Double Helix

kinks

About a week ago, I decided what to do with the stupendous amount of Sheep Shop Sheep One that I picked up at 40% off. I frogged the swatches, and quickly realized that a good straightening was in order. Into the bath!

After squeezing the hanks and whacking them on the side of the tub, the fiber relaxed quite a bit. Contrast Wool Ease. I applied the same treatment, and while the frogged fiber did fluff up a bit, the kinks seemed to be unresolved. I didn't think that acrylic blends had memory. I hope tough love (seed stitch) will adjust its attitude.

Regarding my article accepted in Nature, thank you all for sharing in my joy. I did in fact go in search of celebratory yarn. No doubt you will be disappointed when I unveil it.

Mailbag

See the swap for responses to I Hate Toast, Dorothy, Omly, and Rebecca.

she said yes

A little over two years ago, I began blogging as a means of connecting with other knitters. Shortly after that, the Moss and I were invited to join an amazing scientific collaboration, spanning four laboratories and two continents. Collaborations are intricate by nature, and tend to promote self-awareness, ready or not. When engaging in such a collaboration, you give up autonomy and control. You also bet some chunk of your ego that you will reap proportional glory.

The blog, on the other hand, is a very different sort of collaboration. I write, you read, some occasionally comment, and it continues. Some comments provoke subsequent posts, though the core of the blog draws from a solitary creativity. Admittedly, at the outset, I thought I might achieve some popularity or notoriety from the blog. Over time, I realized that I am neither wild enough to become notorious, nor accessible enough to become popular. The best that can be said is that on my bandwidth, I call the shots.

The blog will dissolve when monetary and temporal costs exceed its use. The thing I create with keyboard and server is by its nature fleeting, and the only thing that might endure is miles of privately held code. Contrast scientific publication. When in grad school, I flipped through a fifty year old volume of Nature, found it antique, but at the same time realized that science proceeds lineally from those distant publications. Every once in a while, there are landmark papers that change the direction of science broadly, and that maintains even if the specific papers are no longer read.

Two posts ago, a few of you gathered that I was waiting to hear from a journal editor. Since last Halloween, two manuscripts produced by our vigorous collaboration have been going through the peer review process. The shorter paper features me as a minor author. The longer paper, into which I poured so much of myself, features me as one of three primary authors.

As of today, these papers have been accepted at Nature. I'm glad I took that bet two years ago.

reclamation

Many moons ago, I bought a whole whack of Lion Brand Wool Ease. I was in my final year of grad school, had just learned to knit, and lived a block away from Michael's. I needed a sweater's worth of yarn, and there's no way I would have been able to afford that much pure wool.

I embarked on a sweater for my then betrothed, using a stranded pattern of my own design. I liked the fabric, and was pleased to have managed purling in two colors. The sweater approached vest status last millennium. The bottom edge flips up, though, due to a bad match between the cast on edge and the corrugated ribbing, and the collar contrasts too starkly with the body. I could rework the edging and collar, finish the armholes, and produce a fully fledged vest. Even if I choose this path, I will still end up with rather a lot of Wool Ease.

Predictably, I wrestled with this for some time. In the past couple of years, I've given a good amount of beautiful stuff to friends and even a few strangers, realizing that it would mean more to me in other people's hands. I am not so inclined to give the Wool Ease away, though. I feel a little sentimental about it. When I began to knit, I was almost fully insulated from the knitting world, as I was taught knitting by one close friend. Between her advice and Elizabeth Zimmerman's, my fiber world was for a time as broad as it needed to be. The internet provides a wealth of information and ideas, but at least as often draws energy away from the creative process.

In addition to this Wool Ease reflecting the beginning of my knitting life, it is a practical yarn with a practical palette. Having been fascinated by quilting in college, my inclination is to take the Wool Ease and make something of it, rather than abandon it for dreamier colors and higher-minded fibers. My plan is to make about 120 of these squares:

Even though to some it would seem like an exercise in tedium, I like the idea of making square after square after square. I keep gravitating toward scarves for mindless knitting, but their bulk is not too practical for toting around in the summer. I worked out a simple square recipe, and really enjoy varying the pairings of the smaller band and larger band. Seed stitch gives the fabric loft, and I really enjoy it. My plan is to assemble the squares into a blanket by picking up stitches in black and closing the seams with a three-needle bind-off.

Mailbag

• See seventh and last for responses to Liz, Mishka, Katy Cassidy, Airing, Elk, Dorothy, Liz, Ariel, Claudia, Heather, Jenn C, and Bethe
  
• See overshot for responses to the AntiToast, Rebecca, and Colleen
  

essence

A few years ago, DH and I figured out that dining out on Valentine's Day meant waiting forever to be seated in a crowded restaurant, or opting for mediocre cuisine. These days, we choose an off night for dinner out, and typically the night before Valentine's.

Last night, we ventured out in the pissing rain for sushi. We took PeachPit with us, a choice unfathomable before becoming a parent. She's a girl who relishes her sushi, and a private boat of salmon and tuna nigiri puts her on best behavior.

Yesterday, my mood was piss poor, as has been the recent trend, so it's just as well DH had other company. I drink only occasionally, but last night I ordered sake and embraced it with vigor. I was loopy before the miso soup. When I got home, these were waiting for me:

Now, you might think, "Carnations? Really?" Mike doesn't fancy them himself; he thinks that carnations look like someone took perfectly good flowers and had at them with scissors. I like them because they are robust, and these days, I'll take all the robust I can get.

Posting the "Make My Day" meme today would have been a good move, but with apologies to all of the wonderful peeps in my blogging universe, there's only one person who could make my day right now. She's blogless, and we've never even met.

Now that you mention it ...

Carnation Crew, right ON. Sushi Crew, likewise!

Mishka, so that's how American men get the asian woman fixation!

Dorothy, Allison, Rebecca, and Liz, thank you for your good wishes.

Emily, that totally sounds like PeachPit. She's a natural pedagogue.

Claudia, oooo, the flower code! As a teenager, I was a little slow to realize that fourteen-year-old boys were not going to grok this form of communication.

Heather, I loved your uppity women laundry list.

dawn

So true:

Heather, thanks for the fun!

Mailbag

• See revealed for responses to Mafia, Judy, Rebecca, I Hate Toast, Dorothy, Emily, Liz and Liz.
• See old year, new year for responses to Emily, DaviMack, Claudia, Dava, Dorothy, Heather, Rebecca, Danielle, Ariel, and I Hate Toast

Now that you mention it ...

AntiToast, that link is *totally* me. I spent a good 23 minutes and 19 seconds noodling around on that site. I hope you've taken a break from the harrumphing (reduces your carbon footprint).

Heather, I took the quiz a second time to see the percentage. Survey says 17%.

picky, picky, picky

Last November, my brother Boop gave me a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble, and with it I got this:

I've been enjoying it overall, though I am still settling into the rhythm of the analysis. I did identify something that I found irksome. On page 189, there's a pattern for something liberally called a "Butterfly Moebius."

One classic Moebius pattern, which can be seen on page 52 of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Around, instructs the knitter to make a rectangle, give the thing half a twist, and graft the short ends together. The Butterfly Moebius, in contrast, is knit from one long edge to the other. (Two edges? That's a problem right there.)

There is no inherent problem in building a Moebius along the long axis. Here's how it's done, and as The Girl From Auntie explains, "The loop begins with a provisional or provisional-style cast-on on a circular needle; the first half of the first round of knitting is worked on that provisional row as usual, but then the second half of the first round is worked in the bottom of the provisional row."

The method that Parkes uses if different, though, giving the cast on stitches precisely one twist before joining the ends of the circle, then proceeding as if for any tube. Therein lies the problem. A Moebius strip requires half a twist, but he Butterfly Moebius involves a whole twist. It may be beautiful, but it ain't a Moebius.

Now that you mention it ...

AntiToast, coffee does *not* ooze; I couldn't agree more. It *might* creep, as creeping does not require a certain viscosity. While I'm not bad in the wrapping department, I've decided looking festive is all that's required.

Rebecca, you're quite right. One night at Circles, Allison investigated the full-twist method out of curiosity. We learned why it doesn't work, so when I read Parkes' description I understood the limits immediately. I did some modest investigation for a mathematical term for the Butterfly Moebius but came up empty.

whither SPA 2008

SPA has never been on my personal calendar because it has always conflicted with my husband's birthday. This year, it's late enough that I may just be able to swing it. So, dear readers, please fill me in.

How many people usually attend?
Is it essential to go with friends?
Do people usually drink and dine at the hotel?
Should one stay the night to enjoy the best parts of SPA?

Now that you mention it ...

Mishka and AntiToast, I had it wrong - it's not "SPA Knit and Spin" but "Spa, Knit, and Spin." As far as I can tell, it's an annual weekend gathering of spinners and knitters with a focus on informality, booze, spinning, and knitting. On Saturday, an intentionally limited number of vendors turn up. I've heard someone say that the bloggers have ruined the event, which probably reflects a shift in ambiance over time.

Dorothy, sometimes forgetting my social awkwardness and jumping right in works, and sometimes it doesn't. Blogger Bingo at Rhinebeck in 2006 reminded me of high school more strongly than anything else in the past 20 years. Geeks are rarely the popular girls. Nuff said.

Heather, glad to be of service.

Claudia, Brenda, and Julie, thank you for all of the information. Up to the last minute, I considered going for the day. I bailed due to a heavy-duty respiratory thing (cold from hell, or worse). I really needed to sleep and to avoid inhaling fibers. Having a confederate in dodging long waits for mediocre food sounds like the approach for me.

the swap

Last weekend, it was my pleasure to see a bunch of old friends, and to swap old yarn for new.

stash brought to swap	grams
Rowan plaid (purple)	- 800
Tessin (orange)	- 400
Bartlett bluky (olive green)	- 410
Dorchester Farms mohair (pink and peach)	- 370
Misti Alpaca Bulky (black, brown)	- 200
Interlacements Peru (orange, purle, green)	- 240
total	- 2420
brought home from swap
Mostly Merino sport (natural)	165
Sheep 3	100
Ritratto	100
Rowan DK or fingering weight (dk green)	50
Ice Yarns (funky tan stuff)	100
Misti Cotton Silk (lavender)	100
Zephyr Admiral (cobalt blue)	130
Barbados (warm multi)	100
looks like a fuzzy parrot	50
total	945
money spent (excluding brunch goodies)	$ 0

Summing up:

previous balance (@ $24)	- 65 grams
yarn out of stash	- 2420 grams
yarn into stash (@ $0)	945 grams
new balance (@ $24)	- 1540 grams

Things queued for accounting, but not yet included:

• sock yarn shawl
• noro scarf the third
• booty from A Good Yarn's Winter Sale

Next weekend: watching paint dry.

Now that you mention it ...

I Hate Toast, please! Let's say peas and carrots - I'm trying to reduce.

Dorothy, you said it, girl!

Omly, well there's an easy post to write! Coming soon.

Rebecca, really, I couldn't believe my luck about the Sheep 3. It would be my pleasure to pass tasty chunks of Sea Colors to you. Perhaps I should wrap up the Zilborgian sweater soon.