Best Quote I Heard All Day
"Love is an exploding cigar we willingly smoke." --Lynda Barry

Kaboom. But my dear friend of 20+ years, Willy, called me last night and consoled me for an hour.

Willy + me = long, long story. Suffice it to say that if either of us had any sense, we'd be together.

But why ruin a wonderful friendship?

Putting My Nose Up Joe's Butt
I am blessed to have a number of really good male friends--QueerJoe, Willy, Pat, among many. Some months ago, Joe was been accused of, um, brown-nosing me. I dunno why that person thought Joe was sucking up to me--it's not like I have so much fucking clout anywhere that anyone would want to kiss my ass for personal gain.

I just happen to think he's a great guy AND a damned good knitter. And since I don't suffer fools gladly, no fool either.

Joe has this great picture of him on his blog as a 17-year-old geek poseur. So here's my graduation picture, not to be outdone or undone by Joseph. Circa 1968. Cool mod haircut and poorboy ribbed sweater.

Shortly thereafter, I abandoned all hope of becoming Jean Shrimpton and instead turned into my version of Janis Joplin.

Note the stunning set of faux pearls...

Lists of Semi-Note
Is that a half-quaver I hear? Never mind.

In my ongoing look-see of the lists, I've found a couple that are almost worth reading on occasion--Laceknitters and Fairisleknitting. Both of them have their share of chat and nonsense.

I mean, anyone who signs their posts "Love and Lace" needs to be avoided at all costs.

However. If you are new at either technique, you can find help on both. Knowledgeable knitters of lace and Fair Isle are there to give out solid advice to those souls who are foundering in either technique.

I happen to know one laceknitter on the list, Pat Stevens, who is an expert at what she does. She's very generous with her info and has been very helpful to me in the past. Haven't been in touch with her for some years, so it was nice to see her name again. (Pat's another old UMN KLister who's resurfaced lately.) There's a wee bit too much "Look at my PictureTrail" for me on this list, however. But still, if you're new at laceknitting, this is a good resource.

Fairisleknitting, on the other hand, has very little chat and some good info, usually. Not a lot of traffic but what there is, is good.

The Aranknitting list, run by Janet Szabo, is another good specialty list. I used to subscribe but dropped it because I became more interested in Fair Isle knitting. This is also a Yahoogroups list.

I suppose somewhere there's a Mosaic knitting list, a Slip Stitch knitting list, and God only knows what else.

Men Who Knit
OK, so I'm lurking on this list. I have to admit, I like these guys. There's none of that boring silliness on the women-dominant lists, just down-to-earth discussion of projects, advice freely given, and a general aura of comfort. I enjoy reading it and ::gasp:: someday, I might even post. Well, maybe.

Time to go look at the new Jeep daughter Jenn just bought. And to get a little knitting done. I'm on my fourth and probably final (for the nonce) pair of Opal socks. I think I may be ready to go back to the Forest Path stole.

And no, Achim never did get the gansey. I have it. I'm keeping it. I'd like to rework it in Jamieson and submit it for the next Jamieson book. That way, lots of people can have as much fun making it as I did.

I'll be looking quite rare in that gansey, let me tell you.