Double Helix

the point

Oft have I heard warning that knitters are legion and armed with sharp sticks. A quaint notion this seemed, as the reality of armed and dangerous knitters presupposes both aggression and efficacy of the weapons.

Three days ago, I discovered just how sharp a metal US1 (non Addi) could be. I reached into my backpack and impaled the webbing between the middle and ring finger of my left hand. The needle was parallel to my fingers, and the point went in toward the meat of my hand. After removing the needle, my hand felt and sounded spongy, suggesting that air had been trapped subcutaneously.

Months ago, my physician scheduled me for a late December routine boob-squashing. Conveniently enough, I was preparing to leave for Brigham and Women's Hospital before sustaining the hand puncture. When I finished with the mammogram, I enjoyed a light lunch at Au Bon Pain, then sauntered over to the emergency room on the advice of my regular doc.

I tucked in for the long wait, and just to be stubborn, I knit with the culprit. You can see her in the photo, along with the hospital bracelet and the silk cashmere blend that I am crafting into an indulgent scarf, though not for me. And the red thing? Now I understand that it is not a point protector. Needle points are amply robust. The flesh is weak, though resilient.

Now that you mention it ...

Everyone, there was surprisingly little damage to my hand, and the lost time in the lab was the greatest significance. I won't know about the results of the boob-squashing for another week, but I have to say, it was not arduous.

Dave, amazingly my tetanus was indeed up to date because I took a needle felting class last year.

Mishka, clearly you are the inspiration for flying with hooks and not needles.

Heather, I promise that I will try to limit the self-acupuncture. I may go for the real thing, though.

Dorothy, that's excellent advice.

IH Toast, you've got to close your eyes.

Emily, it never crossed my mind to blame the needle. I must be a real knitter.

Rebecca, glad to know that I'm in good company.

penultimate

In the past week I've been in the lab a fair bit, including Christmas Eve day, though not Christmas itself. DH has been fielding PeachPit all week, and yesterday I stepped up to the parent plate.

We attempted the Planetarium at the Museum of Science. In the beginning, it was dusk inside the dome. Maestro brought the lights down in a deliberate progression, which promised to give PeachPit the best chance of enjoying herself. Whence total darkness, though, the panic started and we beat a path through the door of no return. When she described it later, she said with nonchalance, "Oh, it was a little bit too dark." How did she learn to protect her ego so well?

The penultimate day of the year strikes me as the last day of freedom, since as with Sunday nights in high school, the time of reckoning looms nigh. Nonetheless, a resolution snuck up and took me by surprise this afternoon. In 2008, I will embrace perspective and intentionality. That's it. My hope is that every other thing I desire will follow.

The muses who stuck their tongues in my ear probably know who they are.

Now that you mention it ...

I Hate Toast, I prefer "planetaria" along with "auditoria" and even worse, "musea."

Erich, well, I know what you mean about worm mines, though I wonder what it sounds like to the uninitiated.

conclusion

For more than a year, I contemplated acquiring Beatrice made by Classic Elite. Elann and Webs have each offered Mountain Meadow, easily my favorite colorway. During a Yarn Safari, I examined the one lonely skein left at Webs, and tried to rationalize missing my chance. When more became available, I sprung into action. My mother-in-law generously sent me a sweater's worth for Christmas.

Naturally, I swatched not long after opening the box. This is one entire ball - 63 yards - knitted up on Crystal Palace Bamboo needles, US9, 24 inch, and not yet blocked.

I love it.

Before I can launch into my new sweater, I need to finish the Zilborgian in Sea Colors so I can be sure what I like for measurements.

Now that you mention it ...

Rebecca and Bethe, I will finish the Zilborgian! I have just about figured the sleeve dimensions, and need to address where to place which colors.

IH Toast, I have so little control that I hang onto what I can get. Your entire assessment is fair, though.

Judy, I'm so glad you think it's me!

Dorothy, I have obliquely related plans for you. Bwah-ah-ah! Harumph.

charity quiz

Before Christmas, I took a personality quiz based on the Five Factor Model. To enhance the self indulgence, I am using my results for a derivative quiz. Here's the deal: entrant with best overall guess selects a charity to which I will donate $25. (Please note that political groups are excluded). Bonus points awarded for earlier entries. 

On a scale of 1 to 100 (and compared to women in their forties and fiftes), where do I fall on each of the following?

A) neuroticism
B) extraversion
C) openness to experience
D) agreeableness
E) conscientiousness

Don't be afraid to guess high on neuroticism and low on agreeableness. Quiz closes before the end of 2007. Le jouets sont fait!

Addenda (added 27 December 2007, 1800 h)

• Hints: Two of the scores are separated by more than 70, and two are separated by less that 10. All of the numbers added together come to roughly 300.
• Limits: While I will certainly announce the winner, I may reveal the raw data to entrants only. Jenn, Brenda and Rebecca, feel free to make a second guess based on the hints.

Now that you mention it ...

Ariel, let's hear it for unintentional snarkiness from code!

Dorothy, lovely rationale on neuroticism. You're other comment gets into metaphysics, I think.

Jenn C, Brenda, Rebecca, Dorothy and Mafia, thank you so much for playing. I know it involved risk. The categories are arranged below to show highest score to lowest:

openness to experience
neuroticism
conscientiousness
extraversion
agreeableness 
 
As promised, I will send my actual scores to the participants. As with Rebecca, I found the portrait to be reasonably accurate. Speaking of whom, Rebecca, you're the winner! What's your pleasure?

glad tidings

Longwood at Brookline, just before dusk.

Brighton, just after dusk, and one short bus ride later.

Peace to all of you!

balance

PeachPit will be receiving an obscene number of presents this year, as every year. How do I feel about this? On one hand, PeachPit has thirteen aunts and uncles (including spouses), two sets of grandparents, great aunts and uncles, and a great-grandmother to boot. My husband and his siblings roughly agree that gifts are sent to each other's children, but not to each other. This increases the windfall for the children. Among my siblings, we agreed to forgo exchanging gifts with each other, and instead make a family donation to a poor family as identified through Social Services. Here as well, PeachPit falls outside of this agreement. In addition to all of this, PeachPit is an only child, thrills to learning, and has parents who love toys. My husband and I blithely went a little berserk.

On the other hand, having been raised Catholic, the gift conundrum causes me nagging guilt. By adulthood, I had intellectually embraced liberalism and secular humanism, but still question the purity of my lifestyle. What is the political alignment of a big honkin' pile of presents? Materialism transcends party lines, I think. Conservative materialism equates with corporate greed and human rights violations. Liberal materialism trends more toward godless hedonism. (Spiritualism likewise transcends party lines, but the expression differs here as well.) Certainly I was a hedonistic, if relatively impecunious, college student. Have I outgrown that in the past twenty years? More importantly, what are the consequences for PeachPit and spiritual life if I haven't?

All that being said, here's the gift I am most looking forward to giving her:

In high school, I nurtured an enormous crush for my chemistry teacher which sealed my fate as a geek. Mr. Ferris was the defining example of my core type: tall, furry, liberal, intellectual. Biology and physics seem to have a little more flash than chemistry, and attempts to interest in PeachPit in chemistry at the Museum of Science have not gotten too far. This book was an impulse buy at The Booksmith, and later I discovered that it was well-reviewed on Amazon. The target age is 9 to 12, technically out of range. I am not concerned, though. The pictures are great, the exposition accessible, and the shelf life unassailable.

small delight

Occasionally I descend on the post office, and predictably in mid-December. This year, the truly darling DH shlepped the lion's share of the boxes, though I brought a couple of stragglers myself. While waiting for my turn at the APC (that's Automated Postal Center, not anaphase promoting complex), a stamp advertisement caught my eye. My mind is prepared to see fiber references in ordinary life, and often they are mere illusion. iPod cords being pulled out of a handbag, for example, looks like yarn being pulled from a skein. After a momentary thrill, I realize that there is not another knitter on the bus, but another person preparing their sensory bubble. So after a double-take at the APC, I was satisfied to discover that these are for real:

Even better, the US Post Office is using the resurgence in knitting to promote the technological advances of the Postal Service. For all the fretting about the public underestimating knitters, the USPS gets it. Further, illustrator Nancy Stahl may have enlightened the Postal Service. It appears that Stahl has been publishing stamps at least since the turn of the millennium. You can see the stamps in great detail on her Illoz site. (Don't miss the Dollar Sweater - it's fabu!) While the stamps were knit on a machine, they could be reproduced by hand. For hand knitting, the cast on would certainly be at the top. It's a particularly nice effect.

beep beep

Specs (to date)

• 49 stitches wide
• US5 needles, Crystal Palace Bamboo (as before)
• Noro Kureyon 157 and 163

goal: manly
result: manly but artistic

drive by

At the moment, I am into my third Noro Striped Scarf. Rather than show you a picture of that, here's a little teaser for the more classically oriented among you.

Bath Time for Scarves and Swatch
2007, mixed media

antidote

I spent the better part of my afternoon writing to a colleague to clarify my side of a recent conflict. Eventually, I hope to discover that it was time well spent. For the time being, I must wait. This situation calls for Noro.

A few posts ago, I alluded to an emergency Noro acquisition. Here is my result:

Specs

• Inspiration: Dave's version
• Noro Kureyon 209, ~120 grams (2.4 skeins)
• Noro Kureyon 148, ~120 grams (2.4 skeins)
• US5 needles, Crystal Palace bamboo
• 43 stitches at (crocheted) cast on edge
• 1x1 rib, with first and last stitches knit on the way out and slipped purlwise on the way back, exactly as described by Jared
• 5.5 in (14 cm) wide and 88 in (224 cm) long, before blocking,

Two Saturdays ago, the Knitters Who Brunch agreed that I had best finish the scarf and get it to its recipient before I became too attached.

My delight with this project contrasted with a scarf that I'd done with four skeins of Noro Kureyon 153, in Cartridge Belt rib:

I liked the colors, but it was overly long (even for me) and felt flaccid. Since I had 180 grams of Noro Kureyon 209 on hand, I decided to effect a transformation:

I think my student will have her choice of the two, leaving me the tantalizing possibility of keeping one for myself. On top of this, I now have a great reason to pick up three skeins of Kureyon (at a very reasonable $25 for an impulse purchase) wherever I go. I also have a new slogan for my life. When I was thirteen, I came up with "Knowledge through Inquiry." A fitting addition is "Whoro for Noro."