Ahem.

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On and on

Knit knit knit knit knit knit knit knit. Read read read read read read read read. There's little time to knit around here and less time to write about knitting. I'll be back sometime after next week, when my schedule should have eased a little and I've had time to catch my breath. Until then, go read the newest Yarnival over at The Purloined Letter. I especially liked the Jane Austen/Charlotte Bronte Death Match and the magical photographs at Through The Loops! P.S. Is my font huge now or is it just me?

Variations on a theme

Things that are blue and gray. My notebooks from last semester. Philadelphia at certain times of day. A bunch of my books. Otto. The Dirty Sailor Sweater. It is just flying along (well, it is for me -- considering it took me months to finish the last sweater I made). Although that may have something to do with my working on it constantly. The plain knitting allows me to knit while I'm reading -- provided I have a printed document or a book that stays open of its own accord -- so anytime I'm doing reading that doesn't also involve note-taking, the sweater's in my hands. It'll definitely be done by the end of the month, which will hopefully give me time to wear it a few times before spring comes to Tennessee. At the moment, I'm not too sure about this folded-under hem (the purl row acts as a seam). It looks like it's going to be bulky, but I'm trusting the pattern, going with the flow, etc, and looking at pictures of other finished Hourglasses and reassuring myself that this one is going to look just as good. (Or better because I have stripes, and who doesn't love stripes? Crazy people, that's who.) Oh, and guys? There are over 50 readers out there? What? Whatever it is your mind does when it boggles, mine is doing that right now. (Don't check the map now, it resets every day, but I swear there were 50 locations logged on Tuesday.)

Gray days

It actually wasn't gray in Tennessee today. It was sparkling and sunny and cuttingly cold, and I finally felt like winter had arrived. My new yarn, however, is beautiful and gray. Well, half of it is. Cascade 220 for my Dirty Sailor Sweater (the Hourglass sweater from LMKG) in Navy and Silver Gray Heather. I've been planning this sweater for at least a year (I can sometimes take ages to make decisions, which explains why I'm always at least a year behind on clothing, television, and music trends) and I'm thrilled that I've finally gotten it started. The only problem is that I want it done NOW. And that just isn't happening. Oh, and Blogger? I really hate the new version. Where I used to get the email addresses of maybe 3 out of 6 commenters, now I get none. There is a change to my own hosting coming as soon as I have time to sort it out. P.S. I'm putting this here just to see if it works. Create your own visitor map!

(Silent) Poetry Reading

For the second annual Blogger (Silent) Poetry Reading, here's one of my favorite poems. I also considered Yeats, some things in beautiful, heavy Old English, and a couple of Keats pieces, but this one has been in my head a lot lately. So here you go. Aubade I work all day, and get half-drunk at night. Waking at four to the soundless dark, I stare. In time the curtain-edges will grow light. Till then I see what's really always there: Unresting death, a whole day nearer now, Making all thought impossible but how And where and when I shall myself die. Arid interrogation: yet the dread Of dying, and being dead, Flashes afresh to hold and horrify. The mind blanks at the glare. Not in remorse --The good not done, the love not given, time Torn off unused -- nor wretchedly because An only life can take so long to climb Clear of its wrong beginnings, and may never; But at the total emptiness for ever, The sure extinction that we travel to And shall be lost in always. Not to be here, Not to be anywhere, And soon; nothing more terrible, nothing more true. This is a special way of being afraid No trick dispels. Religion used to try, That vast moth-eaten musical brocade Created to pretend we never die, And specious stuff that says No rational being Can fear a thing it will not feel, not seeing That this is what we fear -- no sight, no sound, No touch or taste or smell, nothing to think with, Nothing to love or link with, The anaesthetic from which none come round. And it stays just on the edge of vision, A small unfocused blur, a standing chill That slows each impulse down to indecision. Most things may never happen: this one will, And realisation of it rages out In furnace-fear when we are caught without People or drink. Courage is no good: It means not scaring others. Being brave Lets no one off the grave. Death is no different whined at than withstood. Slowly light strengthens, and the room takes shape. It stands plain as a wardrobe, what we know, Have always known, know that we can't escape, Yet can't accept. One side will have to go. Meanwhile telephones crouch, getting ready to ring In locked-up offices, and all the uncaring Intricate rented world begins to rouse. The sky is white as clay, with no sun. Work has to be done. Postmen like doctors go from house to house. Philip Larkin, 1977

Keep your books warm and your ears warmer

I finished "Kim's hat" from Last Minute Knitted Gifts last week, but I haven't had time to a) blog or b) take pictures of it. And the weather has been miserable and overcast lately -- or rather, it's sunny when I'm busy and overcast when I have a free moment and reach for the camera. Anyway, hat: I've been wanting a hat with ear flaps for a while and I'm very pleased with the way they turned out They looked huge as I was knitting them, but apparently I just have no realistic concept of exactly how big my ears are. (They're massive.) The only alteration I made to the pattern was in the depth/height of the hat. While my ears are large, my head is disproportionately small. I knit the hat according to the pattern (7 inches before the decreases) and I had a good two inches of empty space between the crown and my head, so I frogged back until I had about 5 inches of hat and re-knit the decreases. Perfect! And, of course, it's perfect for keeping my beloved and much be-scribbled-in Norton Shakespeare warm. A warm book is a happy book, after all. (Especially when it needs some lovin' after being chewed on by a cat with distinct tastes in drama.) But really, I just like playing with the tassels.

Bartholomew Cubbins was an amateur.

It's hat time! This is one of "Kim's hats" from Last Minute Knitted Gifts and eventually it will have ear flaps, i-chord ties, and tassels. The colors are kind of bland, but that's ok because 1) I'm using up stash yarn I've had for years, and 2) I like bland. I'm actually making the new hat as a replacement for this old one, which has seen better days. My mom made this for me years ago (5? 6?), and I was so eager to wear it that I stole it before she'd sewn the ends in. I've never gotten around to it myself, so the ends are still unwoven. And now it's starting to come apart. There are holes in it that I think are beyond my skill to fix, although I've had it in my WIP bin for a while hoping that someday I'll feel inspired to tackle the grafting. Or maybe not. ************************************* A few days ago I saw an offer of yarn on my local Freecycle group. The post only said: offering 5 skeins of yarn, its the yarn used to made the popular scarfs in the stores. I'm guessing Fun Fur. Anyone else?