Best Quote I Heard All Day
Everything popular is wrong. --Oscar Wilde

Poncho Day? PONCHO DAY?

Inmate #55170-054
I guess this was to be expected--the poncho lives and will be dragged out for a public relations opportunity. But what's worse, Martha's flogging the poncho--the poncho itself, not a kit and instructions on how to make it--in her MarthaStewart.com/Shop.

Granted, the proceeds go to help women and families in need. However, according to the copy that accompanies the photo, this is a "unique, handmade poncho."

Do I smell Chinese women crocheting ponchos for $.25 a piece? Especially since you can get the yarn and the pattern from Lion Brand. I can't imagine why you would want to buy or make said poncho. (Although I'm tempted to make one for Kathy for her birthday next year. In Homespun. Her choice of color.) Interesting that I did not see Nancy Thomas's face in the LB poncho-wearing group picture.

I don't dislike MS. In fact, I admire her business sense enormously as well as her gardening talent. I always enjoy her info on plants. However, you always get the feeling that Martha gets one of her staff to deal with the needlearts. Or gets Melanie Falick to come on the show to explain all things knitting.

Martha's turned her prison stint into a warm-and-fuzzy experience. You have to hand it to her, she's the Queen of Image. Listen and learn, Tiny Diva. Although you're probably not smart enough to accumulate the kind of stocks MS did, which was what got her in trouble in the first place.

Don't forget to watch Martha today. Diddy's gonna teach Martha how to rap. Word up.

Lace Progression
I started this shawl on Labor Day. So a week and a half into it, I am now halfway through the Old Shale border.

This is a picture of one of the corners. With 470+ stitches on a circular needle, it's not easy taking a decent photo. But you can see the stitch patterns fairly well.

The biggest challenge in this pattern, as I see it, is not the actual lace knitting but the assembly of the components--border to square, edging to border. You absolutely must be able to pick up stitches properly or you're fucked. The FiberTrends directions are excellent, by the way. Although I wish they'd stop using that damned blue paper to avoid people copying. It's hard to read black print against a blue background.

Everything Old is New Again
I will be putting my lace tips into a .pdf and linking it from the sidebar. In fact, since I've gotten some requests for Achim's Socks, I'm going to put back all the Freebies I had on the old website.

For some reason, I had started a Yahoo! photo page way back when and then totally forgotten about it until the other day, when I was mucking around with my cell phone to see if I could upload pictures. (This is a fall-back if my camera gets confiscated at Stitches East. You never know.)

Anyway, I discovered this picture, which I had also totally forgotten about.

Yes, it's that pouty, moist-lipped gay brother of mine, modeling the Nasty German's Gansey at the late, great Simply Knit during one of our get-togethers. He came out looking better than the sweater did.

Correction:
My sister, Karen, aka Kar, aka The Scrap Curmudgeon, e-mailed me last night to deny vociferously my claim that she is She Who Should Not Be Allowed In Shopping Malls.

"I was at the mall yesterday and did not buy myself anything. Cleats, shinguards and socks for Nick."

I would say that the mere fact that she was even at the mall qualifies her for that title. Because she thinks the mall is rare and handy. I do not.