(I'm taking this out of comments because I hate the format of Blogger's comments. Yes, I know I should switch to a better comment plug-in, but I'm lazy.)
Dear Ms. Harlot: I don't "get" Jim Carrey either and it hasn't hurt his career a bit, I am not a barometer of public opinion. But though I have admitted this not getting him thing in public for many years, he has never turned up in my comments to lecture me about it. (Jim? Jim? Are you lurking?)
I totally appreciate the fact that not everybody enjoys the same things in the same way - actually, that was the point I was making. I've seen hundreds of rapturous posts from people who do totally identify with and hang on your every word. I had my tongue firmly in cheek when I said that meant I am not a Real Knitter - I certainly didn't read your book looking for validation. I don't read any book looking for validation. I'm not even sure what "validation" means in terms of knitting. If you knit, you are a knitter - where does "validation" enter into it? It's just knitting. If you enjoy it, you're a knitter. It's not brain surgery. People will not seek out your expertise to save their lives. It's just knitting, and it's fun, and you can actually make of it whatever you want. Very few hobbies allow this. Stamp collecting - stamps. Self-limiting. Birdwatching - birds. Self-limiting. Knitting is wildly flexible. Charity cat beds for cats who won't notice the mistakes or care that it's (oh, the horror!) acrylic, or staying up all night to finish a lace shawl when you know that nobody will ever appreciate the money the yarn cost, the hours spent, the tears shed or the eyes so bloodshot they look like they are actually bleeding - it's the knitter's choice. It's all just knitting. We do it for ourselves, not for anybody else.
Ahem. Onward.
So today we got the news that they've hired a new VP of Acquisitions, aka my new boss. And after the meeting I checked my horoscope via Yahoo, I believe it's from astrology.com. Look what it said:
Big changes are afoot in the workplace, and they are causing more upheaval than you think is really warranted. There's not much you can do besides watch and wait, though, so prepare for down time.
That is so totally dead on the money, it's hilarious. I'm thrilled about this guy, he comes from a big homebuilder, and if anybody can help us make the leap from nice little regional outfit to the big league this may be the man. This could be a lot of fun. So I listened to the anxiety about how things are going to change, and kept my opinions to myself, for the most part. I say bring on the change, we need it. But I say this softly, because a management shakeup (our second in six months) in a smallish company creates mass anxiety attacks. So I'll just laugh at my horoscope and sit back and chill. I think it will be good. Maybe very good. And if it isn't, I have options. But right now, I think it will be good and I'm excited about the possibilities.
The Louet linen arrived today - laceweight for a shawl, sport weight for a tank. I have only one project on needles right now, and that is so not like me, I need to diversify. I'm not sure what I'm doing with the laceweight - if I had a shawl in mind I've forgotten what it was by the time it got here - but I'll find something.
Oh, and the fallback color I had to select for the tank because the first choice was discontinued is - God wants me to buy yarn! - a great match for the Lorna's Laces "Jeans" colorway. I didn't buy that yet. I am trying to hold off. But I love it when a plan I didn't even intend to plan comes together. And this is of course divine intervention, so who am I to argue?
Lecture? I'm so sorry. I must have been off my game today, I was intending to agree with and support your position, while explaining that my circumstances are unusual and unique.
ReplyDeleteI meant no offense.
I really didn't think there was anything wrong with commenting on the post. I didn't mean to intrude, I've read you for ages.
Goddamn blogger comments - Dee in KS? It just happened to me. I answered Stephanie and it's not there 3 minutes later.
ReplyDeleteStephanie, I've read your blog forever too. I still read it. Peace. :-)
Heh. Yeah, Stephanie meant well. I've gotten (much to my surprise) a few e-mails from her myself, in reply to the few comments I've left on her blog. Either due to an excess of caffeine or lack of sleep/patience Stephanie can come across as a bit abrupt/heavy-handed in her replies; but then, so can I.
ReplyDeleteAnd I've read you both for ages. (There. I began a sentence with a conjunction.)
Stephanie, if you do see this, the last time Canada had conscription was WWI--1917 (I checked). It was a controversial piece of legislation.
Onward.
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I'm pleased to hear that the Louet linen arrived--that's nice stuff. Now get on with that bloody shell. You need tops for work, woman!
I'm ordering some merino sock yarn from Knitpicks. I've been wanting to make my stepfather some socks for ages, and I have a lovely sock pattern from an old Monarch yarns book, but none of the sock yarn I have would be comfortable for him (he has REALLY sensitive skin). So, as much as I think merino is impractical for socks, merino it is. In the "Cape Cod" colourway--those are "his" colours. Personally, I love the "S'Mores" colourway.
If you knit it at a tight enough gauge it'll hold up just fine. I love Koigu socks, and Koigu has been roundly dissed as too fragile for socks. I've tortured my first pair, tossed them in the washing machine, etc., and they finally started showing their age last winter, after 3 winters. No holes, just a serious case of fuzziness. Not that this is a bad thing in a wool sock.
ReplyDeleteOoh, thanks! That will set my mind at ease--the Knitpicks site says it knits up at 8 st/in, and the pattern gauge is 9 st/in, so I hope that will be tight enough. My other worry was machine washing--because I know he's not gonna handwash.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Knitpicks, I saw the "Pi-R-Squared Shawl" pattern on their site. It's official--I'm a ninny. I thought you meant the one in EZ's "Knitter's Almanac" which uses the principles of geometry to work out when to increase and produces a circular shawl. When I saw this on the Knitpicks site, I realized you meant something entirely different.
http://www.knitpicks.com/Projects/Projects_Display_Yarn.aspx?itemid=30342223&yarnid=5420112
According to the Knitpicks site, the shawl requires a minimum of 200 g/1760 yds of their "Shimmer" Laceweight. Not even close to what I was thinking. The "Lorna's Laces" you were looking at--sport weight or lace weight? The sport weight is 200 yds per skein, but as it's heavier, you likely won't need 1760 yds. So, fewer skeins than I was thinking--perhaps 4 to 6?
There's this link, too. You'll use more if you're making the garter-stitch version rather than this lacy version, but it should give you an idea of what you need for yardage.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.floryknits.com/fp-lacepi.html