Anachronistic hobbies

I got a film camera in the mail yesterday.


This is my first ebay purchase. I'm a little slow, I know. Ebay rocks. I just finished my first roll of film. It was so fun! I haven't even seen the photos yet and it was so fun.

In other outdated hobby news, I have been thinking about purchasing a spinning wheel. I went over to Mind's Eye Yarns today to ask about spinning classes. She just let me test out her wheels right there. Awesome. She had 3 floor models. The first I tried was the very pretty Ashford Joy. My first reaction upon trying out the spinning was, "wow this is easy" and about 30 seconds later "ok I'm buying one". Then I tried the Schacht Ladybug. It is cute in a way I don't care for. The spinning on this one was just was not working for me either. The wheel kept on getting stuck and going the wrong way. Lucy was like, this is not your wheel, moving on. Then it was the Ashford Traditional. This one was beautiful and spun faster than the others. I did like it but not as much as the Joy. So, as soon as I have hundreds of dollars that I feel I can blow on a hobby, I'll be paying Lucy a visit. :) Oh, did I mention the Joy folds up for easy transport? So you can go play with all your spinning friends. Cool.

Finally, I'd like to note that I come by the anachronistic hobbies honestly. My uncle builds harpsichords. I blame my grandfather. Thanks, Paw-paw, this is fun.

Estuary finished!

I finished "estuary" last night. Corriedale superwash, fiber dyed by spunky eclectic, 4 oz, don't know how many yards, 2ply. The singles were super fuzzy. I was concerned. But the plying seemed to tame the frizzies a little. Anyone know if fuzzyness is a characteristic of corriedale, or superwash? Or something else?

I am pleased with the final yarn. I changed my mind, and I'll keep this for myself and spin something brighter for my mom. She is more of a bright, bold color person. I'm thinking of spunky's thunderstorm. Unless I run out of time. Then she might get this one after all. :)

Christmas presents

I'm going to try knitted Christmas presents this year. I ordered yarn for 2 last night, and started on another.


This is "estuary" from spunky eclectic, 100% corriedale superwash. For my mom. I'm just going to give her the yarn. Is it a bad idea to put christmas present ideas on the internet?

It's a blog Revival!

I've been thinking about reviving the blog for some time now, and today's the day. I was inspired because last night I went to church.

Although I currently am non-religious, I grew up going to an Episcopalian church, which this also happened to be, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed being in the familiar setting, with the smell of...whatever it is that makes churches smell the way they do (candles? wooden pews? I don't know). I was also surprised that even though I don't really believe in the stuff the church believes in, I still considered the sanctuary a sacred space. I really took offense to a woman in my pew who was eating her fast food dinner, and to the fact that they were selling books inside the sanctuary. Interesting that I still think these things are important.

So since people were eating and books were being sold, you may have guessed that this was not a normal church service. In fact it was a reading by the Yarn Harlot herself!


We're going to call this photo "artistic", ok? I am not the best multitasker, and my limit is 2 things at once. The two things here are knitting, and being in the presence of knitting celebrity. Photoing fell by the wayside, unfortunately. Anyway, that is Stephanie there, holding up her sock and photoing the audience.

She was charming, funny, very real and touching. She said one thing that really hit home with me, that when you feel like a total loser, knitting tells you that you are a competent person and you can make great socks. Right on, sister. She was promoting a new book of essays, Free Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again, and a page-a-day calendar, neither of which I have yet but will be picking up shortly from Porter Square Books, who hosted this event. If Stephanie comes to your town, you should go. It was a good time.

A near fight over fiber choice on the red line

Characters:
YS=yarn snob, woman next to me on train
Me=me

Scene: Mid-morning train.

Enter Me (wearing a lovely spring dress) sit down next to YS, pull out knitting.



YS: What kind of yarn is that?
Me: (Thinking she is not a knitter, like 99% of the people who ask me knitting questions on the train) It's wool
YS: Oh, like just merino? Is it Koigu?
Me: (Oh, she is a knitter. whoops) No, it's Knit Picks
YS: (Appears ill, recoils) ohhhhh.
Awkward pause
YS: You know, if you like lace knitting, you should try my favorite yarn (insert favorite yarn, it's cashmere). It's $45 for a skein but you get 400 yards! So really it's a bargain.
Me: (Hm. This Knit Picks has 440 yards and it cost $2.50. (Ok it's not cashmere, but it's merino and it's $2.50!!!) Don't mention this, might start a fight) Yes, that's one great thing I've noticed about lace knitting, you get a lot of yardage for your money.
YS: [Lists things you can make with 400 yards of cashmere laceweight, mainly hat, baby sweater]
Me: (Why does a baby need a cashmere laceweight sweater?? Aren't they just going to spit up on it? I have no babies, what do I know, hold tongue) Usually I like to buy nicer yarn, but I thought I would try this one because I'm going to make a whole lace shawl for less than $10!
YS: (Does not appear swayed by this argument. Recoils further) Well if I'm going to spend so much time with lace yarn on small needles, I just like to be good to myself, because my hands cramp up.
Me: what?
YS: yeah, I get cramps because the needles are so small
Me: (WTF do hand cramps have to do with fiber choice? smile, nod, ignore)

Implanon removal

I had the implanon removed this morning, they actually let me take pictures (one of the doctors/nurses even did it for me!), and it was no big thing. Nothing at all like this. Without further ado...


So that's my arm, surrounded by a white towel thing, and two pairs of doctor hands, and some scarry looking pliers. Guess how many doctors/nurses it takes to remove an implanon? 4. Well, some of them were just watching. It was cool though, because I got to ask them lots of hard questions about birth control.


And there's the little bugger coming out. Doesn't it look like the pliers are grabbing onto a nipple? Fortunately for me, that was not the case.


And the aftermath. The whole thing, including cleaning and numbing, probably took 10 minutes, and I hardly felt a thing.

Pics at the doc?

I'm about to go to PP on Monday to get an implanon removed. Do you think they'll let me take pics to put on the blog? I don't think so, but I'll ask. That would be a sweet post.

(Before anyone gets too excited there, the implanon goes in your arm. woo-woo)

A month of science, the Southwest, and stitches

Hi there. It's been a month. Well I've been busy. I was working like mad to get ready for a meeting. Exciting times at our apartment.


But then I got to go to Santa Fe.

Isn't it cute? That above is the plaza. In the plaza we saw a medicine man.


Ok so it's not the best picture. But there was a guy in the plaza dressed head to toe in fur, and people kept calling him "doc". I was taking a covert camera phone shot, so this is the best I could do. Also it snowed.


And my hotel had really good rocks in the shower.


And I got to eat some migas.


Also I've been knitting after a brief hiatus.
I finished Bartholomew's socks from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters. You all need this book, by the way.


Then I started Veli of Leaves, from the same book.

And I even made 1.5 Noro scarves!













Also I decided that my position on Iraq is that we should leave ASAP. So ignore that previous post.

Whew!

GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!

I scored a goal in soccer today!!!! It was my first goal ever in an organized game. I am so pumped. We lost 2-14 or so, but who cares. I scored half of our team's points. And it was a really good goal too; it wasn't even sloppy or an accident or anything. And their keeper was really good. I'm so pumped. If you recall, this was my New Year's resolution. Funny, I really thought I was going to solve the ladder problem first. The ladders are improving, but not totally fixed. Goal scoring, however, is definitively achieved.

(In case you don't know, I play soccer but I am no good. I'm convinced the team lets me play because I am part of a 2 person set, and the other person is a superstar who more than makes up for my complete lack of skill. But today I feel legitimate.)

Red Line Graffiti

Here are some interesting things I've found on the Red Line. First, the train interior, for reference.


Because I know some of you have never seen a train before. Yeah well I'm short on content, ok? Here's the graffiti that inspired me to start taking pictures of this stuff.


Looks like someone is against the T's plans to put cell phone reception throughout the tunnels. And, on that topic, the T is broker than broke, how are they going to pay for that? Anyway. Moving on.


The first graffiti was in a nice bold sharpie, but this one is harder to see in regular ballpoint pen. Let's try to gimp it. (Gimp = free photoshop-like program, if you are interested. Yay linux.)


This one is a little bit fascinating. The numbers are Texas area codes. 210=San Antonio, 409=Galveston, 713=Houston, 281=Houston suburbs. So why write down four Texas area codes on the T? I should have added some. Dang hindsight. And Lone Starter state? Starter? What is that? Only Mr. Cholo knows. What is that thing at the bottom? SA, TX for San Antonio? SAM TX? Who is Sam? Sam Houston? Sam Cholo? Or is it SA TX with a treasure map in the middle? Fascinating, I tell you. The texans are everywhere. They're drawing treasure maps and noting area codes on the Boston T. Maybe in case they lose there way on the treasure hunt, they can call home. Or at least they can call an unknown person from their town of 2.5 million+ people.

(I have had phone numbers that began with 3 of the 4 graffitied area codes, in case some random internet people are reading this. I began life with a 713 and when I was a kid they switched us to a 281. I went to college in a 210. I spent a lot of time sunning myself in the 409. Explains my fascination.)

I'll be on the lookout for any more interesting T graffiti. Any good installments from other public transit systems?

Thoughts on Iraq

I'm becoming a republican apparently. For anyone that doesn't personally know me, I'm a young white well-educated professional (scientist, no less) female living in Massachusetts. Not only that, but I left Texas because I wanted to live somewhere like Massachusetts, where gay marriage is legal. I'm not gay, I just like being part of a community that is capable of rational thought. When it's time for my yearly female appointment with the doc, I go to Planned Parenthood and wade through the protesters and wait in the waiting room for 2 hours because I think they are an invaluable institution for women's health and rights, and I want to support them with my fully-paying good health insurance. My point is that I should be a die-hard democrat. My Texan roots must be showing, because lately, I am trending towards fiscal conservatism and maybe not leaving Iraq right this very minute. (My social views are still firmly liberal, in case you were wondering.)

So the Iraq war. I am very confused about it. I'm reverting to the bulleted list system. My inner scientist demands it.

- It's obvious we shouldn't have started the whole thing. Remember, back in 2003 was it?, remember how the ENTIRE WORLD said, "It's easy to topple the Iraq government, but rebuilding the country is going to be really really hard and it's going to take forever. Bad idea, don't go there." That should have been our first clue. The whole entire world, as I rememeber.
- But we did. And we bombed their whole country and toppled their government and with it their way of life. Maybe they hated their way of life and they're glad this happened. That is something I don't know about.
- So it was probably a bad idea. But it happened and the United States is responsible. Next step: rebuild.
- We try to rebuild and just as the entire world said, it is really hard and taking forever. And now we say, that was a bad idea, we shouldn't have gone there.
- So now we're talking about leaving Iraq. This is good for our troops (Number of US deaths in Iraq: 3,974. US wounded: 29,320)
- But is it good for Iraq? (estimated Number of Iraqi deaths due to US invasion: 655,000) I do not know the answer to this question. Is our leaving good or bad for them? If you know the answer to this, leave a comment. Please.

We bombed their whole country. Do we owe it to them to stick it out for a really long time and help them rebuild? What do you owe a people in a situation like this, vs what you owe your own soldiers? I don't know. But imagine, if someone successfully invaded the United States, overthrew the government, and bombed everything. They did this in the name of liberating you from the oppressive evil regime of George W. Bush, and now they're going to help you rebuild with this new kind of government that is better. Well ok. But it's rough going because all the roads and buildings and the place you used to work are bombed and there are outlaws running around all over the place killing people. So then, after a few years, the invading government has a scheduled regime change, and the new regime says, that was a bad idea, we shouldn't have gone there, sorry but we're leaving your country in ruin. Have fun rebuilding yourself with no funds and no idea what you're doing.

Can you imagine how pissed you would be? I might be pissed enough to become a suicide bomber.

I don't know the answer. I don't even know if our presence in Iraq is helping or hurting. What do you think?

Money money money

I have not been knitting too much lately. I have been doing other things, like reading and learning new programming languages. One of the books I read was about the federal budget, and it made me rethink my political priorities. Where Does the Money Go? by Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson is the book. I have been meaning to do a post about this for a while, but it is a little bit daunting and I kept putting it off. Let me see if I can hit the high points.

- Our government spends a lot more money than it makes. We know that already. But I for one did not really understand where the extra money comes from.
- First of all, the deficit is the amount of money the government spends more than it makes in one year. The debt is the total amount the government owes, or all the deficits and interest added up over the years.
- The extra money comes from other countries, mainly Japan and China. We owe them lots of money. Like 9.36 trillion dollars.
- We have to pay interest on the debt. This comes to over $400 billion per year, and is more than we spend on the Iraq war.
- There are three things that the federal government is required to pay for:
---- Medicare
---- Social Security
---- Interest on the debt
- All other spending is discretionary. Even really important things, like the military.
- If we keep going with the same levels of taxes and spending we have now, by the year 2042 there will be no money left for anything except Medicare, Social Security, and interest on the debt.
- I suppose we could just borrow even more money from other countries to pay for the rising interest payments, but this cycle is clearly not sustainable. And at some point, if we continue on this path, other countries might start thinking that the US government is not such a reliable investment anymore, and then we can just say goodbye to the stock market. Probably the dollar too.
- It will take big big changes to fix this financial problem. Currently politicians propose to balance the budget by eliminating wasteful spending and raising taxes for the wealthy. This is not enough money to even balance the budget for one year, let alone have a surplus and start paying down the debt.
- They usually talk about tax cuts for the middle class too. Well, 9 out of 10 Americans identify themselves as the middle class. So someone is going to be disappointed there. Either they'll cut too many taxes and we'll continue in this debt hole, or people who think they are middle class are going to find themselves in the supposedly wealthy class, with higher taxes. Hey, just like the AMT.
- No politicians will discuss this problem beyond the "cut government waste, raise taxes on those greedy wealthy people" mantra, because then they will not get elected. Ross Perot tried. Imagine a politician saying they're going to raise your taxes while simultaneously reducing grandma's Medicare and Social Security benefits. Forget it.
- The only way to change it is to raise awareness among the American people. If it's important to the public, it will be important to politicians who would like to get elected.

I could go on. Maybe next time I'll talk about out of control Medicare spending and the pharmaceutical lobby.

-----------------------------

Update: Social Security Privatization

Jenn asked about social security privatization. I don't know the details, but here is how I understand it. Sorry if some of this is basic information. I'm trying to sort it out in my own head by writing. Maybe you know how social security works already.

Working people and their employers pay FICA taxes, and the government in turn gives that money to retired seniors. This is a great idea if there are a lot more people paying than receiving. That has been the case in the past, but it's about to change once the boomers start retiring. It seems the whole problem with the system revolves around the large number of baby boomers relative to other generations. For the past many years, FICA collected more money in payroll taxes than it needed to pay out to retirees. The very responsible thing to do would be to invest the extra money for when the boomers retire, because the ratio of younger people(paying taxes):boomers(receiving $$) is not as favorable as boomers(paying taxes):older people(receiving$$), and there is not going to be enough money from the younger generations' FICA taxes to pay out to the retired boomers. So the government put the extra money in a trust fund, and proceeded to borrow from the trust fund for other federal government programs. Consequently, the social security trust fund is full of IOU's.

This is bad, but not the end of the world. There still will be lots of young people working and paying FICA taxes, and that money will still go to retirees. They just won't get as much money as they are entitled to. I think the estimates are that they will get 70%. Now we can get mad and yell at the federal government for irresponsibly borrowing from the trust fund, but really if they hadn't done that, then they would have had to either cut programs that people like, or they would have to raise taxes. Then everyone would be yelling at them anyway. So they can't win, really. Not that I'm suggesting we don't yell at the government. I'm just saying its kind of complicated.

Ok maybe you knew all that stuff already. Now I'll try to answer the actual question. I think privatization comes in as a solution to this business of the government being a poor custodian of your retirement funds. Under privatization, you would have your own account that you put money into over your working life. The money would be invested in the stock market or some kind of thing that earns interest. I'm sure there will be some options. Then you draw money out when you need the funds for retirement, and the government can't touch it. Sounds like a 401K or IRA. Here are pros and cons, as I understand them.

Pros
1. The government doesn't spend your retirement funds.
2. You can leave it to heirs when you die. (I think)

Cons
1. If the market is down when you retire, you lose.
2. If you are a bad investor, you lose.
3. Transitioning from our current system to a private one will be tricky, since it's hard to save for yourself and pay for current retirees. It will take decades to make the switch.
4. I can't help but wonder what will happen if you unexpectedly live to be 103. What if you run out of money in your oldest days? That is one benefit of our current system, the money doesn't run out if you get too old (just if the government spends it on other things).

Whew, that was long. Check out the wikipedia page on this subject for more. I'm sure I left out some pros and cons. If you think of more, leave a comment. We'll have a comment convo.

Back to knitting and its accessories

Ok enough conspiracies. Let's talk uteruses.


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's an action shot.


Uterus Stitch Markers. I can't stand it. From ashleigh on etsy. She has more uterus items, also she has an affinity for carrots, horns, and boobies. I just looked up affinity, and it might not mean what I think it means. Let's just say she likes them.

Here's another action shot.

See those little blue stitch markers? They're hard to see, because no uteruses are attached. Boring.

But before I get distracted with Boris action shots, let's look at how Ashleigh sent the uteruses.


When was the last time you got a package with some hand drawn awesomeness on it? I'm speechless.

Here's a tip I got from some sassy lawyer ladies at my knitting group. If you shop at sephora.com, and you spend a lot of money, they give you free shipping. And let's face it, you're going to spend a lot of money anyway, and you don't have time to go all the way over there until next weekend, and they can ship it to you before that, and they are probably out of whatever you need at the B&M store, and you'd rather do something else next weekend anyway. But the really cool thing, and the reason I even brought this up, is that you can choose to add a gift bag for free!






And it's the perfect size for socks. And if you order a lot of stuff, they send you a bigger bag. Like for a scarf, or maybe even a sweater. So go gift bag yourself.




And as long as I'm promoting things today, you should be listening to Rilo Kiley, if you aren't already. Warning: I don't know what is up with that website, it's a littly crazy. But their music is great.

Conspiracies

A certain co-blogger, who has yet to blog, is concerned that the anti-frog is too "family friendly" due to all the knitting, and that her political rantings will be out of place. So let's drop knitting and discuss my second favorite topic: conspiracy theories. Lots of conspiracy fodder lately.

1. Severed internet cables in the Middle East.

Have you guys been paying attention to this? I feel it's not getting enough news coverage. First, 2 undersea cables were cut, severely limiting internet access to parts of the Middle East and India. The fishy part is that the cables were over a mile apart. They are blaming it on a storm. Ok, maybe. Even though we've never heard of this happening before. But the conspiracy part is that over the next few days, at least 2 and perhaps 3 more undersea cables were cut. Ok, whaaaaaat? Well, I won't make any suggestions as to who may be responsible for this, but somebody is up to no good, and it ain't no fisherman with an anchor. (Pirate, maybye. They are crafty.) Here's wired's take on the conspiracy, and someone else telling us all to calm down. Although I would point out that at the end of that last link, the conspiracy nay-sayer suggests that the cable failure could be due to "seismic". Well, I happen to know a little something about "seismic", and it's just not that hard to figure out if there was an earthquake damaging enough to sever some undersea cables. Let's play a game called find the earthquake that broke the internet. If you find one, I'll knit you a sock. Dr. J, what is your take on "volcanic" playing a role here?

2. Hillary Hating

What is up with all this seething hatred of Hillary Clinton? She has the same policies as Barak Obama but no one hates him. What the heck did she do? Besides the fact that she can't do anything right--if she is aggressive, she's a bitch, but if she cries, she's too weak to run the nation--there are people that just hate her but can't tell you why. The NYT says it better than I can. I call subconscious sexism. Interestingly, a lot of this seething hatred comes from women. Well that was not a conspiracy but I felt like pointing it out because it pisses me off.

3. Double Agent Ann Coulter

In a fascinating counterpoint to #2, Ann Coulter says that she will not only vote for, but also campaign for Hillary Clinton if John McCain gets the Republican nomination. There is video evidence. The conspiracy: She's a closet liberal and this was her plan all along. Ann Coulter has been gaining the support of the ultra conservatives for the past few years with her roundabout reasoning and crackpot ideas, and now when it counts, she's switching sides and using her crazy logic to sway the ultra conservatives over to their ultimate rival (see #2 above) Hillary Clinton! It's quite brilliant.

Next time on conspiracy theories: spinach! My favorite conspiracy of all time.

UPDATE: DC's favorite volcanologist has responded to #1 with a thorough geological analysis which corroborates the conspiracy theory. Thanks Dr. J!

Banana Socks

I just finished my banana socks. They are Spunky Eclectic skinny sock yarn in Monkey Farts. I loved making these. I would have taken a better picture but I can't take them off. Maybe later. You know on Arrested Development, when Lucille is surprised by Gene Parmesan, and she starts screaming with joy and flapping her arms around? That is how these socks make me feel. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But there is a problem.


Ladders. See that ugly column of looser stitches running down the middle? It is my new New Year's resolution to make those things go away. My old New Year's resolution was to score a goal in soccer. I'll still try to do that too. But this new resolution has a better chance of success.

Method 1: switch from DPN's to Magic Loop (scroll down and watch the video). So far, promising.


Method 2: Cat Bordhi in New Pathways for Sock Knitters (you need this book. I know it's $30. Just do it.) suggests knitting the first stitch on a needle like normal, then knit the second stitch tight. I discovered this tip right at the end of the second banana sock, and I think it was kind of working. It makes no sense to me but I'll take it.

Method 3: Knit more loosely in general, so it's not so hard to tighten up the joints. I made this up. No idea if that even works.

I know this is a common problem but clearly a lot of people have solved it for themselves. Anyone have some ladder-eliminating tips?

Usual State of Affairs

In honor of the state of the union address, here is the state of my household.


Cutie: eating english muffin.


Boris: relaxing by radiator.


Sweater: unfinished.


Flash: ready for action.


Peanut man: lonely.

In defense of Frogs

Today I went to my first stitch n bitch, and I brought the sleeve of my Endless Sweater (link only works for ravelry people) to work on. So it turns out, that meeting new people and knitting a fairly involved cable pattern do not go together. I messed up one of the cable twist rows and was forced to rip out when I got home. I tried really hard to figure out how to fix it without frogging, and I'm sure it could be done, but I am not there yet in my knitting skills. I didn't like it but the sweater looks much better than it would otherwise.

Made in China

Made in China
Originally uploaded by k a t m

This is old news. But it's funny. Sort of. So I'm bringing it back. It's a lead Christams tree revival folks. Be sure to read the fine print before purchasing any Chinese-made holiday decorations. (The print is so fine, that I had to take about 30 pictures before I got one that wasn't illegibly blurry, and that was only achieved by laying the box and myself with camera on my parents' garage floor.) I will reproduce the warning in case you can't read the size 5 font, despite my valiant efforts.

"Warning: This product contains chemicals, including lead, known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Wash hands after handling."

Handspun headband (say that 5 times fast)

new headband
Originally uploaded by k a t m

I have found my new favorite knitting project. Calorimetry from knitty. It's fast, easy, provides serious instant gratification, and it keeps your ears warm. And even though it goes over your hair, it somehow does not squash your hair like a hat does! I may never wear a hat agian.

This is the second calorimetry I've made, and the first project I've made with my own handspun yarn! In fact this yarn is the first yarn I ever spun, not counting the little bit of roving that I butchered at a friend's house when she was teaching me the basics. I think I will be giving a lot of these puppies away because I see many of them in my knitting future.

Also I need a button.

Too negative?

I hope this blog name is not sending out bad karma but I'm a little late to the blog party and it seems all the good names are gone. Then you go to the blog with the cool name and there is like one post from 2001. What can you do. I like knitting and I hate ripping out, so there you go. The anti-frog.

I know there are some serious pro-frog people out there, like my mother for example. If you want we can have a pro-frog anti-frog internet war, like the pirates and ninjas. I'm taking a stand. Arrrrr.