You Can't Beat the Classics.

Groaned inwardly on seeing this article, as I knew exactly how things were going to turn out.

Plus sized or not, many of us just do not have the bodies what's as one of the testers called "fashionable as f#ck." I know that I certainly don't, having been born with these terrible deformities known as "boobs," "hips," "a belly," and "a be-hind."
Luckily, with age came, if not wisdom, at least a bit of awareness. In essence:
1.) I'll Never be weight-chart thin, much less model thin. That's fine. Have seen images of my body in all sizes hanging in places like the Prado, the Louvre, Boston's MFA, heck, even back in Buffalo at the Albright-Knox. My shape runs through history: from the Sumerian to Syriac goddesses to Renaissance / Baroque / Romantic era beauties, right on up to the Strong, Can-Do Social Realist Ladies. I even see me in the Contemporary galleries from time to time; mostly among New England artists like Andrew Stevovich (one of my favorites).

2.) Given that I'm such a classic beauty, wouldn't it stand to reason that, instead of trying to squeeze myself into spandex sausage tubes, I might stick with Classic styles? Have some go-to items in my closet that date back to even after college. Heck, tailoring outside my realm of ability really doesn't cost that much.

3.) Buying online is convenient, but I don't trust it for most places; sizing varies widely. Have had to return items from just about every on line outfit. Better stores (like Brooks Brothers) have very helpful, not to mention well trained staff with a Good Eye to help pick what looks best.

4.) Good Undergarments are *key.* These are the last items one should be skimping on. Get fitted properly for a bra; you'd be amazed at how many women aren't wearing their correct size.

Yeah, that's me.

Heimweh.

Just got a postcard that the Frenchie painted for me.



The bridge spans the Seine. Home's in the green just below the fort at the crown of the hill. When I left, the apples and plums were in full bloom. Am told that, now, the hedgehogs (who we encourage) are out in full force. I really like hedgehogs; it's a pity they don't seem to be indigenous to this part of the world.

A belated Happy Hannukah to my friends out there who celebrate.

Days like what we are experiencing right now are gifts. I'm off to take advantage while I can. Enjoy your Saturday!



Fresh Pond, Cambridge looking surprisingly like a Hudson River School painting.

Wanted to post some pictures from a recent Urban Expedition. Also wanted to talk about another added bit of fuel to my neurotic fire about returning to France in the near future. All this is getting put on the back burner, because Harry's back from Africa, safe and sound, and that trumps all.

While I was away, the kitchen and bathroom were slated to be renovated. For whatever reasons, those two jobs didn't happen. (Bathroom may start in a month or so; Kitchen's been put until next Spring.) Instead, some more work on the top floor of the house was done and a new roof was put on. Though this all was pretty painful to live through, the results are spectacular.



This is the view to the north of us from the new balcony that replaced the poorly-designed, rotten and dangerous spare room that was out my bedroom door. Dreams of conservatories and pergolas gave way to a nice, un-roofed space suitable for container gardening and basking. I think we'll be putting up a couple more bird feeders and some flower baskets as well.



New roof, new shingles, a new door and window. Take a look at that roof: isn't it beautiful? It's aluminum. Don't think that there are many of those in my neighborhood. Some informal testing with an infrared thermometer has shown that, under the midday sun, the aluminum is around 40 degrees cooler than the neighbors' asphalt one...let's hear it for early adoption of neat technologies!

Since the wall was going to be exposed again, it was going to need new shingles. I love the cedar and wish they weren't so expensive/labor intensive to pose. A whole house covered in these would be pretty impressive. As it stands, Pavel wants to paint the house blue. (Personally, I think Falu Red would be really nice with the white roof.)

The door and window got switched around in all this. Take a look at the window. It's important. (Here's a better view:)



When I first saw a new window go in, it was clear and fixed. This kind of made me sad, as I was hoping for another opportunity for a cross breeze. Little did I know that, hiding under a pile of old shingles and masonite, was this new take on the old stained glass that you find in lots of these late-Victorian era houses.



(View from inside - I put my bed right under it.)

Pavel likes stained glass a lot, and often, we'll take evening walks around the neighborhood just to admire the backlit windows often seen here. He particularly liked this window because it reminded him both of a rose and sunrise, both equally important as this is an east window.

Bit by bit, the house is starting to take on the personality of its owner. I'm hoping that he's starting to appreciate it; it's got a lot of potential just waiting to be released.

Sesame Street, Math Help, Helpful Bugs.



What more could one ask for this Summer?

Words, maybe:

One two three
Four five six
Seven eight nine
Ten eleven twelve
Ladybugs
Came to the ladybugs' picnic

One two three
Four five six
Seven eight nine
Ten eleven twelve
And they all played games
At the ladybugs' picnic

They had twelve sacks so they ran sack races
They fell on their backs and they fell on their faces
The ladybugs 12
At the ladybugs' picnic

They played jump rope but the rope it broke
So they just sat around telling knock-knock jokes
The ladybugs 12
At the ladybugs' picnic

One two three
Four five six
Seven eight nine
Ten eleven twelve
And they chatted away
At the ladybugs' picnic

They talked about the high price of furniture and rugs
And fire insurance for ladybugs
The ladybugs 12
At the ladybugs' picnic
12!

This week's Weekly Standard just arrived and I see that the cover story is about the notorious Barnes Affair. This is something I'd been looking at for some time because the Barnes Foundation (much like its Brahmin Sister, the Gardnner Museum) was one of my favorite art collections (heck, or even places in the world).

The precedent that this case (followed by a similar challenge by Princeton against an endowment specifically to its Wilson school) set regarding charitable giving is a pretty frightening one, even to a non-lawyer type like me.

Are You Experienced?

This is a little list of knitting techniques making its way around the webs. In bold are the things I've already tried/made. In italics are the things I plan on trying/making.

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn (kind of pricey)
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting (have done this inadvertently, actually, by twisting the cast on stitches on a circular needle. Liked the effect, so kept with it.)
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with bananafiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting: knitting items on, or to be left on the street (Find this actually kind of annoying.)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf

Teaching a child to knit
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Household items: dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…
knitting socks- or other small tubular items- on two circulars
Dying with plant colours
Knitting items for a wedding (currently working on something, in fact.)
Olympic knitting (Knitting would be ruined by competition.)
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit (Want to teach the Frenchie how to knit. He's kind of resisting, though.)
Bobbles
Knitting for a living (Heck no!)
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac Knitting and purling backwards (Don't actually enjoy this.)
Machine knitting (Have a machine; haven't broken it out of the box yet, though.)
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
JewelryKnitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom (a tricotin? Have done that.)
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Win first place at the fair (Can't be bothered; did win an honorable mention once on something that I made for a friend's daughter. Friend was so impressed, she entered the item into the local fair's needlework judging. Was kind of pleasantly surprised by that.)
Hair accessories (Head bands count?)
Knitting in public (Back when I took the train, was always knitting.)

I think that I'm more interested in learning new techniques than trying out novelties or drawing attention to myself. To each his or her own, right?

Tonight, We Are All Pyongyang.

Bless Peter Graves



For some of the funniest self-perpetuating one-liners ever. (May he rest in peace.)

***

(For those of you who loved him earlier than the above, one of my favorite versions of the theme from "Mission Impossible:")

Lace.

I'm smart, but feel dumb most of the time. Far more adept manually than what I give myself credit for, am easily intimidated by anything that looks 'too hard.' What is too hard, though? Especially in terms of knitting.

Started knitting some basic lace patterns back in the day when we could bring knitting on airplanes. I liked that it both occupied my hands and kept me focused mentally when nervous fatigue would make reading, for example, impossible. Last year, got through two gorgeous scarves: Falling Water (first lace ever!)



Katia's Alpaca. This languished for nearly a year before I got up the energy to block it. It's currently on pins and wires in my room as I type.

and Nancy Bush's Stork's Nest.



My version: knitted with some lovely-looking, but kind of difficult stuff from Vermont. The color name is "antique brass." Love that.)



Where's my closeup?! Close up!

Both took forever because I saved them for flight/airport time, but both were incredibly satisfying and made (in my opinion) lovely gifts.

Was really pleased with the flat-knitted results (especially when, after Falling Water, I figured out how to do purls without twisting the stitches. This may seem obvious to 85% of the population, but I'm left-handed, so was a bit of a casse-tête.)

Anyway, based on all this success, decided to take thing further and try a circular (yes, like a doily) bit of lace. The joy of this is not having to purl every other row unless it's germane to the pattern. Decided on Brooklyntweed's interpretation of Hemlock Ring:



My dad was kind of nonplussed by this project as, during a difficult family time, I was cursing like a stevedore late at night when everyone was trying to sleep. Found some errors in the pattern, y'see, and was having a hard time resolving them/'reading the lace'/concentrating in general. Lace problems: solved! Family ones?: Not so much yet, anyway.



Finished knitting in Fray-ance chez le Frenchie. Kind of fitting that I end up with a cabbage flower for un petit chou, non? (snort)



Aah, the magic of blocking!
Am so pleased at how this turned out. The Frenchie, also, as one can see.

You all saw what I did for me as a Birthday gift. Was down and out enough to not leave the house for a bit, but could still knit. Decided to try the little bird spreading its wings on the needles construction, as that's kind of what I'm feeling like right now. A new friend's fearlessness and a free pattern (not to mention a huge stash of lace/sock yarn) are what's fueling the latest project:



The Journey of 400m Begins with But a Single Cast-On. It's called Mesange Bleue because "Blue Tit" is something that the 12 year old boy in me won't allow me to call it (snort).

I'd like to do a new lace project a month. Something that'll challenge me technically, hopefully, too. As I'm working on a new physical body as well (more later), would like to make some nice Summery stuff for me.

(We'll see, right?)

I'm Getting/I've Got This Year's Hit:



A blast from the past, ca. 2002. Don't think that much of this is happening in Iceland nowadays.

Eg = ich (ego)
kaupi/th/i = kaufe
ploetu = plat/plate/disk
arsins = jahr/year, sins/dieses = this

***

Neither Pavel nor I speak Icelandic. He seems to think that Kau/pi/thi is the imperative and that the title's exhorting us to buy the record. Have no idea. Fun to lazily conjecture after a good, warm meal on a cold night, though.

Read about this last night in the Yahoo headlines* and thought, oh how ironic. Here's a guy caught lying about his copyright violation who has a history of suing other people for the same thing himself.** Guess the chickens are coming home to roost.

As I'd mentioned earlier, I find some of his work amusing and interesting, but think that he's a somewhat unsavory character. As for the AP, well, they have their own problems, too, with creative depiction of current events. Don't find either of them to be particularly sympathetic, so guess will just sit back and enjoy the spectacle of one purveyor of sketchy media eating its young.

***

*To be read to be believed - funny how they were tying themselves in knots rhetorically to make both Fairey sound like a sort of Robin Hood, but also to make the AP a "legitimate" victim (to those who scan Yahoo news articles) by referring at least three times to the AP as 'the not-for-profit' news agency. Wish I'd have saved it in fact, but it was like 3:00 am and I was not thinking clearly

**Yes, it's Wikipedia, but it's sourced (Take a look at notes 37-40).