when did you learn to knit, heather?

this is a question i get fairly frequently. i shall make this a semiannual linkfest.

"travis women knitting lessons: the story of an addiction"

not many people know that it is semaphoria's mom that taught me to gnit about 12 years ago. it was a cold, snowy day in park city, ut, i was on spring break and visiting the illustrious fred (semaphoria/james the chick) who had moved there, and some unspecified winterish dance was approaching. as the fredster was NOT on spring break, and I had spent a day at school with her already, i was hanging out with her mom and her doggers, and her mom started to knit a chunky black shawl for said dance. and to keep me off the streets or whatever, she taught me how to knit. we covered knit, purl, stockinette, and garter stitches, casting on and binding off. from time to time i would bust out the needles. i'd make a scarf for myself before moving to maine. i'd make a scarf to teach myself how to knit again. i'd make a scarf for mary because she loves pink.

noticing a trend here? well, this winter, i decided that i was tired of scarves and wanted to learn new things. so i started learning cables. and made a cabled scarf for my sister. (ahem)

school started in earnest and i didn't have time to knit at all. but over spring break i bought the yarn to make kyoto (i don't have time to link you to the f.o.s but you should be able to find them if you search my blog for the project titles or go to my flickr site), and used FAR too much yarn in making the sash. so i realized that i was knitting WAY too tightly. so i read the knitty article about that, and stopped knitting so tightly. now, my projects are softer, looser, and use far less yarn (read: "cheaper projects") since summer started in early june, i've been a f.o. ho, making a lelah, branching out, restarting the cable scarf, restarting it again, and again, making a minisweater, and now, working on mariah. again, i've had the basics of knitting for a long time, but just pushed myself into high gear this summer...

in other knitting news, i'm meeting with jess this weekend for a mini yarnbender and a pint and some knitting! or as she put it, a pint of yarn - yum! just what you crave on a hot summer day!

are you remembering to go to the ny site? i have a link to it just to the right under my profile.

and also, don't forget to read this story which is creepy, funny, and out-and-out bizarre. (thanks to chris for the link!) the best line:

"if i'd had more lighting and my glasses on, i might have seen more. i didn't want to see more, but i could have seen his face maybe."

best laid plans...

so i started a knitting blog about a week ago and promptly deleted it because i barely have time to blog anymore. anyhow, this is el booholderadero:

and jess wanted to know whether i'd posted my modifications. (i hadn't) and so now seems like the time to do just that! just for you, jess!

i pretty much stuck to the pattern, used (gasp!) caron simply soft in white (whole thing cost $2!). i started off with the 50 CO stitches, and when i got to the raglan increases, i did YO instead of picking up stitches (which makes the holeys along the raglans). i also skipped most of the sleeve increases, although i did put 7 stitches into each sleeve a little bit after where it called the first set of increases in the pattern since i didn't care for the poofiness myself. i skipped the decreases entirely

once i got the sleeves to the length i liked, (cap length, but before they were quite big enough to go around my arms) i stopped the raglan increases sooner and continued with the body as described below. then i added some stitches to the circumference of the sleeves as i was doing the garter stitch, of which i only did 4 rows so it would be half the width of the garter on the neckline and the bottom.

when i arrived at about 4 inches from the bottom, i skipped to the directions for "the busty gals." i pretty much followed them, but realized that because of the stitches i wouldn't be able to make this pattern:

O

O O

O O O

etc... they looked like this:

O

O O

OOOO

OOOOOOOO

if i had to do it again i'd do it in an inverted triangle like this:

O O O O O

O O O

O

this also increased the number of stitches i was adding to each row so that it made a more drastic angle to come and meet in the front. i also did it a few inches longer than most are made so that it could indeed, hold the ladies. when i got to the bottom i did 8 rows of garter, omitted the buttonhole, and did a 3-stitch i-cord on each side... don't know the actual lengths, just until it tied around the back decently and had a good length of dangle to it.

i guess i did make a few changes!

okay, check THAT off my list

i read harry potter vi yesterday. well, that's not true, i read 90 pages of it on the subway the day before yesterday.

and i was surprised and not surprised with the end of it. and i liked it quite a bit because it was time to shake things up.

and i think j.k. rowling comes up with some wild, weird stuff.

i just want to talk about it with someone who's read it...

branching blah...

so, i've finished branching out. i'm happy to make gifts for others! i actually love it, it makes me feel less selfish. :) however, i've had the same experience with branching out that larissa did. it's just an uninteresting pattern to knit. the spectacular display of blue language that came flooding out of my mouth when i dropped the center stitch, however livened it up. leave it to me to drop THE ONLY STITCH THAT RUNS THE LENGTH OF THE KNITTING...

it's a little shorter than i thought it would be (sorry yayms), but at the same time it's so light and pliant that it will get the job done of a more tightly knit goody with fewer wraps, and nestle in tightly, preventing gaps.

besides, it doesn't get that cold in mauritania, does it?

and i cast on and nearly finished a new peruvian... i'll probably finish it tonight. easy to knit when you follow directions!

my patons merino was shipped yesterday, so i'll start on mariah soon!! (i think of it as a very cute version of rogue for those of us who don't spend $ on patterns. one day i will though!)

hopefully buying a camera SOON!

until i decide...

...if i'm going to do two blogs at once on daily life, or if i'll start a knitting blog so i can have 2 distinct topics to discuss,

i direct you to the new york blog

i might be much tanner than i thought....

while the expression...

..."i've never met a tax increase i didn't like" isn't true, it's pretty darn close.

on amnesty international's current campaigns

a response to a posting about amnesty international's campaigns. (a rare foray into politics for me - on the blog that is. i'm obsessed with politics)

i didn't post this on the original posting for no other reason than that would seem too combative, and i really do think that better or worse, people can blog about whatever they feel like blogging about. i also get annoyed when people jump up and down on other people in comments sections. so while i swear to you up and down, left and right, that i'm not here to pick a fight, i didn't want to be perceived as being a comment attacker - i'm here to present a rebuttal.

first and foremost, AI is a not for profit, non-governmental international agency. it is not affiliated with a political slant, a specific government, or nature conservancy groups. it is not there to, nor does it, engage in state responses, military action, retribution for activities it sees as a wrong. it emerged from the united nations declaration of human rights and typically (though by no means exclusively) represents individuals and groups in third world countries, as there are neither the political stability, financial or political resources, or first-world tendencies to monitor the goings on and call for/enforce accountability. as an independent agency, it can do whatever it wants, support whomever it wants, and ai uses its resources to bring light and voice to situations and individuals who do not have the resources to do it themselves. as an international agency without government affiliations, it looks at more situations from more viewpoints than from the american viewpoint. what is highest priority for the u.s. government, isn't always first with ai. likewise, what's highest priority for the mongolian government isn't always first with ai.

by its nature, it is not designed to engage a response to terrorist activities.

on violence against women:

• "You mean this is a greater human rights scandal than flying planes into buildings in New York? It’s greater than thousands of innocent citizens being maimed and killed by Jihadists? Now go hug a tree."
• violence against women is a pervasive problem ranging from verbal and emotional abuse to physical abuse. in many countries women can be murdered at the will of their husbands or family members. genital mutilation, rape/sexual assault frequently results in the shunning of women because of their treatment at the hands of men. in numerous countries, women who are raped are shunned as "social lepers" since they are seen as unclean and undesireable for no other reason than they were sexually assaulted by someone else. women in poor countries are rampantly kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery. this is an issue that has been pervasive for millenia. this has affected millions and millions and millions of women (the who site with hard statistical data isn't coming up - i'll try to get actual numbers later) for many years. it happens worldwide. is it a bigger human rights crisis than the terrorist attacks on 9/11? absolutely not - the rights of all humans who were affected by those attacks were violated. but that doesn't make it a lesser human rights crisis, either.

on arms control

• "What these dribbling idiots fail to realize is that without weaponry it is impossible to fight terrorism! The Jihadist concept is simple: if you don’t believe what we believe, then you deserve to die. Logic and reason cannot combat this – weapons can. Now go save a whale."
• i'm a BIG fan of disarmament. however, the issue at hand isn't the use of the arms by states to combat terrorism. the issue is the rampant, black-market trafficking of small arms and light weapons (salw), in central and eastern europe, in particular that goes toward the arming of organized crime and terrorism (al-qaeda doesn't trade arms with the US government, they get theirs by manufacturing smaller, less sophisticated ied's and even their own rpg's, anti-aircraft weapons, and by purchasing arms on the black market), and in our very own country, street and domestic violence, and vigilante justice. furthermore, these illegally manufactured and trafficked arms are frequently sold and used by individuals in highly unstable regions for "unrecognized" genocide and domestic violence. ultimately, i'd like to live in a world free of weapons (in our hands or theirs) but that's not realistic. however, clamping down on illegal arms trade is a step in the right direction.

on torture:

• "This just blows me away. In this entire article there is no mention whatsoever to efforts to stop the torture inflicted upon citizens from around the globe at the hands of terrorists. Apparently, in the minds of these morons, a naked pig-pile of terrorists is more repugnant than the beheading of captured non-military contractors. Now go smoke a doobie."
• earlier quote by me: "as an independent agency, it can do whatever it wants, support whomever it wants, and ai uses its resources to bring light and voice to situations and individuals who do not have the resources to do it themselves." the american media has the resources to bring the beheadings of hostages to light - and does. it gets a lot of crap for being leftist, which is true (except for FNC, of course), but it is as outraged and heartsick (i have no problems being a bleeding heart liberal) as the right by these murders. however (and this is the point where i tread carefully, because i don't want to get personal hate mail for stating this. but fear not, i hold the power to the almighty "delete comment forever" on this blog should someone foolishly descend into personal attacks), as delineated by the undhr, terrorists are humans and have human rights, can have their human rights violated. the thing about ai, is that neither the beheadings nor the abu ghraib situations were okay. for ai to say that one violation is okay and the other is not is hypocritical. just because we despise what terrorists do with their free will, this does not strip them of their humanity. and although it doesn't seem to hold water with many other countries lately, we're supposed to be the good guys. america isn't perfect, but it also doesn't exist in a vacuum of entitlement or exemption over other countries because we're bigger and richer and louder.

on the death penalty (hoo boy, stuff's about to get unpopular):

• "This punishment is more cruel, inhuman and degrading than the sick bastards who rape and kill children? That’s all beside the point. This is number 4 on their list of campaigns, so you would think that it’s a pretty major problem. If you look at the facts, you might think otherwise: the number of death sentences has dropped by 50% since 1999. According to The Bureau of Justice Statistics, the 144 death sentences in 2003 is the lowest number in 30 years and continues to fall. Actual executions also continue to fall: 65 in 2003 to 59 in 2004. Now stop and look at those numbers again. These ignoramuses are using the term “right to life” to defend less than 70 criminals per year. Nowhere on their site do they defend the actual Right To Life movement which defends the rights of innocent babies to the tune of more than 680,000 in 2003. Now go make a Pro-Choice poster."
• here's what i don't get. how come there are very few pro-death penalty, pro-choice people. or inversely, anti-death penalty, anti-abortion people? particularly the latter. because when you're anti-abortion, you're typically in the camp that life starts at conception and that life should be protected. unless you're convicted in criminal court, then you're expendable. the thing about capital punishment and abortion is you can't take them back. and because i'm not above it, isn't the correlation between the decrease in capital executions and bush's gubernatorial resignation glaringly obvious? also, this isn't number four on their list, because the list isn't ranked by priority - it's among their campaigns. this topic i need to move away from

on refugee rights:

• "This one has me befuddled. Reading this article on their website is detrimental to your cognitive thought process. Perhaps the folks at Amnesty International are IDPs as well (Intuitively Deprived Persons). Now go save the rainforests."
• okay, the snippet at the top of the page is a tad puerile. but that doesn't detract from the numbers of refugees, asylum seekers, and idps (fyi, internally displaced persons) who are being raped, tortured, murdered, kidnapped, held for ransom, etc. in numerous countries around the world.

i'm one of those freakish persons who is politically pretty moderate but with some significant left AND right leanings. the left ones are far stronger than the right, however, but that still leaves me frustrated when it's time to vote. i don't vote along party lines, i've voted for republicans, and strange little billionaires with giant ears, and i find the prevalence of the 2-party system that bickers just because they feel compelled to bicker across the aisle and frequently descend into personal or character attacks completely frustrating. but we can only do so much in a day. so we need to speak up, act out for what we personally feel is best, learn to compromise and live with compromise, and act like all around grown-ups.

having said that last part, please, please, please, do not disintegrate into personal attacks (i.e. "it's (blah blah blahs) like you" etc.), argumentative posts, or going over to the original site and personally attacking the poster who published this.

we pause for station contemplation

there's a really really politically oriented post that i can't decide if it's worth hacking out a response to. there's a chance they are being funny, tongue-in-cheek, if you will, but i may have just missed the parts that let you know they're being funny. and some of the comments he makes seem like he doesn't know the extent to which the terms he finds objectionable actually apply, and there could be some good discussion and education all around (i ain't above the learning). but some of the comments are just inflammatory enough that i feel it would be counter-productive to education, and rather feeding the beast what it wants. so while i decide what i'm going to do, i invite you to read this which made me laugh out loud at my desk.

been meaning to do this one for quite some time

so pretend it's like 6 months ago.

hey, word to p-man for posting those samples of mirah because she's SO GOOD! i've been obsessively listening to "we're both so sorry" because it's interesting and really well mixed and produced. it also reminds me quite a bit of this book that i come back to obsessively (but shockingly, i've only read once, me who will reread the same book 5-6 times in one year. i read a LOT. i was uncomfortable with how this novel made me feel, so i haven't been able to reread it yet.) called the dogs of babel by carolyn parkhurst. there's one line in the song that reminds me of a central line in the novel from the scottish ballad of tam lin... it's not lyrically similar but the sadness in it reminds me of that novel anyway. i understand the corellation very well, and can go into it if you like.

mirah: "my subjects all adore me, but for this i had them banned"

tam lin:
"if what i'd seen last night tam lin
what i see today
i'd have torn out your two grey eyes
and put in eyes of clay

if what i see this night, tam lin
last night i'd only known
i'd have taken out your heart of flesh
and put in a heart of stone."

f.o.! knitting

here it is: the boobholder

no pictures of it doing the job it is purported to do in the interest of this being a family show. :)

oh, and i totally frogged peruvian last night. so this is no more:

Also, I tried to frog my first attempt at the minisweater, but it was a disaster so i chucked it instead. but i got quite a few decent lengths of scrap yarn!

sushi chatter

since yaymee and i have been using the comments of the previous post to make plans for sushi on wednesdayinstead of picking up the phone or using text messages or IM, i may as well put up a posting for that express purpose.

how about sonoda's on 6th and broadway? easily accessible to i-25 AND 6th avenue east?

or sushi heights on josephine and colfax? (i think this will be cheaper than sonoda's but less conveniently located, but it's pretty close to capitol hill which will make p-man happy)

still on for 7?

random: if you put the title as sushi talk but don't put a space between the words, the vernacular for "excrement" just leaps off the page at you.

3.5 hours of sleep and waning...

i do NOT want to be at work today.

i have a million things to do, of which 500,000 are catch up on some sleep... the middle of the night refrigerator moving cannot continue in the future...

i'm a little scared of my landlord and have just signed another 12 month lease.

2 things that make me happy

after the blusteriness and pissyhood of the previous post (which should have included my spacebar sticking so i have to strike it at least 3 times every time i want a space between words), here are 2 good things, all from fritzie.

1. a picture of fritzie and mk dancing in...prague? yes, he's that cool. no, i don't recommend you unbutton your shirt that far unless you're as cool as fritzie
2. from the same post, i learned that crackow (yes, krakow) was founded by prince crack.

fritzie brings joy wheree're he goes.

paper bag please, i'd like to stave of the hyperventilation

this is WAY past my bedtime.

but i bought a wireless router and was setting it up because one of the things i did to improve my sanity when i come back to denver and have to get right back into school and new job hunting was remove the computer from the room with the tv. the internet's distracting enough, but to be able to stream folkalley.com at the SAME TIME as watching whose line is it anyway (i'm a media junkie. i have 4 rooms in my apartment and usually have a tv/streaming radio/cd player going in each one. sometimes more than one in a room) is NOT conducive to getting work done. now that the canis is 5.5 years old and will just lay down for extended periods of time when i'm working on the computer, i may be able to write papers AT HOME!! i may have wandered from my point.

ah, yes, the router. (just as a heads up, there's novice computer tinkering, but it is SO NOT THE TIME to tell me how to fix it) so the stupid freaking thing kept resetting itself to be an unsecured network or one with limited or no connectivity and my computer kept hopping on someone else's unsecured network. it worked for a bit and i was relieved then it stopped. because it stopped RIGHT WHEN I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A TON OF HTML TO CHANGE MY TEMPLATE BUT KEEP MY LINKYDOODLES ON THE SIDE. i fidgeted with it for over two hours i even consulted the manual (if i have to consult the manual, i tend to think that the software is poorly designed because in this day and age the basics should be pretty intuitive)

much swearing ensues. i finally give up and go to bed. but i can't sleep, so i get up and find out that my computer's back online, piggybacking on the poor fool with an unsecured network. i fidget with it more, reset the modem, the router, restart the computer, and still, nada.

so i finally switched the cable from the tv with the one going to the modem, MOVE THE REFRIGERATOR, and tiddlywink with wires and power cords until i'm just working off the damn modem.

yes, i'm going to best buy tomorrow to get my $60 back.

no, i don't want to hear the easy 1 step thingamajig it would have taken to fix it.

update: monday morning, 9:47 am, re-reading this post, it turns out there aren't many complete sentences exhibiting my tiredness and illustrating just how much i should have been in bed...

zen and the art of closet cleaning

how i would love to shrug off my needs for material posessions... then i wouldn't have to spend hours into days cleaning out my closet, organizing my crap, cleaning the house... at least the local thrift stores are going to get tons of clothes.

do i really need as much stuff as i have? evidently, because i can't give it up...

on deck for this week:

• cleaning out closets
• buying bookcases (finally!)
• organizing bookcases
• laundry
• packing
• cleaning the house like a madwoman
• finishing my last week at work
• meet with housesitters
• find place to live in NY
• go out to sushi dinner with yaymee (who moved to blogger. drop in and say hello!)
• figure out what to do with my car
• figure out a ride to airport
• decide whether i should take guitar instead of second suitcase to NY
• try and keep my sanity in a single piece

i can do that, right?

p.s. it was oatmeal raisin and it sucked.

snippets

• i just got a piece of spam entitled, "searching for secret men." there are SO many jokes just waiting to come out of that one, but i am relatively certain that none of them are as funny as what stevenf would come up with.
• i won a free cookie at wahoo's for identifying altered image as the artist singing the song at the moment. wahoo!
• i bought a new briefcase to make me feel grown up.
• i'm looking for a place to live in nyc still.
• i'm looking to finalize ernie plans.
• i'm really sneezy these days.
• i still think solsbury hill is one of the best songs ever. (the essay linked to FINALLY helps the lazy heather to identify why it's so hard to play on guitar - it's in 7/4!)
• i would have gotten 2 cookies at wahoo's because i identified the next artist (correctly, clearly) as sugar.
• they didn't offer me the option a third time because the next song was "it's the end of the world as we know it (and i feel fine)."
• you get a special feeling inside if you correctly guess what kind of cookie i got.

i-cord, you cord

i really don't like doing i-cord. it's so freakin' boring. anyhow, the boobholder's done. no pics, because of the no camera thing. i'm considering buying one for nyc.

so crazy mara and i went to whole foodies and got sushies, and went back to her place and watched in good company (i have a real thing for topher grace) which had really good music (damian rice, peter gabriel, david byrne, iron & wine), and a TERRIBLE makeup artist.

then we watched egoogly which was insanely funny. (ex. "everyone knows gay relationships don't last unless the partners are the same height." and "cemeteries are like nursing homes for dead people.") and had the lovely zooey deschanel as well. and from someone who doesn't like ray romano, he was really funny.

now i want sushi AGAIN. mmmm.... sushi.

daddy-o

happy birthday pops!

how to have a heart attack in 9 easy steps

1. apply for more loans so you can live in a room in nyc and eat food occasionally
2. be approved for loans
3. accept internship
4. buy plane ticket
5. get a phone call from financial aid saying no loans are approved because you're not taking summer classes
6. call financial aid advisor and do that despicable thing: cry
7. call loan originator and do that despicable thing again
8. get a call from financial aid saying since you're doing an internship they'll circumvent the rules
9. cry again

well, that happened...

so, last week didn't start off very well.

it was hot, i was hormonal and cranky, and i alluded to badness afoot. the badness? i was losing my job. leaving me, well, much like erik, about to embrace my unemployed mediocrity.

then, the next day, i got an email from a japanese gentleman named tom, offering me an internship in july. july started the day after this email. but the timing seemed a little too fortuitous for brushing off. it would be a 2 month, unpaid internship in nyc. where i hear they give away free housing if you don't mind sleeping under the 59th street bridge.

who was it with? a large, international organization. here's a hint. how well do you know your logos?

did you name it? if not, go to their homepage. or to the department i'll be working in.

anyhow, most of my ducks are in a row, and i'm off to new york next week until school starts.

anyone want to housesit for me so erniekins doesn't get lonely? he's my last duck. he's also my first dog. anyhow, no kids, cats, or other dogs allowed.

and i must end with: WOOHOO!!!

summer knitty!

it's out!!

it's got some really good stuff - and it's all stuff designed for guys! hurrah, because i'm having difficulty deciding what to knit for my he-friends!

so, go here to learn to embrace man-knitterdom.

go here to see that even marines can knit.

go here to get a handknit superhero costume.

then look at the patterns. of particular note, see:

• cargo pants for t-daddy
• brilliant smoking gloves
• the very funny drunken argyle
• the insanely cool hardcore designed by a (had i been in high school, i'd have dated him) male teenaged knitter
• blue hills keeps growing on me

so go check out knitty, pick up the needles, and knit something for a cool guy that deserves a handknit!

the migraine from thursday and friday is creeping back in.

i finished the boobholder minisweater on saturday. however, i'm making a new one out of new yarn (insanely soft and cheap pure acrylic.*) and a new bit of knowledge. knowledge: when doing raglan increases, find out where the sleeves are before doing increases in the sleeves or you will have poofy sections in the bust area which is truly unnecessary. more knowledge: cottontots is really pilly and sheds really badly.

i was flipping through the channels this morning, and landed on into the west. suddenly, 30 minutes disappeared... i can't tell if i think it's really good or if i am just sucked i because i've got sort of low energy.

we (yaymee, jenny, kate, keesha, and i) went to forest room 5 last night and visited for a while - it was fun! good night all around.

okay, i have 2 major hurdles that have to be jumped today. so i'll go limber up.

happy 4th!

*"you look at that sweater, carefully and realize that love has made you temporarily blind. You’ve got a secret now, honey, and though you would never sink as low as him you could blab it all over the school if you wanted the label in that sweater said 100% acrylic."

i left my heart in san fran-cheesy

i love grosse pointe blank.

you're a handsome devil, what's your name?

message for etr

check your mailbox next week.

i sent it. finally.

:)

friday report

i cast on yesterday for the minisweater, and it's about 1/2 done today in white cottontots. going to do i-cord long wraparound ties instead of a button and ignore the decreases to make it far less poofy in the sleeves.

gots me a migraine

want to browse 2ndhand stores for sweaters to recycle.

but really want to buy paton's classic wool merino for mariah. i can't decide on a color though - camel, russett, deep olive, chestnut brown, leaf green, or aran. please vote... really unable to decide.

cut the dogs nails today - no one left bleeding - yay!

want to buy bookshelves and wireless router so i can finally put together my apartment after 13 months of having an unfinished "library." don't have the capital. :-(

annika's surgery went really well and she's improving WAY faster than anyone thought she would - thanks for the prayers and happy thoughts!

unable to make full sentences today - boo.