You were perfectly fine . . .

on my way to San Diego

I'm about to leave for San Diego to be with my mom for her surgery tomorrow. I tried to post last night, but typepad was kind of slow--not sure what's up with that.

Thanks for the sage advice re: the scarf pictorial. I called my mother-in-law, told her the "book of finished projects" story, and she agreed. She DID clearly think that was odd, but was gracious enough not to say so. :)  I sort of wish I'd just gone for the breaking in idea, but imagine how odd she'd find me then . . .

In the meantime, here are a few other pictures for your perusal. First, Cavendish--she is finished at last, and folded carefully awaiting presentation to my sister as a house-warming present (she just bought her first home).

Made with Noro Silk Garden (complete with weeds and brambles, just like a real garden) on 5mm needles using the pattern from Jane Ellison's Noro book (it's on the cover). Very simple, a little boring to knit, but really worth it, I think.

And one of two armwarmers knit from the remnants of the picture-to-be-taken-later scarf. I loved this yarn, and didn't want it to go to waste, so I knit the Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers from SnB Nation. If you get this book and want to knit the armwarmers, EMAIL ME and I'll give you the pattern errata. The chart legend is wrong, and if you haven't knit cable-type-stuff before, this will piss you off. I promise.

Next, the present for my mom--you've seen the scarf already, but I also got her the latest Knitters. She has to sit for four hours tomorrow morning before her surgery with a wire injecting blue radioactive dye into her boob (to find the sentinel nodes nearest her tumor and check them first to make sure it hasn't spread), so I figured she could use some light reading material.

And finally, a present for me from France. This will keep me happy for quite a while.

By the way, with each of my six--count them, SIX!--Phildar magazines, I received a letter/coupon for 5 euro off of a 30 euro purchase. All I have to do is present said letter/coupon when I make my purchase at a Phildar store . . . in France. If you live in France or are planning a visit soon, and you would like to put one or more of these letter/coupons to good use at a Phildar retail outlet near you, email me and I'll send them to you. I would hate for 30-euros-worth of coupons to go to waste. :)

Wish us luck tomorrow, and thanks to La for lighting a candle for my mom. Be safe.

a picture is worth a thousand words . . .

Except when you forget to take one. Oof. I knit my mother-in-law a gorgeous (I can't help being immodest here) lacy scarf from Alchemy Synchronicity (silk/merino blend, rich color with that sheen that silk gives, soft enough to wear against even sensitive skin with no itching). I carefully pinned it out and blocked it. And last night I gave it to her (a late birthday gift).

But I forgot to take a picture first! Wah!!!

So I'm taking a poll. Please feel free to add any suggestions you might have. Which would be weirder: (1) sneaking into the house when she's not home, finding it, and taking a picture, or (2) asking her if I can take a picture for my blog, then explaining what a blog is (hopefully without raising any curiosity in her that might lead to her actually visiting said blog)?

In other news, I would like to point out that the United States Supreme Court is rapidly losing my respect. I don't say that lightly; I hold our Constitution and those who guard it in the highest esteem. I don't do religion, so to me, the Constitution is as close to a sacred document as I get.

From Bush v. Gore (a shameful moment for the entire court, in which the "strict constructionists" suddenly saw something to read into the Constitution, and the "judicial activists" were suddenly in favor of strict construction), to Scalia's "don't you dare question ME" memorandum opinion, I haven't been as impressed as I'd like to be.

And now we have a new low. Lofton v. Secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families, 04-478.

On Friday, the Court began considering whether to take the case of gay foster parents in Florida who are challenging the Anita-Bryant-inspired 1977 Florida law that prevents all homosexual couples in that state from adopting children. And today, Monday, before those of us on the West Coast had even had our morning coffee, the Court refused to hear that case (along with hundreds of others), doing so without any comment explaining said refusal. Cowards.

I'm not surprised. The right wing of the Court got hammered by Dobson and Falwell, et al, for their (bitterly split) decision acknowledging that criminalizing private homosexual sex was unconstitutional. So they don't want to get their fingers singed again. And if they pander to that constituency again, they risk leaving an opinion out there that future generations will study alongside Dred Scott and other shameful Court episodes.

So they're just going to leave millions of gay Americans (and foster children in Florida) hanging in the breeze. Disappointing.

By the way, if you find the Supreme Court as interesting as I do, here's a great blog/site to check out: SCOTUSblog. It's written by a law firm that does a lot of work before the Court, and includes links to the official records. Pretty cool.

[Brief case background: Florida Gov. Jeb Bush maintains that the children, often products of troubled and unstable backgrounds, should have both a father and a mother. Supporters of the law say that the state of Florida has the right to promote "traditional mother-father families" if it chooses to do so. Opponents point out that Florida allows singles, divorcees, people with disabilities, and even in some cases convicted criminals to adopt. And they argue that a blanket prohibition against gays adopting children is based in unlawful discrimination against gays and homosexuals.]

breaking news

Looks like I will have some part-time legal work soon, doing real estate transactions, which is right up my alley. :) I kind of have a weird feeling about it, but I think it's just nerves. We'll see. Meanwhile, work = good.

Also, I'm going to be teaching a felted tote class at my LYS in Walnut Creek. I'm pretty excited about this. If this class works out, maybe I'll be able to teach some other stuff too. I enjoy knitting so much, and finally feel experienced enough to help other people pick up new skills. Plus it keeps me from being my usual hermity self.

Jeez this post is dull--I'm even boring myself. Lately I've been really feeling the need to DO something, something that matters, that I can look forward to accomplishing, that I can look back on in my elder years with pride. You know? Since I graduated from law school and passed the bar in 1990, I haven't really done anything that made me beam with pride. (We're leaving aside all motherhood issues here--if you have kid(s) you know what I mean, and if you don't, just trust me on this: it's not the same kind of pride.)

And the real problem is that I would need to choose something and stick with it--not change my mind midstream. I'm really good at getting things started, but unless I'm really passionate about the goal and/or the process to the goal, I'm not so good at the keeping-going or the finishing-up. And the fear of choosing the wrong thing or failing at whatever I choose is kind of keeping me from choosing anything at all.

Stupid, I know.

Does anyone else feel this way? Like you're just on an endless treatmill of working, paying the bills, taking care of your family, and trying to be sane/productive/not unhappy? Do I just need to up my dose of Zoloft? :)

Here's a cause I could get into: passing the ERA. Yep, you heard that right. I heard an interview with Ruth Bader Ginsberg last night on NPR, and she talked about the ERA as a symbol, an important one, that would acknowledge the equal place of women in our society. And I think she's right. Maybe it would be "only" symbolic, but I think justice is justice, and symbols ARE important.

Also, I've gotta think: who would vote against this? And why? If the Republican party can try to amend the Constitution to institutionalize bigotry against gays and lesbians, why can't we try to amend the Constitution to acknowledge the fundamental equality of men and women?

I'm just saying.

In other depressing news, I listened to most of the Gonzales confirmation hearing yesterday. For those of you that missed it, here's a paraphrase:

SENATOR: If confirmed as Attorney General of the United States, would you do X?

GONZALES: Well, you know, I would have to go down and confer with the attorneys in the Department of Justice about that and see what they have to say, and really do what is to be done in that situation.

SENATOR: Um, okay. Um, I'm not sure if you answered that question, really . . . [silence from witness] . . . Well. I'll move on, then. You are the head of the White House's Office of Legal Counsel, which issued a legal opinion setting this administration's policy with respect to torture and interrogation. This memo re-defined torture as "inflicting pain tantamount to that caused by organ failure or death," which basically exempts out (i.e., allows U.S. personnel to engage in) a lot of activities most reasonable people would consider to be torture. That remained the official (albeit secret) policy of the United States government for nearly 2 years, even after it was leaked to the press and made public, until shortly after the President nominated you for this position. Do you support torture, Mr. Gonzales? And as Attorney General, the highest law enforcement position in our country, will you continue to support it?

GONZALES: The Office of Legal Counsel developed that memorandum, and it was only addressed to me. I don't recall who requested it, and even if I did I wouldn't tell you. It's not my job to choose what actions the Defense Department will take, and basically I refuse to take responsibility for, or even acknowledge, anything I have ever said, written or done.

Seriously--his answer to almost every question was a long and obscure way of saying "I'm not going to tell you that; it's none of your business." That doesn't really inspire confidence, does it?

I love the way Maureen Dowd put it yesterday: "You know how bad the situation is when the president's choice for attorney general has to formally pledge not to support torture anymore."

Yeah, what she said.

knit one, crochet one

My first two FO's for the new year:

First a heart scarf for my mom, from the knitty pattern in the breast cancer special "fall surprise".

And a closeup:

I used a hand-painted yarn I bought at Stitches West last year and a size 10.5 needle, and I divided the yarn in half and knit each half until I was almost out of yarn for that side, then grafted the two halves together (hence the diamond shape in the middle).

The pattern was very easy to follow and memorize, and easy to adapt to a different yarn and size. I just love that Stephannie Roy. :) (She created the hungover movie star eye shade too.)

I did a little crocheting too--while clearing out and organizing my yarn in the garage (have I mentioned that I have a lot of yarn . . . ?), I found the remnants from a baby blanket I crocheted for my friend's son. [It frightens me to realize that this child is now in junior high school.] This was back in the day before I learned to knit, and before I discovered that there was anything other than acrylic yarn.

I crocheted it with "Twinkle" yarn from Super Yarn Mart--does anyone else remember this place? It was yarn heaven back in the day; I don't know when they went out of business, but it's a shame. They had lots of free patterns and I used one of them to make the baby blanket--it was sort of a puffy shell pattern with stripes of different pastels. It was one of the first "real" projects that I made to give as a gift, and I really liked it.

When I found the last bits of my Twinkle yarn, I just couldn't throw it away. And I couldn't give it away, because no one would appreciate it the way I did. Is that weird? :) So I crocheted a little pillow from it. I don't know what I'll do with it--it will probably become a baby gift in time.

My mom's surgery is scheduled for a week from Friday, on January 14th. Keep your fingers crossed for clear lymph nodes! She's doing really well keeping her spirits up, and I sent her a couple of knitting books and magazines so she can get her mind off the cancer stuff and think about what's REALLY important: knitting. A girl has to have priorities.