A Curious Statistical Anomaly

Today I sewed in the ends and finished a pair of UFO socks. These socks were the ones that I found moths had eaten a couple of holes in. I frogged until I got below the eaten holes, clipped out the bad yarn, reattached and started knitting again. I also had a brain storm and decided to do upside down heels — the socks were toe-up but I put in a regular heel making no changes for doing them from bottom up so the thicker bit is under the heel.

The yarn was a variegated in wild orange and blues. But, even as I began the second sock I noticed that the sock looked like I was making it from a different colorway. It’s not. I bought one skein, split it in half so I could have half for one sock and half for the other. It’s all a matter of how the colors pooled. Since I wasn’t using a pattern but knitting on the fly I did notice when I finished that one sock was a bit wider from the ankles up than the other so that might account for the difference in color pools.

Anyway, I’m glad to be done with this pair. I’m wearing them now and they fit pretty well. The bind off doesn’t pull in and it stretches a bit more than usual because every 10th stitch I did an extra knit of the stitch before binding off so give a looser binding. It does fit better.

Oh, and those who read yesterday’s blog. I did watch all the Super Bowl ads online and not one of them is memorable. I remember some of them were really funny as I watched them but right now I only remember that I watched them. So, I guess nothing replaces my all time favorite — EDS’s Herding Cats.

I have to admit I’m NOT a sports person. To me unless you’re actually playing the sport, or one of your close friends or relatives is in the game, then watching sports events is about as exciting as watching paint dry. There’s one exception — The Super Bowl — and that’s because of the commercials.

Today I found this list of the Ten Most Memorable Super Bowl Ads. They have some of the ones I consider memorable: The Apple 1984 ad, the Go-Daddy ad, and the Zeroxing Monk.

However, they didn’t list my personal favorite — EDS’s ad on Herding Cats.
Perhaps the reason I like this commercial so much is that for years as a software developer/analyst, help desk support, and all round Jill-of-all-techie-trades, I felt like I was herding cats — big cats, big mutant cats — but cats worth the trouble. So while others may have looked forward to the game, I’m looking forward to the commercials — and I can wait until after the game when they come out on the Internet. Why suffer through that drying paint just to see some great commercials?

Sunday, Feb 3rd saw the airing of Miss Austen Regrets as part of the Masterpiece Theater’s Complete Jane Austen series. This is one that I’ve never seen before in any media so I have nothing to compare or contrast it to. It’s based on the correspondence of Jane Austen and while I’ve had “read her letters” on my list of things to do before I die — I haven’t gotten to it. The closest I’ve come is the page of famous quotes from Jane Austen (or quotes that should be famous) that I read at the Republic of Pemberly (a site every Jane Austen fan should visit — at least once so you know what you’re missing).

Miss Austen Regrets gives us a glimpse into the life and times of Jane Austen. The movie is framed with Fanny Austen coming to her Aunt Jane and wanting her to help her make a decision about a potential suitor. Using this frame, the viewers are shown a Jane Austen, nearly forty, single, living with her sister and mother in a cottage owned by one of her brothers. In asides, we see Jane concerned with her writing, her lack of funds, her worry about her sister and mother, their possible loss of their home if their brother loses a law suit, and the decisions she’s made in her life.

The acting is fabulously nuanced. We see Jane hurt but, with a deep breath and turning a smile, she carries on as a witty conversationalist and flirt. The small gestures that show that the surface may not be a true reading of the inner soul. But then that is the heart of Jane Austen’s novels, the public social faces against the private feelings that are held in check and controlled — always the smooth facade presented to others.

Maybe it’s because it’s the first time I’ve seen this movie — but the tears flowed freely for some parts. Partly at the loss of such a writer and partly at the knowledge that today she could be treated and live so much longer. What would she have written with more years? Other parts made me so angry at the place of women in her time — unable to speak with her publisher on her own behalf, unable to ask for more money for her works. Today, since most of us have read her books and all are still in print, it’s hard to believe that we might never have had them at all if not for her brother representing her.

We’ve come a long way as women and it is sometimes difficult to remember what life was life then. She died in 1817 and yet her characters and her works live on. Perhaps there were some regrets but since most of her correspondence was destroyed, much of what we know of the inner Jane is conjecture and hopeful guessing. Miss Austen Regrets is definitely worth viewing and reviewing. I hope to be able to add it to my rainy day collection of movies — you know the ones that you watch with a box of tissues, a cup of tea, and a lonely heart yearning for more…

Wow, times certainly does fly when you’re under a deadline. Towards the end of any month, I get a bit frazzled and let things go, like my blog posts, in order to get the zines up and live on time. SFRevu and GumshoeReview both go live on the first of the month. SFRevu focuses on science fiction, fantasy, horror, nonfiction, and related genre areas — so each month has lots of reviews of books, author interviews, media reviews, and more. GumshoeReview is the same but with a focus on mysteries and thrillers. We made it and they’re both on line — so take a look.

It’s February now — and that means a new coffee cup. The picture is of my new cup — roses, pink, words of amore — very Valentine’s Day-ish. I saw it on the shelf and it was like at first sight. There’s only one problem and I’m fairly sure hardly anyone other than another lefty, such as myself, will notice. The flower inside the cup is only visible as you sip IF you are right handed. There is no mirror image on the other side of the cup for left handed coffee/tea drinkers. What’s up with that? Would it be that difficult to put the artwork on both sides of the inside so everyone can “have a nice day”. Oh, well. As a lefty in a right-handed world I’m sort of used to it by now but every now and then it makes me feel left out.

Next up — remember I’ve missed posting for a few days — I finished my first sock making a normal heel but on a toe-up sock so the heel is essentially backward. What that means is that the thicker part of the normal sock heel which usually goes along the back of the heel from bottom of foot up the back of leg is now under the heel against the floor. Here’s a close up (sorry, it’s a bit fuzzy).

It fits well and feels okay. I’m now nearly done with the other sock of the pair. I’m up on the cuff and have about another 2 1/2 inches to do.

In case you’re wondering — I knit like any other knitter — right-handed. Knitting is actually a two-handed activity so left and right, at least to me, doesn’t matter when knitting. Since all patterns are written for right-handed knitting it makes sense to learn to knit that way. I recently managed to learn to knit backwards for a projects that hopefully will be my next UFO to finish (so more on that later).