A Curious Statistical Anomaly

Okay, this is not a science or geek post so those of you not interested in the art and craft of knitting or fibery goodness can move along. But I knit. I’m working on about six projects now. Yeah, I’m flighty and I knit with the mood. I’m nearly done with some socks I’ve been working on of my own design.  That will be another post later.

But back on topic, I heard about this knitting book a while back, quite a while back actually, and it sounded interesting, but nothing special. Now it’s out in the stores and I hadn’t had a chance to see the book itself. The bookstores near where I live and a bit farther a field are light on the craft sections and finding anything is a bit hit or miss because most jumble the crafts all together and I haven’t figured out their shelving system because it isn’t alphabetical by Author or by Title or any other method I can suss out. And no the craft books aren’t even shelves by topic with all the knitting in one area and the crochet in another and quilting in another and so on — jumbled together. So, I hadn’t seen it when I saw the notice that it was out and that usually means out of sight out of mind.

However, Knitting Daily yesterday had this YouTube video with the author talking about the book. I found it on YouTube so you can have a peek if you don’t get Knitting Daily.

My reaction? Wow. I like all the patterns they showed except one and it would take minimum changes to make it one I did like. So, imagine my surprise when today after shopping we stopped in the book store and they have one copy on the shelves. I actually got to take it down and get a closer look. I just flipped through the pages but I liked all the patterns — that’s got to be a gazillion to one chance. Fact is, once I get to actually sit down and study the book I’d probably find that even though I like the pattern it wouldn’t look good on me. But, really a pattern book that I like everything in is unusual enough.

Now it’s on the top of my Wish List. It will more than likely be the next knitting book that I get. What I like most is that the patterns all look like items that you could wear every day and feel special. And that’s mostly what knitting is about — making things that are special and/or make you feel special but are functional and beautiful. On a quick peek — this seems to be one of those books with a higher percentage of “meeting my criteria” than usual.

You’re probably wondering why I have a cup as the image for this post. Well, this is the new December coffee cup. There was a bit of an accident with the original December coffee cup. I was making bread and opened the cupboard to get out the measuring cups when the cupboard exploded. Well, it didn’t actually explode but it seemed like it to me as things just fell out of it shattering an heavy eight ounce glass and breaking my December mug into 6 pieces. The glass was the worse as it left splinters of glass all over the cupboard, the floor, and the small rug in front of the sink. Luckily, I had shoes on. But it took quite a while to get all the pieces and slivers (and cup/glass contents wiped up). But finally, it was a shoe free zone again — except I’d lost a cup I really, really liked. This weekend I found this cup and it seemed like a fair replacement to help me keep in the Christmas spirit.

We’ve had the tree up since December 1st. I thought I’d finally get a photo in of it. We found a nifty tin Santa tree topper (actually it’s a table topper). Hyperion and I have never been able to find a tree topper that we think is more than so-so and this was a compromise to replace our star ornament that we’ve been weaving over the upper branch to use as a tree topper for the last few years. This Santa is made of painted tin and is cone-shaped so it fits on the tree top. It also matches with most of our ornaments. We have lots of Santa ornaments interspersed with some ornaments Hyperion made as a child, some bear ornaments (of various types), and then the rest are sort of homespun/natural type ornaments. All of the ornaments are ones we’ve collected over the years and have meaning for us or made us smile, laugh, or giggle when we saw them.

Bear-Making Part two:
When last you saw the bear I was making it was the various parts — flat. I’ve now got them all sewed together: arms are arms, legs are legs, and the body is one piece. I’ve also stuffed the body/head and limbs. The seams are still open in the arms and legs so I can add in the large buttons that I use for joints.

What’s left to do now is to sculpt the bears face, add the buttons into the interior on the arms and legs and connect to the bear for joints so that it can sit or stand or be positioned. The button go inside so that the child can’t pull them off and eat them. I also use large buttons so that IF for some weird reason they get out of the arms or legs they’re too big to swallow and choke on.

Hopefully, I’ll get to the face sculpting and connecting the arms and legs sometime soon. Meanwhile, this little proto-bear sits there looking forlorn and a bit lost.

Baby sweater:
Last time you saw this project it was on the needles and only down to just below the arms. I’ve got it finished except for blocking. I crocheted around the edges and added a crochet tie. I like ties rather than buttons on baby sweaters whenever possible so the baby can’t pull the buttons off. Okay, okay — so I have a tiny bit of a problem with baby safety issues. These ties, since their in one piece with the edging that goes all along the outside edge of the sweater, can’t be just pulled free and swallowed by baby. (PS: I think the mom-to-be reads my blog so pretend it’s a surprise when this shows up at some point as a gift. Okay?)

So, I’m now on a roll with finishing things off. I’ve still got some green fleece to spin, three sweaters on the needles, a lace scarf on the needles, a pair of socks, and a pair of mittens (which I might give up on). So, it’s a toss up when I’ll find the time but I’m trying to fit the knitting into the spaces where I have wait time (usually for downloads). However, I finally found my wire book holder so I can knit and read at the same time. But, it only really works well for hardcovers and trade paperbacks. So, I read all those first this month, and now I’m into the paperbacks so the knitting is on hold again.

Anyway, after the excitement of exploding cupboards and smashed cups, several very bad fibromyalgia days (where I could barely move), I think I’m back to being mostly normal and may be back to posting again.

I seem to be in a nesting mood lately. Maybe it’s because Christmas is this month and that brings to mind hearth and home, family, and love. Today I made bread and soup for supper.

I also worked on the baby sweater for a friend’s impending family member. I’d gotten a copy of 101 Luxury One-Skein Wonders. It seemed like a good way to use up some yarn that I bought just because I loved the feel of it. Most of the time these single skeins are not enough for anything big but they felt so wonderful to the touch that I succumbed to purchasing the one skein that I could afford. The problem is those single skeins just go into protective baggies and sit until I go through my stash and take the time to touch and pet them all over again. It’s not like you can put a wonderful skein of yarn on display under glass and have visitors not think your just a few degrees off plumb — so they sit in the stash unseen and unappreciated except my me.

101 Luxury One-Skein Wonders seemed like a good way to actually use some of these yarns, turning them into useful items to be worn and and displayed in more socially acceptable manners. However there are some limitations to the book.

There are a few shawls but mostly the projects are ones that can be made using the yardage in one skein. Of course that yardage changes depending on the yarn weight: lace weight 217 – 1662 yards; superfine weight 164 – 875 yards, fine weight 55 – 315 yards; light weight 54560 yards; medium weight 77 – 650 yards; bulky weight 65 – 478 yards.

The book is set up with the photos in the front. A couple of the photos are of the same item with different weight yarns. All the photos are in color and clearly show the product, but you only have the single view. So, you can’t see what the back of the item looks like or what it would look like open or displayed differently.

Next the patterns are listed by yarn weight with a notation as to what page to find the photo on. None of the patterns have a schematic of the item (this isn’t important except for sweaters, usually baby sizes). Directions list Size/Measurements, Yarn requirements, Needles needed, Gauge, and any other supplies you might need. Stitch patterns are usually text though there are some charts. (I wish everything had charts as well as text but then I’ve gotten fairly good at turning text to charts on my own.) The instructions seem clear for the patterns that I read through. I started the Baby Bamboo-Merino Sweater and so far the instructions are clear and easy to follow.

The book also has an Appendix with a list of all the designers with a short bio for each one; sizing guidelines that would be extremely useful for any knitter; a list of the abbreviations used in the book, a Guide to Yarn Weights, a Glossary with illustrations for some of the words/techniques, and an Index of patterns.

The sweater that I started is made from Naturally Country (75% Microdenier Acrylic 25% Merino Wool, 3 Ounces/85 Grams, 185 Yards/170 Meters, Color: Sunshine). I loved the feel of it in the store. It’s washable and dry-able, so good for a baby and very, very soft. The only problem I’ve had is that it splits fairly easily at least with my needles (sharp points). I did have two skeins so I could leave the body on the circulars and knit the sleeves separately. But I, just this afternoon, finished the body and now just have to do the crochet all along the edge. So, I think two skeins are needed for this but then the pattern said it needed 265 yards anyway so that looks about right.

I can’t seem to find my crochet hooks so I’ll probably do a big search tomorrow and post a picture when I’m done.

But, it looks like the book is a keeper and will be useful for some of those other single skeins that I have.

Okay, finally the new external disk drive arrived.  Thankfully, it got here before everything blew up.  When it arrived I had only 1 GB of space left — everything was sooooo slow I was growing moss on my mouse.  But, once I got it plugged in and moved all the photos and electronic books to the external, I had 21 GB free and things were moving much faster (except for the expected slow down because I have some virus checking done every time I open files.  So, I’m happier and now I should be back on track with the blog and photos.

This months coffee cup is a Starbucks Blue Mug.  It was in all the Starbucks this summer but seems to be pretty thin on the ground when I was in Starbucks shops during the last few weeks.  I checked their website and they have a brown mug but not this blue one.  Luckily, I picked this one up this summer and saved it for September.  It’s perfect for hot chocolate, tea, coffee, or any warm drink.  I love the heft and feel of it.  The slight curve to the lip is really nice.  It’s very reminiscent of the old white mugs you used to get in diner — not that there’s that many old diners around anymore.  It has modern lines but with the comfortable feel and psychological comfort of the old diner mugs.  Also, it’s big enough so I don’t have to make repeated trips to the coffee machine when I’m working and holds heat fairly well — as well as any uninsulated cup anyway.  I like it.

Next, I said I was going to post a picture of my organized pantry area.  Last time I posted a picture, the shelves were nearly empty and everything was piled on my living room floor.  Well, now it’s all back in the pantry area including a lot of stuff that didn’t fit before.  Having the baskets helped because you can pile/load more into them than you can when lining things up on the shelves.  I also put things in the baskets by type so all the mixes, sweeteners, baking stuff, etc. are in one basket, all the soup and soup related stuff is in another, one is all spices, and another (on the floor) is all drinks, whether powder or bottle.  So now the hallway is navigable when going back to do the wash or to the bathroom, which is around the corner and out of sight (and is currently another new project but stalled as I try to figure out just how far I want to go with it — at first I thought just paint but now…I’m thinking, and that’s always dangerous.)

I’m thinking a curtain over the pantry might help disguise it and make the hallway (visible to anyone from the living room, the kitchen, and the dining room) look nicer.  But then you have to move it out of the way every time you want something there, and the number of times that would get done could make for a very dirty curtain very quickly unless it was a dark color and that would make the area too dark.  What do you think?

I’d decided to learn to knit socks on circulars so I could knit both socks at the same time.  I got a couple of books out of the library and looked online for some tutorials and finally cast on some yarn and started a pair of winter socks for wearing around the house when it gets cold instead of shoes.  Well, truthfully, I hardly ever wear shoes in the house anyway, but in winter my feet get cold, so nice warm socks are a must.

Anyway, it said in most sources to use a 40 inch needle, so that’s what I used, but I’m thinking of switching for a 60 inch if I don’t get the hang of moving the socks about when I change sides pretty soon.  Maybe just putting a marker between the edges so it’s easier to find when the circular gets sucked into the sock and I don’t have an end loop left when I finish the second sock before I turn to come back on the other side.  Otherwise, it’s not so hard once you get used to it.  The fact that I’m making both socks at the same time is wonderful, especially since I don’t have a pattern and these are sort of ad hoc — so now I can do the same thing to both socks without having to remember way back to when I did it on the first one (so far the whole note taking thing isn’t working out too well).

Once I finish increasing to the even knitting for the foot, I plan to do a tighter knit on the sole of the foot — I’m thinking knit on one row and knit 1, slip 1 on the other row — sort of what you do for the heel flap but for the entire bottom of the foot.  Hey, it’s worth a try to see how it comes out.  What I love about knitting is the wonderful way you always can have do overs when something goes wrong.

Speaking of things that need a do-over, the following is a political rant (I’m still upset) so move along if you’re avoiding such rants …. Really, I’m Democrat with extreme Liberal tendencies, so bail now if you offend easily.

I’m still in a snit over the political candidates for both parties.   This country can’t afford another term with a Republican in charge.  Especially, a Republican whose economic and foreign policies are nearly indistinguishable from the guy who got us into the mess we’re in in the first place.  And especially not with a Republican with a totally unqualified Veep who, based on her answers to the simplest of questions, just confirms my suspicions of her inability to do the job.  Heck, I’m more qualified than her and no one asked me to be Vice President.  I saw a YouTube video for an ad for Michael Palin for President — unfortunately he can’t run because he’s British, but they make a good case in a tongue and cheek way that he’d still be better.

I just want to vote FOR a president at some point in my life instead of voting against the lesser evil.  I’ve heard some people plan to vote Republican just because they figure if the country hits bottom people might finally wake up but just think of all the people who have to suffer first.  Why not try to do your best to help your country.   Look what fear has done to us over the last 8 years.  This just has to stop.  We need our Constitution and our Bill of Rights restored.  We need the checks and balances that our founding fathers put in place in the beginning of this nation restored so that we can move forward into the future and not backward into darkness.

[Hyperion here:] And it would be nice to have a V.P. that was capable of understanding elementary school level science.

The last week has been a bit of a strain.  Not that anything really awful has happened.  There’s been the usual stress of gearing up for the publication of all the zines on September 1st.  Just the usual stuff of pinging all the reviewers and seeing where we stand.  Not to bad except I realized that the questions for the author interview for one of the zines never got sent — will do that tomorrow but it may be too late.

Then there was  a major code update.  Somehow, it shouldn’t have happened, but the update lost us a chunk of data from the database. Then the host servers crashed the next morning so it took longer than usual for the restore.  Then when the restore was in place, well all the work of at least two days was gone and had to be redone.  I think, as of today, that most of that has been recovered and put back in place.

Don’t you just love how computers make our lives so much more organized, in touch with others, and streamlined and then if there’s a glitch… Well, nothing can even come close to screwing up like a computer and its bits and bytes.  But now that we’re back to where we were several days ago — things are looking pretty good.

Meanwhile, while all the computer problems and stressors were going on there was the usual household stuff to do.  I’m trying to get things a bit more organized — boxed, labeled, gathered for tossing or giving away, or storing.  I’ve been pulling out the books that we don’t want to keep in our personal library and making a pile to put on Amazon for sale.  I need the bookshelf space for the book we have acquired lately and want to keep or haven’t read yet.  You’d think with all the books I review, Hyperion reviews, and that we read (from the library), that we’d never buy books.  You’d think that, but you’d be wrong.  We buy lots of books — mostly for research, reference, or just because they look like fun and the library doesn’t have it.

I also picked up some new yarn for socks today.  It’s a stretchy sock yarn in a pretty variegated  purple, yellow, pink, rosy color scheme.  Once I finish the pair I’m making now (just got the toe to do), I’ll start a pair with this yarn and using the circular needle technique to knit two socks at once.  Just need to figure out how I want them to look and find a pattern to use.

I’ve actually managed to spin four of the last eight days.  Not as much as I should but at least I’m keeping my hand (and feet) in.  I’m beginning to feel more comfortable.  I’m trying really hard to over-spin so I don’t lose so much twist when I ply.   I’m still working on using up the green top that I was working on for the Tour de Fleece.  I almost have half a spool full.  Maybe by the end of the month I’ll be plying it and setting the twist for this second skein.  It’s still a lace/sock weight yarn (with 3-ply Navaho plying).

What I have to snap out of is the funk that I seem to be in.  Everyday, it seems like I’m wading waist deep in water.  Everything just seems to take more effort.  I’m not letting it stop me.  I even walked down to the mailbox twice in the last week — I know I should be doing it every day.  But, I’m making a real effort to not give up and that’s got to count for something.  I guess what it counts for is that I keep going and eventually I will find it easier and easier to just keep going.  Maybe I should just buy more spoons, but I’m hoping to “snap out of it”.  So, since I love her work and the puzzle is so bright and cheery — I thought I’d share.  It is available through Amazon (isn’t everything).

Still expect a post only when you see one.  My schedule is a bit uneven just now.

It’s time for a report from the cat.  It’s been a long day, and it’s not quite over yet.  This post is being written on the road … literally, we’re doing about 65 miles per hour, and we’re passing though eastern Pittsburgh.  We’re such geeks!  Anyway, we got up this morning, did bills, laundry, errands, cleaning, packing, etc.  Then  we went and got the new rental car.  While we’re there they ask us if we’d like a compact SUV instead, for no additional charge.  We asked them what the mileage was on it.   They looked blank, then looked in the computer, and smiled and told us: 18 miles per gallon.  We said in unison “No way!”.  Sure our own car has a slipping transmission, but it’s full sized AND we get 28 miles to the gallon (which I thought was pretty bad for a road trip to Denver).  So we got a Chrysler Sebring instead.  Not as good mileage as we would have liked, but still better than either the SUV they wanted to give us, or our own car.

Next stop was the dealership, which was suppose to call us two hours before with a time-to-completion estimate on  our car.  But, as usual, they still hadn’t managed to let us know anything.  While we were there, we dropped off the loaner rental car, since we had the new one and didn’t need two.  Then we popped into service to ask in person.  Nobody knew anything.   But when they checked the bay, our car wasn’t there, and it had been earlier.  So they assumed it had been finished and taken out for a test drive.  Lacking critical, need-to-know information, we sat in the waiting room for a half hour until they came to find us and let us know that the car was indeed finally ready.  We went out to pay the bill, and found they had charged us for the rental car, which they swore they weren’t going to do.  At least they the decency to look embarrassed and took the charge off.    But I’m still rather miffed that I had to find it first.

Now with car in hand, we headed back home and finished packing up all the food.  Gayle, of course, had to dither over what knitting projects to bring.  She is such a girl!  In case you’re interested, that’s three sock projects and one sweater.  Plus just a soupcon of fleece to spin with a drop spindle (which she’s now gotten good enough at that she doesn’t drop it anymore).

Okay, finally the car is packed, I’ve run back inside twice for the things we forgot but remembered before we got out of the driveway (we remembered something else, but we were 10 miles away, and I was not going back!).   Next stop was the bank for spend’en cash, and then Starbucks for a caffeine fix.  And finally we were on our way.  Of course that put us on the highway during rush hour traffic.  Fortunately, most of the HOV lanes around here are for two people, which if you stretch your imagination to include me, qualifies us.  So we were a bit delayed, but not as bad as the poor schmucks sitting all alone in their bourgoise-mobiles in the three-lane, glacially creeping, parking lot.

Late Breaking News:  We just crossed the border into Ohio!  Yeah us!!!!

Ooops, Later Breaking News: Never mind.  We misinterpreted a sign.  It would seem that the elusive Ohio  border is still about an hour away.  Sigh!

Late Late Breaking News:  We just crossed into Ohio!  For real this time.  Seriously!  You couldn’t miss the sign.  It was big enough to have it’s own weather system!

Question:  You’re on the freeway, driving down between little hillocks, only slightly raised, not even taller than the car, and sloping away from the road.   And the road is plastered with signs warning “Beware of falling rocks”.  What’s the deal here?  Asteroid strikes?  Avenging Angels?  Hill Giants?  Tired and slightly off-kiltered minds want to know.

Not much else to talk about.  We’re glad that Starbucks is omnipresent, and so therefore is caffeine.  I’m a strict adherent to the old adage: Better living through chemistry.  But only caffeine.  I may be a radical, but I’m a tame, boring one.

We’re looking for Highway 80 heading west.  That’s our ending goal for the day.  Once we find that, we’ll look for cheap accommodations and call it a night.   Back tomorrow, same cat time, same cat channel!

 On the road again!  I can’t wait to get on the road again!  Although the wind make my fur stand up on end!  I still can’t wait to get on the road again!

As usual a project that shouldn’t have been so complicated turned out to be bigger than I thought. And, I started it just as we getting the zines ready to go live on August 1st. And, there’s more, Paul and I are making all the arrangements to drive to Denver for Denvention 3 (the World Science Fiction Convention August 7-10th).

What’s the project, you ask? Well, thanks for asking. I decided I’m sick of tripping over all the stuff in the pantry area and it needed to be organized and stored so that most of it is corralled and controlled in the space we have.

The pantry runs along a wall making a short hallway between the kitchen, dining room, and the laundry area. There’s also a half-bath back at near the washer. Part of the impetus for the cleaning and neatening of this area is that we’re planning to get a new washer and dryer soon (once these die, and they are not healthy). Before I started this project the hallway was overrun with stuff that didn’t fit on the shelves because they were a smidgen too big to fit. After barking/banging/stubbing my toe one to many times, I just started pulling things off the shelf and figured it was also time to flip the shelves over (they were bowing a bit) too.

So, the living room floor is covered with all the stuff from the pantry. I’ve pulled all the nice little cloth covers from the baskets we bought last year and washed them and refitted them into the baskets. I grouped the pantry food, bottles, packages, etc, into like type groups — not all the piles even show in this picture.

We also have a nice IKEA cabinet in the kitchen next to the stove that we recently found out can’t be used to store canned goods, only dry goods, since the heat from the stove causes problems. So, I moved all the dry stuff like cereal, spaghetti, macaroni, etc to that cabinet.

You’ll notice that lots of our stuff is in plastic containers as well as the original container. We live on 5 acres. I don’t care what you do or how often you clean — you get bugs. This year is our best year — it’s mostly ants. Last year it was some sort of wood beetle (or so they told me when I asked for it’s identity). We also have a cricket down in the basement which I hear but can’t find but since they eat bugs, and I don’t see it, I don’t care.

So, I’m betwixt and between in the project and going full-bore editing, proofing, writing, herding cats (aka reviewers), and aiming at the August 1st deadline. I’m really looking forward to Denvention and if any of you readers are going please look for us there (we’ll sign in on the Voodoo Board). Now, I’m off to get a few hours sleep before I dive in again tomorrow. (Oh, yeah I actually spun for 15 minutes again today.)

Well, it was a gallant try but I didn’t make it. I had two goals:

1. Spin every day
2. Spin up one pound of green variegated top

I spent most of one evening getting the wheel set up and ready to spin. Had several problems getting the tension right. I managed to spin up a full bobbin and then navajo ply it. It came out really nice. I put pictures in a previous post — but here it is again.

But, I fell down on the spin everyday goal. I missed three days while at Readercon and another when I got home. I guess I’m just getting a bit old for those late nights and early morning combos — especially the ones where they expect you to think when you get up in the morning.

Then I was back in the spinning rhythm when all of a sudden the bobbin had no pull at all. Everything spun and turned and twisted and nothing pulled in and if I loosed my grip nothing happened. After a lot of googlng and printing the Schacht pamphlet the light dawned. The drive string had stretched and even though the tension knob was a tight as I could get it nothing worked. So, it was cut the string. Retie the string. And then I spent what seemed like hours trying to get the tension right again. It’s still a bit wonky because I was so used to it before it changed but I’m now spinning okay again.

Alas, the tour has ended and I barely spun up 8 ounces of the original pound of top. So, no yellow for me. No, red either because I feel that I didn’t really give it my best effort. I let things pull me away that didn’t need to but just to keep me from feeling just how out of practice and rusty I’d become. So, maybe next year I’ll do better.

I do know that I’ll be reorganizing some of my priorities to spin more. I found that when I was in the groove, spinning became a way to just pause my brain and let the creative thing/open side of my brain work unfettered. It helped me deal with migraine pain when I was trying to reduce pain medication. It was also freeing to get back to doing something that I’d forgotten just how much I loved. Somehow, I hope over this coming year to make spinning and knitting share my creative time.

Since I really have some plans to jump full force into writing for a while that spinning/knitting brain space where your mind just coasts and dreams could become very valuable and if it doesn’t happen the restfulness I feel after a half-hour of spinning will be a welcome respite in a chaotic household.