Koigu, part two.

I finished those "Vine Lace Socks" in Koigu.



It was a nice change of pace, but I don't think I need to go out of my way to get this yarn. And I'll probably never make a habit of lacy socks, top-down construction, or this type of heel.

What do software patents have to do with knitting?

Not much activity here. My blogging energy has been spent
elsewhere.

I'm sure Randall Stross's article in today's New York Times will get plenty of play in tech blogs, but the knitters probably don't care. But knitters have an understanding of copyright that supports Stross's point. He argues in Why Bill Gates Wants 3,000 New Patents (registration required) that software patents should be abolished, and software makers should be protected by copyright alone. Microsoft should only be able to copyright Word and Excel; they should never be given patents on word processing or spreadsheets. (Simplistic example, obviously, but analogous to some of the concepts Microsoft has filed patents for this summer).

As knitters, we enjoy a great deal of design freedom because an individual cannot copyright a technique or method: only the words describing the method. Imagine if someone filed for and was given a patent for a technique: no one else would be able to use that concept in their own patterns. Obviously, no patent is ever going to be granted for knitting concepts (cabling, ribbing, intarsia) or techniques (picking, throwing) -- even for innovations like "magic loop."

Knitting: the Open Source Craft.

Koigu

I've heard a lot about this yarn, so I got a couple skeins off eBay. Seems to work well with the "Magic Loop" technique.



Unusual for me: I'm knitting from the top down. I thought this yarn might be good for Kathleen Hubbard's Aran-Braid Socks, but the subtle color pattern was obscuring the braid. So I ripped it out and am trying the "Vine Lace Socks" from Socks Socks Socks. I've been getting a lot of mileage out of that book recently.

Scarf Update

I am in a severely boring knitting phase. I realized this when I dropped in on the Stonewall Union Stitch 'N Bitch this week. I probably post pictures of only half the socks I knit. Nevertheless, I have exciting news: I've finished the gorgeous baby camel hair scarf!



For a better detail of the pattern, check out my very first blog posting.

The scarf momentum carries over into the "Here and There Cables" scarf made from leftover Bearfoot.



I'm concerned that the scarf will be "unbalanced," starting with two really vivid colors that are no longer available. I'm giving some thought to unraveling some of that big red section and reknitting it later in the scarf.

I wonder if my aunt likes lace?

I've been getting a little bored with K2P2, so I thought I'd try branching out a bit, try something a little different. Here is an experiment with Vivienne Shen's "Gull Wings" pattern from Socks Socks Socks (XRX, 1999).



In "Thunderhead" from Bearfoot, the overall color is nice but the yarn is too dark for the wing pattern to show. But that's not my biggest concern: I don't know if anyone I knit socks for would want lacy patterns on their feet.

Unexpected bonus of knitting lacy socks: that hole that sometimes appears where the heel meets the instep? Not a problem. Blends in with the other holes.

Months of socks

Am I the worst blogger ever? So yeah, I taught the class in March. Here are the socks I worked on as teaching aids. First, my "Slytherin Sock," to match the Slytherin house colors. (Personally, I think I'm a Ravenclaw, but these colors are better).

The color changes were an experiment with the Golden Ratio. Not the greatest. I like how the "wire hanger sock blocker" turned out, though.

More snake-like, however, is this pair, which I call the "Nafferton Chimes Socks."

They're made from black, green, and yellow Frog Tree alpaca, and the color pattern is based on the three bell chiming pattern of the Nafferton Church in Sheffield. Basing stripes on chime patterns is an idea I lifted from Jacqueline Fee's The Sweater Workshop, a fantastic book. I like these, but I make it a point not to keep -- or give to people I love -- socks that have to be treated so delicately as alpaca, so I'm selling them for charity.

The Birth of Perfect Socks

Found this old picture when moving files to a new computer. It was my first skein of Bearfoot, and the birth of my new "Perfect Sock" pattern. If anyone is signed up, I start teaching the class next week.

Knitting as sculpture

As I was working on these fingerless gloves, I thought about the Michelangelo quote: "When I look at a block of marble, I see the sculpture inside it. All I have to do is remove what doesn't belong." Knitting (especially in the round) seems to be similar: I imagine the finished garment, invisible in the air, and I try to fill in the space with yarn. Easier said than done, really, but it gets at what I think is so damn cool about knitting: you take a piece of string, loop it around itself so it holds together in the shape of a sock or a hat or a sweater. Or gloves.



These are the gloves requested by Anna, who used her sewing skills to help make my enormous green Aran sweater fit.

The wonderful camel scarf is getting longer (no need to post a new picture, really). Making progress up the sleeves of Mike's purple sweater:

What's My Line?

What do I spend most of my time doing? Watching recorded episodes of What's My Line. Tonight we saw the October 17, 1954, episode with Merle Oberon as the Mystery Guest. Robert Q. Lewis identifies her by learning that she had just appeared on the Best of Broadway in a production of "The Man Who Came to Dinner." These Best of Broadway episodes must have been great. I'd love it if they came out on DVD. Failing that, Mike and I may have to take a vacation to the Museum of Television and Radio to see some of these shows.

Perfect Sock Pattern Wiki

I created a page at SeedWiki to help me build the Perfect Sock Pattern. Next month, I'll be teaching again a class I taught in November, and my instructions and lesson plan need help. Feel free to help by making comments, suggestions, or even changes to the page.

Here and There Cables

I got Scarf Style (Interweave, 2004) for Xmas, and thought that Norah Gaughan's "Here and There Cables" would make a perfect pattern for leftover Bearfoot sock yarn. See for yourself:



I love that because the pattern has an odd number of rows the cabling happens on both sides of the scarf, making it reversible. Here's a closeup:



Too many works in progress, really. It will be in the dead of summer before I get all these scarves finished.

Progress on the purple sweater

I started the purple "Wondrous Woven Cables" sweater from Arans & Celtics (XRX, 2003) for Mike in early November, and got the lower body done pretty quickly.



I spent December doing socks, and started the sweater sleeves on January 1. Got this far in a few days...



...then put them aside for a month. Now I have no idea where I am. "Round 22," whatever that means. I'd rather leave it all in a tangled heap and keep working on the lovely gray baby camel scarf, but before I get too lost, I should get back on track with the sweater.

Too many WIPs.

You have to be carefully taught

Initially, I was just irritated when I read that PBS had caved to Dept of Ed pressure to pull an episode of Postcards from Buster that contained children with lesbian parents. But as I wrote the following note to WOSU to tell them I hoped they would show it, I got pissed.

Hello--

I do not see the "Sugartime" episode of _Postcards
from Buster_ listed in your schedule. I do hope that
you intend to air the program. My decision of how
much my household will support WOSU stations this
year will depend on your choice.

From what I've read, there is no romantic contact
pictured between the mother and stepmother of the
girl Buster meets. The words "lesbian" or "gay" are
never used. The subject of gay marriage or civil union
is not relevant to this show about tapping trees for
maple sugar, and the subject is not raised.

To censor this episode is an attempt to ostracize and
inflict shame on the children -- children in this very
community -- who live in families headed by same sex
couples. I find it despicable that the Dept. of
Education has put PBS and its affiliates in this
position, and I dearly hope that you do the right thing
for children in central Ohio.

Unsurprisingly, WOSU will not be airing the "Sugartime" episode, feeling that it is important for parents to "have the option of addressing elements of this episode with their young children at a time and manner of their own choosing." Yep, you need to make sure that kids feel the appropriate revulsion and hatred of those maple sugar manufacturers.

First official post

I decided it's time to turn this into an actual blog, rather than just updating a single post every other day. So here's my favorite WIP: a scarf knit from Blithe baby camel yarn that I bought in Arbella Yarns in Salem, MA. The pattern is from Simply Beautiful Sweaters for Men (Martingale, 2001).

January Overview

On the needles -- what I'm making

• Toe-up "Simple Sock" in Bearfoot Lupine (pattern to be posted here soon)
• Toe-up "Simple Sock" in denim blue Encore DK
  
• Gaughan's "Here and There Cables" from Scarf Style in Bearfoot yarn leftover from socks
• Marchant's "Wondrous Woven Cables" sweater from Arans & Celtics in Blueberry Jo Sharp DK Wool Tweed for Mike
• Up next: gloves for Anna, scarf in baby camel hair, bed for Dodger

Next to the bed -- what I'm reading

• The Final Solution by Michael Chabon
  
• What's the Matter with Kansas? by Thomas Frank
• Best American Science & Nature Writing 2004 by Steven Pinker (editor)
• Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin
  
• Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalpyse by Robert Rankin
• Witches of Chiswick by Robert Rankin
• America: the book by Jon Stewart and the Daily Show writers
• Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

In the car -- what I'm listening to

• So Far by Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young
• 101 by Depeche Mode
  
• Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris (read by the author)
• Wicked (Original Cast Recording)

On the screen -- movies I've just watched

• I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958) [DVD]
  
• House of Flying Daggers (2004) [Theater]
  
• Elektra (2005) [Theater]
  
• Gone with the Wind (1939) [DVD Commentary Track]
• Blue Sub No. 6 (1998) [Adult Swim On Demand]
  
• Closer (2004) [Theater]

In my head -- obsessions

• Annoying Song: "Popular" from Wicked