Pasties Angel

Now I think I'm really, really done with all my obligation knitting. I volunteered to be a pasties angel for the Knit Girls' spring exchange, and finally finished my backup pasties.

These are Brittany Wilson's Burlesque Fan Pasties, made of Dale of Norway's Baby Ull yarn on size 2.5 needles. The original pattern uses a worsted weight and size 5 needles, but I hardly have any worsted weight yarn in the house - and my recipient likes lavender. So I made the XL sized pasties, hoping to fit a medium. Since they're pasties, I don't think the fit needs to be very precise, as long as they cover what they're supposed to cover.

The pattern is fairly simple to knit - you start at the long edge, and decrease down to the point. Getting the feathers in place is a more complicated process involving fabric glue, scrap yarn, and shaving down the tips of the feathers to have a nice stem. (Hint: do this part outside!) I think more and shorter feathers might look better, but I'm not sure. I'm also not sure if these will be as good for Christmas ornaments as my other pasties.

So that's one more project that wasn't even on the list to check off the list. The list isn't going so well.

I've made a little bit of progress on the Tour de Fleece spinning. I was actually feeling pretty good for a little bit - after some marathon spinning last night (thanks to the Greatest American Dog show) I finished all the red yarn I need to complete my project. Then I weighted it - I've spun 3/8 of an ounce of yarn so far. So that's still enough red yarn, but there's a long way to go before I'm ready to knit my bag. Maybe I shouldn't have taken the 15th as a rest day! I wonder if there are steroids that help knitters?

Tour de Fleece

I've sent off my Hogwarts Kit today, which means it's OK to start another project, right?

I'm going to rule this one an acceptable addition to the list, because I'm stashbusting with the Tour de Fleece. I've been working a lot, so I'm joining the pack a little late - but maybe that makes me a backup rider?

I don't really spin much, so I'm keeping it simple. I'm going to spin the yarn to make a replica of the Gunnister Purse. We're going to Pennsic in August - my first trip in 10 years - so this may be my Pennsic knitting project. Or maybe I'll do it for the Knitting Olympics. But I'll try to have the yarn done by July 27.

I'm also making nice progress for the Dream Swatch KAL. I think I'll have to add more pattern repeats to get the full length - the consequence of stepping down a needle size, I suspect. I still really love this yarn, and this stitch pattern. I'm trying to figure out what else it needs to become - socks, maybe, or a sweater? My wrap looks like it's going to be 3.5 - 4" wide. I know it's going to need a little blocking before it's finished.

And look at this - my very own pasties! Aren't they beautiful? I received them from a generous pasties angel, after I didn't get the original set in the swap. I've also volunteered to be a pasties angel, so you'll be seeing even more pasties as soon as I get out to buy feathers. It's so easy to get hooked on making pasties - now I need to find things to do with pasties. (I know, there's the obvious - but I need other things to do with pasties!)

Back in Black

Maybe this won't be so bad after all. I brought the black sock to Sock Club yesterday, trying to resist all temptation to buy new yarn. I even left all my spare needles at home, so I couldn't switch to a different size of yarn. I think that helped.

What really helped was that Michelle showed me a better way to do the "left cross" - just knitting through the back loop of the second stitch, rather than doing the funky twist thing. Now that the yarn gets to go where it wants to go, and I don't really have to see what I'm doing, the whole sock is going much smoother. I finished two pattern repeats yesterday, and I'm even reasonably confident that the finished sock will fit. (Mine doesn't stretch nearly as much as Michelle's - I think I cast on too tight. But it should be OK.)

That's the big advantage to sock club - Michelle has already worked through all the pain-in-the-neck parts, so she can warn everyone about them. And it's a great excuse to start more socks - so what could be better?

Speaking of socks, I've finally made a good start on Amanda's socks, after initially getting a toe that was much too big for Aaron. No pictures, since the socks are a surprise, but I hope this means I'll conclude this Sockday activity with a pair of completely finished socks!

On the Hogwarts front, our first round of Quidditch concluded yesterday. Like my fellow Hufflepuffs, I was waiting by my computer (and even got up early to be there) to search for the Snitch when it was released at 11:30 in the morning. And I'm proud to be able to report that I found the Snitch! We had to search through a collection of clues, and I managed to find it in spite of some moments of confusion - I didn't realize there would be clues to follow. So now Hufflepuff is in the lead for House points, and I spent the day skipping around the house saying "I found the Snitch!" Go Badgers!


Some people might think this whole Hogwarts Swap thing is a bit geeky. Maybe even a bit too geeky. I'm not sure I should get into that conversation right now.

Sam was right.

I haven't made great Sock Club progress this year. I've barely started the January/February socks, and didn't go to either the March or April meetings. So after Wednesday's Charity Knitting I resolved to pick up the May/June pattern, and get back on the Sock Club track.

This month's pattern is Fiber Trends' Chain of Hearts, a simple looking pattern written for three weights. While it was tempting to use worsted, River Knits was encouraging Panda Silk for the pattern, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I thought about pink, but I'm not really into the fluffy pink hearts thing. I don't think the pattern really looks much like hearts, anyway. But Elizabeth had a couple balls of black yarn in the basket, and I've been thinking about making black socks (sometimes you need something a bit dressy, right?), so I thought I had a perfect match.

Sam, however, took the black yarn out of my hands and recommended I choose the pink. That's right - Sam was pushing the pink yarn (click here to see why this is odd). She said black yarn is a huge pain to knit. She said you need really good lighting. She said I'd probably ruin my eyesight. But I didn't give in.

She was right.

I've just started, and this pattern is not black-friendly. Black yarn is a huge pain to knit. I need really good lighting. I'll probably ruin my eyesight.

There's a funky "left cross" stitch where you have to bring the needle from the back to twist around and knit through the front, and it's not what the yarn wants to do. So not being able to see which bit of yarn is which is a serious handicap. I'm a bit worried that the Panda Yarns tendency to split may be a problem, too.

So do I continue knitting with this pain in the neck yarn, or do I give in and buy something new? I don't like the pattern well enough to use stash yarn for it. But I'm concerned that buying even more yarn may be going a bit too far in the yarn-collecting business.

If I do buy new yarn, I think it's gonna be worsted!

WIP Update

I seem to be much better at starting projects than finishing them, lately. I think I've spent a reasonable amount of time knitting, but have only one completed project to show for it. So here's a rundown of the current works in progress:

The Obama-logo hat is starting to look hat-sized, although it has a long way to go before it gets its logo. Thanks to everything I've learned from the Hat Attack project, I know it needs to be about 8" long - which means I knit until it's just under 6", and then begin decreasing for the crown. This probably should be my first priority project, since it's still cold out and the primaries are still happening - although it's looking more and more likely that I'll be able to wear it through November!


When I said I wanted to have the toe socks done before Aaron came home, I wasn't anticipating this early visit. It's still likely that I'll have them done before he returns for good in the middle of March. The newest yarn he brought me isn't destined for a project yet - I'll see what comes up.


I need to get busy on either the toe socks or the Fiber Fish Mittens, because I'm going to need the Size 1 needles for all sorts of upcoming knitalongs and contests. In fact, the Year of the Rat socks are on hold because one of their Size 1 needles broke (Brittanys just don't work for me!), and I don't have any more spares. Fish #1 has a body now, and so I need to add the thumb/fin and weave in a whole bunch of ends. Entrelac goes pretty quickly when I'm actually working on it - I think because there's always a satisfying sense of having finished something - so I'll probably have these finished before winter's over.


I got in a little work on the Kauni Cardigan at this month's Nordic Knitting Club, so it's a couple of pattern repeats longer than it was. This is another pattern that gives a constant sense of accomplishment - I wonder if it would be even better with a colorway that changed more frequently? I found myself pulling the yarn out of the ball as I was knitting, asking "are we there yet?" of the next colors.


The cardigan was on hold for awhile, because Oscar chewed up the circular needle, and River Knits was all out of the size I needed, presumably by coincidence rather than the result of a VeryBadPlot. It wasn't enough that he got into the knitting bag (in the past, "out of sight, out of tiny little doggie mind" has worked to keep him away from needles) and pulled them out of the knitting. No, he had to rub it in by lying at my feet to do it - chewed through the cord and destroyed one of the needles in the fairly short time it took me to realize, "those aren't chewy-toy sounds!"

I have new incentive to finish this soon - the Yarn Harlot is coming to Indianapolis in April, and I'd really like to be able to show off a finished sweater! I hope it will be far too warm to actually wear the sweater, which means I have to finish it even faster if I'm to enjoy it.

My other Nordic project - the Sock Club socks - hasn't been out for awhile. I'll probably pay more attention to it once the toe socks are done, since I only have a few more pattern rows to go before there's a lot of solid-color knitting, which is good for carrying around. They may not be done before it's too warm to wear them - especially since I skipped this month's sock club due to Aaron's visit.


Incidentally, he thinks there may have been a plot: I'd mentioned that I wouldn't be at Sock Club, only to receive an e-mail from Elizabeth, asking if anyone could loan her a Barack Obama button. I have a few, so I was happy to give her one - and thought I should drop it by right away since I didn't know how soon she needed it. Since I'd be dropping by during Sock Club, I could take extra buttons with me, just in case anyone else asked for one. And as long as I was there, I could pick up a little something for my new Hat Attack package. Buying yarn was the last thing on my mind....or at least the third or fourth thing on my mind.

But I was there, and I knew I'd be needing some yarn for these upcoming challenges, and Elizabeth had recently mentioned that a new shipment of Jitterbug had come in....it would've been silly not to check it out, right? Now I have a new skein of Jitterbug, and a couple balls of Melody for the Sock Knitters' Pentathlon. So did Elizabeth really need that button, or was she just trying to keep me from getting away?

Here's the bag I bought - NOT FOR ME - a bit overexposed because I wanted to show the cables on the hat. At least I've finished one project recently - my new Hat Attack weapon, all ready to be mailed off to IronJohn. I've added seven rows to the original pattern, and I like the fit much better. Perhaps I'll make one just for me as a way of reveling in still being alive. Or perhaps I shouldn't tempt fate, or start any more knitting projects.

I couldn't resist adding a few other deadly and dangerous things, just for fun. Mr. Yuk stickers are hard to get these days - I wound up having to buy them from eBay - but they seem to go with the general theme.

As it turns out, I may not be finished with trips to River Knits. I see there's a Jitterbug colorway called Salty Dog. I don't see how I can resist checking that out!

Full Bloom

When I woke up this morning, the smell of hyacinth hit me as soon as I walked into the living room. Yesterday, I'd notice a whiff of fragrance if I leaned over the table, but today the aroma pervades much of the apartment. I have a plant that's very nearly in full bloom.


And it was there by the time I got home from work. Trader Joe's always has a tempting collection of flowers available, and I'm really glad I gave in this time. Did you notice that having the hyacinth even inspired me to clean off the dining table? That, alone, is worth $2.49.


There's even more excitement this evening. A nearly-finished toe sock, for one thing. And that I nearly finished the toe sock while watching Barack Obama give his victory speech in South Carolina! Tomorrow I'll finish the toes on my socks - if the excitement has worn off enough that I can sit and knit.

Leisure Socks

Classes start on Monday, and I had to return to work today, so yesterday Aaron & I took the dogs and the Christmas sock back down to Indianapolis for a last hurrah before Christmas break ends. While the dogs enjoyed some quality time helping Grandma with the Christmas leftovers, we visited the art museum's "Roman Art from the Louvre" exhibit. Alas, photography of borrowed collections is prohibited, so I didn't get to sneak the socks next to the statues for any "what they really wore under those sandals" pictures.

Afterwards we headed downtown to Agio for dinner, and to enjoy the loungeriffic music of the Leisure Kings. Sean Baker (the one holding the sock) is a friend from high school, so he didn't flinch when I asked him to pose with a sock. Sean always wanted to grow up to be Henry Mancini. He danced the Charleston at prom. He loves smoking jackets. The sock isn't really that weird, by comparison.

Oddly, Sean is the straight man for this group, so to speak. He plays keyboards while Michael Wiltrout (the one with the yarn) sings more-or-less contemporary songs, arranged in lounge fashion. We were treated to swanky renditions of "Mr. Roboto, " "It Ain't Easy Bein' a Pimp," and a special performance of "These Boots are Made for Walkin'," by a 70-year-old lounge singer who was delightfully dressed in white leather and spiky-heeled boots. (Samples are available on their website, should it be impossible to imagine this.) If I had to pick a highlight, it would be that Michael played the Theremin....I've thought before that it would be really cool to learn to play the Theremin, and I've never seen one played before. (I've read that one must have an excellent sense of pitch to play the Theremin, so it's probably not in the cards for me. Besides, the dogs would howl along when I practiced.)

I probably should focus more on the music than on a minor instrument - but hey, it's a Theremin. (Did I mention that Lenin played the Theremin? Or that Theremin himself was an espionage expert? There's a fabulous book available for further reading.) Let me just say that I've gained a new appreciation for the lyrics of several popular songs, even if I'm not cool enough to know what's popular. Perhaps I'll look for some go-go boots for the next visit. Or some lounge attire to match the Christmas socks.

Old Socks, New Socks

What's the best way to celebrate the New Year? With socks, of course!

My Christmas socks accompanied me to a New Year's Eve party, and while I wasn't knitting exactly at midnight (you can't knit and hold champagne), I came pretty close. (Yes, that's an otter in a Santa hat next to the TV. The hostess has something of an obsession.) In spite of the scary weather, we said a festive (and fibery) goodbye to 2007.


The Christmas Socks are progressing nicely, and may even be done by 12th Night. I finished the first one while in Georgetown, and did a little work on the second on the trip home. I might have had more progress to show, but I spent yesterday at River Knits helping Elizabeth the Enabler do inventory. Sure, it was a fun day, and sure, she promised pizza and yarn credit. But we all know her real purpose was to lure us in to touch all the yarn. I think my wish list may have grown a bit. Anyone know what Alpaca Silk is good for?


Today it was time to ring in the new, also with fiber. I was up in time for the Rose Parade (something I never managed when I was younger - I guess I must have partied more seriously back then), so that allowed a nice block of knitting time. I believe the sock is enjoying the performance by the University of Illinois marching band here. I'm sad that the Fighting Illini didn't walk away victorious, but it's not as if the Big Ten can ever expect a fair fight in a Rose Bowl.


The first socks (the first-started socks, anyway) of 2008 will be a new set of toe socks, made from the Regia Silk yarn Aaron brought back from Germany.
These self-patterning yarns are always a fun surprise; this one has a lot less black and white than I expected. They'll be on hold while I finish the Christmas socks, but I should have them done before Aaron returns from his next trip - I cast on the last pair while I was going out to visit last October, and finished the first sock a week later, on the flight home. I just love the idea of having silk toe socks!

Gee, Math is Hard

I'm photographing my stash and my projects for Ravelry, which gives me a chance to revisit old WIPs - or in this case, old mistakes.

Last fall, I decided that the Lana Grossa Croisette Cardigan would be a lovely Christmas sweater. Instead of Croisette, I decided to knit it in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, in a lovely Christmas green. I made some other changes, too, re-writing the pattern so I could knit the body all in one piece, instead of fronts and back. And I didn't like the idea of sewing on the lace border - it made more sense to do the border first, then pick up stitches to knit the body.

It wasn't easy to work out the directions for the translated from German pattern, but eventually I figured it out and produced this lovely lace border. And I picked up the stitches, as planned, and worked the one-piece body.


It wasn't until I started the sleeve border that something seemed wrong - three repeats of the lace were awfully snug around my arm.

Then I tried on the sweater. And discovered that I'd have to corset like Dita Von Teese to get this to wrap around my waist.


What went wrong? When I planned the number of lace repeats, I was only counting how many stitches I'd want to pick up for the body. It turns out I should have been counting inches. And I need at least half again as may.

So once I can work myself up to do it, this picture will be all that remains of my first attempt at the sweater. The whole thing has to be frogged, so I can do a longer border and begin again. Maybe in time for this Christmas.

Hell Hounds

It's Birthday Time in Hell! Karen is 35, and we celebrated in Hell, Michigan. After spending a night with some of her very kind (and very dog-tolerant) friends, we headed for home, via Hell.


Hell isn't even really a wide spot in the road. There are just a couple of buildings, with lots of room for the bikers to park. There are no public toilets in Hell.


But there is an ice-cream store, Screams. The entrance to this delicious underworld and its accompanying gift shop is well-guarded, even if we're one head short.


While the dogs made Hell their own territory in the traditional doggie way, the sock posed for a picture with the self-proclaimed mayor of Hell. He's building a miniature golf course, although right now he's fighting the objections of the demon-filled town council. They say there's no zoning for family entertainment in Hell. Apparently there's a bureaucracy, but who's surprised by that?


Since it was Karen's birthday, we got an official tour of the golf course in progress. It's going to be really neat when it's finished. The mayor is doing the work himself, using recycled materials - including coal slag (which will be significant later), and old cemetery fences.


So we all had ice cream, posed for goofy pictures, and visited the general store (where they sell liquor and t-shirts). Then Karen suggested we check out one of the nearby small lakes, so as to see the pretty parts of Hell. The dogs helpfully ran through the brimstone-scented coal slag to get there.


And then they dove in. Max has never really liked the water much. But maybe the local water isn't green and slimy enough, because here they went swimming. And scampering around in the weeds and algae. And rolling around in the grass.


So the rest of Karen's birthday was spent in a car with two wet dogs. Remember that $42 I spent on Tuesday to have them groomed? It's forgotten now. It's a good thing she's dog-tolerant too.


We made it home about 10:00 at night, all of us dog-tired. No yarn, no coins, but here's my haul from the Johnson Estates. Impressive, eh? Karen's already planning next year's trip. I wonder if there are yarn stores on Route 66?

Back to School Class!

There's something new at River Knits!

Today I delivered the samples for my Needle Felting Class. The bag is easy to see, and then there's a little felt bracelet propped in front of the Denise needle set. You can't quite tell from the picture, but the middle daisy is 3-dimensional, with detached petals.

I'll be teaching how to embellish knitted objects with needle felting this Thursday, July 12. There's still plenty of room in the class, and Elizabeth has some ready-made felted items available, if you don't have a project that's just waiting to be finished.

Teaching this class, by the way, is on my "knitting goals" list for the summer. I hope I'll have lots of students come to help me cross off this one!


Finishing the felted samples meant I had to slow down a bit on the Mystery Stole, but I'm making progress. This shows Chart A - which is half of Clue 1 - completed. Clue 2 came out yesterday, so I have some catching up to do before Clue 3 appears next Friday. There are all sorts of guesses about the theme, but I don't have any ideas so far. There's a much better picture of a complete-so-far stole here, but that doesn't help me guess. Maybe something Viking?

By far the coolest thing about the Mystery Stole so far is that my comments about it brought me an e-mail from the Yarn Harlot. This is, I think, the first brush with fame I've ever had. (I could put in a long aside about living in Washington, D.C. for three months and not seeing anyone famous, while my friend who visited for the weekend had breakfast with Joe Lieberman, but I won't.) The Harlot says I'll thank her when it's over. I hope I can remember to do that when I finish the stole, sometime in the next five years.

Winding Up

I finished the first Sidewinder! I did the knitting in four days, but for some reason it took two days to get around to doing the grafting - probably because I'd put so much on hold for four days while knitting, eh?
So this is the sock after Act IV - all the knitting is finished, and it's ready to have stitches picked up and grafted. The toe is at the top, with the double-garter fake rib at the bottom.

And here's the finished sock. Isn't it beautiful? Aren't the stripes fun?

Does it fit? No.

The measurements must have worked, because the foot fits perfectly - just a little bit snugly. But the leg is a little tight, and the heel/ankle part is almost impossible to pull over my foot. Most sock patterns fit me without any trouble, but the direction of this knitting means there's a lot less stretch where you want it - so less room for funkiness.

So that's why I haven't done the toe graft yet, since I may have to pull the entire thing out. I planned to just sulk for awhile, but after some friendly advice from my LYS, I'm going to let it sit on the blocker while I sulk, and see if that improves the fit. If it doesn't, I'll have to make some pattern adjustments, since I don't want to lose the nice fit of the foot.

But the stripes are really cool, aren't they?

Still Sidewinding

I've made lots of good progress, thanks to Nightline's interview with Princes William & Harry (yeah, I know I should be embarassed to admit that I watched it. But I'm not). This is the Sidewinder with Act III complete. The toe definitely looks like a toe now, and it's easy to see where the heel will be. I'm still not convinced that it will fit, but tomorrow I'll press on, and hope everything works out. I could have a new sock soon - finished in less than a week!

Sidewinding

I'm definitely hooked. It's Day Two for the Sidewinders, and I've finished Act II. Now that I've thought to pin it out, you can see the toe shaping and the mitered heel.

I'm still worried about the size, but the gauge still suggests it will be OK. So I'll keep going. Tomorrow is Act III, so I really hope there's something entertaining on TV.

Snowdrop Showdown

There's only one more day to go for The Price is Right. The Snowdrop Shawl knitting continues, for every one of each show's fabulous 60 minutes

Here's Wednesday's progress...



...and Thursday's.



It's definitely taking longer to finish each row. The good news is that, since I've been putting in the lifelines, I haven't had to use them. I could get to like this lace knitting thing. I really like the way the yarn is working.

So far, the dogs have been pretty good about not tangling up the lace. But tonight they were going crazy, running around like mad and really interested in something at the window.




There was a good reason for that. We had company - a young deer hanging out in the back yard. This is as close as he got to the house, but he didn't seem to be bothered at all by the dogs. The only time he looked up was when I talked to the dogs, but even that didn't scare him away. Usually the dogs bark at trees. This one seems more reasonable.

Doggie Day

The kind of day you wanna sit in the sun
The kind of day that you wanna have fun
The kind of day that you go to the park
The kind of day that you bark bark BARK!

My friends at Dog Talk have this awesome song, "Doggie Day," which perfectly describes a day like today (the mp3 is here). So we went to the park - the local Dog Park. Both dogs got to run and play to their heart's content.

The park emptied for a bit soon after we got there, until new friends showed up to play. There's this great ritual when a new dog comes in, and has to be greeted by everyone else present. Here Max and Oscar wait, perfectly still with tails curled at full attention, until they decide it's time to approach the new dog. They'll begin to inch closer and closer to each other, until all dogs take off at a run for a welcoming round of chasing and butt-sniffing. I declined to capture that part on film.


Today was also Knit in Public day. We didn't get anything together locally, so I took my knitting to the dog park. This may seem silly since I spend most of my time trying to keep my knitting away from dogs. But Max was content to just hang out, watching the park like the king of all he surveyed, so he stayed away from the knitting.


Oscar stayed far away from the knitting - he wanted to run and play. He really is in this picture (the middle dpn points to him). He was thrilled when the other dogs showed up - especially since the owners showed up with a squeaky frisbee. I know what I'll be shopping for soon.


The big advantage to this trip to the park is that I get to enjoy a quiet evening at home. I have some carrot cake from the Illinois Street Food Emporium, and I have Elizabeth's socks to finish by next week. AND I have tired dogs. I love the dog park.

Basic Training

It's almost time for Boot Camp for Socks! So my socks are getting ready for boot camp by visiting a famous American military installation, Checkpoint Charlie. Note my spiffy pink "Boot Camp For Socks" T-Shirt from the Southwest Trading Company. Sam will be wearing one of these, soon.

There isn't much left at Checkpoint Charlie anymore - just a couple of re-created "You Are Now Leaving The American Sector" signs, and this little hut in the middle of an otherwise busy street. One thing they haven't done in the 17 years since reunification is add traffic lights to this point of the former border, so what was once one of the most tightly controlled crossings in the world is now a chaotic mess of an urban intersection.

Incidentally, this is just about the only sun we saw in Berlin. I wish I could knit socks as fast as I can wear them.

Places to Knit

The newest Secret Pal 10 contest is to report on strange knitting experiences and places to knit. I'm working on it.

Here I am knitting at the top of a slide in Bad Zwischenhan, a little resort town near Oldenburg. There's actually a beautiful blue sky, but that disappeared when I tried to correct backlighting. There isn't much to do in Bad Zwischenhan, but it's a great place to walk by the lake, bask in the sun, and knit.

I didn't go down the slide. It's not that warm yet.

My best strange knitting story isn't actually about knitting, and I regret that I don't have any pictures. All through college, I did needlework in class. I hate sitting still.

I had a wonderful old military history professor, Gunther Rothenberg. Professor Rothenberg was a World War II veteran (among other things), and an Old European in every sense. He'd stand up when women came into his office, and watch his language when he had female students. He was brilliant, and somewhat demanding. I once saw him throw a student out of class for reading the Exponent, the student newspaper, because he said that to imply it was more interesting than him was insulting. His last words, shouted down the hall, were "If I were you, Mister, I would DROP this class!"

He didn't mind my needlework - in fact, he specifically said "you can do whatever it is you do" when he was listing things that it was OK to do in class. (It was acceptable to sleep, or to read the New York Times...it was the choice of distraction that was insulting.) But, he specifically asked that I not knit. He said it made him nervous. Apparently he couldn't stop thinking of Madame Defarge. He wasn't a man I wanted to make nervous - there's a rumor that he once knocked out a campus Holocaust denier. So I didn't get to knit for my weird knitting story.

Bad Zwischenhan is full of old people. Some of them may even be World War II veterans, albeit for the other side. But none of them seemed to be made nervous by knitting. I took the sock out to show it a good time, and got nothing more than a few puzzled looks. So here's a more scenic picture of the sock overlooking the lake, and the slide.