Best Quote I Heard All Day
The most overlooked advantage to owning a computer is that if they foul up there's no law against wacking them around a little.
--Joe Martin

My computer reported me to DYFS for alleged abuse. Of course here in NJ, it's unlikely that a caseworker will be calling...

And now, for the third fucking time...

Celtic Knotwork
I'm quite taken with this little book. With my interest in Aran knitting--my first sweater and first design were both Arans--I'd like to study Celtic knotwork a bit further.


I found this book in Barnes & Noble a few weeks back. Never saw it before. And it's not specifically for knitting. Rather, it guides the reader through the specialized charting needed to create a drawing of knotwork.

Nevertheless, I think it has its applications to knitting, even though at first glance, you might toss it aside as irrelevant.

I've gotten very interested in exploring the differences between Lavold's cable motifs and Barbara Walker's "closed ring" cables (for those who asked, Walker's technique can be found in the 3rd Treasury). I think a combination of the two could result in some very fascinating cabled motifs.

Lavold's cabled motifs are diamond-like, rather than rounded, because she develops her cabling set-up over 3 rows. She begins with two added knit stitches on the first row, works the wrong side as the stitches face the knitter, and then adds two more knit stitches on the 3rd row to complete the 4-stitch cable set-up.

Walker's closed-ring cables are completely developed on the first row. This makes the bottom of the cabled motif circular in shape. It also makes for knitting acrobatics, since you do a lifted inc, then knit in the front, back, and front of the next stitch, and then another lifted inc.

Mind you, I have not done the Walker method yet. But I'm going to mess around with both to see what comes out of them, design-wise. Stay tuned.

Little Shitty Knitty Books
As I mentioned in the Comments the other day, I did get a chance to flip through the Stitch 'n' Bitch book at Borders. Besides thinking it was pretentious as hell (although better written than The Urban Knitter and with a lot more projects), I keep wondering why the fuck do we need ANOTHER beginner's book with projects? Aren't there enough of them out there with scarf patterns?

As far as reference and how-to books, God knows there's a shitload of them. Why would you learn to knit from some trendy grrlll book when you've got old reliables like Maggie Righetti's, Montse Stanley's, or even Vague's? One or all of these books will stand the novice knitter in far better stead, I think.

Let's not re-invent the wheel for the sake of some scant publishing bucks and dubious fame.

Listen Up
I was exceedingly pissed off the other night upon reading the Comments and seeing a disagreement between readers, one of whom got nasty and personal. Her ass is now banned.

I will not tolerate that crap. Ever. If I read it and you wrote it, you can rest assured that I will have your sorry butt offloaded. No questions asked.

If you disagree with someone's views, that's fine. It's not difficult to disagree civilly. I think that discussion and conflicting views make life lively. You can attack the institutions and the public people who run them. God knows I do. Attacking someone who is voicing an opinion on my blog is unacceptable.

Got it? I'm sure you know I will keep order around here. I'm German.

Need I say more?

Bizarro Links
I love my readers. They send me great links. So I think I'll continue the practice of letting you all do the work for me. Keep sending me those bizarre links and I'll pick one for the month. This month's winner (or lose-ar, as my friend Willy would say) is Rob Matyska. His link is so, um, Diva-ish.

Judy Austin sent in an excellent link for those of you who have religious issues with lingerie. I'm saving Judy's other link for another time--it's a scary Japanese cat site that will help us all understand Hello Kitty.

And Denise Satterlund submitted two links, one of which makes me wish I weren't menopausal, so I could do this fun project!

Such rare and handy readers...