Best Quote I Heard All Day
The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?--Unknown

From 7:15 this morning until I finally walked out the door at 4:40 p.m., I dealt with stupidity on its highest, most sublime level...

Which Is Why...
I shut my office door for 20 minutes at noon and worked on Achim's socks. I think I'll put the pattern up on the Freebies page when I'm done, plus a picture. These are so smooth to work, the cashmerino is positively orgasmic to have in my hand, and I'm rounding the heel and gusseting my way down Sock #1.

Tempest In a Tosspot
The latest mini-thread on KnitU (and soon to spread to the other lists--I've already seen it on Fairisleknitting) is the supposed conjecture, purportedly made by Lucy Neatby in a Stitches East class, that it matters in which hand you hold the contrast yarn when knitting Fair Isle, that the "upper" strand must be the contrast color.

After reading this post (written by someone with whom I have had some brief correspondence and who is clearly living in the State of Confusion about all things knitting), I think she probably totally misunderstood what Neatby was trying to demonstrate in this Stitches class. Loop and I agree--the only thing that matters is consistency. Just don't switch hands. Keep your background color in one hand always, the contrast in the other always.

I love a non-issue started by a Knitdweeb, who then, after totally confusing all the beginning Fair Isle knitters on the list, posts again and says, "Oh, gee, sorry, I was confused."

I might say I live for this shit but that would be a bloody lie.

And the segue to this is...

Knitting Non-Problems I Don't Have
Here's a list of these problems I have not encountered:

:: Contrast stitches disappearing in my Fair Isle work
:: Ladders in the knitting at the junctures of my double-pointed needles
:: Holes at the sock gusset junctions
:: Garter stitch garments that grow like Topsy (a little of g-stitch being just enough, IMO)

I grant you, these are real problems for some people...but it's only because they don't know the solutions yet. And there are solutions for every knitting non-issue.

The real knitting issue(s)? Tell me. I'd love to hear your opinions. Or bite me. Whatever. It's my belief that people cannot follow directions because they do not read them for comprehension first. Knitting or otherwise. That's my favorite issue lately.

You can be handy too. And most rare!