An excerpt from an essay written for the Architects of Peace - 
I decided to improvise a sock - plain 2 x 2 ribbing, stockinette leg and foot, Eye of Partridge heel - so that I could pay attention to the sock and knit it as a meditative project instead of "it doesn't look like the picture and I'm a failure." It worked!
Oh dear. 
... I could not resist this book. I have lived all of my life on Long Island, but - I can not swim. (Literally, dozens of people have tried to teach me, including Red Cross instructors, camp counsellors, and my grandfather. I'm not meant to swim.) I can not tolerate more than a minute or two of sun. I can't even type the word "ferry" without becoming queasy. I can not do anything nautical except delight in sea air and lighthouses. 
... and yes, I do wish I could be in California. Specifically, San Francisco. 
I'm almost finished with the lacy cap that I think will be my mother's. It's a fun knit, but if you try it, do not use yarn that doesn't have a good stretch, and use pointy needles. K3 tog is horrible with Wool Ease and Denise needles, which are, at best, blunt instruments.
First, a finished project! This is for Caps for a Cure: Checking on the colonel in Patons Decor. It's very very soft, and the pattern shows up very well (although not in the photo). I'm pleased with it, and I hope it gives some comfort to its recipient.
I've already started to obsess about the holidays. This year, I would like to urge all of my friends to join Kim of Handeye Crafts, who is collecting for The Heifer Project. She would like all of us to buy a knitting basket. I think we can do it! 
Appetizer
Name a great website you would recommend to others.
The Huffington Post - an aggregator for news and blogs from the progressive side of the world. It's thorough, timely, funny, and quirky.
Soup
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 as highest), how often do you dream at night?
Eleven. (For those of you who have seen "This is spinal tap"...)
Salad
Did you have a pet as a child? If so, what kind and what was its name?
Many pets - Dogs (Blackie, Lassie, Le Roi de Champagne [don't blame me, my mother had a thing for fancy poodle names], Golda. Cats (Cio Cio San, Pumpkin, Nixie, Pyewacket). Parakeets (I don't remember their names, but one of them lived in the tv room with my grandmother, who exercised with Jack LaLanne every morning. The parakeet would chirp "one, two, one, two" as she did her jumping jacks!)
Main Course
If you had the chance to star in a commercial, what would you choose to advertise?
Fountain pens. Need I say more?
Dessert
What is your favorite kind of hard candy?
Real lemon drops.
(Emma on the small-minded Churchills - Emma, volume 1, chapter 18)
| You Are Cameo |
 You are understanding and very empathetic. You don't tend to have acquaintances. Everyone is your friend. And all of your friends tend to be friends. You have a knack for bringing very different people together. |
| You Are Midnight |
 You are more than a little eccentric, and you're apt to keep very unusual habits. Whether you're a nightowl, living in a commune, or taking a vow of silence - you like to experiment with your lifestyle. Expressing your individuality is important to you, and you often lie awake in bed thinking about the world and your place in it. You enjoy staying home, but that doesn't mean you're a hermit. You also appreciate quality time with family and close friends. |
WARNER: Does that make America safer?
PETRAEUS: Sir, I don't know actually. I have not sat down and sorted out in my own mind. What I have focused on and been riveted on is how to accomplish the mission of the Multinational Force in Iraq.
Sometimes, what I need is a gentle day. I've been listening
to Sense and Sensibility while knitting a Red Scarf,
sitting in silence while I knit and turn the heel on
my Dali sock, and yearning for a respite from
nearly everything. I'm tired.
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be
A pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.
-- Wordsworth --
I think someone set my cell phone to stun
Now that I've brought you a box of small turtles,
things are not always as they appear
dress'd in drag as anne of green gables
Now, this may read as word salad to you, but look to the sidebar. What see'st thou there? Why, it's the Anne of Green Gables Knit and Read Along!
What would Jane do? She would ask the The Tarot of Jane Austen, of course ! This is so on my wish list!
