Best Quote I Heard All Day
I am sick of reasonable people; they see all the reasons for being lazy and doing nothing--George Bernard Shaw

How can you be unemployed and yet be busy? Easy. Factor in a 10-year-old grandson who is staying with you for the week.

Swimming all week at the lake, last night up to the Sussex County Fair on one of the hottest days we've had. And yes, I ate funnel cake. I mean, who wouldn't want to eat fried dough in 90 degree weather?

Vague Knitting's 25th Anniversary Issue
I bought this without flipping through it first. While I would like to say it is the most wonderfulest issue ever, it's not. Yes, there are a number of interesting things, specifically Norah Gaughan's swing jacket, Deborah Newton's tunic jacket and puff-stitch hoodie, Shirley Paden's diagonal cable pullover, and a few more. Otherwise, it was a modge-podge, with too-dark photos and much weirdness going on. Hairpin lace? Why? Meg's List, to A to Z, with only back issue citations? Very helpful to those new knitters who probably don't own those issues.

First of all, it seemed to me that it was really the Mari Lynn Patrick Anniversary issue. She was all over the issue, with designs in every editorial section. And in the interview with Knitting's Old Guard. I'm sorry but when you put together a group such as Alice Starmore, Kaffe Fassett, and Meg Swansen, and then add Mari Lynn Patrick, it's like an IQ test question where you have to select the shape that doesn't fit. A knitting icon? Not in my book.

I guess it's not who you know, much.

The aforementioned interview was very interesting, though, and I enjoyed reading it. Knitting's New Guard was less interesting, simply because I find the design talents of the Old Guard much more inspiring. However, both interviews were indepth, something that is unusual these days in magazines.

The Top 10 Hits? Did VK really need to remake these? Uh uh. I remember when I first saw Marc Jacobs's Bubble sweater. At the time, it was very expensive to make and looked like crap on people who made it--I knew several people who did, much to their ultimate chagrin. The remake is positively hideous. As is the Map of the World sweater (the original was bad enough) and the Enchanted Forest remake, which completely loses the charm of the original. Awful. The only remake that was half decent was Nicky Epstein's fulled bag.

And the multiple advertorial covers? You now see what I mean about magazines driven by their ad revenue. Suffice it to say that the rate for these "covers" is astronomical, to be sure.

Nonetheless, the issue is probably worth buying, if only for some of the designs and those interviews. I only wish that the magazine layout and photos had more coherency to them. You'd think that a 25th anniversary issue would be more organized with a lighter, brighter feel. This one is positively funereal.

A Moment of Comic Relief
The Punk Princess managed to wangle VIP tickets to Warped Tour last Sunday for herself and doppelganger Daniella. Here's my favorite picture of her and Ms. D with Jeffrey, some drag queen who does a My Space or some such shit.

Liz's take? "Jeez, what a bitch."

Open Mic Thursday
Recently, like last week, I read that an Alice Starmore book, either The Scottish Collection or A Scottish Garland, I forget which, sold on eBay for USD$1,400. I own most of Starmore's books but not either of these. So, my topic for this week's discussion is:

Would you pay a premium price for an out-of-print knitting book? Are there any current books available now that might fetch exorbitant prices down the road when they are out of print?

I can honestly say that I own a number of knitting books, including Principles of Knitting, that would bring in a nice piece of change. But I bought them when they first came out, at the then-current price.

A Friend in Need
So yesterday, I get a message on my cellphone voicemail from a certain male knitter who is on vacation. OK, it was Joe. He's away in Martha's Vineyard with Thaddeus and had offered to shorten a sleeve on his sister-out-law's sweater. And couldn't remember how to Kitchener. With no access at that moment to the internet, he called me.

I was laughing when I called him back (he had since been able to access the internet and got the directions). Why? Because in all the years I've been knitting, all the side-to-side knife-pleat Adolfo skirts whose side seams I grafted, all the sock toes that have been closed up, I'll be damned if I can ever remember by heart those lousy directions.

Which is why I have them taped to the inside of my toolbox, as they have been for many years.

Yes, I do own a pink Chibi. No doubt they have sold on eBay for a very rare and handy price. I'll sell mine if it would pay for a trip to Europe. Or perhaps you'd prefer the Punk Princess dressed in pink? She's much higher maintenance than a Chibi.