Best Quote I Heard All Day
You do wonder whether she's destined for "Dancing With the Stars" at some point.--Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, about Ann Coulter

I'm rooting for Heather Mills McCartney.

Heather v. Ann. Now there's a ratings dance-a-thon.

Getting Lavolder by the Minute

Coming along nicely. I do find the directions rather oddly written at times. For example, you are told to place markers but not where. I decided to block out the patterning with them. It's obvious where the chart begins and ends but I like the markers there, even though I know when to work the chart. Markers = blankies.

I do like the pointy thing; however, it will not be pointing at my ass. The back is plain stockinette with the garter stitch border. Good for when I'm watching Heather do her hiphop routine.

So at least I now have a major project along with the minor (socks) ones.

At some point, I would like to get started on the Wedding Ring Shawl. Even if my teammates chicken out. Perhaps in the spring, when I can sit on the deck with no distractions.

Lazy Me
I'm going to make some observations about the last two entries' comments. Because I'm fatigued today, having lost an hour of sleep with this idiotic early Daylight Savings Time nonsense. I just can't wait to see what wonderful energy savings this will elicit. Seems like it's pissing more people off than not.

Freyalyn: And the Arwen cardi - unexpectedly narrow in the upper arms. Impossible to alter without pulling entire hood out. Resistant to blocking (but real wool might be better). Buggrit.

Yeah, I thought that the directions for the sleeves seemed to make them awfully narrow, based on the amount of plain knitting between the shortrowing. Real wool is always better, dontcha know?

Helena: Spiffy bangs! My sister and I had those too! We hated them.

Ah, you have no idea how much I hated those Buster Brown bangs. Once I became a teenager, I let them grow. My mother would say, "You look like a sheepdog." She still says it.

Michelene: I think if the neckband on the Lavold sweater was narrower, and the button/pin holding it closed was some type of brushed metal and echoed the knotwork, the sweater would be(in the words of the yougest resident teenager) "spifftastic". I'd also nip in the waist, and slightly bell the sleeves. Does the back of the sweater have a point too? I don't need directions to my booty.

Agreed re: the neckline. I'm not nipping in the waist and belling the sleeves. I will certainly shorten the sleeves, though. Because I do not have gorilla arms. My booty needs no GPS indicator. Let alone a knitted one.

Lee Ann: I'd give an opinion about the idea of sweatering a dog, or even about what colour you could go if you (gasp) gave up blonde, if I could only stop laughing at Tricky's notion of a guy wearing that Lavold sweater. I am turning 40 in two months, but clearly I am emotionally a wee bit younger, because I swear, I'd have to make up a song to go with that front flap action.

So, where's the song? I want the song. Turning 40 in two months? Ya think you're getting any sympathy from me, girlfriend? Huh.

Liz: I knew you lived in Morris County somewhere, hadn't realized it was Wharton. I went to MacKinnon MS while my dad was posted at Picatinny.

The Punk Princess is a Duffy ES and MacKinnon MS grad. I've lived in Morris County since 1988, other than a two-year absence when I lived in Allamuchy--10 years in Rockaway Township, 5 years in Budd Lake, 1 year in Mine Hill and now in Wharton. Before that, I lived in Montclair. Grew up there. But I love living in Morris County, although it's getting a bit crowded these days. My sister belongs to the Picatinny Waterpark. I like wangling invites there when I get tired of Mt. Hope Pond in the summer.

Wiki-mania
So, between widgets, wikis and what-have-you, the web is sounding more and more like a Frankie and Annette beach party movie.

Here's my opinion on wikis. Who needs 'em? They are potentially spurious repositories of information, since the general rule is that anyone can add information. And if they are in fact screened for veracity, who's doing the screening? The wiki owner? And who might that person be? Wikipedia has had its share of problems. Smaller, less controlled wikis are open to worse.

And as a dear friend of mine, who shall remain nameless because she also blogs, says, what's the point of having all information in one place?

We don't. And we won't. Because we can't. It ain't happening in our lifetimes. This is more of the instant gratification business that seems to be so pervasive these days. "I want everything handed to me right now, the way I want it."

I far prefer sifting through information that I've culled from Google or going through my bookcase than going to a wiki. There's something much more fulfilling in doing research that way than having it handed to you, all nicely wrapped up and tied with a bow. Because the thrill is in the hunt. And I am the one who determines whether the source is reliable.

I realize that there are several people now engaged in developing knitting wikis. At one time, I thought about doing it. And then asked myself, "Why?" Did I really want to waste my time maintaining something like that when I could perhaps be knitting something? Did I honestly think that any wiki I might start would be the end-all and be-all of knitting knowledge. Nope. After all these years, what I don't know about knitting is what keeps me fascinated with it.

You know the KnitDweebs will continue to ask idiotic questions on the lists. Because if they won't use Google, what makes anyone think they'll bother to use a wiki?

I won't be going to the knitting wikis either. I have books.

So with that, I need a cup of coffee and some TV. And perhaps get to bed early because sleep is a rare and handy commodity, especially when you wake up at 2 a.m. with a dry mouth. Spring in NJ can't come too soon.