Best Quote I Heard All Day
Art is making something out of nothing and selling it. --Frank Zappa

Which, I suppose, would make people like Mari Lynn Patrick artistes.

I make neither art nor craft. I make shit to wear. That's it, sum total.

You might say the X-Men are artists because they make nothing out of something.

It's all arguable. Just don't do it here.

Skank Shrugs and Other Useless Items
After flipping through the endless shrugs in Interweave Knits, I had a sudden epiphany as to what their genesis is--bedjackets.

Who among us remembers lying in bed as a child, sick with measles, and wearing a pink sateen quilted bedjacket with ribbon ties that inevitably fell off your shoulders?

My aunt and grandmother loved pink. No doubt the bedjacket came from them. These shrugs have about the same appeal. Something to wear if you're sick. And frankly, I'd go for a shawl anyways.

I predict that the next useless knitted/crocheted rage will be snoods. If you don't know what those are, you are most certainly younger than I. You probably are, most likely.

I cry out in the wilderness to knitting magazine editors: Stop with the crappy shrugs, ponchos, bikinis, stuffed animals, felted anything. You've been alienating your other readership far too long. The HYUKs will move on. The rest of us will still be knitting worthwhile projects. You owe it to your HYUK readership to teach them, not to lull them.

I'm done now.

Slainte, Part IIIa
The ribbing is almost done. Got the camera back but I'm not taking any pictures until I have at least one full repeat. Not worth it otherwise. I'm just doing a simple twisted rib--nothing fancy.

Other Shit Going On
I've been busy getting the townhouse decluttered because I'm selling it. It goes on the market tomorrow. Financials indicate I must do this, although I've managed to get myself a temp gig at John's company until something better comes along. This has been a tough three years, no doubt about it. However, for some bizarre reason, I've been totally optimistic and not at all down about my reversal of fortunes. So please don't pity-party me. I have John, family and friends and plenty of yarn. And Carol sent me some paperbacks to read--thanks, C!

I don't generally like to use the blog to whine about my personal life too much. Because A) I can't imagine anything more boring and B) there's always someone else out there who has it worse. And, it's spring. That pretty much helps any woes go away.

I call my problems Horatio. As in Lord Nelson.

Lefty-ness
Joe and I generally agree on most everything and I'm always inspired by his blog. I like the opinion he has about lefthandedness and knitting. When my mother taught me how to knit, she never even considered my being lefthanded. I learned to knit, period. This whole business about mirror-knitting is absurd. I've taught plenty of people to knit and I'm sure some of them were lefthanded but I never bothered to ask.

Well, I'm off to the local greenhouse to spiff up the place with hanging baskets. If you are ever up in my area of Warren County, NJ, make an effort to hit some of the commercial plant growers who are open to the public, like Godalewski's. Great plants, great prices.

Apartment living may be a rare and handy thing. Maybe. But I need a deck or balcony for outside knitting.