Resurrection...

There's a part in the Episcopal funeral rite which says "in sure and certain hope of the resurrection..." and the words themselves are beautiful and give much comfort to those who have lost a loved one. 

Well, Sunday? No resurrection in sight. 

I'm not talking about Jesus. I'm not talking about funerals, and I'm not talking about church. 

I'm talking about our nearly 30-year old upright freezer. In the basement. The one that "grew up" with the kids. Old Faithful. 

Hubby said to me, "I think the freezer door didn't close completely..." which isn't just a silly excuse; sometimes the door just doesn't close unless you really pay attention to it. 

Nope.

It was dying. No, there are no pictures of us in action; this one of the coolers is all you get... 

This was an "all hands" emergency, on Easter Sunday, to gather up our embarassingly large stash of coolers, and get it empty and unplugged. No hope of leaving it all till the morning, because we weren't sure it would even still be running and it was better to be safe with the food. 

We did keep putting off the "inventory" of what was in there, so I guess this was the freezer's hint that it was time. We'll do another purge (ugh - a package of beef liver from 2010??) when we get the new one. 

We found 3 turkey carcasses, several bags of buttercream frosting that I'd stashed in hopes of using them again (fat chance), and two large bags of chopped up tomatoes that I was looking for the last time we made sauce. I knew they were somewhere!

I guess it was decent timing, just wish that the "No Appliances Croaking on a Holiday" thing was in place. Isn't there a rule?

The Knitting...

So in order to liberate a few coolers, I did a little stash-arranging. As you might remember, my friend D gave me a large portion of her stash, as she's drifted away from knitting. When I brought the yarn home, I stashed it in coolers, in case there were "visitors." 

Not that D is prone to "visitors," but the yarn did live in her garage for a bit, so one never knows. It's a sensible precaution. Normally, I'd have bagged it all and tossed it in a freezer, but our freezers are all in use. Hubby sort of "assumed" the cookie freezer (which is a small one that we had only dedicated to cookies, just out of convenience). He promises that he'll relinquish that one and once again we can have a cookie freezer -- or maybe a "yarn freezer," just in case. 

I found some beautiful Liberty Wool, which was a project she started. That may be frogged. It's a bit hard for me to get my hands on Liberty Wool lately. I've done two pair of mitts with it, and I really liked them. Toasty, but not overbearing. So maybe a shawl? Yeah, I know - it seems that all I knit are shawls. OK, maybe, if there's enough there, a bolero? I have a nice pattern for one that fits well, and I can use one of my "crazy" buttons on it. Maybe it's a cross between a bolero and a vest? I don't know, but I did just wear it the other day over a light mock-neck long-sleeved t-shirt, and since I knitted it in cotton, I can carry it over to several seasons. 

And I found a DK-weight partial sweater front. I'll have to see what's what on that one. Luckily, it's a self-patterning "Icelandic" kind of thing. I'd never have courage to try one of those. What's interesting is that it's in a lovely colorway of dusty pink, grey and ivory - one of my favorite combos. D and I often have similar tastes in colorways. 

And speaking of this stash, I'm gonna have to finish up that Secret Project (I have about 2" to go and then I can block it). There's enough yarn in D's stash to keep me busy for several years. That doesn't even begin to dent MY stash. 

I will admit to being intimidated by the amount of yarn that's available to me in my own house. That sounds awfully "first world problem," doesn't it? So it's time to buckle down and knit it up. I can stash several baby blankets, and I'd really like to do a BSJ (baby surprise jacket) and perhaps use some of D's gift stash on an adult Surprise jacket. 

The Secret Project...

Like I said, I'm within sight of the finish line on this one. I'm thinking that perhaps the one side will be a bit longer after blocking. It's quite true about tension; I've gotten to this part of the project after my sister's death, having to deal with some other health problems and lots of stress...it all shows up in the knitting. I bought the fabric for the lining of the stockinette parts; I did end up with fleece. It just seems easier to assemble, the fleece is washable and won't need ironing, but will be thick enough to hold its shape. But not too thick. 

I promise I will show you when it's done. I'm actually getting more and more excited as I get closer to the finish. I'm thinking it'll be blocked by Monday and finished sometime next week, with the linings in place and all. 

Mostly, I'm going to be happy to have it done. It seems like, because of the advanced deadline, this is the only thing I've been working on. Seems like? Actually, it HAS been the only thing. And I'm kind of itching to dive into my newly acquired stash and see what it entails. 

The picture above is some lovely alpaca + silk. It's almost 1,500 yards, so there's a sweater or pullover in there somewhere. And there may be more of it in one of the bags. Heaven knows what was on D's mind.

The Yoga...

I did it. I finally jumped in on a prenatal training. The full thing: 85 hours. I've taken a few "what do do when a pregnant person walks into your class" workshops, but I do get a lot of calls for prenatal classes. (Hey, maybe there's yarn in D's stash that I could use to whip up baby hats for my soon-to-be students??)

So I'd been eyeballing a training, but it was up past Chicago. I wasn't interested in hiking up there weekly (or the weekend versions) 15 years ago, and I haven't changed my mind. It's also too costly now, because gas prices are up. It's too far to commute, so I'd have to get a hotel, there's meals... just too much cash. 

They ended up, in The Plague Times, expanding it to a hybrid model, so I don't have to go up there. All I have to do is park my butt in my own studio and attend virtually. Thank goodness!

I think this will help; I'm not kidding you when I tell you that The Plague did a number on our studio and it's going to be a hard slog to get ourselves back to where we were, and hopefully beyond. 

My goal is ongoing prenatal classes, workshops at least bi-monthly, if not monthly, a rope wall, and hopefully two more: a vinyasa class on Saturdays, and a class in Spanish. I do get that request, as well, and we don't have anyone who can do that right now. 

The Reading...

I'm on an Elizabeth George kick, and am continuing with the Inspector Lynley series. I know that people have issues regarding the casting of the characters in the TV series. I personally like Nathaniel Parker and Sharon Small in the roles. I didn't like the "dumpy" portrayal of Barbara in the books; Barbara is smart and a good cop. Yes temperamental, but that's part of the character that I like. I guess I identify with being a bit of a grump occasionally. 

I'm also reading "The Complete Surprise" by Cully Swansen, EZ's granddaughter. It's a dissection of the Baby Surprise and the multiple variations. 

What's scary is that "use your brain" wasn't just some catch-phrase. EZ's instructions are "scant," to be generous. I'm going to have to YouTube a few things. I like to read my knitting, but I'll admit: I like instructions. I admire the fact that she says that knitters have brains and can do it. I have brains. Just not sure I have the courage required! 

Random Picture...

I bought two small rolling pins from a Polish business, where they're donating proceeds to Ukraine refugee organizations. As you know, the Poles, having been in the position of being invaded many times in their own history, have stepped up to help Ukranians who are fleeing their country in the wake of the invasion by that absolute maniac. 

I can't wait to make butter cookies and shortbread with these. Of course, you use your regular rolling pin to roll out your dough, but you only make the batches about 7" wide. Then, one pass of one of these "patterning" rolling pins, lightly, and you're good to go with a cookie cutter. I mean, there's a little pressure, but not a lot. The mushroom-shaped brush is to clean it off after use. I have to look up whether I need to oil them before use. I know flouring won't be particularly useful, because you want as much of the detail as possible. 

I love to support small business operations, so here's a link for you, if you want to give a very unique gift: PastryMade - for what you're buying, it's really a cool idea for the baker in your life. 

Looking for yoga but not ready to come into a studio? 

We have Zoom options. 

Contact us at info@just-breatheyoga.com or text/call (815) 546-2770 to find the class that best suits you. 

If you're in the Will County, IL area, we're starting workshops again! Keep an eye on the website for the Chakra workshop, FACE YOGA (Yes, it's a thing!) and Upper Back Health workshop, as well as the Ocean of Devotion coming back soon. 

Private sessions (in-person or Zoom), small group classes (in-person or Zoom) and all our classes are open for drop-ins. 

I Write About Knitting Because...

...at the moment, it's easier than writing about politics and how screwed up this country is.

Scary Perry, Batty Bachmann, people going off on Obama for a vacation (he's taken less vacation than Shrub, by the way. Look it up.), and an economy where the rich WANT to pay more taxes and the Republicans think that "job creators" deserve tax breaks while people at poverty level "need to pay their fair share..."

That's why I'm writing about knitting. Sometimes, you need to bury your head in your stash and look at the fact that you are able to afford this hobby and you have the ability to create something beautiful with sticks and string.

Which is what I think I'm doing right now. I'm knitting another project, and this one has a reasonable chance of getting done in time for me to wear it in late summer! It's a pattern from Knit One Crochet Too called Tee for Two, pattern number 1652. If you can get your LYS to order it, please do! It's for "advanced beginners" and it's a lovely little tee shirt. Please order from your LYS so that they can stay in business and be your local yarn COMMUNITY. It's kind of like the bookstores. I love my online bookstore, and I have ordered yarn from a number of online retailers.

But I wouldn't give up my LYS for anything; even though she doesn't have the "vast and unlimited stock" of an online store, we have a community, and as a small-business owner in our larger community, she deserves our support.

Color 631, Lot 187

I'm doing it in the Ty Dy cotton. See here: it's called "Blueberry" and it's 100% cotton. The label says hand wash, but there are about 4 gals at the LYS who've made this and one does toss hers in the wash machine.

I figure that I have a gentle cycle, so even if I do that part, I can put it on a drying rack to dry.

You can see the luscious colors I've got here. The cotton has several colorways and this pattern takes advantage of the way the colors lay out.

One of the gals (the one who tosses hers in the wash) has altered this design to give her 3/4 length sleeves. I'm adding a few inches to the sleeve, but that's only because my office is always cold! You knit the front and back panels, then pick up stitches on either side and stitch the sides and sleeves. Seaming up the side and you're done.

Front panel

Here's a shot of the front panel; I have about 3 rows to finish it. You can see that the bottom has that big whack of pale blue on it. I'm thinking of breaking open another ball and starting the back panel with that same big swath of blue.

Yes, that's a little nit-picky. But when the rest of the world seems like it's going down the Big Crapper, it's nice to think that at least my knitting is something I can control!

Click on the photo to enlarge it; it rolls because it's all stockinette stitch, but once you pick up the stitches, you see the whole thing lay much nicer.

I was looking at the design, and it called for a cable cast on; well, I lengthened it. It's a cropped shirt, and there's NOTHING on my belly that needs to see the light of day, thank you!! So I added 2" to the bottom. That necessitated me using a long-tail cast on because it's more elastic than the cable cast on. So, as I was looking at the cable cast-on directions in my knitting reference book, I noted that the author said, "when I use long tail, I make my first row a purl row so that the cast-on edge lays flatter."

Well. Okey-dokey. I did that. And you know what? It doesn't curl nearly as bad as my stockinette hat did! Look at the bottom of that photo: it's darned-near flat!

Reading. Gotta love it! Had I not been dithering about that cast-on, I'd have missed that portion of the book and I probably would've been muttering about the "%&$* rolled edge" as I went on.

Of course, picking up and knitting the sides? That forces the front and back panels to lay flatter anyway, because the sides are knitted long-wise. The whole thing is very "painterly" and is a sweater that's easily 3-season-wear. And I can seriously think about making it in Ty Dy wool, or in a more autumnal colorway. Or even my favorite Cascade Ultra Pima Cotton - where I could use solids and take advantage of the texture of the yarn itself and that gorgeous sheen that this yarn has.

Please patronize your local yarn stores. Please knit. It's very calming. In a nerve-wracking environment, knitting is like mental yoga. It's something we can hang onto, it creates garments and useful things. And it keeps us centered.

Do You Want to Go Back or Go Forward?

See, I'm having a problem. I'm having a problem with the budget discussions. On both sides, actually.

I don't want to see the heating program cut; and I don't want the block grant program cut. I don't like that the social services programs are being cut.

And I don't like what I see from the Republican side either - driving us to the brink of disaster with their push to privatize Social Security and slash Medicare and Medicaid.

Frankly, I'd be perfectly happy to see the public arts programs cut for now. Nobody has ever died because of lack of art. But the nearly-50-million uninsured Americans? They're not looking too good lately.

The retirees? Social Security isn't the budget-buster. It's solvent. Really. Look it up. Why do you want to rob from the seniors, who've paid their dues, to give it to corporations and the military? The uber-rich will gain from this, not the people like my mother and my mother-in-law.

Balanced budget? Yep, we do need that. But here's the thing. It's really, REALLY basic math.

The uber-rich and the corporations slide because they're getting massive --- and I mean massive tax breaks. Last year, ExxonMobil paid NO taxes. But they had one of their greatest earnings years ever. The loopholes were so big that you could've driven an oil tanker through them, but given Exxon's history, I would want to know who's driving that particular vehicle!

Do you want to slash programs that cut jobs, but then give rewards to corporations for them to outsource those jobs? That's what's happening. And Obama just gave a plum position in his administration to a well-known outsourcer-extraordinaire. Lovely.

Obama really needs to do what he said he was going to do: Stand up for the people who got him into office. He's playing with fire when playing with the Republicans who want two things: To show that the black guy in the White House will fail; and to take ultimate control to toss us all under the bus. Any of us who are middle-class? We're Republican toast. Our retirements are at stake. What do you want to do when you retire? I'm not talking "retiring to a vineyard in Napa." I'm talking "affordable retirement where I don't have to worry about buying food versus paying other bills." That's pretty basic. That's why I'm working; that's why my Hubby is working. To have a pay-off at the end of our working lives where we can relax and not have to be greeters at the local Big Box when we're 80. If we can get that job...

Do I know the answer? Well, I have an idea, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's looking at the same thing. It's just that I have no power. I have the power of the pen - which isn't what it used to be, quite frankly, and I have the power of my vote. I think. Not so sure about that lately, since my President has morphed into something I'm not sure I like.

Here's my take. Tax the rich at an equitable level. No, don't ask them what's equitable, because they like the huge slice of the pie they already have. An equitable level as determined mathematically through a review of what everyone makes. Average that number and then determine an appropriate tax rate for those whose incomes are over a certain number. I don't know the number. I just know that if I'm making $250,000+, I can be sure that I'll pay way less than someone making $100,000 or less. Because I'll have someone who knows where to stash that income to make it look like I'm making less than that $250,000. Come on, you can afford it, particularly if your income is quite far past that $250,000 number.

And corporations. They are not people. They do not deserve the same rights as a person. A corporation is not a sentient being, and thus does not have the same Constitutional right. It can change overnight into something else. I will always be a human. No changing here, except I'll get older. A corporation can change into another corporation; can divest itself of assets to appear to be something it isn't; can merge or acquire different businesses to change its assets and give better benefits to their stockholders. I can't do that as a human. I can marry, but that doesn't mean that I can change my basic being. Which is what can happen with a corporation.

So don't give them the same rights as a person. And hold them accountable to the cities and states in which they do business. Don't give them tax breaks to send jobs away from Americans. And don't tell me there are cheaper workers overseas. I get the whole "global corporate environment" thing, but when I see jobs going overseas, I don't see the same reciprocity... The countries who are taking those jobs aren't exactly supporting America. They're supporting their families, true. But since America has pretty much ceased making anything anyone wants to buy - the overseas workers are incapable of supporting us in any meaningful way. This is a one-way street, and we're in the headlights of the oncoming traffic.

In the last 10 years, we have lost over 50,000 factories in the US. Millions of jobs. And it's harder and harder to find products manufactured here. But again, we're also giving people who WANT to build and manufacture here a load of crap - we're not allowing them to do it easily. If you read Bloomberg Business Week you can see stories about manufacturers who are apologizing for having to go to China or another country because the US has made it virtually unprofitable to set up a factory here. A solar-battery manufacturer wanted to build a plant in the Carolinas. But by the time he got through the red tape and other hoops and chutes and ladders -- it was cheaper to go to China. He would like to come to America - at some point. And he's disappointed that he wasn't able to start a factory here. To give a US-made, relevant product to the American consumer and to provide sustainable jobs to American citizens.

What are we headed toward? I'm not sure and I'm frightened. I think we need a counter-revolution of the Liberal kind. The Conservatives are determined to flush the middle class and lower class down into the sewer, all to enrich their cronies. I don't like the idea of being flushed.

I hope you agree.

Pardon My (far lower) Paycheck...

So we're at it again. Bipartisanship just went down the crapper.

The Republicorporatists blocked an up-and-down vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act. And Susan Collins (R-Maine) was among those who voted against it.

Women still make 77 cents to every dollar a man earns. Collins said she was "concerned about...small business."  A small business as defined by current law is one that employs up to five hundred people.  That's not exactly your typical mom-and-pop operation, which is the first thing that comes to the mind of anyone who hears "small business."

Read the article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/17/republicans-block-paycheck-fairness-act_n_784849.html and make up your own mind.

If you can afford to pay 500 people, you can afford to pay them a living wage. All of them. Not just the ones who pee standing up.