Well, the weekend is now over and now it’s time to check and see how I did with my To Do list…

1. Go grocery shopping: It took 2 trips to get everything, but I finally got all the ingredients for my Thanksgiving dishes that I’m responsible for AND food for the entire week.
2. Sort through all the boxes in the spare room: I did go through all the boxes and trash anything that wasn’t needed or in bad shape and donated other items.  I still have quite a few things that were put back in boxes until I can get the furniture in there and arrange everything the way I want it.
3. Rearrange and prepare for the Christmas tree: Well, if there was one thing that didn’t get checked off this list, I’m glad it was this one.  This will be one of the quicker items on the list, and I have a little more time to get ready for this.
4. Turn Dashing mitts from a WIP to a FO: Knitting on Christmas gifts was my “break” from cleaning this weekend, and luckily I got this project finished Sunday afternoon and still had some break time to get my next item checked off.
5. Swatch/cast-on for my next project: After calling it a night for cleaning, I was able to sit and relax to some Life and knitting.  This meant I was able to get work on the swatching (got it right on the second pair of needles!) and cast-on before the week started.

At first I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get everything done, but then I realized that I had a lot of time consuming chores on there for just a few days time.  I’ve got to say, 4 out of 5 isn’t bad for a first attempt at my weekend projects!  I’ll make sure to post pictures and my review of Dashing some time this week, whenever I get a spare moment from all the holiday craziness.

After a weekend full of hard work, I wish I could say that I’ll get a little time to relax during the week to get ready for my next weekend To Do list…but I can’t.  At least I get a short work week to get a little more done, but I’ll need that since I’m responsible for making cookies and mashed potatoes for 20+ people Thursday.  This will definitely be an adventure because I have never made this many mashed potatoes at once, and I have no clue how I will get them transported to the dinner location.

Wish me luck!

A new sweater jumped onto my needles a while back. It’s being knit in fingering weight and has a gajillion stitches. So, the progress has been slow and not very picture worthy to date. This morning though, I decided I had enough of a sweater to really show off the amazing color that is the Wollmeise.

Sweater, Begun

The yarn is Wollmeise 80/20 twin in Spice Market. The pattern is Slipped Hours, which I think will show off the yarn, and hopefully my figure, to it’s best advantage.If all goes well, it will look like this in the end.

So far, I have had some mixed reviews of my gauge and the overall density of the fabric that the yarn/needle combo that I have choosen is producing. See, the Wollmeise has a tendancy to act a little like cotton when knit. It does not bloom. At all. And so, the fabric is not very dense at all.

At first, I was very worried, but as I knit more, things are looking much better and I think that in the end, I will be happy with the rather drapey fabric that is produced. It may mean that some waist shaping will be needed as the fabric won’t cling the same way it would normally, however, I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

See? Swatching; it’s for chumps.

p.s. Hubby, if you are reading this, I really really need a light box, tripod, and light for Xmas. Just sayin.

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So, I recently wrote back to Quiznos at the suggestion of Jon on Twitter, and with the editing help of Dave once again. Jon has apparently been following the Subway saga along with a handful of other people… and thought that it may be an appropriate next step. I couldn’t agree more. In fact, I’ve had this thought myself, and if I remember correctly Jon had posted about it previously on Facebook or MySpace or Twitter or some social media site. Memory and my Googling skills fail me in finding that now, though.

I have high hopes on getting a well thought out response or two. I sent the message below to Mr. Jones, the same message to Mr. Bordeaux, and a slightly modified one to a few other email addresses that I managed to dig up. I enjoyed the candid reply from Mr. Jones before, although I was unable to get any further comment from Mr. Bordeaux or his team with whom he was going to share my email.

From: ERiC AiXeLsyD <world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Subject: The Quiznos Toasty Torpedo™ ads?
To: “Jones, Tony” <TJones2@quiznos.com>

Hello Mr. Jones,

I would like to thank you again for the response to my email last week regarding Subway’s lack of allergy awareness, cheese tessellation, appropriate responses to customer feedback, and poor decisions in general. I understand and have learned first hand that good communication is a key component to the Quiznos way of doing business. I also appreciate your expedited replies, and hope that you can gain something knowing how cavalier your competitor’s attitude is toward genuine customer concerns. I am glad to be a gauge of what you do at Quiznos, and I would like to hope that my feedback is valuable.

In sharing my recent adventures in email with some friends, I have noticed a theme that has come up in suggested queries for your fine establishment… and I must say that I have indeed wondered the same thing myself.

Are you using “little people” models for the toasty torpedoes ads, perhaps children or pygmies? I did get a turkey torpedo a while ago, and I did make a mental note that it seemed to be nothing more than a bread stick made into a sandwich. I thought that the toasty torpedo looked bigger in the ads… but I didn’t quite connect why until recently.

A quick Google image search led me to this photo, perfect for a reference for our purposes…

I’m sure you can also see it now that I’ve pointed it out. I, my friend, cannot un-see it. There is no way that the hand in the above graphic is correctly proportioned to the Toasty TORPEDO™. I’m actually tempted to go get another one in an attempt to re-create this photo to see how accurate it may be. I can guarantee though, that if I did in fact hold a toasty torpedo like that, that it would most certainly fall apart. Mine lasted for about a bite and a half before it fell apart.

In Googling, I found multiple odd references to this ad campaign. Does Quiznos make any official statements to counter these goofy bloggers? I found one guy that thinks it looks like a cigarette ad. One guy seems to have a Freudian problem and these people seem to think that one commercial purposely compares your torpedos to a cup of human excrement. Okay, I have to give them that one. I mean… you did hear of 2 Girls, 1 Cup right? I’d find it and link to it, but some may find that offensive/distasteful and I’m sure you know how to use search engines. These people even seem to come to the same conclusion as I have toward the end of their blog… as well as a commenter on this blog.

I understand that all advertising is not one hundred percent factual, and that things tend to be exaggerated, but I really find this image rather misleading. While I understand that I’m not going to walk into a Quiznos any time soon and find a HAL 9000’s creepy sexually suggestive oven cousin, two gorgeous scantily clad women eating a sub rather suggestively, two naked rednecks in a tub of water over a campfire, a baby with the voice of a grown man, anyone suckling on any wolf teats, or even genetic mutations with Latino accents and tiny guitars floating in the air singing praise of your sandwiches… I feel that you owe some level of honesty to the customer.

While the other ads are easily discernible as attention grabbing goofiness, this one seems rather straight forward at first — yet dishonest upon further inspection.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter as well as the thoughts of any other marketing people or regional managers in the Quiznos family.

If I didn’t feel that I was already taking up too much of your time, I wouldn’t mind getting into a discussion on the violent phallic imagery that the shape and name of these subs not-so-subliminally suggest. I mean, really? Torpedo? Bullet? How many feminists have already written to discuss this? I feel that this topic is a less pressing issue though, to be saved for another day.

Torpedoes away!
-Eric

If you feel the need for a background to any of this, this is where it all started, and how it played out:

• Five. Five dollar. Five dollar… foot up your ass.
• Subway Customer ID: 1918316
• Quiznos writes back before Subway!
• So, we have a response from Subway!

That’s my initial message, Subway’s official non-response response, me sending it to Quiznos for comment and getting one, and finally a response from Subway telling me that someone else will respond… which as of yet, has not happened.

…All of which leads us to this posting.

After the sweater marathon this weekend, I decided to work on a smaller and easier project on my list.  I do have another sweater to cast on for, but I figured that a slight break from a big important project will help keep things going smoothly and give me a break so I don’t get too stressed out.  I’ve been listening to a local radio station that is already playing Christmas music, both to help me get in more of a Christmas mood this year and as motivation to get those gifts done in time.  So far it’s working out great, and I’ve had very few Bah Humbug moments.

I started working on my next project yesterday at lunch.  I knit my gauge swatch like  good little girl, and to my surprise I got the stitch gauge on the first try!  I was so excited, because gauge swatches haven’t always been so kind to me in the past.  One thing I failed to pick up on was how off my row gauge was.  In most projects that isn’t much a concern because the pattern will tell you to knit for a certain length, but with Dashing it will make the mitts monstrously long.  Now that I’ve almost got one mitt done, I’ve had to frog everything and start over because I can’t have Go-Go-Gadget Armwarmers as a gift for my aunt.  Luckily it didn’t take any time at all to knit that one up, so I’m not quite as worried about losing that time.

Today I’m going to work on another swatch with one needle size smaller and see if that helps with my row gauge.  Let’s hope it works!

WHAT SIZE TO BUY

2.25 kg / 5lbs                          Serves 4 – 6

3.6 kg / 8lbs                             Serves 6 – 8

4.5 – 5.6 kg / 10-12 lbs        Serves 10 – 12

9 kg / 20 lbs                             Serves 12 – 15

HOW LONG TO ROAST

Always weigh your turkey after it’s stuffed – you might need to use bathroom scales.  Allow 40 minutes per kg (20 minutes per lb) at 190c  /  375F  /  Gas mark 5.  (If you’re using a fan oven, the temperature should be 170C – that approximately 365F).   Make sure that the juices run clear; if not, return to the oven for 20 minutes and test again.

New knitting method that is! Yeah, if you’re not a knitter, prepare to be bored.  You may in fact want to stop reading right now. This post is all knitting, all the time, and fairly technical knitting with no pretty pictures. You’ve been warned.

So I’m normally a long tail cast on kind of girl. It’s what I was taught when I was first learning to knit and it’s what I still tend to do out of habit unless a pattern specifically calls for a different cast on. Now that doesn’t mean I think it’s the best or the nicest cast on. In fact I don’t really like how tight it can be (I’m a fairly tight knitter and have very tight cast ons and cast offs), but I haven’t really thought about it much or done anything about it.

Ok, rewind a month or so. I was getting ready to knit a pattern from a book. The book was a library book so I had copied the specific pattern I wanted then returned the book (yes, I know I’m going to copyright infringement hell, don’t judge). Unfortunately when I went to start the pattern, the very first instruction was “Using double loop cast on, cast on 169 stitches.” Umm . . . double who what? Much internet searching turned up nothing. Apparently no one else had ever heard of this cast on either. So I put myself back on the wait list for the book at the library, wait wait wait, and finally get the book again. I looked up the mysterious cast on in the index of techniques and had a bit of an epiphany.

The double loop cast on is like doing a backward loop cast on with a double strand of yarn. Instead of using a slipknot to secure the yarn to the needle you give yourself a long tail then use a larks head knot to secure the yarn to the needle. Then, holding long tail and the working yarn together, you proceed as if doing the backward loop cast on.  When you’re done casting on, you drop what’s left of the long tail and begin knitting with the working yarn only, knitting each double cast on loop as a single stitch.  It results in a very bulky, somewhat stretchy cast on edge that feels sturdier than a regular backward loop cast on.

So I figure out the mysterious cast on, fiddle around with the pattern a little more, and finally decide I’m not going to knit the darn thing anyway.

Fast forward to this weekend. I’ve been trying to get started on a project (yes, another gift so no pictures) and having the worst time with it. I did a quasi swatch (i.e. cast on some stitches on the needles I planned to use, knit a few rows, measured, and figured it was close enough). I cast on and started knitting, but it just wasn’t looking right. When I was several rows in I measured and it definitely was not the size it was supposed to be. Not surprising considering my stellar swatching skills. So I stopped and knit a proper swatch. My row gauge was a tad off, but my stitch gauge was dead on. What was wrong with the measurements on the actual project? I kept looking at it and tugging at it (when in doubt, yank on it, you might stretch it out enough to get gauge). Finally it dawned on me – the cast on edge was so tight that it was pulling everything in and throwing the gauge off even several rows up. Hmm . . . What I needed was a cast on that was wide, loose, and stretchy. Ah-ha! I started over with the double loop cast on and, voila, perfect gauge!

So yeah, pretty excited about my newfound cast on. I needed to tell someone and CodeMonkey kind of glazes over when I talk about knitting and the cat pretty much ignores me unless I’m holding a kitty treat. Am I the only one who didn’t know about this technique or is it really as underutilized as the lack of internet references seems to indicate? Pardon me while I go gloat over my perfect gauge some more.

Suppose you have a pattern written for 18 stitches/4 inches gauge and your preferred yarn is 22 st. And suppose you are a small size. In a general sort of a sense you might find that one of the larger sizes is exactly what is needed.

I have a way of working this out, but it is so complicated that whenever I try to explain it to anybody, they automatically assume that I am good at maths and that I’m explaining something difficult. When in actual fact what is happening, is like this….I’m hopeless at maths and there’s bound to be a simpler way.

So, I asked a friend recently who is good at maths and upon explaining what was required, he immediately came up with this:

Number of stitches. Eg I use some number at the main part of the front/back which is straightforward knitting. I figure borders, edgings, different sized needles, all those sorts of things that come into play at the start of a bottom up piece, are likely to be unreliable. Maybe this is completely wrong, I don’t know. Let’s say 90.

Gauge of the original pattern yarn gauge. Let’s say 18.

Gauge of the substituting yarn. Let’s say 22.

Take the number of stitches, divide by the original gauge, multiply by the substituting gauge.

Ie 90 divided by 18 multiplied by 22.

Look at the answer you get. If you can find the equivalent number of stitches (or close) in a larger size, you have arrived! That size should give you exactly what you want.

NB: if row gauge is important, I guess you do it the same way???? I didn’t ask.

Sue Loci, if you are reading this, you probably know the answer. Fill us in please!

…well two actually. The first experiment was trying out a new yarn, New to me at any rate. I thought I’d give some microfibre a try. Called ‘Smooth DK’ and made by King Cole, it promised to be soft and I had seen some colours that suited a project I had in mind. So I bought some, and yes, it is soft and very nice to work with. Not quite what I expected, but I think that is more me than a fault with the product. I don’t know if I am the only one who has thought about this, but I wonder if others hae also concluded that DK nowadays is more akin to 4ply. Or to put it another way, 25 years ago, I am sure I remember double knitting being thicker than it is these days. Frequently I pick something up thinking it will be 4ply, only to find that it is Double Knitting. Perhaps it is me, suffering memory loss, but I have to say that given the quantity of knitting I did throughout the time my children were growing up, you’d think I’d have remembered. It would be interesting to find out if gauges have changed. Needle sizing changed, just to confuse everyone, or rather the needles stayed the same but were described differently, now in mm which is mercifully much easier to understand when reading patterns from across the pond.

I’ve started to use King Cole Yarns more often in recent months and like them. I love the feel of this one, and the nice stitch definition.

The other experimental part of this tale, is the pattern I was working on. I decided to try and do a woven design, just for the fun of it, and I was really pleased with the way it turned out, although I have to say that I think I should have done another ribbon or two each way to make the weave tighter, but you live and learn through such experiences. This was the result, a little fragranced pillow  (lavender scented) made with the King Cole Smoothie. It’s a bit of a fiddle, but I really like the result so will undoubtedly do it again in the future.

I’ve started feeling desperate about not producing enough FO’s (Finished Objects) lately.  So I’ve cast on a lovely bulky red/purple yarn for the Jenny Cloche.  Theoretically this should be a quick knit, but at my crawling pace of late… well, we’ll see.  I plan to knit the style without the big floppy bow (eg. this Raveler’s lovely project), because I am not a big floppy bow sort of person.

There is still an ever-present sock in my purse.  It’s possible that the sock is part of the reason I feel so angsty about finishing something.  I was cruising along cuff-down and about to do the toe decreases when I discovered that my creation would not slip over the recipient’s heel.  I was concerned that I wouldn’t have enough yarn for three socks, so rather than having a mismatched sock for myself (yes, I would happily wear mismatched hand-knit socks, I am that sort of kooky), I had to frog it.  O!  The agony! Actually, at the time I felt I took my gauge mistake rather philosophically.  I frogged, changed needle sizes, went a size-step over on the chart, and cast on again immediately.  It is only now that I feel this terrible weight of not finishing anything for a long time.  Some sort of delayed frogger’s-remorse.

It’s my own fault, of course.  I was using my favorite Grannie Linda Siskiyou sock chart but I failed to realize that the Zwerger Garn Opal Saphir 8ply yarn I previously used successfully with this chart is actually a very different yarn from the current project’s Zwerger Garn Opal Harry Potter 4ply yarn…

I know, I know, I honestly didn’t see that it was a different ply count until I looked up the proper names just now.  But the yarn difference was visible too, if I had only paid attention to the “gauge instinct”.  You know the one?  The one we all ignore at our peril, the instinct that tells us that there is NO WAY that we are making a garment that will reasonably fit the body part it is intended for.  When we ignore the gauge instinct we wing it, even though we know better, and don’t stop even when some innocent bystander asks if we are ‘making that sock for a little nephew’?  The Yarn Harlot does much better justice to this subject than I ever could.   I can’t find the specific story I’m thinking of on her blog, so I’m guessing I read it in one of her books.

As an aside:  I love the Yarn Harlot’s writing, I added all her books to my holiday wishlist, even though I’ve enjoyed half of them from the library already, just because they’re great to refer back to in times of knitterly trial.  She normalizes all those painful mistakes and reminds us that most  knitters do make them, because all knitters are human.  She’ll make you feel better about your stash guilt too – really, she is delightful!

Back to my sock gauge confessions:  it wasn’t just the yarn size.  Way back in March, I discovered that the TKGA Master Knitter Program had changed my gauge (for the better!).  So I should have also been taking into account that my gauge had changed when I started casting on for a sock without doing any kind of gauge swatch.

So yes, foolish mortal that I am, I paid no heed to either the yarn size or changes in my gauge before casting on blithely and knitting a too-small-sock.  That was about a month ago.  Due to this knitting-impediment called graduate classes, I have gotten only so far as to make it back to the heel flap.  And thus my story has come full circle, I have cast on a hat in bulky yarn hoping for some near-term Finished-Object gratification… I also have bulbs to plant this weekend, apple butter to can, applesauce to make and then can, a porch railing to stain, and a few other little projects in mind for this weekend… so as I said, we’ll see.

That said, let me make myself feel better by sharing photos of another project I finished this summer, that I only recently remembered to take photos of:

Captain Capacitor (pattern here):

Captain Capacitor - knitted toy

Resisty the Resistor (pattern here):

Resisty the Resistor - knitted toy

I made these cute little guys for my favorite geek, my husband, who has been taking electrical engineering courses over at the community college.  I made sure to pick a resistor banding pattern that really meant something – no point in making an inaccurate geek-gift!  As for the patterns, they were free, delightful, and easy to follow.  And Anna, the designer over at the Mochimochi Land blog, has a zillion other irresistibly cute (very kawaii inspired) patterns to whet your toy-knitting appetite if you don’t know any budding electrical engineers.

Until next time, keep your needles clicking…

Since even before the close of our Synchronic BOV group buy, I have toiled day after day in search of the next perfect group buy to offer to you. I have shed blood and tears, as I typed and searched for the perfect item to bestow upon you. At long last … I found it. One of the most baller of items, a product that will not only look incredibly cool – but is functional as well! A system so keenly devised as to allow you to have all of your information in ONE location at just the touch of your finger tips! I present to you, the Blitz R-VIT DS!

have been authorized by Blitz USA to offer this very rare product at a special one-time-only group buy price. A minimum of 10 confirmed orders is required to receive the benefits of this special. It is required that you have a on board navigation screen in order to use the system. Blitz USA does not carry many of these on hand, thus there is up to a 2 week wait for the items to come in from Japan from the date they are ordered.

Our Blitz R-VIT DS Group Buys:

I really liked Darjeeling. Really liked. It was a good place to go. Really good. Darjeeling to put simply, was one of the most fun packed places a traveller could visit. But a bit of history is needed before I continue this blog post.

Darjeeling is a British invention. The hills and surrounding countryside has been there since India smashed into Asia 50 million years ago, but it was the cold loving British, needing a place to rest from the heat of their old capital that founded Darjeeling as a hill station and a centre of tea growing. In 1835, the lease was secured on Darjeeling by the British and so begins the history of one of India’s oldest tourist resorts. Right from the beginning, Darjeeling has attracted a multitude of visitors from both far and near to take in the hills, enjoy the cooling climate and to revel in some of the best tea grown anywhere on Earth.

Of course, being perched on top of a hill, people needed a way to get to the hill station. You could have taken a horse and cart. You could have walked. But it was an 80km hike uphill. And there was a need to get the tea off the estates and to Calcutta for export. So in 1881, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway opened for business. Granted UNESCO heritage status in 1999 (later joined by the Nilgiri and Shimla Railways) it represents one of the finest examples of 19th century engineering to be found on Earth and is fully operational. It is also fantastic fun to travel on!

I have never seen so many people smile as when the steam train puffed into the platform. Whether they were jaded local or train spotting geek, there was never a scene of so much happiness as that surrounding the steam filled frolics around Darjeeling station. Shunting away, whistling to and fro and with the local traffic playing a cat and mouse game with the locos, the Darjeeing Himalayan Railway is probably the happiest place on Earth. Or one of the happiest. You see, we humans do not care about speed and efficiency (the railway takes twice as long as the equivalent road journey), we just want fun! And there is plenty of fun to be had by riding the rails here in the hills of North East India.

And my goodness, do the staff of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway put on a show! Despite the multitude of languages thrown at them (remember, this is world famous railway) they handle us passengers with remarkable patience and skill. Spectacular in every way, my only complaint about the railway is that there are not enough trains put on. Demand far outstrips supply, especially in the peak tourist season for the ‘toy train’ as it is locally known. Whether you want to take the little tourist ride around Darjeeling or the full seven hour journey down onto the plains, make sure you are ready to wave at all passer-byes on your rail journey. Despite the daily running of the train, the local people are very friendly and are obviously proud that this train passes right in front of their homes.

To be honest, I was happier than a kid in a sweet shop. Like every other person, I love trains! My father was a fireman while in Sri Lanka, my Uncle was a train driver and my Grandfather was a station master. So this form of transport has always resonated with me. Plus compared to any other form of transport, the train is infinitely more civilised. Gently trundling through the countryside, with complete right of way, able to stretch the legs and chat with my fellow passengers, the train is the most enjoyable way to travel India. Whether a quick rattle on a local train, a long distance journey or even a mountainside treat, the train is the only way to see India. And the only way to see the hill country of Darjeeling is by the toy train!

Getting there and away:

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway runs pretty much everyday from Siliguri to Darjeeling calling at every station en route. In the monsoon (May to September) there are plenty of landslips and interruptions, but outside this, it will pretty much run come what may. There is also a special tourist train that does a loop around Darjeeling, taking in the war memorial at Batasia and the museum at Ghum. Tickets can be purchased anywhere on the Indian Railway network, online or through travel agents.

I have the flu. I don’t think it’s oinkbarf, though, thankfully. Anyway, I’ve been too tired for these couple of days to knit anything that requires any amount of concentration. An unfinished pair of knee socks seemed the perfect project, so that’s what I picked up from my knitting basket.

Well, I finished the leg of the second sock and started to turn the heel… when I noticed something was off.

I noticed the second sock is like 2 cm smaller in circumference… What?! HOW!?

Had I cast on too few stitches? Nope, 72 stitches in both socks. Had I used different needles? That’s only possible if I’ve written down the wrong needle size (3 mm) when I wrote down how I knitted the first sock. A possibility, of course, but I kept the original needles together in a plastic bag with the first sock and the yarn, so it’s not likely.

The only explanation is that in the past two months, my gauge has become considerably tighter (from 2,1 stitches per cm to 2,5 stitches per cm, in fact). I find that strange, because something like this hasn’t happened since I first started knitting, when my gauge got looser with practise. This is kind of disturbing o.O I hope my gauge doesn’t continue to change this dramatically because it would be nice to be able to not knit a pair for a sock for a few months, if I didn’t feel like it, and still have it come out the same size as the first one when I finally do.

The sock is, of course, also shorter than the first one… But still I don’t think I’m going to rip it. These aren’t flashy socks and I’m not going to show off the whole leg anyway, so I don’t see why anyone would notice they don’t match when I’m wearing them. Both do fit me, so it’s ok… I guess.

BATTLE: Gainesville, FL: In Remission: LP

Don’t be discouraged by a front cover showcasing a kid holding his head in his hands – he’s not crying. 18 tracks (even 4-second “Chi-Kank”) of non-stop furious yelling, blast-beating, breakdownin’, gang-vocalin’ hardcore fun really backs up the name “battle”. There is no special remastering or electronic synth; just the talents of the band itself (or lack thereof. Hey, after all it is punk). But this is not just music to listen to. Give the lyric insert a good two or three reads. Each word is so clear; you won’t find yourself dissecting metaphors, trying to find out what the song really means. Tracks like “Breathe. Think. Learn.” and “No Holds Barred” end with a high, positive note and strong, fist-in-the-air anthems. I think crust punks, NY-style hardcore kids, and metal(core)heads alike might appreciate this CD because it has elements attributing to each taste, musically anyway. I can’t really see anything not to like. Make sure not to shut off your music player at the end, because there’s a secret track waiting for ya. You’ll know what I mean. “BATTLE! And don’t forget the exclamation point ya son of a bitch!” (Ambika)

BATTLE!Gainesville,FL: Demo 2008: CD

  These two tracks definitely bring back the familiar BATTLE! excitement, beginning with a tempting drum beat slowly picking up pace in “Dear Dad”.  I say excitement because when I hear that particular beat starting a song, it’s like Harley Flanagan said about seeing Bad Brains in the documentary American Hardcore. Well, I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it was something along the lines of “When you heard that beat, you couldn’t wait for it to rip.” The metal-infused guitar strumming is played up with a sort of high-pitched piece a minute into the song, with a sufficing dirnt to end it. “Bricks” features guest vocals by Kat from Boston/Connecticut-based ROADRAGE. The vocal trade off sounds great, kinda like Nausea or Aus-Rotten a la “The Second Rape”. (Ambika)

WEBSITE: http://www.myspace.com/battle , http://www.rileykenney.com/battle!/store/

Satish Jha / DNA
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 14:44 IST
Ahmedabad: Gujarat is set to become the first state to have all of its railway tracks in broad gauge. Of almost 5,000km of railway track in the state, 3,000km track has already been converted into broad gauge. The rest 2,000km stretch of railway track will be converted into broad gauge in next three years.
Announcing the development, minister of state for railways KH Muniyappa on Monday said that soon Gujarat will have all of its railway tracks on broad gauge.
The minister was in the city to review the progress of different projects of the Western Railway in Gujarat, for the first time.

Impressed with the development work of the railway projects and other infrastructure in the state, the minister said, “The remaining 2,000km of tracks will be converted into broad gauge in the coming three years.”

He said that of the 2,000km, conversion of 600km railway track into broad gauge is already underway. The minister said in the railway budget 2009-10, Gujarat was allocated around Rs442.62 crore for the current financial year. The fund would be used in laying new tracks, gauge conversion and doubling of lines, and electrification.
Muniyappa also said the Gujarat government had shown interest in doubling the Gandhidham-Kandla track and a survey was being conducted for the same.
He said that the state will share 50% of the cost for doubling the track from Gandhidham to Kandla Port.

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Very busy in the bodgery making chairs.  I’m using a chair stick to make sure the set of six matches.  This is a stick with all the relevant measurements marked on it – height of front leags, where the rung mortises are, splat height and widths.  I find it very useful, it was used in days of yore too.  It’s very quick using a gauge instead of measuring everything.  When I had 12 asylum seekers visiting in summer to help make a charge of logs up for the charcoal kiln I made a length stick and a thickness gauge, made it very easy for everybody, and overcame any language difficulties.  Mind you it didn’t stop one guy from insisting on carrying about 1.5 cwt logs on his shoulder and running with them.  He had been in the Somali army and had to run with sand bags to make defences when the other side were advancing, how easy we have it!

Here’s a photo of my day student of Saturday

He had a good time on his birthday making a stool.

The autumn colours were rather drab, as it was wet most of the day (but dry under the tarp in the bodgery).  Then the sun came out and the colours were rather fine.

I’ve taken the top section for my blog header.

Mind you, today it was very wet and windy all day and the River Wharfe rose quite a lot quite quickly.

Never mind day indoors tomorrow learning how to be a tutor – for free.

These are some of the tools I use most often when I crochet.  The calculator is a must when trying to figure out stitch and row counts for a garment.  The little blue tubes are cushions for your crochet  hook.  They come in different sizes and I picked these up at Michael’s.  I have a box of stitch markers and a box of claw barrettes.  I use the claw barrettes to hold my pieces together before sewing.  Another box holds the hooks I use most often.  I’ve found that a row counter can be quite handy when making tops or sweaters.  The little metal ruler on the bottom left is a stitch gauge.  You can slide the metal pointer to the 4″ mark and measure the stitches that fall into that range–very nifty.  And of course, I use my little stork scissors and a pen and paper for notes.  You’ll notice the pretty tins that hold some of my supplies.  These came from Brighton, the jewelry people.  Every time I buy a piece of Brighton, I save the tins.  In the photo below, you’ll see all my supplies in a small carry-all.  This carry-all has many compartments and helps me to keep my chair-side table from looking too cluttered.

Tool Caddy

This is perhaps the squishiest, warmest hat I’ve ever made. (It may also be the biggest hat I’ve knit, but I’ll get to that.) I was so excited to discover that I won this pattern over at Cosy’s blog because I’ve been meaning to purchase this pattern, especially now that I have a pile of handspun that is just begging to be knit into smaller projects. I settled on some of my early wheelspun: AVFKW corriedale in The Candle’s Nimble Flame.

Using size 10.5 needles, I cast on for the larger size medium (if you have the pattern, you’ll know exactly what I mean), and knit to the decreases. The hat is knit back and forth, so I wrapped it around my head and realized that it was going to be way too big. I tend not to swatch with hats, as most of the time it seems like I can eye it and the hat will fit someone, but I hadn’t really taken into account how thick and thin this handspun is, and clearly my powers of estimation are less accurate when evaluating something knit flat. I frogged what I had and started over, casting on 8 stitches fewer and beginning again.

I finished late last night, and I absolutely love the earflaps and the shape of the hat. It may still be a bit big — I didn’t think really think about row gauge, and I probably should have accounted for that in adjusting for my surprisingly thick yarn.

That said, this may become my go-to hat for super cold days, dog-walking, hiking, etc. I can fit my growing expanse of hair under the hat (see first picture), no problem, and this hat is loose enough that I can stay warm without flattening my hair while out walking with Boh. (This matters on days where I have to head back to campus for afternoon and evening events.)

Most importantly, this is an incredibly satisfying, soothing knit. I have a lot going on this week, and I just really needed to finish something last night — to feel productive, to see progress on at least one task, and I think finishing this super squishy hat and snapping a few (bleary-eyed) pictures helped me to sleep more deeply.

I might even cast on for another before the day is over.

Thanks, Cosy, for a clear, cute, satisfying, straightforward pattern. I highly recommend the Super Hero Helmet Hat!

Any and all wonkiness in the land of sizing rests solely on me, the variation in my thick and thin yarn, and my lack of patience! (I just needed to get to that garter stitch happy place, and ignored gauge issues in order to blissfully knit back and forth — and I do not regret it!)

Gauge – Cranium feat Cella Dwellas (remix)

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We bummed around in Canton, spitting watermelon seeds at traffic. Painkiller Pauly with a Rasputin type demeanor. Jimson Weed Jaqui, fake as her namesake.
Clutching the least of what they owned. Stepping out into the unknown. Forced into happiness, never admitting what was shown. With a number eight razor, they claimed their love. Twenty four gauge needles and no need for gloves.
They paid me to take their portraits, capturing them in their nuisance. I took the offer and then let myself out – I was never one for the smell of burnt skin and attempts at sterilization.
We started where they met, but we couldn’t find a place to sit. She tripped on a stone and landed palm first on a syringe. He carried smelling salts and isopropyl alcohol (91%). It was romantic for fiends and fiends they were. Stunning tramp,  passive aggressive junky.

(CFD.net.au – Contract for Difference, Share, Forex, ETFs, Commodities Traders) –

Japanese Nikkei Index has risen 1.3%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edges up 0.1%, and South Korean Kospi Index soared 1.7% after the Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at their lowest levels ever.

In the macroeconomic front, Japanese core machinery orders, a gauge observed to asse …

<!–TITOL:

Asian stocks rise moderately, despite weak Japanese data; Euro and Pound easeFITITOL–>

Japanese Nikkei Index has risen 1.3%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edges up 0.1%, and South Korean Kospi Index soared 1.7% after the Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at their lowest levels ever.

In the macroeconomic front, Japanese core machinery orders, a gauge observed to assess trends on corporate spending, have advanced 0.5% in August, far below the 2.3% advanced expected by the markets.

Euro and Pound retreat from resistance levels

EUR/USD rally from 1.4650 low on Wednesday reached prices right above 1.4800 on Thursday, the highest levels in the last two weeks, but the Euro could not hold those levels and has retreated during Asian session to 1.4705 low. At the moment of writing, the EURo trades at 1.4725; 0.45% below its day opening level.

GBP/USD rallied from 1.5855 low on Wednesday to intra-week high at 1.6120 on Thursday but the pair, rejected at those levels retreated to prices right above 1.6000 at the moment of writing. On a longer perspective, the Pound remains consolidating in a range from 1.5815 to 1.6100 for the last two weeks after its decline from 1.6465, (Sept 23 high).

USD/JPY remains trading in a range above 88.10 support level. The Dollar fell on Thursday from 89.40 high to 88.15 and picked up during Asian session to reach prices around 89.15 at the moment of writing.

Source: Asian stocks rise moderately, despite weak Japanese data; Euro and Pound ease

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