New Year Fogginess .... and Sock Etymology

Hello!

It's been quite a while. ... In January, my husband graduated from AnimationMentor  - now he is looking to put his skills to use. It was quite a party, and it was nice to see the "buddies" I've only heard of until now!

During my company's traditional 2-week holiday shutdown over Christmas and New Year, I had fond dreams of finishing my Louis Shawl, which of course, did not happen. But I made some progress and am now knitting the border onto the third side. Here is a photo after I turned the second corner. The Lily-of-the-Valleys are now making an impact, and the shawl begins to actually look nice.

Louis Shawl

Once this is done, and after I'm finished with the Moguls Moebius scarf according to Cat Bordhi's book A Treasury of Magical Knitting, I want to knit another Orenburg shawl. And then ... then ... I think I will try my hand at some Shetland knitting, working up my courage to try The Queen Susan Shawl. This shawl is not only beautiful - it is a collaborative effort of the Heirloom Knitting group on Ravelry. It represents the best of just what is possible with the Internet. Several knitters from distant parts of the country (indeed different countries!) re-created (!) a lace shawl from a photograph (!), courtesy of the Shetland Museum! An astounding effort! The background, instructions and charts cover more than 70 pages. Not only is the volunteer work involved in this amazing, but in the spirit of advancing the craft the group is making this pattern available free to everyone. Read some of the background on Fleegle's blog (who put in countless hours on this project) and download the free pattern here. Keep in mind that this shawl has yet to be knitted in its entirety - at least in this day and age. Apparently, the pattern is too large to be made available on Ravelry (but they're working on it), so for now, use the location above. A HUGE thanks to everyone involved - it is a beautiful pattern brought back to life. I heartily agree with the motto stated on the first page of the pattern: Tradition means not to enshrine the ashes, but to pass on the fire (Thomas More) - something that many groups should have engraved on their foreheads! The Knitter magazine is apparently planning to print an article about this project, too!

On the lighter side: I'm subscribed to the A.Word.A.Day email list -very educational - and one word in January was ... Sock!

MEANING:noun: A light, low-heeled shoe worn by ancient Greek comic actors, and by extension a comedy.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin soccus (slipper). Compare with buskin. The term "sock and buskin" refers to the theatrical profession collectively.

The Sock and Buskin masks are probably known to almost everyone ... Interesting ... so a sock indicated something funny in old Greece. Someone wearing a sock was a comic. As opposed to someone wearing a buskin. Wearing heavy boots is tragic, wearing socks is fun. Still true today!
 

This is the time for foggy mornings in the Bay Area, and this morning (17 Feb) I wanted to photograph it. The flash produced an interesting effect:

Impressionist Morning

Of course the boss cat had to check out what I was doing:

Take care!

Washer trouble, Animation BBQ, Project Update

Our only a year-and-a-half old washer had been acting up for quite a while, and the weekend before last it decided to quit altogether. The earliest customer "service" appointment is two weeks away ... what to do? What to do? (I hate laundromats!) So I remembered that as part of my Y2K preparations (I know, I know!) I bought a cute little Super Wash Pressure Washing Machine ... see:

This is the deluxe model ... it has a drain pipe!!!

I had used it once after I bought it just to try it out, and remembered that it worked very well. So I dragged it out of its (almost) forgotten storage place in the shed and started washing a few loads. It still works fine! I might just keep it around for really small, quickie washs. It's certainly faster than handwashing, even though you still have to spend quite a bit of time rinsing.

My husband decided to do the more manly thing - he threw a bunch of clothes in the bathtub, jumped in and then hand ... er ... footwashed them.

Btw, one of the features advertised for the little Super Wash is that it is suitable for washing delicates and handknits - has anyone ever washed their handknits in one of these? How did it turn out?

Last Sunday (Jul 12th) we went to Crissy Field, because the animation school my husband attends hosted their annual BBQ there. The day started out like this:

A typical San Francisco summer morning

... but once the cloud cover burned off it became really nice and warm. (That by itself is a miracle for San Francisco.)


The audience was treated to live enactments of the "12 Principles of Animation". Here is one:

"Straight Ahead Action" and "Pose by Pose"

Projects:

Olga's Indiski Shawl: 5 repeats of the second outside border done. I really have to pay attention, because the rows are so short! Sometimes I forget to move my chart marker, sometimes I try to do a pattern row on the return row - luckily I'm a firm believer in lifelines!

Caffe Latte Scarf: It's coming along slowly - it's my morning knit while drinking my coffee, so I only knit a few rows (or none) per day - now about 2 feet long.

Since I just had an itch to finish *something* I did this little dishcloth Friday and Saturday evening:

Dishcloth 1 - Diagonals

Take care!