Best Quote I Heard All Day
Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.--Albert Einstein

I flunked algebra in 10th grade.

My parents, who were both more concerned about my grades in English, Latin and French, really weren't terribly pissed but they hired a tutor for me anyway. And sent me to summer school to ameliorate that "E" grade (no Fs, don't know why).

I didn't get algebra until I began knitting. In fact, I didn't get math at all until I realized that knitting is very much about the math.

Then, miraculously (and at about the same time that I became enamored of computers), I realized that I was actually more mathematically inclined than my parents ever would have believed. My late husband, a mechanical engineer, technical writer and math geek, always told me that I could apply my intelligence to math in the same way as I did to writing. He was right.

Here's some fun with math. Don't let your eyes glaze over.

The Fibonacci Fibs
So I'm reading the NY Times today and there is this fascinating article about a blogger named Gregory K. Pincus who challenged his readers to write a Fibonacci poem.

To quote the Times:
[The Fibonacci sequence] is also a staple of middle-school math classes. Though relatively rare in poetry, it shows up in the musical compositions of the early 20th-century composer Bartok and the progressive metal band Tool, the spiraling shape of the Nautilus shell and in knitting patterns.

You know, of course, that the Fibonacci sequence goes like this: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, ad infinitum. Each number is the sum of the two before it.

Therefore, the first line of a poem would have to be silence, of necessity. Pincus's Fibs are six lines, not counting the silence. Each line must contain the same number of syllables as the Fibonacci sequence.

This is far past stupid haiku. It takes a bit of thinking to create a Fib. And being a writer who occasionally dabbles in poetry, I figured I'd give it a shot.

Fib to a KnitDweeb
I
spend
my days
wondering
if Lion Brand Fun Fur
will make a nice pair of undies.

Now, here's my challenge to you. Send me your Fibs about knitting and I will award the winner two skeins of Koigu. I'll let the Wolverinas judge. They did so well with the Christmas Crap-along.

Send your entries to me at knitz@optonline.net and put "Fibs" in the subject. If you don't do that, you'll be disqualified. Contest ends on April 25 because that's my birthday and I will need a good laugh upon turning 56. Note: Contest rules are now posted. Click on button in the sidebar.

Some Fiber Shit
Not much, although I did get the sample of Emerald City plyed. I'm quite liking it so far and I think it does not need to be Navajo-plyed either.

I haven't done a wpi on it yet but I would imagine it is around 18-20 wpi, plyed. That's what I usually spin. Once this is skeined and washed, I'll knit a small swatch in stockinette and perhaps one in a linen stitch too. I think this might look very nice in a small slip-stitch pattern.

The Family Snider
Because I love them all. And because Corinne and Liz are finally happy.

Mike will make a rare and handy son-in-law. He's the best.

Happy Easter, Passover, whatever. I'm cooking for my kids. And thank God, not having to eat a pile of purple and pink eggs.