/matamoros-migrants-coronavirus.html" target="_blank">others</a>, so I've been sewing <a href="https://www.unitypoint.org/cedarrapids/sewing-surgical-masks.aspx" target="_blank">DIY facial masks</a>. Other crafters have been turning out parts for <a href="https://www.montclair.edu/newscenter/2020/04/09/racing-against-time/" target="_blank">face shields</a> using 3D printers and other fabricators. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/19/opinion/coronavirus-trump-protests.html" target="_blank">Still others</a> – small groups of apparently well-funded of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/04/19/pro-gun-activists-using-facebook-groups-push-anti-quarantine-protests/" target="_blank">counter-majority populists</a> – have been protesting stay-at-home orders... some wore hazmat suits and masks, some didn't, some toted guns, some "<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/fox-co-host-attacks-michigan-governor-criticizing-swastikas-social-distancing" target="_blank">displayed swastikas ironically</a>," and then there's the Operation Gridlock folks who were <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/04/20/go-china-if-you-want-communism-anti-quarantine-protester-clashes-with-people-scrubs/" target="_blank">blocked by healthcare workers in scrubs</a>. There's a politician who wants "<a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/04/trey-hollingsworth-coronavirus-economy" target="_blank">to put on our big boy and big girl pants</a>" and choose to cause people die, there's a <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/disturbing-story-behind-zombie-photo-amid-coronavirus-chaos-065847275.html" target="_blank">candidate for office who looks like a zombie</a>, and it feels like <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/underlying-conditions/610261/" target="_blank">we are living in a failed state</a>.<br />
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Whew.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/49794958053/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49794958053_3113484c30.jpg" alt="Waterlily Sock wip" width="500"></a><br />
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After all that, I cast on <i>another</i> sock, <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/waterlily-socks" target="_blank">Waterlily Socks</a> by Sivia Harding. It's got a bit o' everything: beads, small cables, lace. The yarn is Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock, colorway Sapphire. I've stopped worrying about Where To? It's one small consolation in a world turned up to eleven.<br />
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Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-14888804735791898562020-01-11T09:08:00.000-05:002020-01-11T12:10:56.584-05:00Checkmate, NihilismWho knew? To knit socks (or hats or otherwise to cook, clean, grow, or create things), is nothing less than <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10216642578520282&set=a.1379538931904&type=3&theater" target="_blank">a way to defeat learned helplessness and existential dread</a>. No lack of that going around.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/49367613328/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49367613328_5892c3d6a7.jpg" alt="Invitation to the Dance singleton" width="500"></a><br />
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So, behold, I have an <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/invitation-to-the-dance" target="_blank">Invitation to the Dance</a> singleton. It is lovely, and I hope soon to have a pair. Checkmate, nihilism. Resistance is NOT futile.<br />
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13750794.post-74745565685330949902020-01-06T06:05:00.000-05:002020-01-06T07:36:37.480-05:00Make Nine 2020This Epiphany – in some Christian traditions the Day of Kings (el Día de los Reyes) – secular revelation comes not with a star, angels, and shepherds, but by means of a Tweet and Reply. There's the horror, the horror of an imperial, violence-prone presidency on full public display, in 140 characters or less, and the lawful rejoinder. <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/flouting-war-powers-act-trump-claims-his-tweets-are-sufficient-notice-to-congress-that-us-may-strike-iran/ar-BBYDEYs" target="_blank">Context here</a>.<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This Media Post will serve as a reminder that war powers reside in the Congress under the United States Constitution. And that you should read the War Powers Act. And that you’re not a dictator. <a href="https://t.co/VTroMegWv0">https://t.co/VTroMegWv0</a></p>— House Foreign Affairs Committee (@HouseForeign) <a href="https://twitter.com/HouseForeign/status/1213953699371982853?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2020</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><br />
The contending assertions also provide a reminder that <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%202:1-12&version=NRSV" target="_blank" title="Matthew 2:1-12">the religious text for the day</a> plainly calls wise men and women to acts of resistance and civil disobedience against would-be tyrants. When fox-like Herod treacherously demands you play the informant for him, conscience and lucid dreaming will send you home safe by another way. It's not <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_facts" target="_blank">alternative facts</a>, but an alternate road.<br />
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One of those alternate paths for me includes the gentle Make Nine Challenge (#MakeNine), explained by <a href="https://homerowfiber.co/the-make-nine-challenge/" target="_blank">blog</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/makeninechallenge/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, and <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/make-nine-challenge" target="_blank">Ravelry group</a>. Rather than attempt to Make All the Things and succumb to the pressures of fast fashion, this challenge is a thoughtful, intentionally limited ramble through a year of making. I've been trying to de-clutter, and that really should include my multi-craftual queue, too. So here's my collage and intentions.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/32306547@N00/49338258086/in/dateposted/" target="_blank"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49338258086_db6c0ca14a.jpg" alt="Make Nine collage" width="500"></a><br />
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1. Make some prayer shawls: maybe knit them, maybe weave them. While the production method may be in question, the current need at Church of the Improv is indisputably urgent. I've never before seen a time such as this. It's easy to feel anxious and overwhelmed.<br />
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2. Fold some <a href="https://tsuruforsolidarity.org/tsuru-resources/" target="_blank">origami cranes</a> and take them to the <a href="https://tsuruforsolidarity.org/2019/11/13/125000-paper-cranes-to-dc-in-june-2020-for-tsuru-for-solidaritys-national-pilgrimage-to-close-the-camps/" target="_blank">June pilgrimage to Washington, DC</a>.<br />
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3. Reduce the number of UFO socks, including <a href="https://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-year-of-treading-water.html" target="_blank">Singular Sensation Socks</a>. This could easily turn into a deep dive into a rabbit hole all by itself. To set <i>some</i> parameters, let me note the current number of Singular Sensations is 11; the lowest number is 7, achieved in <a href="http://www.jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2011/12/taking-sock-stock.html" target="_blank">2011</a>, <a href="http://www.jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2012/12/cliffhanger.html" target="_blank">2012</a>, <a href="http://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2014/12/one-last-sock.html" target="_blank">2014</a>, and <a href="https://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2016/12/ends-with-whimper.html" target="_blank">2016</a>; the highest number is 12, a dubious achievement of <a href="http://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2009/12/year-end-sock-poll.html" target="_blank">2009</a>.<br />
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4. Sew a T-shirt or two. I haven't done any garment sewing in a long, long, long time and would like to get back into it, not least because I love wearing tees, inventory is running low, and I'm increasingly dissatisfied with storebought. Although I have a quibble... I prefer the finished look of facings, but patterns with bias binding would seem to be the current style, such as the knit <a href="https://shop.100actsofsewing.com/collections/frontpage/products/100-acts-of-sewing-shirt-no-2-sewing-pattern" target="_blank">100 Acts of Sewing: Shirt No. 2</a> or the woven <a href="https://grainlinestudio.com/products/scout-tee/?variant=22533587533906" target="_blank">Grainline Studio Scout Tee</a>, with <a href="https://grainlinestudio.com/collections/tops/products/scout-sleeve-variation-pack?variant=22533590974546" target="_blank">sleeve variations</a>. Perhaps more research is needed.<br />
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5. Free square, project to be determined. Of course there's a free square. There are many contenders for the empty space – <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/sock-madness-forever" target="_blank">Sock Madness</a>, <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/groups/tour-de-fleece" target="_blank">Tour de Fleece</a>, and the <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/the-ravellenic-winter-games-2018-pyeongchang/3751671/1-25#12" target="_blank">Tokyo Ravellenics</a> come readily to mind – but I want to hold it open for a while.<br />
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6. Sew some project and shopping bags, such as <a href="https://grainlinestudio.com/products/stowe-bag/?variant=22533587599442" target="_blank">Grainline Studio Stowe Bag</a>. I'm <i>still</i> trying to reduce my use of plastic.<br />
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7. Knit a <a href="https://www.churchmouseyarns.com/collections/churchmouse-patterns-garments/products/swingy-linen-skirt-pattern" target="_blank">Churchmouse Yarns and Teas Swingy Linen Skirt</a>. I have the pattern, and yarn purchased for Camp Loopy 2017 (just when the most recent round of chaos started) and <a href="https://jerseyknitter151.blogspot.com/2018/02/a-sense-of-re-purpose.html" target="_blank">re-purposed in 2018</a>. I haven't had the requisite time to knit, but I hope to remedy that this year.<br />
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8. Sew some aprons, such as <a href="https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2016/07/06/cross-back-apron-in-watercolor-linen/" target="_blank">Purl Soho Cross Back Apron</a>. Or possibly weave some <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/rigid-heddle-looms/2625248/" target="_blank">kitchen towels</a> or <a href="https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/the-cricket-club/1872301/" target="_blank">spa cloths</a>.<br />
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9. Can some things – apricot or peach jam, maybe; tomato jam, definitely; maybe dilly beans or pickled nasturtium pods; hopefully some cherries. Lately I've repeatedly missed cherry season because of too much travel. Sigh. The list could go on and on, but in the spirit of Make Nine, there's no pressure (har) to can All The Things.<br />
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I'm looking forward to learning lots of good ancillary things too. For example, that's my first photo collage above (yay, me) and I hope to become more proficient on Instagram, the format of which just boggles me. So here goes, and good luck to everyone Making Nine.<br />
Inahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17788493943625233363noreply@blogger.com0