lolajl: August 2006 Archives

Pattern: IK Fall 2000, Priscilla's Dream Socks; also available in Simply Socks by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts

Yarn: Die Stolle Wolle (discontinued)

Amount: One and half skeins

Needles: 3.00mm Addi Turbo

Gauge: 7 sts/inch

Knit: Started sometime after Fall 2000 and finished August 30, 2006

This sock has been long in the making, the delay being due to an inability to figure out how the heel portion was supposed to be done. The yarn (now sadly discontinued) has a really nice, soft feel, with a fairly loose twist. I don't think this will stand up to heavy wear, so I'll likely wear this around the house. I'm not too happy with how the kitchener stitch is on the bottom with that ridge on the inside (which is another reason for wearing it around the house - I am not going to be on my feet as much inside).

Now, here's the obligatory "socks on feet" shot:

VK Corrections

It seems that there have been several mistakes in the fall 2006 for the sock patterns. Meg Swansen's pattern was totally incorrect, and so needs to be replaced by this. And Cat Bordhi has some clarifications for the Flow Motion Socks. Incidentally, she is working on two new sock books using the architecture technique that she's come up with. I know I'll definitely get these books when these come out.

KnitML

Genia alerted me to an XML schema named KnitML that was developed by Laura Porter. This is really intriguing, and could very well be a good step forward in making patterns consistent and easy to generate, even creating illustrations of what the pieces would look like. Of course, I'm thinking about how I could make use of it in my knitting inventory application. I have some code that I wrote long ago to generate basic patterns; these code need to be converted into a format usable in ColdFusion. But there is always a potential for better ways to do stuff.

Check out Romancing the Yarns. It's run by a group of romance authors who also knit. Good writing to be had there! I've got it listed on my Bloglines account . . .

Genia's tagged me. I had to think a bit about some of the answers, and I still have to think long and hard about a couple of questions.

1. One book that changed your life: Step-by-Step Knitting by Mary Walker Phillips, printed in 1967 and evidently bought at Toys 'r Us - there's a sticker that is still on the the front cover and price is $1.97, obviously discounted from the printed price of $2.50. This is the first knitting book I ever had as a child and I tried to teach myself from the book. But I just couldn't figure out the next step after casting on and knitting the first row, as what I had didn't look like the drawn illustrations. Doh . . . these are illustrations! If I'd had someone around who knew knitting, I think I would have been able to get over this hump much earlier.

2. One book that you've read more than once: I Heard the Macromedia ColdFusion MX7 Web Application Construction Kit, by Ben Forta, affectionately known in the CF community as CFWACK

3. One book you'd want on a desert island: Law of God, by Archpriest Seraphim Slobodskoy

4. One book that made you laugh: Umm . . . I'll have to think about this. There are so many books that have made me laugh in the past.

5. One book that made you cry: Angela's Ashes: See my answer to number 5.

6. One book that you wish had been written: How Not to Make Stupid Mistakes in your Twenties That Can Have Lifelong Consequences

7. One book you wish had never been written: Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler (ditto!)

8. One book you're currently reading: a romance novel (okay . . . several! good for a hour's read from cover to cover and a good pickup since the endings always come out good for everyone)

9. One book you've been meaning to read: Black in the White House by Ron Christie

10. Tag 6 people: Consider yourself tagged!

Reverse Segregation?

Heard on the news about this black bus driver in Louisiana who ordered nine white kids to sit at the back of the bus. One of the mothers complained about this to the principal. Principal told the driver that either the seats be assigned to the children, or they be allowed to pick whatever seats they want to sit on. Well ... guess what the bus driver does?

Yes ... he makes nine black kids sit at the back, with small kids sitting on the laps of older kids. What the . . . ??? Can anyone tell me what's wrong with the picture?

Ordinary Objects Displaying Religious Images?

Okay. Here's another "what the . . . " - this having to do with the appearance of religious images on various object. Every single day this week on the NBC local news, which I watch in the morning, there's been a report of the image of Virgin Mary showing up on turtles, a piece of toast, and other objects which I just can't recall. The reporters are having fun with this during their banter as they transition to other news. Now . . . aren't people reading just a bit too much into seeing patterns that look like a religious figure? The Orthodox Church, of which I'm a member of, tends to take a very sensible approach with incidents like this. They simply don't automatically believe every single report like this.

Usually, what happens is the priest will question the person or people who reported this, and then if he finds it credible, will report to his bishop, who may then come visit the parish, question everybody, and have a look at the object, say a prayer over it. It may take months, or even years, before it is recognized as authentic. Remember . . . Jesus said that there would be others who would claim to be prophets after him.

Pluto, We Hardly Knew Ye.

Apparently because Pluto crosses Neptune's path and it has not completed its circuit around the Sun, it's no longer a planet. I wonder if astronomers will revisit the issue if they discover a planet with sentient, living beings in a distant solar system that has the same orbital path as Pluto.

JonBenet Ramsey Murder

There are so many things that just rubs me the wrong way about the case. First off, Karr's family has hired an agent so they can pursue movie and book deals in order to pay for a fancy lawyer who will do all he or she can do to keep him out of jail. Let's connect the dots, dear readers . . . child pornography + big money deals = stay-out-of-jail. At the ultimate bottom line, a child is still dead and child pornography is still around and the murderer (whoever it may be) is still walking free.

And now there's a former classmate who claims that Karr confessed to the crime to him/her 10 years ago. Yes, 10 years ago when JonBenet was killed. If this turns out to be true, maybe the classmate should be persecuted for obstruction of justice. All those 10 years that police were chasing dead-end leads and focusing on the family who adamantly stated their innocence (to be true, they lawyered up almost immediately after the incident, thus causing the spotlight to focus on them).

The Job Hunt continues, with yet another contact. Wish me luck . . .

Meanwhile, a Boston blogger, Subway Knitter, has managed to get into WaPo. Congratulations! It is my fervent hope and prayer that I will soon rejoin the legion of knitting commuters again very soon.

Okay, so . . . here's the sock that languished for years and which I finally completed (still working on its twin). You see that groove just below the light turquoise band? This is what I'm not so happy about. I did kitchener stitch on it, and I was expecting it to lie flat like what you usually get when you do the kitchener stitch on top of the toes, and other items. Well - not so here.

Here's a close-up. The picture is a bit blurry because I couldn't get a good enough focus. But look at the area just below the wide light blue band. Can you say, chafing big time? Especially when you walk around with shoes on. Unfortunately, the picture in the original IK article doesn't show the bottom of the displayed foot. And in Simply Socks, it's all just illustrations and you don't get a real sense of what the knitted item is supposed to look like. There's no real substitution for photos, in my humble opinion.

Here are the updated of the two socks that I'm working on for the Summer of Socks:

The first one is done in Opal yarn, and the second one is done in Dale Baby Ull yarn.

Here's a really interesting contest that I just came across: My Dream App. It was opened to the public yesterday, and already there are 1461 submitted ideas so far and counting - wow! They want you to submit ideas for the killer Mac application, and three applications will be selected and developed. And you get part of the royalties on the Macintosh application if your idea wins. Of course, read the fine print. Contest ends September 1st, and then they'll be weeding out the chaff from the wheat, with help from you folks. Yes, just like those reality shows where you call in to vote off people every week. I've got quite a few ideas for that killer app . . .

As you can see, I've refreshed the design of the blog a bit using one of the styles from The Style Contest; I changed the colors in the image and CSS to reflect my favorite color, purple. There are still a few kinks that I need to work out, such as the comments page, for example.

But all in all this should make the blog more readable and cleaner. I love judicious use of white space and readable text - it makes for more pleasant experience when surfing the blogs, while at the same time reflecting the personality of the blogger. Let me know how you like the new look, if you think the text needs to be bigger, and so forth.

When I reach a good stopping place, I'll put up notes of how I did the redesign. It's really very simple (hint - set up another blog to experiment with the new look before you switch over).

First . . . Knitting!

Still working on mother's sock and mine as well. Can I say, I love shortrowing the heels? It makes so much sense, and this is what you find on commercial socks. I even managed to finish the sock which I'd been stuck on for the past 3 years. The rest of the pattern from IK Fall 2000 was clear reading. However, I'm not so in love with the way the toe that was shortrowed from the top looks. When I do a kitchener stitch on it, I end up with a noticeable ridge on the bottom that kind of digs into your foot.

Need to take pictures of what I've done so far . . .

Job Hunting and Resumes

As you all know, I've been looking for a job. This week I had my third interview - unfortunately, I won't get to meet with the recruiter's client because they really want someone who knows some other languages which I don't know. However, yesterday someone close to me forwarded my resume to another company - let's see what happens with that. Hubby is also chasing down a job lead, but I don't want to say too much about that just now.

While catching up on blogs, I came across a couple of interesting posts having to do with job search and resumes. Yes, the first one deals with Silicon Valley tech jobs, but I think principles apply - Guy Kawasaki: on "Everything You Wanted to Know About Getting a Job in Silicon Valley.

And the second one is more tailored for European jobs where you have to submit a CV, which from what I understand, is extremely ennumerated and can and should include personal details. Still the advice he gives are common-sense.

Bad Language:

• Don’t make absurd claims. In one case, I read: “I am interested in the triumph of justice.” I’ve seen a couple of candidates who claimed to have worked for MI5 or MI6. In general, try not to scare your prospective employers.
• Get someone else to sanity-check your application. I’m sure that the chap who wrote “I have a close, loving relationship with my two sisters,” meant it innocently enough but would have benefitted from putting it differently.

Corporate Responsibility

Meanwhile, I'm sure you've all encountered corporations where if something went wrong, and the company acted like there wasn't any problems or kept stonewalling as long as possible. A few weeks ago, there was a big fuss being made about allegiations of poor working and living conditions at the iPod factory in China. Well, Apple decided to investigate. Once they'd done so, they put a report on iPod Manufacturing up at their website:

Like many of you, we were concerned by reports in the press a few weeks ago alleging poor working and living conditions at a manufacturing facility in China where iPods are assembled. Our Supplier Code of Conduct mandates that suppliers of Apple products follow specific rules designed to safeguard human rights, worker health and safety, and the environment. We take any deviation from these rules very seriously.

In response to the allegations, we immediately dispatched an audit team comprised of members from our human resources, legal and operations groups to carry out a thorough investigation of the conditions at the manufacturing site.

I give them props for being forthcoming about their discoveries and what they intend to do in future, not only here, but at other locations as well.

Blog Update

I've been tinkering around with the blog to take advantage of new MT3.3 features. Some of these features should make for cleaner code management and organization. Then, I'll implement a new look, derived from one of the styles submitted in The Style Contest. But I also have a life, so I have to divide my time. Please excuse the look of the blog . . .

I have now banished the Dragon sock to a spot next to my bed, pending further decision and the unlikely appearance of the other skein. and I've started another sock, using the Here be Wyvern pattern, with Opal sock yarn. Don't ask me what number this is - I lost the label a long time ago and I don't know if this color combo is still available. It's nice to be able to work with patterned Opal that is all dots and not stripes of "fair isle" design. I learned how to do provisional toe cast on and I really dig this method - makes it so easy to do toe-up socks. I'm used to figure 8 cast on, but it is rather fiddly and takes a bit of concentration to do well. This sock is progressing rather well - cast on last night and worked on it all through morning local news and catching up on the blogs.

I need to take care of some business at MVA and hope to make good progress there should there be a long line (although Friday is supposed to be not as busy - we'll see). I've already got mother's sock cast on and waiting for the Wyvern pattern to commence on it. Let's see if I can get these completed by end of the weekend - that would be nice, eh? I can always dream . . .

About those two job interviews - well, no word. I sent my code sample to the non-profit association but never received a reply to my email. I think I probably write them off. Still no word from the consulting company, so I'm assuming I didn't make the cut. Oh, well, next Monday I'll call up one or two temp agencies and see about getting an appointment.

It looks like quality tv shows are starting to come back this fall, and that includes John Lithgow. I've always enjoyed his work - he is an incredibly talented actor whose repertoire ranges from comedy to drama. Not only that, but he's an author too. I'm watching the news this morning, as usual, and I just saw a commercial advertising a new comedy on NBC titled something like "Twenty Years". it looks like an exploration of a friendship he's had with another guy for years, and funny situations that they get into. It'll be a real pleasure to watch an intelligent comedy that doesn't feature bleeped words or stupid plots again.

It looks like this skein for the sock is the only one I have. And it may not be enough to complete the twin. In which case, I have no choice but to start another pair of socks. Need to get going with mother's socks. At least I have enough yarn for this.

The pattern has you turn the heels by shortrowing. This is the same technique that Priscilla Gibson-Roberts talked about in "Simple Socks: Plain and Fancy". And also in Interweave Knits, Fall 2000 issue, I think. Now, I've got a sock that has been paused at this point for the past 3 years because I couldn't figure out the instructions, which were very wordy. Even the illustrations in the book didn't help much. I prefer real photos (which is the only real annoyance I have about her books coming out from Nomadic Press - all the illustrations are line drawings and I have kept the old Sweaters the Old Way edition rather than buying the new edition because of this fact).

The instructions from the Here be Dragons pattern is so clear and simple to follow. Short, sweet, and to the point. It also helps that Purlwise had a series of pictures illustrating each steps. Now, it'd be great if someone could produce a quick vid of the process. After turning heel, it was just fast race to the end. And I immediately started second sock.

Today I went to Borders to see if the new issues of VK and Interweave Knits were in - nope. So over to Barnes & Nobles - paydirt! VK finally has patterns that are sane and which I wouldn't mind wearing. I'm simply fascinated by the sock patterns. I like the pattern that Meg Swansen's written up . . . but what I really want is the pattern of the brown socks that she wore in high school. Luckily, I recognize the patterns used, so I can figure something out. And also shorten the length - I don't go for knee-his (unless I'm living close to the Arctic Circle).

I've experience a slight setback with socks. I discovered that I'd somehow added an extra stitch, and since I couldn't figure out where this happened, I had to rip back to a row with the normal amount of stitches. Yes, I could have done a normal k2tog somewhere, but this is a patterned sock and it would have bugged me. Fortunately, with diligent knitting, I should be back to where I was before ripping out.

Wonder of wonders, I've got not one, but two job interviews. One today and one tomorrow. We'll see how it all pans out. Although I'm feeling dicey about the interview for tomorrow . . . I did some checking around on this company and have a gut feeling all isn't what it seems to be.

Today is going to be another hot, hot day. Heat index is supposed to be between 110 to 115. Ouch. Right now I feel like taking a nap but can't because of the interview I've got to go to (which fortunately is only about 15 minutes away from here).

Will I be selling this Knitting Inventory app? No. The database structure itself is open source and only for personal use. And besides, you need to have ColdFusion installed. It's a server app with special features, which requires some geeky knowledge in order to install, and of course at least a minimum knowledge of programming.

However, word is that Adobe is working on technology that will allow one to create stand-alone ColdFusion applications that you can just drop into your Applications folder and run right off the desktop. If that does happen, of course I'll be taking a look at this.

I suppose someone can whip up a PHP version - it'd be great if someone could take Sheila's database schema and do their own version. I would do this myself, but I don't know PHP, and it'll take me a while to get familiar with this.