A group hug, in yarn.

A bit before Thanksgiving, one member of the online fiber group I oversee announced that she suddenly lost kidney function and was having to navigate a very new normal.  She couldn't knit, and was frustrated and depressed and a couple people wrote privately to give her encouragement.

As the group is wont to do, we decided to send her what can be considered "a group hug", in the form of a blanket.  The member lives in Minnesota and we saw her with a blanket in one photo on her Facebook page.  A close friend of mine who has been on dialysis for years told me that everybody gets a thin blanket as part of a "welcome to dialysis" package, because you have to lie there for several hours and the rooms are always cool so the machines work better.  We figured a group blanket would be something this person could use and which would remind her she's cared about when her spirits are low.

We agreed on a colour scheme of mostly jewel colours, which I would put together with gold yarn because of a picture the recipient had posted on her social media:

We agreed on making the squares about 8" on a side, of DK or worsted weight washable yarns of any fiber, depending upon what people had available.  This size can be made from leftovers fairly easily, if people didn't want to start a new ball or skein.  It's big enough that we don't need many, because I didn't want to sew together a hundred pieces!  Also, I wanted them big enough that the border wouldn't overwhelm the squares.

First intended deadline was Christmas, but of course with the holidays not all the squares arrived.  Not only were people busy, but a couple packages went missing in the mail.  So those contributors decided to make more, and I had to wait for them to arrive.

Then I had to add borders.  It might have made sense for me to work on them as squares arrived, or when most of the squares were here, but of course I waited until I had all of the pieces here.  I worked three rows of single crochet around most of the squares.  I didn't block the squares, either before or after adding the border, because the different stitches and weights and patterns meant it would be difficult to do, plus the time involved.

Finally, I could try arranging them.  First I divided the squares into colour families:

Clearly, some of the borders need to be redone.  They were.

I found I had many in shades of deep rose, so I arranged those into a checkerboard:

  

The first one was great until I realized I had only four columns, and I needed five.  So, a re-do, adding in another red square for the grid to work.

Then I added the other squares, trying to avoid having the same square of a given colour next to another.  I also tried to keep the few lacy squares away from each other, for blanket integrity.  This is what I thought would be the final arrangement:

Of course that's not what happened, as I did a bit more arranging as I sewed the blocks into rows.  I also had to finish the topmost row, which is where I'd put the blocks that were not to the size requirements and I knew I'd have to adjust.  One is a heavily ribbed, reversible cable block that pulled in quite a bit.  Another is one of the replacement blocks; the sender sent a leftover from another project.  Two were knit on the diagonal, which can be difficult to measure and often come out odd-sized.  The one with a heart I wanted to keep in a special place.  So I worked those together with different amounts of the border on each block, and a fill-in panel, and made sure that row ended up the same width as the others:

You can see a sewing tail I left at the bottom.

Now it is time to sew the rows together, and I noticed that I'd sewn the end block on the final row backwards from the others.  See that four blocks aren't showing a tag?  It turns out I'd done the border from the back instead of the front, and my OCD compelled me to not only take the block off, but to re-do the border before reinstating it.

Then one more big error: instead of sewing the bottom row under the next row, I sewed it on top!  Rather than re-do a long row (a single block is one thing, the row is another) I decided to keep going in that manner, so the blanket would be flipped, except for the second row of odd-sized blocks and the panel.  I want to be sure the heart goes in the correct direction.  This did cause an issue with the green-and-white block, as those are sheep and I didn't want them to be upside-down.  So again, cut off the block and sew it back into place.

Finally, all the squares are together, and mostly blanket-shaped:

Not perfectly even, but not bad given the variations.  Also, most of
the blanket photos are taken from one end and not directly overhead.

After that photo I decided to remove all the tags, as they were no longer needed.  I put each person's name on it, then when I set up the layout I added a code for row (letter) and position (number) to keep them in order as I sewed.  As I removed the tags I created a chart showing who had made each block, in case somebody wanted to know later.  Since some people did one block and others did several, I decided not to include it with the blanket.

Then I added the border:

Close-up of the border - a simple finish.

Also the embroidery, which I am pleased is very neat on the back.  I used chain stitch which I knew would be fast, and adjustable around curves, and fairly thick so the letters would be legible.  More-or less, anyway.  I wrote the message on waxed paper (I didn't have tissue paper handy), pinned it to the blanket, and embroidered, then pulled away the paper:

As we were working on this, another group member announced that she has to undergo chemo due to a cancer diagnosis.  I gently inquired, and no, she has plenty of blankets that she has made over the years - I was relieved to hear it!  But her hair is falling out, as often happens with chemo, and the infusions tire her so much that she can knit on a few stitches on a chemo cap at a time.  So I let the group know and she is likely to have a wardrobe in an assortment of colours very soon.  I mentioned my no-new-projects-during-Lent commitment during our Sunday meeting and a couple people stated that this is charitable work and it shouldn't count.  I have a very soft hat handy but it's colours this member said she doesn't like, so I will have to think about what to do - maybe after I finish one or two other projects.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The box did arrive safely; the recipient posted this message:

I came home from dialysis and I was tired. Driving home on the freeway I missed my turn and ended up in a residential area of a Minneapolis suburb - lost and frustrated. I got home and there was a big box waiting for me. In it was a gorgeous blanket knitted in squares by members of the KT family. I can't believe that  you all would make me this blanket; you guys hardly know me!! I am gob-smocked. 

For those who do not know, I lost my kidneys last July. No one knows why. I am one in a million the docs say. Then I spent 3 months in and out of the hospital; mostly in. The docs kept sending me home w/o fixing me. They sent me to a rehab facility and there I spent 3 weeks of very little rehabilitation After an "event" at my daughters house I ended up in another hospital for a week and they sent me to a rehab facility that was more aggressive. After 4 weeks I finally came home much stronger. I am staying with my daughter and family for more recuperation.. I had more in-house physical/occupational therapy. I am stronger than ever but continue to keep active by exercising.

Thank you to Afton, Alison, Annette, Diann, Donna, Helena, Jen, Jill, Kathleen (Hi), Kathy, Kim, Maura, Minerva, Robin, Sue T, Susan A, Trish, Vickie and Margo Lynn. I love all of the squares and the golden trim. I cannot thank you knitters enough. It reminds me of all the good there is in this world. I am still amazed. 

During my physical breakdown, I could not walk, write, had brain fog and lost some memory. That is all better but my knitting skills are not up to par. I will try and post some projects but most of mine are in time-out. Seems like I make so many mistakes in my knitting.

Thank you all for the blanket; I will use it when I go to dialysis to keep me warm.

I love  you all.

The true harbinger of spring.

As many of us say, it's not what some silly rodent decides, spring really starts with the call of "Pitchers and catchers report!"  That was last week and this weekend I'll be enjoying three games of the Cactus League, via a professional group's trip:

It is a tradition for the President of the Illinois State Bar Association to select a trip.  In the past they have been cruises and such, often to the person's family's origin country or area.  I haven't gone because they were not interesting to me.

Naturally, this one is.

I borrowed my mother's White Sox gear, and have my own for the Cubs.  I'll get a new T-shirt there, of course.  We see the above game on Friday, a White Sox game on Saturday, and a Cubs game on Sunday.  A perfect weekend!

I hope to get to the Phoenix Art Museum to see two exhibits.  Since all our games are at 1:05pm (according to the posted schedule) that doesn't give much time, but both are small:  Guarding the Art and the Fireflies Infinity Mirrors Room.  If one of the games is later, I may try to get to Taliesin West, which I toured many years ago and would like to see again.

Maybe I'll switch to a later plane home.  😊

Again, a start. Several starts.

It was the Lunar New Year earlier this week, the Year of the Dragon.  I don't do a big celebration or observance anymore because I don't live someplace that does, and my grandmother, who really loved celebrating (she loved any celebration!) died last May.

I ate dumplings, and a moon cake (saved from the fall Moon Festival, and yes I know it's not traditional for the new year, but it's round which is), and wished people Gong Hay Fat Choi!

Tuesday was Mardi Gras, again not much of a celebration here.  I went to a local bakery and bought a filled donut so I could feel like I'd had the pączki which I'd gotten used to eating in Connecticut.  It was filled with strawberry cream so not traditional, but tasty.

The divot in the icing is from the tongs when I 
selected this one from the case - the frosting is soft.

I also got a mochi donut to eat the next day, for Valentine's Day, and forgot to take a picture but it had the same frosting and sprinkles.  I gave my parents the dark chocolate covered almonds, tucking the packets into their card, which I left when I took my morning walk and put their paper into their garage.  Dad found it when he went to check for the paper and put the envelope at my mother's place at the breakfast table.

Since it was also Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of Lent, I had to start either giving up or doing charitably.  In the give-ups are pork, and generally sausage things (yes, I know, I'm Jewish and shouldn't eat pork - and other than bacon, I pretty much don't, but I eat lots of kinds of chicken and beef and other non-pork sausages) except if I am at a baseball game and it's the most likely food option; and one category of sweets; and starting new fiber items.

I thought the last would help me focus on and finish a few things, but realized it could be a problem because I wanted to have some projects specifically for upcoming trips.  So I took an hour or so on Tuesday evening, instead of trying to finish a group project (more on which in a later post), and started things:

The two on the left are scarves (top one in knitting, lower one in crochet) that I plan to work on at North Texas Irish Festival.  Top middle is a project that I am taking to Spring Training next weekend: The Age of Brass and Steam Shawl in Forbidden Fiber's Pride DK (which has a bit of gold sparkle that doesn't show in the photo), colourway "Merchant Dynasty".  Below that is Granny's Not Square Cowl, the Carolina Fiber Fest crochet-along project, which of course I want to finish before then.  Yarn is an oddball of silk-wool blend, Louisa Harding's Amitola Grande in "Tangerine Dream".  

Bottom right is a corner-to-corner crocheted scarf if I need a charity project, of Premier Yarns Candy Shop in "Blow Pop" (there's more yarn waiting), and the top right is an emergency project (if I need something small and have nothing else before Easter), which is a baby sweater crocheted in sock yarn.  It is doubtful that I will finish more than four of these, especially with other items in progress, but I will keep reporting.

Reflecting, and a Status Check

Sometimes people use a new year to reflect and make changes.  Of course, I generally follow the Gregorian calendar for the major ones, but other new years provide a good time to review, possibly to reset, and evaluate.

Given that I just started six more projects, how am I doing on my resolutions?  I haven't completed any UFOs (and still not located the shawl), but I have almost made a thing for me:

I had a skein of handspun from the Knitting Buddha, and needed a simple item to work on while I was at a fiber arts group last weekend, so I decided to wind it up and work on a plain beanie.  I just wasn't happy with it, and frogged before I thought to take a photo of the progress.  Then I took the two ends, and wound a ball with both together, adding a small knot when I finished to mark the middle.  So if I reach the knot before the mitten is done, I need to add yarn to finish.  However, I've managed to finish this one without reaching the knot.  The ball at the top is the second strand, being wound into its own ball, and below is the remainder of the double-wound ball.  I need to take a row out of the thumb because it's just that much too long.  I have debated whether to make the cuff even longer, but it's probably sufficient as it will tuck nicely into a jacket sleeve or coat sleeve.  The second mitten will go quickly.

There are people in the fiber arts group who can help me repair my spinning wheel.  I'll get back to it after Carolina Fiber Fest as people are very focused on things for then.

I've read three books and made more progress on the really big one at my bedside.  Today I picked up the third book I need to read for the library challenge: "Called To Rise: A Life in Faithful Service to the Community That Made Me" by the former Dallas police chief, David O. Brown.  It resonated for several reasons, including my ties to Dallas; it's Black History Month; and the challenge category is "A Book From A Library Display".

Custodians of Knowledge.

Last week a friend posted the following, and I thought it was worth sharing:

I got a query from a High School student who was working on an essay. It was a good question, and I thought I'd share it and my answer.

Query: "do we need custodians of knowledge?"

Answer: I'm a writer with a modest following (how your dad knows me), and I certainly understand the instinct that people have that writing can extend knowledge, from personal experience to hard-won scholarship which synthesizes different threads of knowledge. I have tried to do that in my writing career.

     But I was also a conservator of rare books and documents for 30 years, and in that time I was dedicated to preserving the physical documents which contain knowledge. Today we tend to think that anything we might want to know is readily available online, perhaps with a little searching.

     But that isn't true. I have done conservation work on countless one-of-a-kind books/documents which will probably never be scanned, or written about, or shared with the broader world. Does that mean those items are unworthy of protection?

     Hardly. It is impossible for us to know what will be important to people in the future. It might be a herbal that someone's grandmother wrote that winds up containing a description of a plant that can cure some illness not yet seen. Or a prisoner's account of life in a P.O.W. camp where the prisoners composed a symphony that is found and performed to great acclaim, changing the course of music history.

     These things happen. I've seen it. But they can only happen if that knowledge has been protected.
     In this way, "custodians" can be different from "gatekeepers". The former are the scholars and librarians and teachers and conservators who protect the sources of knowledge from whatever threat. The latter are those to manipulate knowledge to their own ends. There's a huge difference.

This triggered some thoughts for me as well.

I don't think of "gatekeepers" as only those who manipulate and limit knowledge.  Certainly if you are a gatekeeper, and limit who can enter, you have that ability.  But I also see the gatekeepers as the ones who open the gates to possibilities, to reading, to new vistas of knowledge.

To me, "custodians" are the ones who keep the knowledge safe.  They are the ones who ensure the knowledge is there so people have access.  They repair (as my friend noted), they clean, they treasure.  They ensure the environment remains dry, or at the right humidity, and light enough, and the correct temperature.  They also share the knowledge, but their work is also to repair damaged containers of knowledge, whether books or papyrus scrolls or hard drives.  Absolutely we need these people, they are critical to making information available and keeping it available for the future.

Gatekeepers have a choice.  They can allow you in, or not.  Or they can allow some people in, or not.  The problem to which my friend refers comes when the gatekeepers want to keep all people out.  These people are not just gatekeepers, they are censors.  They decide what they want to read, and don't want others to have access to different information or sources.

There is a great series of comics where a child says they have to return a book checked out from the library because their teacher said it is above their reading level.  The librarian says the child should keep the book and try reading it.  The teacher then comes and scolds the librarian, who responds that the teacher doesn't know the book is beyond the child's abilities to read or understand, and shouldn't the child be given a chance to find out for their ownself?

What happens when a child (or anybody) reads something they don't understand?  They ask questions - and often those are not the ones that adults around the child want to answer.  Or they find they cannot answer, which embarrasses the adult.  They (child and/or adult) can start investigating, reading other things, checking a dictionary or encyclopedia or asking other people, to obtain the answer to the question.  This can lead to new discoveries, and new learning.

Gatekeepers who open the gates to this type of learning - librarians, and teachers, and similar people - enable exploration and support curiosity and allow the spread of information and knowledge.  This is what should happen.  I know there are people who think young children cannot handle all kinds of information, and I agree - but don't restrict all information from all ages.

Censors cut off the investigation, and block access to knowledge.  They want to keep people uninformed and uncurious.  They are afraid of information and don't want others to have access to it.  Those are the people who scare me, because they try to close off the world into their own box, and to mold people into the type of person they want to be.  Often other people don't conform, and this is where violence - whether overt and physical, or covert and psychological - takes place.

We need to have (and be) custodians of knowledge, and the type of gatekeepers who make the knowledge available to others.  Like many, I do have problems with making available some of the rhetoric that passes for information, but I also believe that having it available so people can understand why some people believe that way, and so it can be studied to see the source material, is important.  When we limit ourselves to a small amount of information, we limit our knowledge of the world.  Even if we don't agree with everything available (and I agree that some of the outright biased and hateful information should be restricted because of how much damage it does), knowing it is there helps us to understand others.*

Going back to the original question, I believe that everybody should be custodians of knowledge.  Keep the information safe, make it available to others, just don't decide what they can or should read, whether by reading level or content.  And be ready to answer questions.

Image of the library at Alexandria, borrowed from Britannica.

* I am the type of person who sees a meme or claim on social media or elsewhere, and starts asking for the source material.  Where are the studies, the original article?  Does the source have a known bias?  Are there countering or conflicting reports?  Some people don't like it when I question them, and I see those people are gatekeepers of the limiting variety.  Why not give me the information from which to make my own assessments and decisions?  Simply saying "you have a search engine; use it" isn't satisfactory to me, because it suggests the person doesn't really have a source for their comment, they are simply handing along something they received.  Search engines can be biased, and may show a person the type of information or source they prefer to see, thus locking somebody into narrow pockets of search results.  Be willing to share your sources, if you have them - and don't trust GenAI.

As they say, "Inconceivable......."

I am (mostly) on a yarn diet this year, but a number of months ago I received a newsletter from an indie dyer whose work I enjoy, saying that she would be creating a package based upon "The Princess Bride" and preorders were open for a short time.  She created two mystery boxes, one with yarn and one with cross-stitch supplies, including a pattern.

I know that "The Princess Bride" fandom is huge, and strong, and my love of the film is quieter than most.  There was no way I'd miss this opportunity, even though I skip most of hers because I'm not that into whatever source material is used as the inspiration.  But this time?  I think I preordered both boxes within an hour.  I definitely didn't want to chance missing them!

The mailing was scheduled for early February, and this week I received a package of two boxes taped together.  Carefully I opened them, hoping to preserve the sticker:

One box appeared to have been opened and resealed in the packing, so I have only one intact sticker.  I opened the box from the bottom to keep the sticker intact.  Each box contained the wrapped package as shown.  Each included an informational card, with this on the front and the specific items for each kit on the back:

This is the embroidery kit:

It includes hand-dyed fabric (I chose 36-count linen) and flosses, and a pattern, plus a bunch of goodies.  In the pink heart is a needlekeeper reading "As You Wish".  The black bag contains buttons with a six-fingered hand and a bishop's miter with the word "Mawwidge".  There's a lip balm in "Buttercup" flavour.

This is the pattern:

Many of the additional goodies are the same in the yarn kit:

The nametag boxes are empty; you can put the goodies inside.  This kit includes some needle stoppers that are little hearts, and instead of the needlekeeper the pink heart contains a set of progress keepers and stitch markers, including a tiny bottle of Iocaine Powder:

The yarn colourway is "Humperdink" and it's very similar to her "Flying Monkeys" and an OOAK I purchased at some past point from her clearance section, so I am considering combining the three into something large enough.  I looked online for patterns inspired by the film and found one four-colour multi-patterned shawl, and a couple patterns for double-knit (double-sided) scarves with quotes and images.  Neither right for this yarn, so I will continue to hunt.

I ordered one kit with a flat project bag and one with a gusseted one so I have both styles.

The chocolate-covered almonds puzzled me until I read that they are inspired by Miracle Max's pill.  Since I don't eat chocolate, and there are two packages, they will be a Valentine's gift to my parents who love dark chocolate and almonds, singly or together.

"A long, long time ago......."

Some of the people in my Sunday evening online knitting (and other stuff) group are old enough to remember "The Day The Music Died".  I am not, and at least one other person in the group tonight wasn't.  But several persons said they did.

AP file photo of the memorial.

Sixty-five years ago yesterday, the small plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and JP 'The Big Bopper' Richardson, crashed during a snowstorm near Clear Lake, Iowa.  All three performers, plus the pilot, Roger Peterson, were killed.  The story has been told in films as well as Don McLean's classic song.

Because they died before I was born, I didn't know much about Buddy Holly until the biopic came out when I was a teenager.  But I did know Ritchie Valens - or, some of his music - because I spent part of my childhood in Texas, and on the local stations "La Bamba" and "Donna" others of his songs were in regular rotation.  I remember being surprised when the film came out a decade later because it seemed to me he was alive, or why was his music on the radio all the time when I was a child?

That's what classic music is all about.  It doesn't die.