The afghan has now changed design. I really wasn't feeling the hexagon thing after the first couple of repeats. Maybe the boarders of the hexagons should have been y/os instead of purls. Then they would have stood out a bit more. But then we get into the too-many-holes-makes-not-enough-warmth issue I have with afghans. Anyway, I have decided to go with this pattern. It does have an eyelet pattern in it, but I think there is still more fabric than hole, for the most part. My gauge is much bigger than suggested so it should be the right size for adults.

So, I played poker on Saturday night with some friends. I got greedy and blew $30. Well, at least it was money that I anticipated "spending." And for NYC, that is a very cheap night out. I really can't complain. I did win the "bad beat" prize for being cheated out of winning with a full house an a technicality that I didn't know about before that hand. How was I supposed to know that the three of a kind in a full house is what dictates the higher hand if there are 2 full houses at the table? Well, the prize was a nice bottle of Riesling. And on top of that, I have to bring the prize the next time around. Any suggestions for a simple yet fun prize that is not too pricey? For some reason, I don't think knitting something for the guys would go over too well.

When I first read this article, I got a little upset. My knitterly sensiblities were insulted. But the more I think about it, the more I should feel sorry for the author of the article. She clearly does not understand that domesticity is not a step backwards for feminism. I, personally, think choosing to knit, crochet, cook, sew or any other domestic or crafty venture is giving power back to that activity. We no longer need to be trapped in a kitchen or at a spinning wheel or anything like that. These are activities that we can do for the sheer enjoyment, creativity and productivity, which are intrinsic qualities in most things domestic.

In a world where we are given mass produced food, clothes, news and ideas, creating something unique is the most powerful thing any human can do an this earth. Knitting and other "women's work" may not change the outcome of the world politics but it will make us each better people.

It's also akin to the idea of women becoming women again. In the 60s and 70s, women gave up a lot of their femininity for feminism. Being a feminist does not mean women should become more like men. It means that the ideas and tasks and other traditions that are associated with the old school stereotypes of women need to get new meanings. They are not the ties that keep us down, but what make us special and wonderful creatures.

I like being political about my knitting. Maybe I'll start up a protest rally against the knitter-haters out there.

In my creative endeavors, I worked on my fraternal sock the other night at the theatre. I love the way the pair is coming out. They look enough the same that you can tell they are a pair but upon closer inspection, they are different creatures. It's like those cheesy visual puzzles they give to children to enhance their cognative skills.

So, I put up another site for my political rantings. Check out It's My Life, But I'll Share if you want to hear me go on about the political and social stuff that I can't avoid commenting on. I'll try to keep this blog as my zen garden of relaxation and frustration about knitting.

Well, as per usual, I didn't make it to S-n-B last night. I ended up at the office a bit longer than I expected. Come to find out, just when I thought everything will calm down, they want to reschedule all tis stuff AGAIN. No rest for the weary!

I finished unwinding the rust yarn last night. Now I have 4 very large balls instead of a bunch of four plied bundles. I have managed to get about 6 inches on this afghan so far. I am using a pattern from the February 2002 Knit 'N Style. It's got a hexagon shaped stitch pattern. The one thing that bothers me the most about hand knit or crocheted blankets is the laciness of them. I mean they are beautiful but not very warm with all of those holes. I don't know if I'll keep this one or not. I have a whole bunch of hand made blankets already (from Mom, Nana, family friends and so forth). Maybe I will send it back to Aunt Elaine and Uncle Ron (aka Avuncular Ron) who sent me the yarn, as a little thank you. I'll see how it turns out.

Ok, enough stalling, back to work for me.

I think I may have to branch off my political thoughts into another venue, since this blog was really geared toward my knitting obsession. Maybe I will do that today. There may be changes in store for The World According to Marney.

Last night, I took home the remainder of my yarn. There were about 5 or 6 bundles of the same yarn that had been rerolled into 4-ply strands. There is about 6 or 7 skeins of this stuff that would make a nice afghan (yes, I knowthe FBI could come after me for knitting an afghan). So I spent a big chunk of time unwinding these bundles. The first one was rather hard with the tangly mess, and all. Then I rolled all of them into a HUGE ball and took it a few yards at a time. I think I am about a third of the way through, but it's going much faster now.

I may be able to go to S-n-B tonight. I brought my fraternal sock with me to work on. I am at the turning point of the heel. I could probably finish it or at least get through a big chunk of it tonight. I think I could use some social knitting time, too.

So, I came into the office this morning to find even MORE yarn at my desk. That's right, I clearly have acquired a yarn fairy. With all of the pain and chaos and misery in the world, I have been blessed by generous family and friends that support my growing yarn addiction. Now, keep in mind, all of the yarn that was given to me are big, ol' skeins of acryllic in colors that are not found in nature. Nonetheless, I am never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Day-glo pink yarn has a place, though, I'm not really sure where. I was able to find a combination of the brown and bright lime in a cute little kiwi baby hat, complete with little black "seeds." (Can't get too far away from the fruit hats, can I!)

I am thinking about signing up for a sock-of-the-month club. I like the idea of new, "random" yarn coming to me each month. I have looked into theknitter.com, ptyarn.com (now defunct) and Red Bird Knits. I think I am leaning toward theknitter.com. Anyone out there have any thoughts on these clubs?

On a dietary note, I have become addicted to Honey Wheat Thins. They are a wonderful balance of sweet and salty without being too horribly bad for you. They're a lot better for you than chocolate covered pretzels! Since I discovered them last week, I have managed to scarf down about 3 boxes. Maybe I'll have some now...

I have held my tongue about this little conflict overseas for a while. But last night on the news, I was really appalled by some of the coverage. Ok, to have a daily run down of who is missing and shot down and captured, is really morbid and disturbing on many levels. I'm sure this is really a new concept in reporting on a war. We have so much covorage of every thing over there that there is no anonymity in fighting any longer. It makes me wonder if we had this kind of communication technology back in the early part of the 20th Century, would WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam be as prolonged. I mean, right now the general tv viewing audience can get the name rank and serial number of every captured, killed or wounded soldier at the end of the day. This makes the war much more personal. Every American can put a name and face to every sterile statistic.

Another moment of awe in the media's grand scope of insanity hit me when at the top of the newscast, after the main headlines, they cut away to the weatherman who proceded to forecast the weather in Baghdad, well before the regularly scheduled local weather. I don't mean to take away from any significance of the conflict, but for Joe Q. Public sitting on his couch in Queens, what does a storm coming from Syria mean? It means that our lives here in the States have been put on hold. All of our news, weather, politics and concerns are centered around the Middle East. It means that we are losing the war on terrorism, because we can't live our own lives. It means that with all of the information that we are doused with on a moment by moment basis, we are fixated on the stuff we can't know or change from the wildcard countries. I seem to recall the words of wisdom resounding after the fall of the Trade Conter, "Business as Usual." Now, I agree that it is hard to get through a time so full of uncertainty and unrest with such a nonchalant attitude, but if you do not have some sort of normalcy in your daily life, you have given into the terror of terrorism.

I have been hibernating for the past few days since I found out that the project I have been working on for the past three months and would be travling for has been postponed on account of war. I should be checked into my hotel in New Orleans by now, but instead, I am finishing up my laundry and listeneing to the music from the older hispanic men that hang out on my front stoop.

I decided to work from home on Friday. Well,m work from home is a little untrue. I managed to gt a bit of work done on the yarn I got last week. I found a cute dog sweater pattern and gave it a whirl. I made it green with red trim and "DOG." I even tried it on two of my cats. So, the smallest size on th pattern may be too big for really small dogs but it fits 15 lb cats. (They were not too pleased to wear a sweater. But it was cute.)

I am still waiting for my shipment from Knitpicks.com. I called them a week ago to follow up. As suspected, according to the post office, it was delivered, but it never made it to my apartment. I am supposed to get a replacement order via Airborne Express. Maybe I will call on Monday and get the tracking number to make sure this package gets to me.

That's all I have for today. I am going to lay low and boycott the Oscars tonight. I find the entertainment community to be a bit self centered. I have heard that there is some sort of an informal blacklist for the vocally anti-war celebrities. Okay, I can understand that they don't want the Oscars to be a forum of protesting the president's war on Iraq. On the other hand, if there is any show on TV that is more geared toward having the personal opinions of celebrities voiced with candor and lack of cnsorship, it's th Oscars. Hollywood is way too full of itself.

I am going to start out by saying I am so happy that I am not the only one that understands my little tirade yesterday. Thank you for the words of agreement and support for my ranting fit about the president. After reading Ayelet's blog yesterday and reading the letter from Michael Moore to the president, I felt a bit vindicated. I found that his letter was pretty eloquant in it's own right.

On a less geo-political note, last night I went to see a fabulous off-Broadway show, Betty Rules. It's about the history of the band Betty with some great music and a hot band. If you are in the New York area, check out this show before it closes next week!

I got a shipment of cookies from my favorite Girl Scout, Amanda, today. In the 3 boxes that were sent to me (there were orders for my coworkers and friends), the packing material that was used was YARN!!! That's right. My fabulous Aunt, Uncle and Cousins are taking care of me by sending about 25-30 skeins of yarn to me. There is enough yarn to keep me busy for quite a long time. After the rather unpleasant news I got regarding my project from hell today, I really needed a big pile of yarn with Girl Scout Cookies nestled in to brighten my day. Thank you, Olsens!!!!!!

Again with this wonderful weather! Yesterday we were in the 70s, today the 60s. I am ready for Spring to come on Thursday. It has been a cold winter. But I've got my wool to keep me warm. I know, I can't help me goofiness.

I started sock number two last night. I got so excited to start it that I even got up a bit early today to work on it. I agree with Sandy that having two different socks makes "second sock symdrome" disappear. Well, they are not that different. Just enough to make it interesting for the knitter.

Ok, I can't sit back and let this whole Iraq thing just get untouched by my opinionate views. Afterall, this is The World According to Marney. I listened to the speech Bush gave last night and continued to wander if he and his supporters are actually listening to the words coming out of his mouth.

1) At what point does the United States get to ask for the resignation of another world leader? If you think about this logically, that is absolutely ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as Saddam Hussein asking for Bush to step down.

2) Who are we to say that after we take out the leader of one country, we will help to set up a "free country" for the people that have just been devistated by war? This is wrong on so many levels. There are so many ways to run a country that aren't "free" as the western world sees it. That doesn't make it wrong if they don't live like we do. That makes them different, something that "freedom" should respect instead of impose. Having our ideas and philosophies forced on a people that do not want them after we have ravaged their country, politically, physically and psychologically can only lead to distrust and resentment on a whole new level. That will just make Hussein and his followers martyrs and heros that died or were ousted for what they believe in.

3) There is a big world out there with a lot of opinions that do not go along with these bully tactics. Bush is putting us into the role of the International Vigilantes. We are anticipating a problem and "taking care" of it before there is a problem. Don't get me wrong, I think all weapons of mass distruction in all countries should be destroyed.

4) That brings me to the massive double standard that we are all living with and totally ignoring. We allow certain countries to have these powerful weapons (US included) but others cannot. Why are any of them allowed to exist? How can we even pretend to have a peaceful world when there are weapons enough to blow up the entire planet numerous times over in the collective stockpiles of the "Free World?"

5) How can so many people be brainwashed by this rhetoric? Why can't the American public look beyond the the words that come out of this man's mouth? For a while I thought I would give him the benefit of the doubt in using a scare tactic to bring to light some attrocities that would warrent the world to rally behind his camp. I thought he might be using this as a platform to get people moving. The more I hear from him, the more I realized that I gave him too much credit. He does not have the proof to warrent a single handed (or close to it) attack, let alone global intervention against Iraq.

6) Has anyone else noticed how he keeps trying to pair up Iraq with Al Queda? They have not been in cahoots. Yes, it's possible that terrorists may find a haven in Iraq, but Hussein was not a part of the 9/11 attacks. Bush keeps trying to make these two factions one in the same. They are not. Ok, it's possible that terrorists could get weapons from Iraq but couldn't they also get them from Korea, France, Germany, Russia or any other country we are currently pissing off???

I can't keep going on this because I am now thinking about moving to Switzerland. Our country is being run by a man that is brainwashing (or trying to) his people into believing something a good portion of the world can see through. It makes me so very angry that we have to go through this.

What a wonderful weekend! I can't say it was the most exciting weekend I have ever had but it was pretty fabulous, nonetheless. First of all the weather has finally changed over to Spring. Yesterday was about 68 degrees here. A far cry from the snow we had a little over a week ago. I spent a good chunk of the day in Central Park walking the "Loop." You couldn't ask for a better day.


I finished my first Stripey sock last night while watching Alias. (I have to admit that I am a bit af a junky for this show.) Anyway, I will start the second one tonight with a blue toe and a green heel and the stripe pattern being a bit different than the first one. I really like the way it came out. I wonder if the weather will get cold enough for me to wear them this Spring. Such a weather dilemma.

I also got a chance to catch up with a couple of friends yesterday. I haven't seen most of my buddies in a few weeks thanks to the job. What are you going to do? Soon it will be all over.

On Friday, I talked to the lovely people at KnitPicks.com about my missing order. Alas, the Post Office has done it again and decided to not deliver my mail to me. This is really getting out of control. Is there something about my mailbox that says I don't deserve to receive my own mail??? Well, it looks like I will be getting a replacement order through a different shipping company. I hope it gets here before I have to jump on a plane next week. I may have to be resigned to reading, or something.

Well, I got my first dose of panic regarding the upcoming (not even potential, really) war from one of my co-workers. I can't say that it was really very reassuring to know that someone within my office is prepared to flee for her life. Then again, this is one co-worker that has never really recovered from the Trade Center, as she was in our office in Tower 2 when the plane crashed into it.

Anyway, I am going to get back to planning my trip to New Orleans next week.

I am truly digging my stripey socks. (I forgot to bring them in for pictures today.) They look truly goofy but I love them. They will be great. I think I have decided that I will do the toes and heels all in different colors. One sock has a red toe with a green heel. The other one will have a blue toe with a gray heel. I think I was a bit ispired by Sandy's "fraternal" fuzzy feet. I liked the way they didn't quite match but were close enough.

I have also been working through the changing color issue. Because I am striping it myself, I have 4 colors going at all times. I started out by only using one color at a time and weaving in the ends as I go along. Then I realized that I have a limited amout of each color and this method was using quite a lot of extra yarn. So I started keeping all of the yarn attached at the same time and carrying each color up. I think it is actually working pretty well with the exception of the tangles. I think I got that down with pinning the loose end of each ball with a dpn. So far so good. I'll get pictures up soon.

So yesterday in my growing insanity when it comes to money I really don't have, I broke down and gave into my need to knit. I jumped on the bandwagon and signed up for a Rowan subscription. I have tred to avoid this entire Pandora's box for the past year. This means I will have that much more temptation to buy yarn and make more projects out of the pricey stuff. I couldn't help it. I needed it. I really did. The voices in my head were telling me that my life would be over if I didn't do it. I had to listen.

On a less tempting note, I found my left over yarn from my Christmas adventure in socks, last night. I don't have enough of one or even two colors to make a pair of adult socks so I am going to do some striping action for myself. Nothing like red, blue, green and grey striped socks under a suit to thumb my nose at the "man" while I am in the corporate jungle.

I am still waiting for a shipment that I ordered about 3 weeks ago from KnitPicks.com. I am starting to get a bit worried. This is the same thing that I went through last year with eKnitting.com and that lost order. I do not have much luck with mail order yarns.

Here it is Tuesday and I think I am going to have to forego another week of S-n-B. I haven't been in over a month, thanks to work. Maybe I will be in a better place next week.

In brighter news, I did get some help at the office. I hired my friend Aaron as a temp for the next couple of months. He has worked with me before on previous projects and has been temping as a legal proofreader for a few years. To top it all off, I get to make sure that one of my many unemployed friends gets a paycheck for at least a couple of months. It's the least I can do.

I am back at home!!!! I got back late on Wednesday night and spent the last two days ignoring responsibilities. Well, mostly.

As predicted, I got quite a bit of knitting done on the plane. In fact, I almost finished my cardigan before we landed. If only I hadn't been so sleepy. Well, a pair of scissors would have helped. I was trying to be creative and very complete with my pieces. Everything was done double stranded. So when I made the from pieces, I had 4 balls of yarn attached. Well, without scissors and no extra balls to start sleeves with, I rerolled the balls (so the free end of the ball was on the outside) and started in on the sleeves with the from still attached. Desperate times call for desperate measures. In any case, I did cut the pieces apart when I got home. I have one side completely sewn up and one sleeve that is still free. I will have to finish that up today.

I got a couple of e-mails yesterday from someone that is interested in buying some of my projects. Or I should say, commissioning me. I am waiting to hear back if she is still interested and details on what she wants. Since I am currently between projects AGAIN, I have no problem with that.

Okay, I really need to get some stuff done around the house. I guess I'll be back when I get into the office on Monday. Have a good weekend.