Everything I Know About Tangents…

My fourth grade teacher taught me everything I know about tangents.  Ironically, the lesson was not part of a geometry instruction, and I’m not sure she knew how effectively she was teaching it.  Like many Army school teachers, my fourth grade teacher was married to a career soldier.  She had travelled the world with him, and had a wealth of knowledge to share with us – the places she’d been, people she met, customs and culture…Her way of sharing was to start on a curriculum topic, lecturing and writing on the blackboard (we still had chalk and blackboards, and the lovely honor of going outside to clean the erasers).  Suddenly she would hit on a topic that coincided with her personal experience, and off she would go, animated and voluble, giving me the same feeling as when I was immersed in a good read.  Eventually she would realize she was on a tangent, and say so, and make the leap back to the proscribed topic, leaving me a little sad that we couldn’t sail on and on, taking tangents from the tangent and navigating only by the desire of the moment. 

At the age of 8, starting fourth grade, I understood that tangents couldn’t exist on their own.  You had to have a starting place, a central core of agreed-upon topic, as your jumping off point.  And the jumping off didn’t involve a leap to another totally unrelated topic, but a sliding off the point onto something that arose naturally from the topic but moved out into another realm.  When I finally reached geometry (tenth grade?) I could picture that line with its single point in common with the circle, and remember our movement out of the circle, through that point, and down the line to parts unknown.  I would look at the tangent line and imagine how much of a leap it would take to get back to the original circle, sometimes impossibly long for a nonathletic child like me. 

All of this came to mind because I went off on a tangent yesterday.  I was thinking about hats while I knitted the projects that I’m working to complete, and suddenly I was putting down my needles and picking up a skein of tangerine Blue Sky Dyed Organic Cotton.  In my mind was a hat that wrapped, with some overlap leading to some kind of interesting adornment on the side.  I began to knit furiously, starting at the top, creating the spiraling increase in circumference and on to the stockingette body and big swirling medallion-like finish.  I went to bed satisfied that I had captured it, and woke this morning anxious to sew it together and see the completed project.  I even disturbed my daughter’s sleep so I could view it on a real head.  (I know, I am a ruthless mother when I am off on a tangent.) 

I must admit, this tangent went out a looooong ways.  After I did the finish work, I took the time to write the pattern.  I will publish it here as a free pattern tomorrow.  And I photographed the hat:

Including a top view: 

It is time for me to get off the mother of all tangents and make that huge, light-years long leap back to the day’s tasks.  My garage is mid-cleanup.  I need groceries.  There are other projects still on the needles.  I have photographed baby hats and need to edit them and post them in the Turtletots store.  But wait, there’s more:  income tax prep, cactus planting, etc.  My tribute to Billy Mays. 

Oh heck, I can’t leave yet.  A few words about the Michael Jackson memorial tribute.  I have been a little tickled realizing how far some of the news announcers are from my world.  There’s been so much talk about his children attending (was it wise, will it scar them for life) and his daughter Paris making her own statement at the end.  The Black in my roots means memorials like this are the norm.  We take our children to funerals.  My daughter went to her grandparents for “day care” from 5 weeks of age until she began preschool.  She attended funerals with them regularly, knew that death came and was an expected part of life.  In my upbringing, it was common for children to be able to speak or sing or play a musical instrument at a family member’s funeral.  Their tributes were always welcome, and they were supported by family members in much the same way as the Jackson clan flocked around Michael’s children yesterday.  Thank God they have that sustaining family power. 

Peace.

Diamonds, Health and Houses

The word is out.  The Congressional Budget Office has scored the complete health care reform bill and it definitely looks affordable, hundreds of billions less than previous estimates.  Ezra Klein has summarized the results for WashingtonPost.com (Ezra Klein – Primary Documents: The Congressional Budget Office’s Score of the HELP Bill).  Definitely worth reading his brief post.  Here’s a bit more info on Alternet today:  The Results Are In: A Public Health Plan Saves Big Money | Health and Wellness | AlterNet.  The Congressional Budget Office is nonpartisan, has no political agenda.  Their role was to look at the provisions of the bill and tell members of Congress what it would cost and what they could expect as a result of passing it. 

Yesterday we shopped for houses.  I fell in love with a small house on a hill in a new subdivision.  It eclipsed everything I’ve seen before now.  I want to pack my bags, put my yarn in the car, and move across town.  The only hold-up is the home I’m living in, the perfectly lovely suburban house that I cannot keep and have not sold.  I climbed the stairs to the upper level four times last week.  My back and legs have been sending me nasty messages ever since.  Of course, cleaning out the garage may have also contributed.  I am trying to make it look less of a disaster zone.  One carload to Samaritan Center, one carload to the recycle center…the repeated litany of our debulking. 

I am up to the neckline and armhole ribbing on my father’s vest.  Can’t wait to show it.  I’m pleased with how it’s come along, and he will be happy, I think.  I have listed several new items in my stores-two pairs of fingerless mitts in the adult store (http://turtlefat.com) and several infant and child hats in the children’s store (http://turtletots.etsy.com). I decided to empty all the super-warm winter items from the adult store, streamlining the inventory to things that are seasonally appropriate.  I think it makes it much more shoppable. 

A last note for the day.  Rob Thomas performed at a Today Show concert today.  He sang Her Diamonds (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQgaGS4BL6I&feature=related), and it was explained that the title refers to his wife’s tears.  She has an autoimmune disease.  In the song, she says that she cannot take it any more, and she cries.  He feels unable to help her, but stays by and cries with her.  A mate that understands having the disease – out of my realm of experience.  I will download the album and imagine having that relationship.

Peace.

Blocking a Shawl and Unblocking Health Care

I start every day with breakfast and pills.  While I am waiting for the pills to do their thing, I get my first look at morning email.   My method of attack is to first scan the whole list and wipe out the junk – solicitations, sale notices, friending notes from Facebook, spam that the filter missed, and group conversation comments that I don’t want to read.  Next I attack the urgent mail – Etsy orders (woefully infrequent), real messages from family and friends (as opposed to the ever-present and quickly deleted forwards), and notifications from companies I pay on line.  Finally, I open the mail that takes a bit longer and requires more focus – Alternet mail with timely and informative articles on political and social matters, the New York Times headlines, new information on craft shows and markets, and comments on threads in my groups that I’d like to follow and perhaps contribute to. 

This morning, an interesting notice caught my attention.  It was a request to join hundreds of thousands of Americans in a petition from the Stand with Dr. Dean organization.  It has a very common sense argument for a public health plan.  If you’ve been following the issue, you know that huge numbers of our population (43 to 47 million Americans) have no health insurance, and thus miss out on most of the nonemergency health care that they should be getting.  There’s a lot of hoopla in Congress over whether we can afford to have a public insurance program, paid for by the government, to cover all of those people and perhaps any others who want to ditch their employer-sponsored plan.  The Dean organization points out that this is the only route for true health care reform, that any other option (involving just private insurers) is only insurance reform, and doesn’t address the real need for improved health care in this country.  They have a concise overview of the situation, comparing our vital health care statistics (life expectancy, survival of acute illnesses, etc.) with those of other developed nations.  The site includes a petition that you can fill out in one minute to join other public health option supporters.  Check it out:  http://standwithdrdean.com/ .

This week I’ve found time to admire someone else’s handknitting.  A friend brought me a gorgeous shawl to block, and I had a wonderful time working on it.  Knitted lace doesn’t look very special when you’re working on it.  It is the subsequent stretching that reveals the beautiful patterns and makes it hang with appropriate drape.  That is achieved by using wires and pins strategically placed to pull out the piece to its limits and accent the proper areas of the design.   I don’t think she will mind me showing you:   As you can see, I have pinned out the shawl on a queen-size bed (thanks, Dayna).  The pins go through the comforter and into the mattress, as they have to be securely anchored.  I prefer to pin it dry, then spray it with water using a perfume atomizer.  You can buy atomizers for a few bucks.  Never spray with a bottle that has held perfume, as it may discolor your piece.  I spray until the entire piece is damp, smoothing over the whole shawl with my hand to make sure I haven’t missed a corner. 

  The shawl instructions gave only one dimension – about 68 inches from side to side.  You can see that it takes most of the bed length.  I put in the blocking wires at the top straight edges, and adjusted the fabric to achieve the proper width.  Then, working first the bottom corners, then bottom center, then filling in the sides and bottom spikes, I stretched until the pattern was clear and pulled to symmetrical dimensions.  The pins are placed at the very tip of the scalloped edge, emphasizing the diamond row above it.   Just another view of pretty!  This shawl takes my breath away.  Mary Z did a fantastic job! 

I gave it another spraying down with water today, because I removed a pin and found that it wasn’t holding its shape as well as I wanted.  I will give it another 48 hours of drying time, then remove all the pins and present it to its rightful owner (sigh). 

I have to apologize for the previous post, Rockstar.  I wrote it two nights ago and forgot to push the publish button.  Don’t neglect it, there’s some fun involved. 

Peace.

Rockstar

Every now and then I find myself in a group of folks who lament the income and respect disparity between celebrities and more essential pros like teachers.  We talk about how nurses are underpaid relative to football players, and the value of a good social worker versus a good television evangelist. 

During these conversations I inevitably hit that wall that comes from knowing all the celebrities, and not knowing who to credit on the side of the little guys.  The rockstar faces are all over the papers and television screen and jump out from my internet news.  Even if I’m not a fan, their latest productions, their lifestyles, their children are all thrust into my consciousness.  I may remember that Joseph Anglin was the most fantastic middle school teacher of my experience, but there is no one famous teacher on our screens that we can all applaud and discuss. 

Now Intel is airing a commercial that totally rocks.  They show a man of Indian heritage walking through his workplace, followed by adoring stares and swooning colleagues.  He is identified as Ajay Bhatt, co-inventor of the USB.  The commercial absolutely thrills me!  It portrays a smart guy (read “geek”) as attractive, sexy, and valuable in the community.  Aside from the fact that this guy is my ideal man is the supercool vibe of the whole segment that keeps me watching it over and over.  Here, see for yourself:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqLPHrCQr2I .

A few days ago Discontinued Brand-name Yarns (http://discontinuedbrandnameyarn.com) began to advertise hand-dyed hanks of worsted weight cotton.  I checked them out and found gorgeous colors.  I’ve been looking for affordable yarns for baby blankets, and ordered a pile of these.  They came today and they do not disappoint, at least not in quality of colourwork or softness of the boucle yarn.  I have already balled one hank and knitted several rows of a baby blanket panel.  The one annoyance I have is the amount of debris in the yarn.  I have picked out tiny pieces at least two or three times each row.  Hopefully, this attention now, coupled with a vigorous washing, will make this a wonderful finished product.  While you are waiting for photos, check out this selection:  http://tinyurl.com/nw2q43.

It’s just after midnight.   It’s not too late to make cake mix cookies.  I feel a sweet coming on. 

Peace.

Riverbend and Early Rising

It is the end of Riverbend Festival week in Chattanooga.  The festival lasts 10 days, and attracts tens of thousands to its varied musical performances.  Even in years when I choose to avoid the heat and crowds, I can feel the excitement in the air.  Traffic patterns change, new faces appear in familiar places, television coverage and personal reports abound.  

My daughter made her first appearance at the festival at age three, dancing in the street with the community at the Bessie Smith Strut.  She still attends regularly, and I eagerly await her reports.  Last night we stayed up until 3 a.m. talking about the events of the week, the excitement still present.  She showed me her loot from the last night:  a necklace with a real scorpion embedded in glass, a six-pack of Coke Zero, jeans purchased in her pre-concert shopping.  Her descriptions of the Little Richard concert, with his unexpected presentation of his young nieces and nephew-tiny children standing on his piano to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider-kept me spellbound.  Attendance by proxy, as dictated by the current state of my lupus. 

In spite of the late late bedtime, I rose early to appreciate the glorious, bright day.  I have always been an early riser, eagerly waiting for morning to come, happy for summer when it is marked by bright light streaming into my bedroom.  As a child, I felt that I was missing something if I lay in bed late.  It was intolerable to hear activity in the rest of the house and not be a part of it.  Now, when the agenda of the day is dictated by me, I still feel the urge to jump into the day early.  I come by this honestly.  My father always rose early, his farm upbringing and Army career reinforcing the habit.  As an infant and small child, I woke to be with him and start the day. 

My son appeared unexpectedly at the front door yesterday.  He rang the bell and I interrupted a phone conversation to answer it.  My shrieks of pleasure greeting Julian probably frightened my friend on the phone.  A nice long spell of catch-up conversation ensued.  Meanwhile, a knitting friend showed up for an extended visit.  We began the evening with conversation, ended with pizza and a viewing of The Secret Life of Bees. 

So much to awake to, so many reasons to get out of bed.  That’s a good life.

Peace.

Inflammatory Knitting

I’ve been smiling since noon yesterday.  I feel wickedly happy, because I outsmarted the lupus and recognized that my terrible pain last week was unresolved inflammation.  I began the week with bad foot and back pain, and nothing was improving it.  I had my mind fixed on the recent rheumatology visit, where my doc noted all the signs of osteoarthritis.  The pain was so severe I stayed in most of the week.  It finally hit me Friday that this pain was not osteo but my old buddy lupus, in its familiar nesting place:  sacroiliac joints and feet.  I increased my teeny prednisone dose from 5 to 15 mg, and at 24 hours I was greatly relieved.  All day Saturday I continued to improve.  Sunday (today) was the day to start a gradual taper.  Only inflammation gets better that quickly with steroids.

Like I said, yesterday was good.  Midway through knitting group, I decided to take a friend and go yarn shopping in a town south of here.  I enjoyed driving the 30 minutes through the low mountains of north Georgia, and our foray into town took me way off my beaten path.  I had not been out of view of the interstate in this city, and it actually has a nice town area, and – more important – a great yarn shop.  Krazy Knits is in a converted house, and has several rooms of yarn, neatly shelved and organized.  I cruised all the rooms, gradually adding to my pile on the counter by the cash register. 

I could bore you with an account of each yarn I purchased.  Suffice it to say that I have lots of pretty, soft, colorful stuff.  If this is titillating, call for details.  More importantly, I already knit a cutie-pie toddler poncho and have started a scarf. 

I haven’t shown anything I made in a long time.  I’ve been knitting and crocheting daily, so here’s a sample:

  

 

Upper left is a pair of fingerless mitts from undyed organic cotton.  They are waiting for buttons.  Crocheted, of course.  The knitted swirl hat is small child-size, from Knit Picks sock yarn (cotton, merino, nylon).  The lower hat is 9 mos to toddler size, also organic cotton, crochet.   To the side you can see the edge of a baby blanket that is being blocked, blue, red and brown, diagonal garter stitch with yarnover eyelets up the edges.  Better photo when it’s off the wires.  Matching booties and hat are here, too. 

I promise, not everything is cream coloured.  More soon.

Peace.

Pick Up the Phone

Just when I thought my biggest worry today would be the aches and pains from yesterday’s cleaning, there’s more news from the Senate’s health care struggles. 

A majority of Americans support having a public plan available for folks who cannot get health care insurance through their employers and who cannot afford to buy it on the private market.  There’s a movement in the Senate to delay this, giving private insurance companies more time and options to deal with the problem, and only allowing a public plan at some fututre time if they should fail.  The private insurers have already shown us that profit is their whole motive.  They have done everything they can to deny insurance to people and to not pay for what their insured customers need.  Why should they have another chance at our expense? 

What can we do?  We can get on the phone and call our senators’ offices, telling them that we don’t want to delay a public plan, that we need it now.  It takes 5 minutes to pick up the phone and relay that message.  You can read about it here:  http://www.healthcareforamericanow.org/.  I’ve already called Senator Alexander and Senator Corker to register my request.  If we don’t have health care for everyone in 2011, I don’t want to be kicking myself for lack of action.   

Now I’ve gotta get back to cleaning.  Someone else is scheduled to see my house.  Sell, 7514 Tranquility, sell! 

Peace.

Drive-By Blogging

A quick “Hurray” for the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor.  Sandra Day O’Conner was the graduation speaker at my medical school graduation (Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, 1982).  It was exciting even though I wasn’t a huge fan.  Every indication of our country dragging its tired political butt into the next century is to be celebrated.  Many so-called developing nations are so far ahead of us in the fair-minded, unbiased selection of diverse talent for political leadership. 

I shopped with my daughter today.  We did clothing, food and celebratory treats (a trip to the bakery for cookies).  I forget what we were celebrating, but we made it to Piece ‘a Cake and got thumbprints.  My mocha ones were delicious.  I enjoyed watching my daughter try on clothing, and hearing her comments about various items.  She has that fashion-conscious, highly critical viewpoint that comes from having half of a fashion merchandising major and a lifetime of love for clothing. 

We’re trying to ignore our umpteenth storm and watch some television.  The animal is huddled between us, the only safe place she can find after that first loud clap of thunder.  This is the perfect atmosphere for an old episode of Bones.  We just heard loud screams and saw a bloody corpse, then to the autopsy. 

I’ve decided to slow my frantic pace and follow the signs my body is giving me.  The day after selling at the Market is difficult – lots of aches and pains and fatigue.  I don’t think I can manage a two-day gig right now, and I’ve received the logistical info on ICE and it looks like a nightmare.  I just emailed my cancellation.  The hips, shoulder, neck, SI joints, and knees all breathed a sigh of relief. 

I’m gonna knit now.  And chill. 

Peace.

Gettin’ On the Grid

My computer works again, I’m a fiend!  I opened it and played two rounds of Scrabble, and there will be lots more of that before the day is done. 

I’m getting ready for future craft market days.  I made two hats, one in a child’s size in lovely Auraucania Yarns Atacama.  It is hand-dyed, supersoft 100% alpaca, very loosely knit for breathing.  The second is a crochet adult hat, made from Ullteppegarn in bright turquoise.  On the needles – another hat, in a royal blue wool-alpaca mix.  I’m planning more fingerless mitts before Atlanta.

Dayna and I pulled the metal booth grid rectangles off the floor and swiped off the spiderwebs.  We put brackets on so they will stand, replacing missing screws and nuts.  We also purchased a rolling cart that doubles as a dolly (yippee, a grown-up transformer toy).  I’ve decided that we’re making enough to make this a bit more efficient and less joint-killing.  With a decent looking, more professional booth set-up, we can probably sell more.  I purchased the grid pieces two years ago, but my first attempt at using them I was late setting up and without the proper tools.  I put them in the corner after that, foolishly deciding they wouldn’t do what I needed.  Several market visits later, I can see that they are exactly what I need. 

Chattanooga Market this Sunday, Memorial Day weekend, will host the Beast Feast – a barbecue contest with five samples for $5.  That won’t attract a few people, hmmm?!  I’ve already checked our booth location-same aisle, closer to the front.  I’m excited.

Peace.

Celebration: My First Market Day

I am happy today.  Not just my usual happy, but specifically happy over the outcome of my first foray into craft fair/market sales for this year.  Yesterday, after many days of prep, Dayna and I took our wares to the Chattanooga Market (http://chattanoogamarket.com), set up our displays, and sold stuff.  Despite a setup that was quite vulnerable in the wind, less than optimal display arrangement, and an unseasonably cool day, we had a constant stream of visitors and a respectable sales total for the day.  Dayna is becoming a very effective sales partner.  She greets every person who pauses at our booth, jumps up to help anyone who has a question or lingers over an item, encourages people to bargain for prices they can handle, and points out alternatives from her knowledge of our merchandise. 

Because I am just starting at the Market, and haven’t committed for a huge number of sales dates, we had a perimeter location next to a huge open area of the wall.  We were subject to every breeze and gust of wind, and it was colder than any May day should be.  When Market staff realized it, they tied a couple of tarps over the open area, giving a good bit of relief.  Service and organization are amazing under the owners that took control last year.  I’m pleased to see weekly reports of Market income, broken down by food and nonfood venders, and comparisons of current attendance and income with previous years.  I don’t need a report to know that attendance has increased phenomenally over the past two years.  The visitors we saw in the first hour out-numbered some full days that I had two years ago.  People were still browsing and making purchases in the final hour, something that was unheard of in 2007.  The whole day we had -WooHoo!- live music.  I couldn’t tell you the names of the performers because I didn’t have time to go to the stage and get info, but I would treasure CDs from any of them.  What a great atmosphere!

I always take my work to the Market.  I crocheted two hats while I talked with customers, rearranged displays, and bonded with my next-booth neighbors.  The neighbors were making it a family affair, and they were quite a family, with two sisters selling wonderful products, and their children, husbands, and father providing company and entertainment.  I especially enjoyed Gray, a 20 month-old boy who didn’t utter a word but managed to communicate just fine when he came over to pet my yarn and share his cookie.  He took his baby cousin’s hat and slapped it on the front of his head at a crazy angle, then walked around in an amazing comic performance, fully aware that he was the center of attention. 

 

During the course of the day I noticed Dayna writing on a small notepad.  She finally told me that she was noting ideas for improving our market days, and that she would share with me at the end of the day.  We discussed them last night, and I can’t wait to implement them.  Her insights were great, very well thought-out and practical.  I’ve got some work to do!  Guess that means ending this celebratory writing and getting with it!

Peace.