Best Quote I Heard All Day
When a true genius appears in this world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.--Jonathan Swift

One of my favorite books, A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, took its title from this quote.

This is a remarkable book, all the more so because the author (and after his death, his mother) schlepped the manuscript to more than twenty publishers before it was finally published in 1980. I read it the year after it won the Pulitzer Prize and I've re-read it many times since.

It's arguably one of the best books ever written about New Orleans as well.

And it's Jonathan Swift's birthday today, as it is Mark Twain's. Two wonderful satirists that never pale with age.

More on the Weaving
Thanks for all the comments on the weaving. The red and blue is still on the loom but before it gets removed, I did a sample of what I'd like to do for the placemat.
This is not earthshaking. Please remove your sunglasses.


Fortuitously, I dug up an old issue of Spindle Spindle & Dyepot from Winter 2004/5 bought this summer in New England that has two very good articles within: One for beginners about planning projects and the other by Tom Knisely of The Mannings on plain weave and its variations.

Both articles will be a big help in getting the placemats off the ground. Judy asked: "Are you going to use 3/2 perle for your placemats? and are you threading all 8 harnesses, or using 2 or 4?"

Yes, I will be using 3/2 perle from Webs. The sampler that I will do is actually in 10/2s unmercerized cotton, too thin for placemats, I think, and I'm certainly not going to use unmercerized for this because of the shrinkage factor.

I'll be using 4 harnesses for the time being. Since I'm a weaving rookie. I like that term.

I don't think my mother is going to see these placemats for Christmas but then, she didn't really expect them as gifts, per se.

Scraf
Is what I call this Touch Me thing that I'm making for John, Mr. "I Only Like Rayon Chenille Scarves".

I really am quite sick of this schmatteh.

As I took the picture, Joey, our boarder for two weeks, decided to plop himself down on the scraf. We have three cats--Boo, Buddy and Cleo--none of whom have the slightest interest in my yarn, my wheels, my loom, my knitting.

Joey does. Unfortunately for both of us, he has been caught walking across the weaving on the loom. Joey goes home next weekend. He's cute but he's also a pain in the ass.

Ars Libris and other Diva-like Self-Promotions
The book is coming along quite well and those people who have read what I've given them--Chapter Uno--have been most encouraging and offered up excellent suggestions and criticisms.

To paraphrase our Esteemed Leader, writing books is HARD.

I will be reading a heretofore unpublished essay on knitting, April 25, on Brenda Dayne's Cast-On podcast. This is scheduled for December 9, for those of you interested in hearing my weird voice.

Personal appearances of the Knitting Curmudgeon are scheduled at the Wharton, NJ Shop-Rite, the Sparta German Christmas Market on December 2, incidental and brief appearances at the Rockaway Mall, and a cameo at Dr. Sinisi, DDS in Union, NJ on December 5. I don't charge for autographs.

If I ever feel the need to set up a special link to my personal appearances, you all should go read someone else's blog.

Let me whisk myself away to my rare and handy atelier, located directly between the kitchen and the dining room.