It has nothing to do with knitting. The knitting has been going very well. I finished the first part of the Secret of the Stole with no problems, like what I see so far and downloaded the charts for the second part this morning. The entrelac shawl is also progressing nicely and I’ve been able to put in some time on it the last couple of evenings so I’m into the first red line of blocks and am seriously loving how these colors play together. I have yet to cast on for the second Endless Knot sock, but will before long. I’m seriously tempted to try a different heel on this one :) I mean, who’s going to know? Heheh…
The weather here has been rainy all week - which is why there are no pictures today. I’m not a great photographer under the best of circumstances and without some natural light to help me along, well, it’s almost not worth doing. So the weather is making me cranky - I’m dying for some sunshine!
Another thing that’s irritating me is that while I love autumn, I hate October. October is (as you know if you’ve even stepped a foot out of the house) National Breast Cancer month. Which means that I can’t even go shopping without being clouted over the head with a bazillion pink ribbons adorning everything from cosmetics to Thomas’ English Muffins. I know I have breast cancer. All the reminders are a little depressing. More than that though, I begin to feel that in the boardrooms of some of these companies, some sharp person has figured out what a clever marketing technique this bandwagon can be.
See? We support breast cancer research! We’re good guys :) You can be a good guy too - just buy our product!
The other thing that bothers me about all this is that while breast cancer gets all the press, the other forms and types of cancer get no notice at all. How does a sufferer from pancreatic cancer or leukemia or prostate cancer feel when they walk into a store to be bombarded by breast cancer advertising? A little neglected, maybe?
Sigh…
I did a little dyeing yesterday to test a new “blue”. I had hoped to be able to show it to you today but it isn’t dry yet so it will have to wait for Monday.
Grump, grump :)
Chatters is on tomorrow night at the usual time!
Have a great weekend everyone :)
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Robbyn, you hit it squarely on the head! It’s not that I don’t want to support cancer research, but when I see things like pink M&M’s, I think maybe it has gone too far. And I *AM* a leukemia survivor, and I do feel a bit neglected. Why not raise money for ALL forms of cancer research?
My father in law was just diagnosed and operated on for a rare skin cancer called “Merkel Cell Carcinoma”. He’s stage IV. Only 11% survival rate at 5 years. When I tell people about it, like work b/c I’ve been taking off, and I say skin cancer, the attitude is that, if it’s not Melanoma it must not be a big deal. Because everyone knows that Melanoma is the bad one.
All cancer is bad. All cancer survivors should be celebrated and feted. Tonight I will raise my cup in appreciation because you have made a difference in my life. I’m sorry for the pink ribbons.
Janet - Thank you for commenting; I’m honored! It’s nice to know that there’s someone else out there who is bothered by this too.
Nancy - Okay - I went and looked that up because, like your co-workers, I had never heard of it. Now I know :)
I will also raise a glass this evening, to you and your family.
Best wishes.
I’m equally bothered by the fact that breast cancer gets so much of the spotlight while other forms of cancer languish away backstage. BUT! October is my birthday month! So I don’t get too grumpy over it. ;-)
Oh Hun - I’d never thought about it quite like that. There is a lot of morality being injected into our purchasing decisions now. What I mean is you can buy car insurance here with carbon footprint offsets; and the sort of pink ribbon movement that you spoke about. I suppose that it is about creating value in a product without really changing its attributes; but I agree with you, the marketers seem to be looking at it simply from a non-cancer-enduring person’s point of view
Big hugs where it finally rained and stormed yesterday! 
Opal - Nor do I wish to jaundice you view of October which is, otherwise, quite a lovely month :)
And A very happy birthday to you as well! Now I have something nice to remember that will help balance things out :)
Nat - Funny you mentioned the carbon footprint - Myria and I were just discussing that this morning :)
Congratulations on the storm - I take it rain is rather badly needed down there?
Robbyn, Thank you for your perspective on Breast Cancer Awareness & advertising with pink ribbons-I appreciate your view. I want to thank you for your site and blog. You taught me entrelac (I’m nearly finished a Lady E. shawl, thanks to your tutorage) and taken the mystery out of kitchener stitch.
Lisa - I’m happy to hear that you have enjoyed the blog but I honestly don’t remember writing anything about kitchner stitch except how to avoid it :) K stitch and I are foes of old :)
Lady Eleanor is a beautiful piece, isn’t it? I’m absolutely going to do it one of these days; I just need to find (or dye!) the right yarn :)
Well said. I have lung cancer and when I was diagnosed everyone started to bombard me with self-help books and stories of cancer survivors. I felt like taking those books and throwing them right back at the donors.
Joanne - It is sometimes nearly as difficult to deal with the people who are trying to deal with your cancer as it is to deal with the cancer itself.
I wish you well.
Glad to hear I’m not the only one who thinks this breast cancer advertising has gotten out of hand.Besides I HATE the color pink and now I see it ever where.I agree there is more then one cancer out there and they should ALL be addressed the same.Of course it helps if you are a movie star or singer or news reporter to launch breast cancer awareness.No one seemed to care until IMPORTANT people got breast cancer.OK I’m ranting now so I’ll stop.LOVE your Blog and all your tips
Thanks
Julie 
Julie - Well, celebrity endorsements can be a wonderful thing to a marketing department. You just have to remember that they put their panties on the same way you do - one leg at a time :)
