I had to be up at 5:00 AM this morning to escort my Dad into Boston for some tests on his stomach.  No one seems to feel there’s anything seriously wrong, but he has a constant problem with acid reflux that, so far, has been unresponsive to medication.  His doctor wanted to do an endoscopy which meant sedation which meant they didn’t want him driving when the procedure was over. 

So I was elected.

No biggie.  I’m happy to do anything I can for him - he permits precious little.  For a man about a month away from his 81st birthday, he’s in astonishingly good shape.  But he’s ferociously independent and stubborn as a neutronium-skulled mule.  He is also inclined to buck any advise that might suggest he isn’t always in full control :) So, while he’ll bring me along to avoid spending the night at the hospital, actually getting him to give me his car keys is a whole other fight.

I do admire his feistiness.  I just wish a bit more reasonablness went along with it.

I brought the Primavera shawl along to work on while I was waiting and got through several repeats.  I hadn’t picked this up in a week (after a massive and repeated frogging session) and the week’s respite seemed to do me some good.  I didn’t manage to foul anything up this morning - didn’t forget a single yarn over (my usual mistake)!

Of course, as soon as I set the alarm last night, I was afflicted with bright-eyed-and-bushy-taileditis.  The last time I noticed the clock the time was approaching 2:00 AM.  Between the three hours sleep and the protracted, if quiet, struggle to get him to let me drive home - well, I’m tired :)

And I’m going to take a nap. 

Hope all your weekends are pleasant and as productive as you want them to be!

Over the weekend, as part of my (ahem) knitting rehabilitation program, I started a new project - the ”Bella” sweater from the Winter 2002 issue of Knitty.  I had tried this sweater some time ago but gave up in frustration when I couldn’t keep the seed stitch border from folding up over the body of the garment.  Taking an idea from another sweater pattern, this time I did the border in a smaller needle, switching to the larger one for the body.  Presto - a nice well-behaved border that stays where it’s supposed to!

Plummy Perfection

I’m using stash Red Heart for the sweater.  I am unwilling to commit more expensive yarn to the project until I know whether I’m actually going to finish this :)

Surprisingly, it’s a nice yarn to work with - soft and even a little plushy.  It’s an acrylic/rayon blend and the fabric has an almost chenille appearance.  For cheap stuff (and it was cheap - I bought it on clearance months ago), it’s fairly impressive.  And the frosted plum color really trips my trigger :)

Jewel toned accent

This is what I plan to use for the ruffles and trim - just to give the thing a little visual pop and funkiness.  Yes, it’s also Red Heart and has been sitting in the stash as long as the Plum has :)

Born to make sparks!

Don’t you think these look nice together?

I have finished one front and am aproaching the halfway mark on the other.  The plan is to do the sleeves next and then the back.

I’m not going to post any pictures just yet because I’m being superstitious and am afraid to jinx the whole thing.  But please note, there is shaping to this garment.  Not a whole lot, admittedly, but there’s the V-neck and a little 5 stitch indent for the sleeves.  And, so far, I seem to be managing it reasonably well.

Any crossed fingers will be greatly appreciated!

Yesterday afternoon, I picked this book up in Barnes and Noble:

Grammar Gods of the world, unite!

It’s all about proper punctuation and it’s a very amusing read.  The book isn’t the least bit pompous and can be very funny.  I’m not always a stickler about such things, but having been a student of literature and language, I get a bit huffy when a publication that should know better (books, magazines, etc.) makes an egregious breach.

It’s fun, honest!

Last week we went to the Stone Zoo in Stoneham, MA, part of the Zoo New England group which includes the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston.  We hadn’t been there in a few years and found it much changed - for the better!

There are many more enclosures than there used to be and everything has a feel of renewal and renovation.  The last time we visited, things were definitely shabby - not that the animals were in bad shape; just that there weren’t many of them and the whole place seemed old and tired.  Not any more!  Things are considerably spruced up and the resident population has more than doubled.

Male Jaguar

Female Jaguar

This pair was amazing to watch.  Most of the enclosures are sturdy chain and wire fencing but some of them, like this one, had plexiglass shields through which the animals could be viewed (and photographed) more directly.

I had never seen jaguars so closely before and these two were magnificent.  It was very entertaining to note that, issues of size and strength aside, they acted very much like my own house-sized cats do.  The female was is heat and she would stroll by the male, brushing him with her rear end as she passed, and flop down on the ground a couple of feet away.  There she would wriggle enticingly and when the male approached to get “friendly”, she’d whack him and move just out of range.  Then they’d do it all over again - exactly the same sort of thing I’ve observed in regular tabbies.  There were lots of children in the zoo that day and I amused myself by wondering how their mothers would react should the female jaguar decide that she was going to be receptive after all!

There were also, in separate enclosures, a pair of cougars and a pair of snow leopards.  All of them were in the peak of health and strength and I imagine all are part of breeding programs designed to help remedy depleted numbers of these creatures in the wild.

Sheep, Yak and Llamas - Wool on the hoof!

There were some tamer species as well.  I imagine when the spring is well on, some of these folks will be come part of a small “petting” zoo.  Probably not the yak though...he charged me at the fence when I first tried to take his picture.  Camera shy - eh, I can sympathize :)

Then there was this colorful bugger -

Is this my color?  I thought I was more of a winter...

I’ve seen lots of flamingos before but never any as brilliant as this!  Talk about glad rags!  If I could just find yarn in that color (with a bit of turquoise to set it off)!  And the funniest thing is that flamingo babies, when they hatch, are great, ungainly balls of grey fluff.

River Otters

We stood the longest at this enclosure.  These guys are so engaging and so much fun to watch!  They were snoozing when we first arrived, but eventually woke up and decided it was time for a swim.  The female is lighter in color and a bit smaller than the male and the zoo attendant told us they had an awful time convincing the pair to get together.  For a long time, neither wanted anything to do with the other.  It appeared, as of last Thursday, that they had resolved their differences :)

Coyote Beautiful

This fellow is one of a litter of nine pups found in Falmouth out on Cape Cod.  I know, intellectually, that coyotes are everywhere now, but there’s still a bit of cognitive dissonance when I hear of them in Massachusetts.  They should be out in the badlands of Utah and such - and no doubt they are.  This is the nicest looking coyote I’ve ever seen.  If you can catch sight of them in the wild, they generally look pretty moth-eaten.

Mexican Gray Wolf

This girl was my absolute favorite.  I hadn’t hoped to see a Mexican Gray as they’re still pretty scarce.  The fact is if the foliage had been out, I probably wouldn’t have seen her at all; wolves are pretty shy around humans.  But there she was, just beautiful!  She was also one of a breeding pair.

The zoo has a lot of animals I couldn’t take pictures of.  Oh, I tried - and wound up with lots of very clear shots of chain link fence and reflections of the camera flash. 

There were three young hyacinth macaws - beautiful, brilliant blue birds that came running over to the window as soon as we appeared.  Clearly these guys had been hand-raised.  People=being fed.  They also got up as close to the glass as they could and bent their heads over so their beaks were touching the ground.  Any of you who have parrots or budgies will know they were asking for a neck scratch.  I wish I could have obliged! 

There was an enclosure of flying foxes, largest of the bats.  They’re about 10” long, weigh between three and five pounds, and they really do look like foxes with their pointed little snouts and their big pointed ears.  Of course foxes don’t have hooks for hands and feet and they lack that 6 foot-plus wingspan :) We watched these guys eating their lunch; they are strict vegetarians and eat mostly fruit with a few plants and leaves thrown in for variety.  The fruit was cut into rough wedges, impaled on a spike and hung from the ceiling.  Each bat had his own spike of fruit.

Then there were the mountain goats.  I got a couple of very clear shots of them - all with their backsides to the camera.  Think they were trying to tell me something?

I expect we’ll try to get to Franklin Park sometime later this spring or summer.  We haven’t been there in 12 years or so, mostly because of the drive through Boston.  But it’s time to re-visit!

Well, the weekend was better.  I managed to get over myself enough to start a couple of projects and to actually finish one of them.  Actually, it only took a couple of hours to do, so finishing isn’t really any kind of coup.  Then again, given my track record, I’ll take it :)

And while we’re here you know, just entre-nous, thank GAWD for crochet hooks.  Everything I worked on this weekend dropped stitches like panties after the prom!  Not too big a deal, I guess, as long as you catch them, but one little fink dropped down about a dozen rows in the time it took me to blink.  I took my hook to him and put him right back where he belonged - no escapees!

In a former creative life, I was a beader and I’ve been thinking about beaded knitting for a while now.  Yesterday, things finally acquired critical mass.  So, while Myria plumbed the depths of Morrowind, I worked out this little gem.  It’s easy as falling off a log and only takes a couple of hours to do.  And I think it’s really cute!

Little Beaded Bag

Materials

Fingering weight yarn
One pair US 4 needles
50 size 6 (or “E") beads (Michael’s or Wal-Mart for the cheapies, your favorite bead shop for better quality)

Measurements

Finished bag measures about 4.25” x 2.5”.

The first thing you have to do is string the beads on your yarn.  What I did, because I used synthetic yarn, is hold a length over (not in) a candle flame.  When it starts to soften and melt, pull it apart gently.  This creates a nice, stiff, narrow end that you can then thread the beads onto easily.  When all your beads are threaded, snip the melted end off the yarn and you’re good to go.

You’ll have to keep sliding the beads back as you work so they don’t interfere when you’re not actually placing them.

Ready?

Note: SB = Slip bead.  Yarn forward (as if to purl) and slip the next stitch purlwise.  Move a bead up to the surface of your work.  You want this to be snug.  Then bring the yarn back between the needles, leaving the bead on the surface of the fabric covering the slipped stitch.

Cast on 19 stitches.

Do 4 rows of stockinette, ending ready for a right side row.

Next row:  K1, [K2tog, YO] 8 times, end K2
Next row:  Purl

Do 6 rows of stockinette, ending ready for a right side row.

Bead Diamond

1.  K9, SB, K9
2.  Purl
3.  K8, SB, K1, SB, K8
4.  Purl
5.  K7, [SB, K1] 2 times, SB, K7
6.  Purl
7.  K6, [SB, K1] 3 times, SB, K6
8.  Purl
9.  K5, [SB, K1] 4 times, SB, K5
10.  Purl
11.  K6, [SB, K1] 3 times, SB, K6
12.  Purl
13.  K7, [SB, K1] 2 times, SB, K7
14.  Purl
15.  K8, SB, K1, SB, K8
16.  Purl
17.  K9, SB, K9
18.  Purl

Work 4 rows of stockinette, ending ready to do a right-side row.

One side of the bag is completed.

*Purl the next two rows.

Now just reverse through the directions for the second side of the bag.  Bind off, sew up the sides and tuck in the ends.

*This is a matter of taste.  The purled rows make a nice little “fold” line on the inside of the bag but you can just as easily substitute a couple of rows of stockinete if you prefer.

You are free to use this pattern, copy it, distribute it, even claim it as your own. You may not change the pattern, or sell either the pattern or the bag.

Look Ma!  Both sides!



I just used yarn for the ties because it was all I had at hand and because I was too tired to do anything else at that point :) But you could do an I-cord thing, or crochet a tie.  Ribbon would be pretty too.

Now, fill it with anything you like.  Place a few candies (or one big one) in it and give it to a friend.  Put in your personal good-luck charm and tuck it in your purse or pocket.  Use it to hold your subway tokens.

You can vary this any way you like.  I used synthetic yarn and cheap beads because it’s what I had handy but nice yarn and good beads could create a really spectacular little piece.  Post pictures - I’d love to see what all your fertile imaginations can come up with!

Hope your Mondays aren’t too tough :)

I have had to frog the shawl (that simple shawl!) so many times now that I’m almost afraid to pick it up!  While the sock experiment was partially successful, it wasn’t conclusive.  I’m not prepared to let it go however, and I expect to start on another one sometime in the near future.  I keep feeling that I’d like to cast on for a sweater, but I can’t decide which one and every time read through the patterns, I get panicky. I know the only thing to do is go for it - and I will.

Soon.

Given that my knitting angst is, for the time being, getting the better of me, I’ve been reading this week.  In point of fact, I’ve been reading “The Keys of the Kingdom” by A. J. Cronin, one of my favorite stories ever.  It’s a sort of fictional biography of a man named Francis Chisholm from his childhood in late 19th century Scotland through his entry into the priesthood and his subsequent years building a mission in China before he is able, finally, to return to his beloved Tynecastle.

The major theme of this book is tolerance.  While Francis is a faithful and devout Catholic, his best friend, a doctor and a good man, is an atheist.  In China, Francis comes to feel that though Christ was a perfect man, Confucius had a better sense of humor.  As an old man, he tells a monsignor who has come to persuade him to “retire”:

“The church is our great mother, leading us forward...a band of pilgrims, through the night.  But perhaps there are other mothers.  And perhaps even some poor solitary pilgrims who stumble home alone.”

It didn’t occur to me until today that my decision to re-read this favorite might have something to do with it being Easter week.  Ahh, the amusements of the subconcious mind :)

We had a visitor today.

Bright Eyes

He was sitting in the critter feeder making a meal on crumbs and bits too small for the squirrels and pigeons to bother with.  In keeping with the season, I have to admit to being glad we had something to share with him.

For those who celebrate, I wish you happy and holy holidays!  And for the rest of us heathens - have a great weekend!

Yesterday and today have finally seen the return of at least some sun to the New England area.  I was beginning to suspect that we were never going to see it again!

I haven’t been knitting much - for some reason I’ve been more interested in reading lately.  I’ve also been having a very busy week and have been too tired to dare working on my projects.  The old knit-one-frog-two tango seems always ready to take me over if I try to knit when I’m tired :) That said, while today and tomorrow are also scheduled to be busy days, the weekend is clear for once, and I hope to be able to accomplish something then.

The sock, while a technical success, is quite large.  As I have rather sizeable hooves, I didn’t think this was going to be a problem, but it is.  This is even too big for me; if It had been made in red or green, I might be tempted to hang it up come Christmas!  As it is, I will probably frog it and seek a pattern who’s measurements aren’t quite so generous.  Still, it was a tremendously useful exercise as now I uderstand how a heel is turned - a procedure which my mind could never quite get itself around no matter how many instructions I read.  And I believe that toe-up is going to suit me very well, though I will surely try the more usual procedure at some point.

I like the shawl in stockinette a great deal more than in garter.  The fabric seemes even softer and the simple lace pattern shows up better - at least with the yarn I’m using.

I keep telling myself it is time to try a shaped garment of some sort.  There’s no reason to be afraid, I’m not stupid (well, not most of the time, anyway) and I can figure it out.  I am filled with admiration for people like Bron who fearlessly take a pattern (see her posts on her version of Interweave Knits’ “Simply Marilyn” sweater) and equally fearlessy adapt them to produce the result they want.  I aspire to be that agile with my knitting skills - but that lies a ways in the future just yet!

But that’s one of the things I like most about knitting - its vastness.  I’ll never run out of things to learn :)

Discworld

Have you ever been to Discworld?

Discworld is round and flat and rides through the universe on the back of four elephants which, in turn, stand upon the great star-turtle, A’tuin.  It is the creation and playground of Terry Pratchett who writes regularly about it, it’s countries and people.

It begins here:

The Color of Magic

While there is no particular need to start with this book, it is here that the Discworld is introduced.  We meet a particularly inept wizard named Rhincewind who is attached to the Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork - one of the most colorful cities on the Disc.  Despite his apparent inabiltity to manage magic, Rhincewind does have one tremendous talent (some might consider it to be two talents, but I tend to see them as sides of the same coin).  He gets himself into the most dire, life-threatening circumstances imaginable.  And he survives - much to the amusement of one of Discworld’s other prominent citizens - Death.

Reaper Man

Death is a skeletal fellow in a black robe.  He travels the world on his white horse (named Binky).  When a person’s life-timer (something like an hourglass) shows that their time is about up, Death presents himself to conduct the soul to the other side.  Death is not a threatening character, simply someone with a job to do.  Not being human, he is, never the less, fascinated by human beings and tries very hard to understand what makes them tick.  He even adopts a daughter and raises a grandchild - the ineffable Susan.

Magic and sorcery are a big part of life on the Disc.  There are the wizards at the UU but there are also witches who practice a more earthy and rustic version of the art.  Unlike the wizards, who seem often to get wound up in inconsequentials and who’s formality is more fog than substance, witches take a more direct approach.  When the wizards might debate whether calling a spade a “spade” is correct, proper and appropriate, the witches have long since calle the spade “a @#$%^& shovel” and moved on.

Witches Abroad

And there’s the Watch - Ankh-Morpork’s version of a police force.  Headed by Samuel Vimes, the Watch is an odd assortment of various Discworld denizens who, despite their disparate origins (golem, dwarf, gnome, vampire, werewolf as well as human) manage to pull together to achieve the desired results - most of the time!

Night Watch

And there are the odd side trips.  While many of the books (and there are a lot of books - thank goodness!) revolve around the above mentioned sets of characters, some books take up a different theme and a different character on a one-off basis.

Small Gods

This was the first Discworl novel I ever read.  It was one of the most cleverly written, one of the funniest things I had ever laid eyes on.  I couldn’t wait to get to a bookstore (I found “Small Gods” in a second-hand shop) to see what else was available by this author.  To my surprise and delight, there were many Pratchett titles available.  I made a pact with myself that I would space them out and not attempt (as I usually do when I find a writer that I enjoy) to swallow them all as quickly as possible like a huge bag of popcorn.  That lasted about a year with me buying one or two Pratchett novels every three or four months.  Then I gave it up and began reading them as quickly as I could acquire them.

The reasons I find these books so compelling is complicated.  First of all, for me, a novel is only as good as its characters.  A bourgeois reqirement I guess, but that’s how fiction works for me.  If the character has no depth - why should I care what he does or what happens to him?  Pratchett’s characters have depth and personality.  Even incidental characters have their own voice.

Second, these books are funny - and I mean laugh-out-loud funny.  But it’s not esoteric humor.  You’ll recognize yourself and many of the people you know in these characters and their humor and charm is based on their recognizability - well, and Pratchett’s finely honed sense of the ridiculous.

Finally, and I admit that for me, I had read many of the books (some several times) before I recognized it, there is the message.  You may not always agree with it, but it’s usually worth thinking about.  Pratchett is not just writing comedy here - he is writing satire and under the laughs, there is usually something far more trenchant.  For example, this - from “Hogfather”, where the Disc’s Santa Claus analog has been kidnapped and Death is filling in for him:

“Humans need fantasy to be human.  To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape...You need to believe in things that aren’t true.  How else can they become?”

Hogfather

There are web sites too, that talk about the Discworld.  A couple of good ones are:

The L-Space Web
and
The Discworld Compendium

Come for the laughs, stay for the story, leave with something to think about.  What more could you wish from a novel?  Except more novels!