I like a good snark

Some of my favority web sites are snarky. I used to laugh out loud at you knit what. Then they folded. I read the 202 comments on their last post (scanned them really) and found that more than one person was inspired to start a new site. I have check out the new ones, and they do a good job finding ugly crafts to make fun of, but the snark just isn't there yet. It is definitely a talent, being snarky without being plain mean. Here are some of the new sites:


Freaky knitting
Livejournal you knit what
You crocheted what?
What not to crochet
The needle and the damage done
You knit what - part 2
What not to knit

My knitting philosophy

Well I just totally changed my approach to knitting, which I think will require some major yarn purchases. I realized I had been looking at books and patterns, trying to find the easiest patterns that I liked. So I have lots of single skeins here and there for simple garter stitch scarves. These tend to be flashy yarns, those that would look good with a boring simple pattern.

Lately however, I have decided that I need to challenge myself and learn a new knitting skill with each project. Or at least I need to choose patterns based on whether I like them, not how easy they are to do.

This started when I got One Skein, and learned how to do cables to make a scarf for M. Then I got Mason-Dixon Knitting, and learned how to slip one purlwise to make the washcloths. I am now working on another scarf from One Skein, this one involves kf&b and k2tog.

Finally, I got Scarf Style, which has loads of fabulous patterns, but which are definitely harder to do. I looked at some of the patterns and fell in love with them and realized that if I know how to do the individual stitches, then I could do the whole thing. I know this is obvious to knitters, but previously I had looked at hard patterns and immediately thought that they would be too hard for me. No longer.

So I am going to pick a few patterns from Scarf Style, buy some yarn, and knit some kick ass scarves!

BTW, all these books have KALs. I am a part of the One Skein and Mason-Dixon KAL (can you find my posts???) but not the Scarf Style one. Yet.

A random act of kindness

Before last weekend, we noticed that someone had put up red ribbons around all the trees on our block. Taped to each ribbon was a note that said "please do a random act of kindness for Emily." We did not know what the notes meant until this weekend, when M ran in to a neighbor, J, while walking our dog. Emily was the girl who was shot in the school shooting in Colorado at the end of September, and she was J's granddaughter.

We have lived in our house for four years, and J has been by far our nicest neighbor. He is retired and spends a lot of his time outside his house with his dog, chatting with neighbors and people walking their dog. He often has a treat in his pocket for our dog, since he knows that she is shy. We chat about dogs, the weather, the news, anything really. He and his wife are just about the nicest, most friendly people we know in our neighborhood. M said he seemed completely devastated.

I had not paid much attention to that shooting, since they all seem so painful, and too much media attention cannot be good. It almost seems like snooping on someone else's private life, to read the memorials and comments about Emily that are on the web. She was 16 years old, well liked by all her friends, loved by her family, and one day, taken hostage, used as a human shield and then shot in the head and killed. Unbelievable.

At her memorial, a family friend asked that people do a random act of kindness for her. I will, and I hope you do too.

Go AWAY!

I have an obsession with hummingbirds. I plant plants for them in the garden (specifically Salvia 'Lady in Red') and put out a feeder in May. They usually arrive in August and stay for a while. Every time I see them in the garden I am transfixed. I feel as though I am standing there with my mouth hanging open, drool collecting on my shirt, because they are so amazing. A bird the size of my thumb is truly a miracle.

But now I want them to go away. We have had two nights of hard frost and I am worried about them. I read a bit on the web, and people suggest you leave your feeder up until November here in WI, and that having a feeder does not discourage them from migrating. That is what I was worried about, that I would come out one morning and see a hummingbird frozen to my feeder, lulled into a deadly sense of security by my nectar.

I guess I will try to be optimistic, thinking that I am providing them with much-needed fuel to begin their long journey to Central America. And then wait until next August to see them again.

The End

Of another growing season. Last night was our first hard frost. Yesterday I picked all my dahlias and made a bouquet. The picture, taken with available light, does not do them justice, since they are beautiful and vibrant. The cultivar is 'Bishop's Children', an "offspring" of the famous 'Bishop of Llandaff'. I started seeds of these dahlias two years ago and now they are starting to bloom. Today I will go home and cut off the withered foliage from the plants and dig up the tubers to store over the winter for next year.

I usually don't pick flowers at all from my garden, since I plant them for the birds and insects, not for cutting. A neighbor of mine has some enormous cup plants and they just cut down all the flowering stems, right when the seeds would ripen for the birds. Too bad.

By this time of the year, I am done with gardening for the year. I am really obsessed with my garden in spring, after a long WI winter. But by October, I am ready to not care too much about the plants. I was thinking of putting in a new herb garden, but I will wait until spring when I can get REALLY excited about it.

I do enjoy the clean up of the garden in the fall, although I leave most plants up for the winter. I like a clean-looking garden. A tidy garden.