Running Water
Filed under Would You Believe It? Someone has not only entered to run the New York Marathon on Ist November, sorry, November 1st this year (it's the New York Marathon after all). She is going to knit all 26.2 miles (42 Km, boy does that sound further!) Apparently the people organizing the NYM do not allow runners to take pointy bits of metal or wood with them (trip injury risk, never mind injuring other competitors) so she'll be finger knitting. That's knitting with the yarn across/around the fingers of one hand, pulling the yarn over with the fingers of the other hand. You need to use chunky or super chunky yarn, and the knitting is only four stitches wide, so that'll be a 26.2 mile-long scarf then. Come to think of it, that'll be a Real Big ball of yarn too. Perhaps she'll have it in a project bag on her back, rather than holding it under one arm as shown in the pictures (see link below.)
As with all marathons, this intrepid knitter/runner is hoping to raise funds for charity - this time the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which researches blood cancers and how to cure/prevent them. Further details here, shoud you be interested, Dear Reader.
No, Dear Reader, I shan't be running a marathon any time, soon or later. I do not run, for all people at various schools I attended (and who should have known better) reckoned that with my length of lower limb I should have been a really fast runner. Hah! I made my own trousers for years, until some shops suddenly realised that there were women who wanted to wear long trousers who were well over their definition of 'tall' (5' 6" plus!!!!!!!!! Plus 6 1/2 inches!)
I do not run fast. I do not run at all, if I can help it. Why d'you think I have a bicycle? Yes, because buses are getting expensive, and fewer and farther between, but also because I like to get places in a reasonable time, and carry things (like my knitting*). I suppose if I was ever to knit a marathon it might be that I would set to and cast on at the starting gun, then cast off when the final 'runner' crossed the finish line. Should there be an entrant who chose to wear full diving kit - you know, the kind of diving kit which has lead boots and a round copper helmet with tiny round windows to look out - I might stand a chance of knitting a pair of socks, a hat and some mittens!
Perhaps another Would You Believe It? A book which can filter water - turning any old water, even water heavily contaminated with raw sewage, into something comparable to American tap water. Presumably that's tap water in areas of America unaffected by fracking! Apparently you take one 'page' and use it as a water filter. Used properly one page can filter up to 100 litres of water, one book could filter one person's supply of water for a whole year.
Ok, so the system needs a bit more development, but it could be a real breakthrough in parts of the world where the local 'water' supply is almost anything but actual water. Of course, for water supplies contaminated with chemicals, as in runoff from factories etc, something else would be needed. But something which can turn what is practically sewer content into safe, drinkable water can only be a Good Thing. Let's hope it gets to where it's most needed, along with clear instructions of how it should used - and being in book form, the instructions can be printed onto each page, having passed all the safety tests of course. Then all that will be needed in addition will be literacy teachers, so that potential filter users can learn to read!
And Finally - we've all heard about, and heard, Norma the piano playing cat haven't we, Dear Reader? She who got to 'play' with a real orchestra. Well, here's a Bichon Frise pup who is learning to play. According to Classic fM the pup's playing sounds kinda like Beethoven's Waldstein sonata. As someone, a musician, said, there are only a certain number of notes available to work with after all. Is it surprising that some tunes sound a little like others, even if they weren't meant to!
Y'all have a good day now!
*Fret not, Dear Reader. I do not knit while on my bike. Not even when stopped at traffic lights. The other road users (mainly in large, wheeled metal boxes) require my full attention.
As with all marathons, this intrepid knitter/runner is hoping to raise funds for charity - this time the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which researches blood cancers and how to cure/prevent them. Further details here, shoud you be interested, Dear Reader.
No, Dear Reader, I shan't be running a marathon any time, soon or later. I do not run, for all people at various schools I attended (and who should have known better) reckoned that with my length of lower limb I should have been a really fast runner. Hah! I made my own trousers for years, until some shops suddenly realised that there were women who wanted to wear long trousers who were well over their definition of 'tall' (5' 6" plus!!!!!!!!! Plus 6 1/2 inches!)
I do not run fast. I do not run at all, if I can help it. Why d'you think I have a bicycle? Yes, because buses are getting expensive, and fewer and farther between, but also because I like to get places in a reasonable time, and carry things (like my knitting*). I suppose if I was ever to knit a marathon it might be that I would set to and cast on at the starting gun, then cast off when the final 'runner' crossed the finish line. Should there be an entrant who chose to wear full diving kit - you know, the kind of diving kit which has lead boots and a round copper helmet with tiny round windows to look out - I might stand a chance of knitting a pair of socks, a hat and some mittens!
Perhaps another Would You Believe It? A book which can filter water - turning any old water, even water heavily contaminated with raw sewage, into something comparable to American tap water. Presumably that's tap water in areas of America unaffected by fracking! Apparently you take one 'page' and use it as a water filter. Used properly one page can filter up to 100 litres of water, one book could filter one person's supply of water for a whole year.
Ok, so the system needs a bit more development, but it could be a real breakthrough in parts of the world where the local 'water' supply is almost anything but actual water. Of course, for water supplies contaminated with chemicals, as in runoff from factories etc, something else would be needed. But something which can turn what is practically sewer content into safe, drinkable water can only be a Good Thing. Let's hope it gets to where it's most needed, along with clear instructions of how it should used - and being in book form, the instructions can be printed onto each page, having passed all the safety tests of course. Then all that will be needed in addition will be literacy teachers, so that potential filter users can learn to read!
And Finally - we've all heard about, and heard, Norma the piano playing cat haven't we, Dear Reader? She who got to 'play' with a real orchestra. Well, here's a Bichon Frise pup who is learning to play. According to Classic fM the pup's playing sounds kinda like Beethoven's Waldstein sonata. As someone, a musician, said, there are only a certain number of notes available to work with after all. Is it surprising that some tunes sound a little like others, even if they weren't meant to!
Y'all have a good day now!
*Fret not, Dear Reader. I do not knit while on my bike. Not even when stopped at traffic lights. The other road users (mainly in large, wheeled metal boxes) require my full attention.