Trying It

In 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 Excavated Object. For another, I tried Y3000 Coke, 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.



Through the end of October Yarnia is sponsoring a Knit Collage make-along. 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, Bonfire Crescent Shawl



I bought the requisite yarn, main color Knit Collage Spun Cloud in colorway High Vibes. It's a fluffy bulky-weight thick-and-thin yarn plied with two strands of lurex.



And I bought the contrast colors (and textures) in the Knit Collage Yarn Sampler Mini Kit, 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.



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. To be continued....

Spoopy: The Jaws of Doom

There's been so much that's flat-out terrifying this year, and then there's spoopiness.

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 many others. They always go for the big ones.



And that is why the mid-October harvest is goodly, but mostly cherry tomatoes this year. Ah well, they taste good.



For some reason that brush with doom made me re-visit my languishing Socks on a Plane – and frog it. Not for the first time. Maybe third time's the charm?



It's time for Plan B C.

Countdown

There's an excessive heat warning
noon Friday to 10:00 pm Sunday
please take care
Today is the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, July 20, 1969. There was a modestly festive commemoration at the local public library (which is also one of the town cooling centers). After all, Exit 151 is where astronaut Buzz Aldrin grew up. The rather more elaborate commemorations in DC included outdoor movies about the Apollo 11 mission, not least the projection of the image of a Saturn Five rocket on the Washington Monument.



Meanwhile, the yarn for my August Loopy Space Camp arrived: Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool, colorway Beaches. Even at a heat index of 115° F this stuff is so beautiful. Perhaps this sounds heat-crazed, but it makes me want to knit All The Things!



So I'm counting down to August, a bit more happily than this unwilling countdown in "Please Mr. Kennedy" sung by Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake, and Adam Driver in Inside Llewyn Davis.



Outer Space!

A Shawl of One's Own

In an effort to ::cough:: increase productivity and avoid UFOs, for July Loopy Space Camp I'm starting earlier in the month with a shorter-mileage project. I neglected to blog that June projects had to be patterns published in 2019; this month's rules stipulate a pattern by a star designer, one with three or more pattern pages on Ravelry. I selected A Shield Against Grief by the stellar Francoise Danoy aka ArohaKnits.

ArohaKnits, to use her Ravname, identifies as a Franco-Maori American-Australian knitwear designer + coach living in Osaka, Japan, a bi-racial multi-cultural queer crafter of color. Those multiple belongings clearly inform her patterns and her business practices, and I've been deeply impressed with the way she shares and builds on her experiences. I'm impressed, too, with the intentional way this pattern explores compassionate strength. I look forward to knitting it out of Malabrigo Rios, colorway Valentina. (The photo is rather blue, it's been cloudy here.)



The shawl is to be a bit of selfish self-care knitting. Having had so many dumpster fires raging for so long I stand in need of a knitted hug and, happily, I have the necessary to make one. The deepest grief is lessening and the piling on has slowed, so it will be a lighter shade of mourning and also a color of the heart. It's time.

Attitude of Gratitude

This post was written in June but posted in July – and not even on the first of July – because June was the sort of month when the wheels came off. That was true literally, as with my hapless seven-year-old lawn mower, and in other ways as well for me, and perhaps for others too. Under such circumstances I try to cultivate an attitude of gratitude and to "knit on with confidence and hope through all crises" per Elizabeth Zimmermann. It doesn't always work, but it beats most of the alternatives.



So, in June, there was too much travel, of course. Which of course meant my Loopy Space Camp project for June, Tendril by Mary-Ann Mace, didn't progress very far – certainly not to completion. Perhaps it's in keeping with the space camp theme that instead of reaching Neptune (ie, a finished project of 800-999 yds (731-913 m)), it's become a UFO.



There was no June jamming for the FIJ Challenge either. Ah well. The July theme is stonefruit, and I really hope to get to can some. Meanwhile, Marisa was hospitalized with pre-eclampsia, which puts my woes in perspective. Here's hoping she and her twins pull through with flying colors.

On the bright side, the prize haul in June was quite handsome. I received a Sock Madness 13 prize, a beautiful personalized Party Palette from Belchickie, for improvising a crochet hook and knitting on with confidence and hope etc on my Demogorgon's Lair socks. My thanks to the Sock Madness mod team and to Belchickie!



And UFO or no, my Neptune swap partner, Cascott, sent a rich and lovely package: a sweet note; astronaut ice cream that I'm going to save for the big anniversary, July 20, 2019; a crochet hook/cable needle Handi Tool; Black Elephant Superwash Merino Singles, colorway Lights Out; stitch markers; and a space-themed project bag, lined and finely finished with a measuring tape scissors leash, sparkly pull tabs, and a rocket zipper pull (check out that planetary pattern-matching). My thanks to Neptune moderator UnravelingSophia and to Cascott!



While I was traveling Ravelry adopted a new policy banning expressions of support for the Trump administration as equivalent to hate speech, which rapidly became national news and inevitably national parody. The strong stand also provoked a backlash that involved threats against Rav staff, trolls and (possibly Russian) bots who mostly posted threatening and pornographic messages and images on the website, and DoS attacks. A few politically conservative groups closed and a few members quit. Some designers and yarn shops received threats and, curiously, some conservative knitters also received unpleasant messages. I have to wonder about the source(s). It's troubling to know Big Brother is watching, and cares enough to actively seek to create contention. Hm.



Also while I was traveling, one of my overwintered leeks started growing a bulb. I didn't think leeks did that, but there it is. I'm going to go with that bit of serendipity, and start a July project for Loopy Space Camp and spin a bit for Tour de Fleece, which starts July 6. More on both, and FIJ, later.

Housekeeping

Astonishing to relate, I finished Round One of Sock Madness so far in advance of the April 4 deadline that I've been luxuriating in a week-long patch of free time. It's an unaccustomed freedom at casa Jersey Knitter, where for so many frenetic months my time has been at the capricious disposal of others. It's meant no labored sock knitting during Earth Hour (as in 2009, 2010, 2011, or 2012). Instead, I've been attending to some long-delayed housekeeping.

First, I upgraded my computer from Windows XP to Windows 10. This required a new computer. I have somewhat mixed feelings about this, as the old one is a mere 12 years old and still works decently well for many applications. Although not for certain online functions, particularly secure financial transactions. It's the first time I've replaced a home computer that was otherwise working adequately because my bank insisted on it. (I have a sinking feeling it won't be the last time.) Then again, the blog reminds me the old computer caused a lot of trouble in its day.



Side-by-side, the old tower has rather a busy vibe; the new is spare and (strangely) argyle-y. That said, I do like the new computer. It's fast. That's all I've noticed so far, but that one attribute is so valorized that perhaps it's sufficient by itself. By contrast, the new software has a rather busy vibe. My computing wants are simple and few, at least at the moment, and I've been patiently turning off the many bells and whistles that I'd rather not have. (Cortana was first to go.) Maybe that will change. Watch this space.

The phoenix-like converse to shuffling off my old computer is assessing projects that are not happening, frogging them, and reconditioning the yarn. For example, there's my ill-fated Geology Socks, cast on during airport hell. The yarn really is too dark to show the fancy stitches to best advantage. I really should know better. Bonus: I'm pretty sure I'm going to need a solid or tonal yarn for the next Sock Madness sock.



SM Round One concludes on Thursday. I'm guessing the next pattern will drop on Friday or Saturday. In the meantime, it would seem more housekeeping is in order.

February Is the Shortest Month

It's February, and so Black History Month in the U.S., and because of this and oh-so-many other reasons my book group is reading White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo and I'm Still Here by Austin Channing Brown, both excellent and worthy reads, particularly when read in parallel. Although the theme of the selections, a seasonal phenomenon, does tend to bring to mind the pesky question Why now? and the uncomfortable exchange:

Q. Why is February Black History Month?
A. Because it's the shortest month.

The barbed joke is not to suggest that black history lacks substance – far from it, the dual narratives of black enslavement and Native American genocide are foundational for the entire hemisphere and continue into the present – but rather to hint that white attention spans are so short that 28 days (or 29, in a leap year) is really all the time anyone could reasonably expect white people to pay attention to anything not featuring them in the starring role. A stereotype, perhaps, or put another way the ability to flit into and out of conversations on race and culture, and impatience at being confronted about the same, are prime examples of white privilege. Earnest explanations that the choice of February has something to do with the Great Emancipator's birthday could similarly be reframed as whitesplaining, centering the conversation on whites, and denying agency to blacks. It's all about perspective and point of view.

Whew! Time for a cookie photo of some yarn, a seven-color Find Your Fade kit from Neighborhood Fiber Co. -- an independent, urban, black-owned, woman-owned business. How's that for virtue-signaling? Although ::cough:: I bought the kit back in 2017, and while it still sparks joy, I haven't yet knit it up. Too much travel, sigh.



Sadly, and no surprise, retreat into fibery goodness provides no safe space from race matters, witness the turmoil propagating from a single insensitive blogpost about an international trip. It's a striking illustration of white tears that many crafters do not see the original post as problematic at all and instead lament that the blogger's dream vacation has been ruined by over-zealous BIPOCs. All that unspooled in less than a week in January, and continues to unspool. While I hesitate to dive into the controversy now – and have hesitated to link to the OP, not least because I think she's gotten quite enough attention – the topic is not going away anytime soon. So let me link the links and ruminate on my February reading and keep on keeping on.

Edited to add: this Vox article gives a helpful, non-judgmental summary of the controversy.



As last month was unexpectedly hectic (gusty sigh), I never did manage the January FIJ Challenge, citrus. I'm catching up now with some citrus jam (not marmalade) made from miscellaneous leftover Lunar New Year citrus – a lot of tangerines, two Meyer lemons, half a Cara Cara navel orange, and a couple segments from a red grapefruit. I'll never repeat the exact mix again! I mostly followed this recipe for Orange Cardamom Jam... except the fruits were so sweet and fragrant, I omitted the cardamom, used Pomona Pectin and only one-third of the sugar, and had a greatly reduced cooking time. It's my first time using Pomona Pectin, which does not rely on sugar to set, and I think I overdid it – the set is a bit rubbery. But the flavor is fresh and sweet-tart with just a touch of pleasantly bitter aftertaste. The yield is excellent: a scant three cups of citrus pulp turned into five quarter-pints of jam with an almost-full jar as the cook's share. I neglected to take any process photos; it was a little surprising how the intensely colored tangerines turned golden with cooking. Overall, I'm pleased, and the jam is my first official FO of 2019 – a little sweet to go with the bitter.