A day of beautiful colors
Visited Grandma last night on the way home from work and put a few rows onto the rainbow sock before putting it away in disappointment. Had to concede -- this yarn doesn't seem to want to be a sock. Or at least, not using this pattern -- not only am I not pleased with the pooling, but the yarn is too thin for the gauge this pattern calls for, giving me loose stitches that won't wear well. And it's not that the pooling is ugly -- it's just that the length of the color repeat seems to match up almost exactly with the length required to knit two rows, so that the upper side of the foot is alternating rows of green-into-yellow and pink-into-purple, while the sole is alternating rows of shades-of-blue with orange-into-red. The combinations look good, they're just not shifting around the foot, and while I'm not always pleased with the spiral effect I frequently get, I'd really like to be able to see all of the colors at the same time.
So, I don't think this yarn wants to be a pair of socks. I think on some level I already suspected, since I started knitting from it without halving it into two balls first. I let myself take the risk because the yardage was so good I was very sure I'd have some left over afterwards (especially with a contrast yarn for the toes and heels), and since I didn't want to have two separate balls left to find a project to use up afterwards. But I think ever since I saw this shawl using the same yarn and colorway as I've got, I started wistfully thinking about using this yarn to make a shawl instead.
And this morning I did a smidgen of browsing on Ravelry in my projects queue, and decided that what this yarn might really prefer to be is a Catkin shawl. Still paired with the black, for the stripes at the top and the border at the bottom, but with the rainbow yarn allowed to do its messy exuberant thing in the main section. And this is a pattern I've been wanting to do for a while -- the thing that kept stopping me being finding a pleasing combination in sufficient yardage. I have enough rainbow and black both to do this. I think we have a winner here...
Links from Tumblr / Twitter / Facebook:
Nature goes ahead and publishes study explaining how to create deadly mutant bird flu -- "After months of controversy, the journal Nature has published the details of an experiment describing how the avian flu can be modified into a human-contagious form. The publication has prompted critics to warn of a possible human disaster, should the details of study get into the wrong hands or the mutant virus accidentally escape the lab. And this incident highlights growing concerns about unchecked scientific inquiry, the mounting potential for academic censorship, and the ongoing development of increasingly powerful and dangerous biotechnologies."
Owl petting a dog
Lincoln High School in Walla Walla, WA, tries new approach to school discipline - suspensions drop 85% -- "Toxic stress comes from complex trauma, she said. Complex trauma ain’t pretty. It’s when your dad’s in prison AND your mom’s a meth addict AND she’s too drugged out to move in the mornings, so you’ve got to take care of your little brother, get him fed and off to school, AND you’re despairing about being evicted for the third time because she hasn’t paid the rent and the landlord’s screaming at you to do something. Or your dad’s a raging alcoholic AND he beat the crap out of your mom again last night AND the cops came and took him away at 2 a.m. AND the EMTs took your mom to the hospital and you hardly slept a wink and you’re frantic with worry because you don’t know what’s going to happen, but you’ve got to stay cool or otherwise you’ll have a complete meltdown. Or your fat step-dad’s sneaking into your bed in the middle of the night AND you’re too terrified to move because he says if you say anything he’ll kill you and your sister and your mom, who’s depressed AND doesn’t talk much anyway. Teens who live with complex trauma are walking post-traumatic stress time bombs, says Turner. They teeter through their days. The smallest incident can push them into a full-blown meltdown. Some kids run away. Some explode in rage. Some just mentally check out. 'In flight, fight or freeze mode,' Turner explains, 'survival trumps everything else.' So when a kid who’s got complex trauma feels threatened or overwhelmed, exploding in rage at something that most people wouldn’t even shrug over is a perfectly normal response. That’s worth repeating: exploding in rage, getting pissed off, stomping, hitting….it’s all normal. Until a school helps kids learn how to control their emotions, they’ll just keep losing it. For some kids, erupting is a stress reflex response."
This Hot, Kitten-Toting Fireman Wants to Make You a Drink -- "Sometimes when the marketing geniuses in advertising try to tap into the female psyche, they get it all wrong. But sometimes it's so spot on that it's like they've been reading your diary."
And all of the above was from last night's Tumblring, after I got home from Grandma's and in and around reading that book that I didn't borrow from Dad -- today I got in to work to find myself at the front desk for the first few hours, since the receptionist had a doctor's appointment. So I settled in and got some work done (and checked my LJ friends list) and then was told the receptionist had called one of the supervisors and didn't think she'd be in today at all. So, unplanned day at the front desk, and no time left to Tumblr unless I get on it when I get home tonight.
A few links from my Yahoo! page:
Smallest mammoths found on Crete -- "The smallest mammoth ever known to have existed roamed the island of Crete millions of years ago, researchers say. Adults were roughly the size of a modern baby elephant, standing over a metre tall at the shoulders. Remains were discovered more than a century ago, but scientists had debated whether the animal was a mammoth or an ancient elephant. A new analysis of the animal's teeth suggests it falls closer to the mammoth lineage."
Battling the brown tree snake in Guam -- "The snakes, which are mildly venomous, have caused many problems. They get everywhere, and people have even woken up with them in their beds. The island's power system is regularly shorted out by snakes crawling on the lines. It is so frequent the locals now call power cuts 'brown outs'. But the biggest impact has been on the wildlife - it has been decimated. The forests here are eerily quiet. Now the only place where the Guam's native birds, such as the koko, can be seen on the island are in cages in a captive breeding centre. 'The brown tree snake has had a devastating impact. Ten out of 12 native forest bird species disappeared in 30 years,' says Cheryl Calaustro from Guam's Department of Agriculture. 'The birds here evolved without predators. They were quite naive. And when the snake arrived on Guam it ate eggs, juveniles, adults. Whole generations disappeared.'"
Infection causes one in six new cancer cases: study -- "Largely preventable or treatable infections with viruses, bacteria and parasites cause about two million new cancer cases and 1.5 million cancer deaths each year, said a study published Wednesday. This amounted to about one in six of the 12.7 million new cancer cases reported in 2008, said the report in The Lancet Oncology journal. 'Application of existing public health methods for infection prevention, such as vaccination, safer injection practice or antimicrobial treatments, could have a substantial effect on the future burden of cancer worldwide,' said the report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. Four infections, hepatitis B and C, human papillomavirus (HPV) and the Helicobacter pylori stomach bacteria, accounted for the bulk of the cases, some 1.9 million -- mostly gastric, liver and cervical cancers."
Humpback whales intervene in killer whale hunt -- "A BBC/National Geographic film crew have recorded rare footage of humpback whales intervening in a killer whale hunt. Gray whales migrating along the coast of California, US are often targeted by orcas. One mother and calf's journey was being filmed for the BBC series Planet Earth Live when the third party became involved in the drama. Onlookers suggest they were deliberately disrupting the hunt."
And, right. I have about fifteen minutes' worth of work left to get me through the day, and since I'm at the front desk I feel very comfortable with just pulling out my knitting and reading something once I've taken care of what I've got. (I was delighted to discover during lunch that one of the shades of purple in the Warlock Sock is an exact match for the shirt I'm wearing, which I bought maybe a month or two ago. Since this is the outfit I'll be wearing those socks with eventually, that was damned encouraging.) So I think it's time to post this and wind things up.
Crossposted from Dreamwidth with
comments made.
So, I don't think this yarn wants to be a pair of socks. I think on some level I already suspected, since I started knitting from it without halving it into two balls first. I let myself take the risk because the yardage was so good I was very sure I'd have some left over afterwards (especially with a contrast yarn for the toes and heels), and since I didn't want to have two separate balls left to find a project to use up afterwards. But I think ever since I saw this shawl using the same yarn and colorway as I've got, I started wistfully thinking about using this yarn to make a shawl instead.
And this morning I did a smidgen of browsing on Ravelry in my projects queue, and decided that what this yarn might really prefer to be is a Catkin shawl. Still paired with the black, for the stripes at the top and the border at the bottom, but with the rainbow yarn allowed to do its messy exuberant thing in the main section. And this is a pattern I've been wanting to do for a while -- the thing that kept stopping me being finding a pleasing combination in sufficient yardage. I have enough rainbow and black both to do this. I think we have a winner here...
Links from Tumblr / Twitter / Facebook:
Nature goes ahead and publishes study explaining how to create deadly mutant bird flu -- "After months of controversy, the journal Nature has published the details of an experiment describing how the avian flu can be modified into a human-contagious form. The publication has prompted critics to warn of a possible human disaster, should the details of study get into the wrong hands or the mutant virus accidentally escape the lab. And this incident highlights growing concerns about unchecked scientific inquiry, the mounting potential for academic censorship, and the ongoing development of increasingly powerful and dangerous biotechnologies."
Owl petting a dog
Lincoln High School in Walla Walla, WA, tries new approach to school discipline - suspensions drop 85% -- "Toxic stress comes from complex trauma, she said. Complex trauma ain’t pretty. It’s when your dad’s in prison AND your mom’s a meth addict AND she’s too drugged out to move in the mornings, so you’ve got to take care of your little brother, get him fed and off to school, AND you’re despairing about being evicted for the third time because she hasn’t paid the rent and the landlord’s screaming at you to do something. Or your dad’s a raging alcoholic AND he beat the crap out of your mom again last night AND the cops came and took him away at 2 a.m. AND the EMTs took your mom to the hospital and you hardly slept a wink and you’re frantic with worry because you don’t know what’s going to happen, but you’ve got to stay cool or otherwise you’ll have a complete meltdown. Or your fat step-dad’s sneaking into your bed in the middle of the night AND you’re too terrified to move because he says if you say anything he’ll kill you and your sister and your mom, who’s depressed AND doesn’t talk much anyway. Teens who live with complex trauma are walking post-traumatic stress time bombs, says Turner. They teeter through their days. The smallest incident can push them into a full-blown meltdown. Some kids run away. Some explode in rage. Some just mentally check out. 'In flight, fight or freeze mode,' Turner explains, 'survival trumps everything else.' So when a kid who’s got complex trauma feels threatened or overwhelmed, exploding in rage at something that most people wouldn’t even shrug over is a perfectly normal response. That’s worth repeating: exploding in rage, getting pissed off, stomping, hitting….it’s all normal. Until a school helps kids learn how to control their emotions, they’ll just keep losing it. For some kids, erupting is a stress reflex response."
This Hot, Kitten-Toting Fireman Wants to Make You a Drink -- "Sometimes when the marketing geniuses in advertising try to tap into the female psyche, they get it all wrong. But sometimes it's so spot on that it's like they've been reading your diary."
And all of the above was from last night's Tumblring, after I got home from Grandma's and in and around reading that book that I didn't borrow from Dad -- today I got in to work to find myself at the front desk for the first few hours, since the receptionist had a doctor's appointment. So I settled in and got some work done (and checked my LJ friends list) and then was told the receptionist had called one of the supervisors and didn't think she'd be in today at all. So, unplanned day at the front desk, and no time left to Tumblr unless I get on it when I get home tonight.
A few links from my Yahoo! page:
Smallest mammoths found on Crete -- "The smallest mammoth ever known to have existed roamed the island of Crete millions of years ago, researchers say. Adults were roughly the size of a modern baby elephant, standing over a metre tall at the shoulders. Remains were discovered more than a century ago, but scientists had debated whether the animal was a mammoth or an ancient elephant. A new analysis of the animal's teeth suggests it falls closer to the mammoth lineage."
Battling the brown tree snake in Guam -- "The snakes, which are mildly venomous, have caused many problems. They get everywhere, and people have even woken up with them in their beds. The island's power system is regularly shorted out by snakes crawling on the lines. It is so frequent the locals now call power cuts 'brown outs'. But the biggest impact has been on the wildlife - it has been decimated. The forests here are eerily quiet. Now the only place where the Guam's native birds, such as the koko, can be seen on the island are in cages in a captive breeding centre. 'The brown tree snake has had a devastating impact. Ten out of 12 native forest bird species disappeared in 30 years,' says Cheryl Calaustro from Guam's Department of Agriculture. 'The birds here evolved without predators. They were quite naive. And when the snake arrived on Guam it ate eggs, juveniles, adults. Whole generations disappeared.'"
Infection causes one in six new cancer cases: study -- "Largely preventable or treatable infections with viruses, bacteria and parasites cause about two million new cancer cases and 1.5 million cancer deaths each year, said a study published Wednesday. This amounted to about one in six of the 12.7 million new cancer cases reported in 2008, said the report in The Lancet Oncology journal. 'Application of existing public health methods for infection prevention, such as vaccination, safer injection practice or antimicrobial treatments, could have a substantial effect on the future burden of cancer worldwide,' said the report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. Four infections, hepatitis B and C, human papillomavirus (HPV) and the Helicobacter pylori stomach bacteria, accounted for the bulk of the cases, some 1.9 million -- mostly gastric, liver and cervical cancers."
Humpback whales intervene in killer whale hunt -- "A BBC/National Geographic film crew have recorded rare footage of humpback whales intervening in a killer whale hunt. Gray whales migrating along the coast of California, US are often targeted by orcas. One mother and calf's journey was being filmed for the BBC series Planet Earth Live when the third party became involved in the drama. Onlookers suggest they were deliberately disrupting the hunt."
And, right. I have about fifteen minutes' worth of work left to get me through the day, and since I'm at the front desk I feel very comfortable with just pulling out my knitting and reading something once I've taken care of what I've got. (I was delighted to discover during lunch that one of the shades of purple in the Warlock Sock is an exact match for the shirt I'm wearing, which I bought maybe a month or two ago. Since this is the outfit I'll be wearing those socks with eventually, that was damned encouraging.) So I think it's time to post this and wind things up.
Crossposted from Dreamwidth with
comments made.