random

Hello there...

Sorry it's been so quiet over here lately. I've been a bit scattered.

There is a lot going on, including beautiful weather that keeps me outside rather than in front of the computer, so being pulled in a million directions has been tough on the posting. Maybe the fact that it's already hot and muggy at 6:30 AM today is helping sit me down indoors... so I thought I'd just share some of the random bits that are rattling around up there.

Some of the stuff that's on my mind:

I'm sad that George Carlin died, but one of the side-benefits is that he is being commemorated all over the place, and I love seeing lots of clips of him on YouTube and NPR and the like. It seems like everything that comes up lately, there's some George Carlin wisdom on the subject to make you laugh out loud (and think "oh, shit, we're so screwed" at the same time). Yesterday a study I was reading (about phthalates and sperm counts - scary) reminded me of "The Planet is Fine," one of my favoritest stand-up bits of all time.

Knitting focus... I'm trying, I really am. I put one of the blankets I was making into hibernation for a while, and finished the sun hats that were bothering me (do knits ever bother you? These hats wouldn't quit bugging me til I knit them). I also got a box of yarn in the mail (how did that happen??) from Elann for the vintage blouse design that's been on my mind, so I've been swatching for that and really enjoying myself just playing with stitch textures. Now that I'm really happy with one of them, it's definitely time to cast on. That other blanket... it's just going to have to wait a while longer.

Garden troubles. Well, mammal troubles really. Some creature is munching on everything out there and particularly on the melon vines. I think it's a rabbit, or maybe a meadow vole, because we've seen this critter out there that looks most like a meadow vole in our little book of North American Wildlife. Whatever it is, it has bitten off my Kentucky Wonder pole beans at the base of the stem (AAARGH!) and is biting the ends off all the melon vines. I'm trying to keep my murderous impulses under control while we find a way to keep the little varmint out. I have been wheedling for HWWLLB to get rid of the brush pile he's been building out back, which I know is a great big rodent housing development, but so far no dice. Maybe we can find a way to entice our owl back into the neighborhood. I'm sad that we haven't seen him since winter. Last year he was in our yard all the time scaring off varmints.

Why don't we take off work in the summer? In places like Maine, lots of people take the coldest part of winter off, and spend their days traveling (if they're lucky) or sitting at home knitting sweaters and things. When it's 97 degrees and humid, I think we should automatically close everything (except Locopops) and take the day off.

Answering knitting questions. I am really, really bad at answering the questions that lovely knitters email (or Ravelry-message) me about my designs. I mean, I love getting the questions (especially if they do Ravelry or Flickr or a blog and I can see what they're working on) and I always do my best, but knitting is very visual to me. Often people ask questions like "so is it K2tog, YO, K1, YO, SSK then K2 or just SSK?" I just stare at it, staring and staring, waiting for it to make sense. WHAT DOES IT MEAN? The weirdest thing is that I wrote this, right? But I always wrote it with knitting in my hand, and that makes all the difference. I wish that all the people with questions could just come by for a Stitch & Bitch with the knitting in their hands and we'd have a great time and sort things out easily. I love the yarn and the needles and the shapes they make, their drape and texture and heft. The K2tog words.... they just confuse me. It's funny how such a clunkety communication method can let people share such beautiful things.

OK, off to work. I hope everyone has a lovely Thursday today. K2tog to all of you!