scifiknitter

Two projects are featured here. One has been done for a while, but I didn't have a good picture of it on its recipient. The other project is one I finished yesterday, just in time to give it away. The Studly Lace Scarf This project is a combination of a pattern I liked and a hank of yarn I happened to have in my stash. The pattern was a dropped-stitch basketweave scarf in the spring/summer 2009 issue of Vogue Knitting, and was designed by Laura Bryant. The magazine shows it as a wide scarf, almost a shawl, in a delicate pink. The pattern has a cool feature: you deliberately drop certain stitches and let them run down from the top to the bottom of the scarf. A dreaded mistake is transformed into a design element. The yarn I had was dark, shot through with yellow, reds and greens - a very different feeling. I also had only one skein. I decided to make the scarf narrower than designed, to make sure it would be as long as possible. I also knew that as much as I liked it as I was knitti...

Did you feel the earth shift at 9 PM on Tuesday night? Because the techtonic plate of the politics in the town I live in shifted when the polls closed. Tuesday was primary night in New York, and there was only one race on the primary slate here: Republican candidate for Town Council. Three candidates were running, and the two getting the most votes would get to be on the ballot in November and would go on to almost certain victory. The candidates: - The woman who is a farmer and a county worker who has served on the Town Council for almost 8 years. She has been a sensible member of the board. - The newcomer, a woman who belongs to one of the two fire departments and who first ran a few years ago as a write-in. This time she did her legwork, and filed a Republican petition, got the Democratic nomination at the caucus, and filed an independent petition to boot. - The grande dame (EDIT: from the French, meaning "great lady") of our town's politics. This candidate is 88 year...

It's kind of nice when things work out as well as hoped. It started with a message: "So when are you going to invite me to go sailing on Minuet?" Which made me realize that a real-life invitation was in order to my digital friend Sharkey . After some date juggling back and forth, we settled on a plan: a sailing trip to Kingston, Ontario and the Limestone City Blues Festiva l. Sharkey arrived on Thursday evening, and he was - ta da! - just like I pictured him! Of course, there have been some messages, some videos and a couple of phone calls along the way to flesh out his self-portrayal in pixel form. He had less to go on, mostly words both written and verbal, but I am happy to say that I portray myself honestly, and I was much as he expected. The mystery man in all this was R., who neither blogs nor reads blogs. I've filled him in from time to time with information about the friendships I have made in my on-line world, but they are my world and my friendships. And Shar...

I'm still blogging in my own mind as I drive to work in the morning. The words don't make it back to my fingers and a keyboard, however. No big losses, I haven't come up with either a good solution to the world's problems, or with a good question about them. I'm thinking right now of the lyrics to a song that Stringfolks sang last night, "In My Own Mind" by Lyle Lovett: VERSE 1 I get up in the morning I drink a cup of coffee I look out of the window I try to get it started I turn it all over Plow it all under I plant 'em in the springtime Pick 'em in the summer CHORUS I live in my own mind Ain't nothin but a good time No rain just the sunshine Out here in my own mind I live where I can breathe Ain't nothin but a cool breeze Nobody that it won't please Out here where I can breathe There is some news around here. In the "wife of a politician" department, the planned Stringfolks gig in October to raise money for local candidates ...

It's official as of tonight: my husband is running for Town Supervisor. In New York, a Town Supervisor is a unique position that is simultaneously chief executive officer, head of the legislature, and chief financial officer. It may not pay particularly well, but you have to go all the way up to President of the United States to find an elected position with as much authority and scope for action (within the relevant jurisdiction). He's had this job before. He served from 1996 through 1999. It was a roller-coaster ride and a half. The day after he was elected, the outgoing Town Supervisor and town council passed a budget with a huge tax cut and increase in spending. Essentially they dumped everything in the piggy bank into a massive spending spree. The reason: to deny R. the cushion of a cash reserve, and to ensure that he would have to raise taxes. The trouble was, their books were so poor that they didn't know how much cash was in the bank, and spent more than they had. A...

It's been a cool, rainy summer this year. Right now it's 70 degrees outside, and raining again. The height-of-summer veggies have been slowed by the lack of degree days. Last week saw the very first tomatoes in the CSA box - two tiny little things, not much bigger than grape tomatoes. I believe, though, that the box tomorrow will have more. The week after that should see the first local sweet corn of the season at Farmer Bill and Annie's. One of the best songs that Stringfolks does is "Homegrown Tomatoes" by Guy Clark. We have killer 3- or 4-part vocal harmonies (depending on how many people in the band can make it to the gig), and begin and end a cappella. If there is a song we should have recorded, this is one - and alas, we have not. HOMEGROWN TOMATOES (Guy Clark) Ain't nothin' in the world that I like better Than bacon & lettuce & homegrown tomatoes Up in the mornin' out in the garden Get you a ripe one don't get a hard one Plant `em in...

Today is my daughter's 21st birthday. She is officially an adult in every way there is to be an adult. She came home this past weekend for a family weekend on the boat, and she already has her gift from us - grown up clothes for her grown up work as a researcher this summer. I baked her our favorite carrot cake before she went back to Montreal. It's been a busy few weeks. I've been concentrating on The Budget at work. It's never easy, and there is always red ink in the initial budget. This year, less grant funding and flat funding from our core funders meant there had to be some significant cuts. There will be no raises for anyone in 2010, but everyone still has a job. Not all non-profit agencies are as fortunate. I think that the portents for 2011, however, look pretty grim unless we can win a couple of grants. We had our first annual family weekend on the boat. This was never possible in the past - our son's ex refused to go sailing. There was enough room on the b...