vatergrrl

take the WHAT BAD BOOK ARE YOU test.


and go to mewing.net. not as good as reading a good book, but way better than a bad one.

I found out today that FIL is quite taken with the mug I designed on Zazzle and had shipped directly to him. Apparently, the mug is "too nice" to drink coffee out of, so it will have a place of honor somewhere holding pencils and pens. Maybe this gets me out of having to buy him a shirt?

My father-in-law's birthday is coming up, and Bert suggested getting him a TV/VCR/DVD combo, so that he can watch all of the videotapes he has from some educational lecture series he has, and also for the few DVD's he and his wife have. Unfortunately, MIL positively shrieked "No! Nonono!" over the phone with Bert, so that idea is obviously a bust. She then suggested, via e-mail, that we should send FIL a short-sleeved shirt from big outdoorsy retailer. Is it just me, or is the idea of sending one's FIL a shirt somehow akin to sending him, I dunno, underwear? Granted, there are different levels of familiarity implied here, but, a shirt?

I offered to knit him a hat or a scarf once, but I was told he wouldn't wear it, and Bert is concerned that a few CD's of Theodore Bikel might never get a listen and/or a book by Paul Krugman might likewise sit unread. He did get a big kick out of a coffee mug I found one year, one with the caffeine molecule printed on it (FIL is a retired chemistry professor), and he likes another mug with the periodic table of the elements, but what on earth to send this year?

Any ideas for something useful for a semi-reclusive 80 year old who digs math, Shakespeare and diet soda? I'd like to send another coffee mug, one custom-printed with an image from the Library of Congress' Works Progress Administration archives, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to scale it for either Zazzle or CafePress.

It's pretty much what I was expecting, at least on the Dem side. Interesting to note, however, that Fred Thomson and I are on completely opposite sides of the political spectrum, and Rudy is closer to my views than John. And yes, this quiz DID predict my chosen candidates, in order, in the top three. O and C, well, I'm as-yet undecided, and I wish there'd been a bigger % difference between the two. Not that it matters, or anything, as the race will be way over by the time my state has its primary.

88% Dennis Kucinich
86% Mike Gravel
81% John Edwards
80% Barack Obama
78% Hillary Clinton
78% Chris Dodd
78% Joe Biden
72% Bill Richardson
34% Rudy Giuliani
24% John McCain
20% Ron Paul
18% Mike Huckabee
16% Mitt Romney
15% Tom Tancredo
9% Fred Thompson

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Once again, I'm a day late to the party, but at least I'm wearing my pajamas, and in the spirit to celebrate Super International Pajama Day, which IS today. However, I thought it would be more fun for you (all three of you?) to see what I love in the world of poetry, rather than run screaming from the screen after seeing me in my 'jammies. (For the record, pink and turquoise cats on a pink background, short-sleeved top, from K-Mart's Pink K collection.)


The Snow Man by Wallace Stevens

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Although I am perhaps the very slowest knitter I know, and in general I'm a selfish and reclusive bee-yotch, this year I was inspired by Norma, of NowNormaKnits, to try to knit up some mittens for underprivileged kids in Oklahoma, via the Soaring Eagles project. Last year, I sewed up some polarfleece hats for Soaring Eagles, but those worked up fairly quickly and it didn't feel like too terribly much of a contribution. This year, since Rachel, the leader of Soaring Eagles, specifically wanted mittens and socks/slippers, and I don't trust my limited sewing skills to make anything fancy (yes, I think of simple mittens as fancy -- there's elastic at the cuff, right?), I promised to make two pairs of mittens and would try my best to knit up a third pair as a bonus.

The problem was, I have never knitted mittens before in.my.life. So, you can probably see where this is going. I knitted up the first mitten, and started in on a matching mitt, when I discovered that a) the second mitt DID NOT MATCH; and b) the first mitt was ug-lee. Like, uglier than Ann Coulter's soul, but I digress. All I could do was to complete the second, better mitten, then cut the top off the first mitten, pick up stitches near the cuff, and knit back up. For the second, smaller pair, I got the idea in my head to do some different color patterning (black cuff, pink hand/thumb, black tip), but then I didn't like the looks of *that* mitten either. More cutting, ripping back, picking up stitches and then soldiering on.

Finally, after much swearing and perhaps an ugly cry or a big bowl of ice cream or something therapeutic, I had my initial two pairs of mittens DONE. Yay! I tried for a third pair, in the colors of my mom's alma mater (Go crimson! Go, gray! Go, Wazzoo [WSU, Pullman WA, "Cougars"]), but I just ran out of steam after knitting exclusively on mittens for a solid week and feeling my self-imposed deadline pressing down on me. Now I have one thumb-less mitten possibly fit for a large child's hand which could either be completed one of these days and possibly even have a mate, OR ripped back to just-before-the-tip and made into a fingerless mitt for me.

The "fall down, go boom" part of the charity knitting comes, again, via Norma, who posted today that it looks like Rachel's goal will not be met and many deserving kids won't have much of anything hand-knitted for the holidays this year. I *think* I recall Rachel posting somewhere that she had extra hats and scarves from last year's overwhelming response, so every kid will get at least something this year, but maybe I'm delusional. I just hate the thought that Rachel worked so hard to organize this specific charity drive, and Norma and other knitbloggers I love to read worked to publicize it, but the kids will be left wanting this season. I'm reminded of the motto for the Buffalo-Niagara Catholic Church, "The drive that never fails," where every year they'd appeal for funds to support retired clergypeople. I wish that the Soaring Eagles project could boast that same motto, but now that things are looking grim, my heart is heavy and my gut is in knots. Sure, I did my (very minor) part and sent two pairs of mittens, but I'm left feeling as if I should have done more, even if, realistically, I did everything I could with the time I was able to give for the project. The deadline is Monday, and I can't do anything now except grump over what feels like failure, but perhaps I can do more, and start earlier, next year.

Dear all -- yes, the three of you who irregularly read my blog. I have signed on to a meme circulating around the blogosphere, and it goes something like this:

The idea of the exchange is I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on this blog post requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet, and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

So if you would like to participate in the Pay it Forward and have your very own gift handmade by me - let me know in the comments.

My own additional caveat: I will try my best to match my "handmade gift" to the specific interests you've articulated on your blog or, if we know each other in the real, bedrock and mud world, some conversation you and I have had about, well, something. It might be hand knitted, hand dyed, sewn, or perhaps written, but it will be something I think you'd enjoy, and something which I can make. (Probably nothing cooked/baked -- I don't want to give anyone food poisoning!)

So, sign on at your peril leisure, and pay it forward!

Gacked from purlewe:

vatergrrl - a teaspoon of honesty - 1/2 a cup of humor - a gallon of trustworthiness Season and serve.

'What is your personality recipe?' at QuizGalaxy.com

According to mingle2.com, my LJ is rated at:

Mingle² - Free Online Dating

They base their findings on the use of the following words (and frequencies):
hell (6x); pain (5x); bitch (2x); gun (1x)
I would swear, though, that I have heard those words, and far worse, used in a dull PG movie. And, no, I'm not talking "PG-13," that wonky rating which came into vogue after I could get into R movies without being carded (ahem). Obviously, their standards for "mature audience" must fall squarely along: "This blog is a better soporific than Rozerem and Lunesta, perfect for insomniacs everywhere!" or suitable for your great Aunt Frannie, who was probably quite a naughty wit in her own time.

So, dear friends list, and random assorted readers in search of your soporific fix, here's the Q:
Would it be classy and appropriate to wear an "Idaho? No, YOU da ho!" tee to go visit my 72 y.o. father, who lives in the land of potatos, the Snake River, and an amazingly fancy Mormon temple? And, for the record, my father also tried to convert his NRA chapter to socialism, proudly excommunicated himself from The Church (LDS), and called our now-passed calico cat a "nasty old chippie" but cried when he had to have her put to sleep.

'Cause, yet again, I have nothing new in life (unless you count laundry, dishes and packing for a trip as groundbreaking , LJ-worthy events). I think I might have completed this meme before, but here goes (via www.knottygirls.com/jenla.blog/):

Go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday month and day only. Then post three events, two births and one holiday that occurred on your birthday.

January 27:
Events:
1606 - Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, and ending in their execution on January 31.
1945 - World War II: The Red Army arrives at Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland and find the Nazi concentration camp.
1973 - Paris Peace Accords officially end the Vietnam War, Colonel William Nolde falls, becoming the conflict's last recorded American combat casualty.

Births:
1850 - Samuel Gompers, American labor leader (d. 1924)
1961 - Margo Timmins, Canadian singer (Cowboy Junkies)

Holidays/Observances:
UN — International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Gacked from Jennie Sits and Knits via Rabbitch:

Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl I got the clap(potis)!
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up Does all the way through a short-row heel count?
Knitting with camel yarn Laceweight blend and worsted in the stash...
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk Laceweight in the stash for a Faroese shawl
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater I have an EZ % sweater on the needles in the most luscious shade of "Dark Lovat" (dark aqua blue) -- Carodan Farm Yarns
Drop stitch patterns Clapotis, natch
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn Still figuring out how to unravel a wool (?) sweater someone abandoned near my apt. dumpster
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn If it feels as nice as soy, and it's affordable, why not?
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns EZ's fishtrap and other stitch patterns are on my list
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting But I should do more...
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan Planning to steek my EZ % sweater, maybe possibly, or make a Ribby Cardi
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles Almost exclusively, though I'll also use dpn's
Knitting with your own handspun yarn Only enough for a swatch, for now, but...
Slippers Either Fuzzy Feet or Knit Picks "Sock Memories" pattern -- not clogs
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental Knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf Berdien's Boxes from Myrna Stahman's Shawls and Scarves, in the "Seaman's Scarf" style. This is one of my big knitting successes.
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental) All the time -- my hands can't really do Continental
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca Al-pa-ca! (Delivered in a Cookie monster voice, but less fuzzy and blue)
Fair Isle knitting See that EZ % sweater again -- it's gonna be great!
Norwegian knitting
Dyeing with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting Valliant but failed attempt at Wendy Johnson's toe-up/short-row heel socks
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn Since my own is still feh, I'd do this in an instant!
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dyeing yarn Also dyeing roving. Both with acid dyes.
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags I crocheted and felted a small bag, once.
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting Bond machine, in my pre-handknitting days
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO It looked great, but what followed was dreck, so I frogged it
Freeform knitting
Short rows Wrapped, have not tried YO or unwrapped short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom Long, long ago, on a circular loom from a craft fair
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift Hat for Dad, headband for MIL
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public At the airport, once, I made an older woman smile (she must have been a knitter in her earlier life), and an airport employee said (during the same sitting), "You're knitting that for *me*, right?"

<td align="center"> vatergrrl --
[adjective]:

Benevolent to a fault

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com</td>

I'm traipsing back not the blogosphere feeling quite a bit as if I have more than a bit of mud in my eye. Namely, I only and accidentally found out through reading the groovy, hip and witty Mason-Dixon Knitting blog that today is (ta-da!) Blogging Against Disablism Day. Now, I do recall the event fro last year, and read quite a few blog entries back then, but I still feel rather ashamed that I completely forgot that *today* was the anniversay of that momentous day of awareness.

In some ways, I find that I aproach the notion of a "blog against disablism day" with a bit of dis-ease. That is, I see this day in the same way that I see Black History Month or Women's History Month -- a mad rush of consciousness-raising events for x amount of time, then the rest of the year, we can go back to the mindless celebration of Anglo masculinity and all of the "special" people who get their own month, day, charity event or Dyson vacuum, fade back into obscurity. Granted, shining a spotlight on breast cancer, premature birth, muscular dystrophy (don't get me started on Jerry and his "kids"...) or whatever else is important and useful, and in many cases awareness can lead to real progress in helping people who struggle with whatever disease, disability, or illness. It's just the "one day only!" mentality that bothers me, though perhaps we can't fix that easily.

Let me "out" myself briefly: I'm a (visibly) disabled-before-birth woman with a few invisible disabilities, married to a guy who is shorter than me (is being 5'2" and male a disability these days?), with one overweight cat and a second cat who has, according to the vet, a "misshaped" kidney. I have a PhD in American Literature, and I wrote my dissertation on disability and illness memoir. I grew up as the only disabled kid in any of the schools I attended, with the exception of a "special" preschool for the mentally and physically disabled. College was the first extended chance I had in my adulthood to interact with other disabled people, and a "wise" (in the Goffmanic sense) professor introduced me to the concept of "crip culture" via Habilitation Magazine and the poetry of Cheryl Marie Wade.

So, that's my crip cred, and I consider myself "out, loud and proud," to borrow from the gay rights movement. For me, in my day-to-day life, disablism creeps in in the form of overly solicitous cashiers who apologize when I drop the change they've handed me, and an unfinished dialogue with my late mother in which she once said, "But you're not disabled!" when I told her that I considered myself "crippled." I regret that she died before I found out enough about the field of Disability Studies to be able to explain to her that being "disabled" or, better, "crippled," was not, in my mind, the stigmatized subject position it had been in my youth, when I wanted so desperately to be just like everyone else. Her definition of disability seemed to be negative and limiting, victimizing, possibly drawn from assumptions she'd made about (disabled) men I'd dated or befriended, or a few of my preschool mates whom we'd kept in touch with over the years.

I didn't have the knowledge, or the articulateness, back then, to point to Nancy Mairs' essay "On Being a Cripple," in which she says (paraphrasing here) that she likes to call herself a "cripple" because the word itself has grit, strength, savoir faire. Quoting from memory here, she writes (I think late in the essay), "As a cripple, I swagger." I'm drawn to that swagger, as well as the words of Professor Harlan Hahn, from the David Mitchell and Sharon Snyder documentary "Vital Signs: Crip Culture Talks Back," in which he wears a dark shirt with pink lettering which says, "Piss on Pity", Hell, yeah, I think, *that's* what I want, in my life now and what I wish I could go back in time and tell my mother.

Blogging against disablism, for me, then, in its truest sense, is to scream out to the world, "Piss on pity! I'm a cripple and I swagger!" Or to walk down the street of my town with my favorite t-shirt, the one that says, "Tell your kids it isn't nice to point at me." There's a lot more to being disabled in the United States, more attitudinal and physical barriers, than I could ever begin to list, of course, and even more barriers in other parts of the world, where disabled girls and women will never have the chance to go to school, let alone university. However, I know that other, more articulate people will be talking about the social, economic, and biophysical aspects of disablism (and ablist rhetoric) on their blogs today. So, I'll let them take the lead, and do the easy part by adding my "heck, yeah!" to the fray.

This afternoon, I found out that Kenneth Lay, the founder and chief rat scoundrel of Enron, died. My husband, upon hearing the news, said something to the effect of, "Gee, one more Bush cronie to die conveniently before he could reveal potentially incriminating evidence on our president-select." I'm not big on conspriacy theories, and neither is he, for the most part. What I do find compelling, however, is that most of the "reactions" to Lay's death have been regret that he won't be serving the lengthy jail term which was presumably to follow from his conviction.

For his victims, and I know that there are many, and they have suffered grievous harms, I feel sorrow mixed with some degree of incredulity. I have read enough John Douglas and Ann Rule to be able to say this with conviction: Kenneth Lay was a sociopath, and if he grieved anything while serving out his sentence in some minimum-security "Club Fed," it would have been purely in the "poor, poor, pitiful me" vein. Sociopaths do not grieve their actions as they might have wronged others, they grieve that they have been caught.

I wonder, too, just how much shorter Kenny's dance around his economic house of cards might have been without the support of George "Attaboy, Kenny" Bush and his other highly-placed friends. You can only play Texas hold-em for so long before the current of the river sucks you under and you drown, but I tend to think that Ken had a mighty raft, or even a riverboat, to keep him afloat for much longer than others in a similar situation. (John Rigas, anyone?)

Later, I read on my Yahoo homepage that (ahem) Rush Limbaugh will not be charged for possessing prescription drugs which did not have his name printed clearly on the bottle. Again, I believe that had anyone other than a fat, rich, white, Conservative hate-monger been stopped for a similar offense, they'd be rotting in jail right now. Instead, we seem to get the tittering, "Oh, that Rushie, caught with some little blue pills -- ha ha, ho ho and hee hee -- he's such a little bad boy" slap on the wrist reaction, even though he is in direct violation of the terms of his parole. I'm sure erectile dysfunction is a real and serious concern for many men his age, but the fact that this piggish, prudish, morals-spouting ass was caught with a bottle of stiffie-inducers yet will walk free (to be cock of the walk?) is just begging for comment.

This rant isn't working quite as well on the computer screen as it was sounding in my head, but I'm sure my beloved Nation magazine will do it all justice next week, or the week thereafter. It's just too damned much to stay silent about.

I am The Hermit The Hermit often suggests a need for time alone - a period of reflection when distractions are limited. In times of action and high energy, he stands for the still center that must be created for balance. He can also indicate that withdrawal or retreat is advised for the moment. In addition, the Hermit can represent seeking of all kinds, especially for deeper understanding or the truth of a situation. "Seek, and ye shall find," we have been told, and so the Hermit stands for guidance as well. We can receive help from wise teachers, and, in turn, help others as we progress. For a full description of your card and other goodies, please visit LearnTarot.com

What tarot card are you? Enter your birthdate. Month: Day: Year:

Harry Potter Meme of All Memes by Osaku
Name/Username
Age
Gender
House	Ravenclaw
Wand	Ebony, 11", Veela Hair
Best Course	Arithmancy
Worst Course	Potions
Pet	Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
Patronus	Panther
Quidditch Job	Commentator
Wizard Candy	Bertie Botts every Flavour Beans (Mmm! Grass!)
Profession After School	Daily Prophet Reporter
Quiz created with MemeGen!

Alas, I did not manage to medal in the Knitting Olympics 2006, although if you define "sock" very generously to include one toe-up sock which made it to the end of the amazingly small short row heel before being frogged AND a cuff-down sock which made it to the start of the slipped-stitch heel flap, then I suppose I can claim victory for my initial goal: Knit one sock in 16 days. I did learn a few new things about knitting, including the fact that although a short row toe looks lovely it is wicked fussy once you have to work through one stitch and two wraps. Of course, there are other ways to construct short rows, a few of which don't mention wrapped stitches at all, but I wanted to try out Wendy's "generic toe-up sock pattern" and the way I interpreted the instructions, every stitch after a certain point gets two wraps, not just one.

I also learned that I need to check the milimeter number on needles -- that's much more accurate than the more loosely defined "size X" written on the package. Right now, I have a set of "size 1" Addi dpns which are 2.5mm, and eight Boye "size 1" dpns which are -- wait for it -- 2.25mm. It's not a whopping difference, that 0.25 mm, but I could feel the difference with my fingers, and I didn't want to futz up my current sock-in-slow-motion by switching to a larger needle while knitting the cuff. I did size down to a set of sz. zero (2.00mm) circs to work the heel flap, since that part of the sock needs to be more durable, and I will likely work around the foot on two circs (a zero for the sole and a one for the instep), but I'll need to give myself time to experiment and put in a lifeline (or ten) so I can rip back to that point without sacrificing the entire sock.

The third thing that I learned is that I should not act in haste or frog in anger/frustration just because I am too dense to read instructions, too bullheaded or impetuous to insert lifelines, and too hermitlike to seek out help. Had I simply set aside the initial short-row toe/heel sock, tried something else for a while, and sought out guidance at an appropriate time, I think I might have a darned nice sock (or a pair of them, even) on my feet right now.

So, although I did not "medal" in the Knitting Olympics, I have met the challenge set out by Mar, the Knitting Curmudgeon, which was to reflect on what my participation in the "games" taught me about knitting. I learned, I had fun (mostly), and if there is another Knitting Olympics in 2010, I will be there, even if I fall on the ice, hurt my back in the half-pipe, or veer entirely off the course. The one thing I can promise is no blood doping scandals. Oh, yes, and no gawdawful pantyhose-connector-parts costumes. Ideally, an Eris or Rogue, or maybe that dreamed-of, design-it-myself aran in Blackwater Abbey yarn, but that's a dream for another Olympics.

Announcer speaking in hushed golf-tournament tone: We're here at Chez VATERGrrl, where the curtain has fallen on the first day of the Knitting Olympics, and newly risen on the start of day two. You may recall that our Olympian had initially challenged herself to knit one sock during the next sixteen days, and had only half-ironically declared herself a knitting "paraylmpian", took on a greater challenge when she read that the Yarn Harlot's friend Lene was joining in the Olympics with the goal of knitting one stitch a day and telling rheumatoid arthritis wha-fo. So, VG -- may I call you VG?

VG: Sure, why the hell not. All of my friends do. Well, my closest friends call me -- oh, no, not telling that!

Announcer: So, VG, can you update us on your statistics? Are you currently on the leaderboard?

VG: I'm certain I'm not standing atop any group leaderboards, but I'm happy with the progress I made during the opening ceremony and the first day of competition.

Announcer: Set up the event for us, please. What challenge have you taken upon yourself, and what are your tools of choice?

VG: I'm aiming to knit two socks in the sixteen days of the Olympics. Specifically, I'm trying to knit two toe-up socks with two size one circs -- Inox, teflon-coated. The yarn is KnitPicks Parade in Checkers, superwash wool with nylon. My pattern is "Wendy's generic toe-up socks" from the incoparable Wendy of WendyKnits: wendyknits.net.

Announcer: And what in particular is the *challenge* in all of this?

VG: Wendy's pattern uses short row toes and heels, which I hadn't tried before, and the yarn has a certain tendency to split. That, and the fact that I feel I'm one of the world's slowest knitters, is my personal challenge.

Announcer: And are you being challenged?

VG: Oooh, hell yeah. Er, uh, yes. Yes, I am being challenged. I've even poked myself once already with the needles -- in the leg, not the hand, so nothing's lost there. I will say, I feel as if I should put up a small scoreboard to tally the number of times I accidentally stab myself.

Announcer: And the crowd wants to know, what was your progress yesterday, the very first day of the Knitting Olympics?

VG: As of 2PM, Eastern Standard Time, I had knitted my very first short-row toe, and it does not look like arse. Well, there's one semi-loose stitch on the right-hand side of the toe, but I'm not going to go back and fix it right now. You wouldn't be able to see it from a prancing pony, and that's the standard for these thing, or so I've heard. The entire toe thus far is about six centimeters long, perhaps a bit longer. I'm choosing to measure in centimeters because it sounds better, not because I usually use metric measurements in my regular life.

Announcer: Anything you've discovered thus far?

VG: I had a wild idea in my head to use the connecting cord of the second circular needle as a provisional cast-on, using a figure-eight cast on with both circs and then slipping half of the stitches to the cord and working the short-row toe with the "live" stitches. This can't possibly be my own "unvention", as the late and fabulous knitter Elizabeth "EZ" Zimmerman called the process of discovering something "new" in knitting. However, the unvention worked even better than I'd hoped, and I will certainly use it for the second sock.

Announcer: Well, we need to wrap this up, but is there anything else you'd like to say?

VG: I simply MUST thank my mother-in-law, who bought the yarn for me as a birthday present. Getting to pick out all of that fiber really took the sting out of getting (slightly) older. Oh, yes, and thanks to my cats, Hawthorne and Edgar, for allowing me to knit with very few interruptions. And to my husband, who understands as well as any non-knitter can how much being a Knitting Olympian means to me. Now, I have to go check the laundry.

Announcer: Well, there you have it, dear readers. It's all knitting excitement, all the time, at Chez VATERGrrl. Tune in again tomorrow to get caught up on the "oops-I-stabbed-myself-again" count and see if the sock is longer, shorter, or just about the same.






















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