tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92740672024-03-07T18:07:32.026-05:00Adventures of a fiber "addikt"I started this blog to share my spinning and knitting pursuits, it's grown to include Reenacting, family, vacations and just about anything else that piques my interest. You'll see lots of friends, family, fun, and a bit of contemplation from time to time, too.Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.comBlogger524125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-91661703013997474832014-09-14T10:42:00.000-04:002014-09-14T10:42:09.247-04:00A little knitting, a little of this, a little of that<div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgefOJ2dKkquWhlsNOcqYScEaUqtd1AHSJE-KIuccUscigIMROHhw0gEe7TCZLXx65nSdzCsXFERWE8h2JLcu3i-e2L47iR5Cy4fcJN9_2qTLmM3HEDd2UymYZlDBUsOBGcbq_d/s1600/WP_20140906_14_44_52_Pro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgefOJ2dKkquWhlsNOcqYScEaUqtd1AHSJE-KIuccUscigIMROHhw0gEe7TCZLXx65nSdzCsXFERWE8h2JLcu3i-e2L47iR5Cy4fcJN9_2qTLmM3HEDd2UymYZlDBUsOBGcbq_d/s1600/WP_20140906_14_44_52_Pro.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a>I haven't been posting my knitting projects on this blog space even though I originally started the blog to talk about fiber, knitting, and whatever else came to mind. I guess Facebook got the majority of the pictures so they only went to my "nerdy" (and I use that term with endearment) knitting and spinning friends. Now that I'm off Facebook, I will start posting pictures here again. Since I started this blog years ago <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/">Ravelry</a> has also come onto the knitting and fiber scene so I post pictures of my projects there. Say hi if you're on Ravelry, I'm Gator. I've even posted pictures on Ravelry of my yarn and fiber stash, more for my own benefit as I keep forgetting I have certain skeins of yarn or bags of fiber.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2PYcxccl8e_rpyJydwLL9eIqfa4_8ZtaXdfQVHH2tjTjXqXGl_IO5JyHzRs8q_15f9XzBt3S87ygVYV95N1o1zUGYKTULd4CCOzqRq6q3GkSolkAHJ-5_1veNiyRWkb5hoA_p/s1600/WP_20140716_12_15_31_Pro+(1).jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2PYcxccl8e_rpyJydwLL9eIqfa4_8ZtaXdfQVHH2tjTjXqXGl_IO5JyHzRs8q_15f9XzBt3S87ygVYV95N1o1zUGYKTULd4CCOzqRq6q3GkSolkAHJ-5_1veNiyRWkb5hoA_p/s1600/WP_20140716_12_15_31_Pro+(1).jpg" height="277" width="320" /></a> Above is the project I am presently working on, it's one of at least three on the needles as we speak, but it's the one I'd like to finish first. It's the Canyonlands National Park Shawl pattern done in fingering weight wool from Mountain Merino Wool. It's a very small company in Wyoming that has a woolen mill and does their own dyeing. I really like the yarn, it's soft but not overly so. This colorway is called desert. It's still growing on me, but the color runs are short enough that they don't pool anywhere so that's a plus. I thought the colors were perfect to represent the canyon areas in the west.<br />
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I also have this blue one above on needles. It's handspun from fiber I bought at the Montpelier fiber festival last year and it really does look better in person. This is a lace sweater pattern from the "Botanical Knits" book and I have the entire body and most of one sleeve finished. I need to finish that sleeve and do the rest of the second sleeve before I can put it together and work on the yoke. I finished a handspun cardigan this spring. I love doing my own handspun sweaters.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQj-ujRW63R42rnbrIyGhB2DJo1lNSAlMJhMmsqN3bLdirxEU2Hzb0XDvbxSN5jCOBOv0ST4jQgIvhKPxciWx44_xThZLFEc-QTiWejzmzCexrOOto3ujTCPMFLwHFAOJruQs/s1600/WP_20140710_20_06_16_Pro+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQj-ujRW63R42rnbrIyGhB2DJo1lNSAlMJhMmsqN3bLdirxEU2Hzb0XDvbxSN5jCOBOv0ST4jQgIvhKPxciWx44_xThZLFEc-QTiWejzmzCexrOOto3ujTCPMFLwHFAOJruQs/s1600/WP_20140710_20_06_16_Pro+(1).jpg" height="320" width="305" /></a></div>
This is the beginning (I know, it's tiny here but I haven't photographed it since it's grown) of a hitchhiker scarf out of this lovely 50% merino and 50% silk yarn that I bought at one of my favorite yarn stores in Jackson, Wyoming. <a href="http://www.knitonpearl.com/">Knit on Pearl</a> has a lot of regional and unusual yarns. This is handpainted locally to their shop in Wyoming. I go there occasionally on layovers from work. I wanted to do a lace shawl with the yarn but there's too much silk in the mix to get it to make pretty lace. This project, however, is turning out well in this yarn.<br />
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I also bought some Manos at the same yarn shop in Jackson last December that I've now turned into a cowl, headband, and mittens. I'm not sure how the yarn is going to wear because it's singles and it's really soft, but I hope it lasts a long time because I really love it. Even though it photographed differently, the yarn is all the same colorway. I intended it all to wear with the grey coat the cowl is hanging on.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBz5_MqcHGOsJYE6iKcnyM6eBnQyhykt5xMw3lejtnHCeHirf1zlFIZKrL_3Bcn-L4zbyfDmGkZVndJhBoarFoR3etTt5InO4o0YUAgNQC5Sh6NQk70BeTel3Z4bUWopHslM-5/s1600/WP_20140217_19_27_29_Pro+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBz5_MqcHGOsJYE6iKcnyM6eBnQyhykt5xMw3lejtnHCeHirf1zlFIZKrL_3Bcn-L4zbyfDmGkZVndJhBoarFoR3etTt5InO4o0YUAgNQC5Sh6NQk70BeTel3Z4bUWopHslM-5/s1600/WP_20140217_19_27_29_Pro+(2).jpg" height="200" width="145" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4VpVTFJ4VI95HYq0wlkc84u03Jt0xWNUcSg8zeYkhOF5_cA6z0x0U2B8lq9QkVjn4PmbquwoMpzl0qD6l2Li03hhIm5e73yYAjFsMWOc3kZQ0j4z-LmUSNlTGhdPnjtsNEMZr/s1600/WP_20140801_20_51_51_Pro+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4VpVTFJ4VI95HYq0wlkc84u03Jt0xWNUcSg8zeYkhOF5_cA6z0x0U2B8lq9QkVjn4PmbquwoMpzl0qD6l2Li03hhIm5e73yYAjFsMWOc3kZQ0j4z-LmUSNlTGhdPnjtsNEMZr/s1600/WP_20140801_20_51_51_Pro+(1).jpg" height="200" width="170" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDofYkLzRcf0WF6Qbfu9l9w8GUkCRVYXSbg4wh62f7B0XokvWi-UyEtVHcqymaZaFBySkahXd_ziGGyRo8srO-teGibtZd6SRRjigScTAryFChSwDkUF1jYOCWGg_bLK_qbJJW/s1600/WP_20140304_08_05_32_Pro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDofYkLzRcf0WF6Qbfu9l9w8GUkCRVYXSbg4wh62f7B0XokvWi-UyEtVHcqymaZaFBySkahXd_ziGGyRo8srO-teGibtZd6SRRjigScTAryFChSwDkUF1jYOCWGg_bLK_qbJJW/s1600/WP_20140304_08_05_32_Pro.jpg" height="200" width="111" /></a> </div>
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I've also been exploring juicing. I watched the documentary <a href="http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/">"Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead."</a> a couple of weeks ago, and using what I learned to make me healthier has been on my mind ever since. The link above will take you to Joe Cross's juicing/eating site which talks about the movie, but there is also a site for the documentary itself <a href="http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/">here</a>. The documentary is really well done and even if you're not into juicing all of your produce, there is a lot of great information and inspiration to live healthier in it. It's on Netflix and Amazon Prime to stream for free.I am really enjoying learning more about releasing the vital nutriments through juicing. <br />
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I got really unhealthy from eating poorly and stress eating while I was traveling so I wanted to get back on track. I'm also overweight (down from obese earlier this year) so I am excited about the weight loss benefits. I know I'm addicted to snack-y types of food, especially when I'm stressed out over schoolwork, so I needed to "reboot" and that's what I am trying to do. I began to do juicing last week but couldn't keep it up because I was so tired, but I realized that I was also trying to give up caffeine at the same time and that was too much for my body. Now I'm just cutting back and not entirely eliminating caffeine while I'm juicing. I also bought a new/reconditioned juicer so the whole process is easier. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPtY-vR8zvedutI6vAAJsze08ck2BL52uGiRNBfw6zgp-cU7JI-I9qX3VMKdNIyRYJGM5ryx6qhslQKuFzGRUEalLcatUiTuVQuPYTzIyr5d6tQxO3nqn5fHzE5UJV4YMhIFKZ/s1600/WP_20140914_09_42_09_Pro+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPtY-vR8zvedutI6vAAJsze08ck2BL52uGiRNBfw6zgp-cU7JI-I9qX3VMKdNIyRYJGM5ryx6qhslQKuFzGRUEalLcatUiTuVQuPYTzIyr5d6tQxO3nqn5fHzE5UJV4YMhIFKZ/s1600/WP_20140914_09_42_09_Pro+1.jpg" height="320" width="237" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio6csiju5xHmFL14s6Uj459mCVF_7A57xq5orQcOIYnsJ0DwXis9-QC5s3VeLEY8y78TQUZvBrjMwuTLjNfrFYPOKvACuAOg6DKmEuFskb5pUMDD5UcTmc3kk6b3m_ULhm204e/s1600/WP_20140914_09_41_13_Pro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio6csiju5xHmFL14s6Uj459mCVF_7A57xq5orQcOIYnsJ0DwXis9-QC5s3VeLEY8y78TQUZvBrjMwuTLjNfrFYPOKvACuAOg6DKmEuFskb5pUMDD5UcTmc3kk6b3m_ULhm204e/s1600/WP_20140914_09_41_13_Pro.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a>I was spending so much time cleaning the old one and it wouldn't get a lot of the liquid out of the fruits and veggies I was juicing, that it made the process more difficult than it had to be. It was great for fruits, but kale? Not so much. So I sprung for the new one and I LOVE it! It's a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&bbn=289913&camp=1789&creative=390957&linkCode=ur2&qid=1356976127&rh=n%3A1055398%2Cn%3A!1063498%2Cn%3A284507%2Cp_4%3ABreville%2Cn%3A289913%2Cn%3A289926&rnid=289913&tag=rebootad-20">Breville</a> but I bought a reconditioned one directly from the factory for less than on Amazon.<br />
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Right now I'm making homemade veggie broth and stock (left picture above) from the pulp from this morning and last night's juices. It will be a good (and free) supplement for my cooking as I usually use powdered broth mix to flavor recipes, and to sautee my veggies in (I don't use oil and don't miss it at all). The recipe is in the "Reboot with Joe" book which has a ton of recipes for foods, juices, smoothies, and ways to use up the pulp from juicing. This time, without trying to give up caffeine, I feel great, but it's only the second day so far. I think I'll be running to the Asian market where produce is cheap more than once a week. They're cheaper and have better stuff than even Trader Joe's. Sorry, TJ.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibq-xTnULrD0pEh8CrmGSzvMyZ99vGOlzULuVuvzioWDdLjGeQUe_ULZxUSxlKZYfxgWwgguSe8San_acCllR2B1CYZqmO37uS_Vd2Mvbtd9FMo_7sKtStwfPCEK_pEbTGS3b0/s1600/WP_20140914_09_48_24_Pro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibq-xTnULrD0pEh8CrmGSzvMyZ99vGOlzULuVuvzioWDdLjGeQUe_ULZxUSxlKZYfxgWwgguSe8San_acCllR2B1CYZqmO37uS_Vd2Mvbtd9FMo_7sKtStwfPCEK_pEbTGS3b0/s1600/WP_20140914_09_48_24_Pro.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
And school. Hmmm, school. I finished my BA (with a 4.0 average, I'm proud to say) at the end of last year and I'm working on an MA now. The coursework for graduate school is ridiculously intense compared with what I did for my BA. I find I'm pretty burned out from the extremely heavy work load and needed to get myself moved away from the distracting area my study/desk area had been in. I spent two days moving my work area out of the kitchen where it was since I moved up from the basement which was too cold to endure in the winter time. I now have myself set up in a guest bedroom and it's tight in here but cozy. I feel like I'm in a dorm room here, but without the extra set of everything for a roommate. As you can see, my feline roommates like exploring in there, and especially the calico is always on the bed when I'm working on here (like I am now). I have a huge assignment to work on as soon as I finish this post. So I probably should be moving on. Enjoy your day!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0g-6VMddKTkxlp7VoC3xIl2ml8s_desAdiU76Lf7_vXrTQnG634RI2PtNyy0_OtCYkfL04Vrl8ipjiYAPrz2r4HNPRDVpAihyIWJw5wbPYt4epLE17HIV9yEkwfUVGVroFQQp/s1600/No+Facebook.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0g-6VMddKTkxlp7VoC3xIl2ml8s_desAdiU76Lf7_vXrTQnG634RI2PtNyy0_OtCYkfL04Vrl8ipjiYAPrz2r4HNPRDVpAihyIWJw5wbPYt4epLE17HIV9yEkwfUVGVroFQQp/s1600/No+Facebook.png" /></a></div>
So here it is, September 13 already. I de-activated my facebook account on August 31 because I found I was spending entirely too much time on there reading, playing games, and generally wasting my life. The first few days were most difficult as it was a habit for me to check it every time I had a minute before. I had to remind myself that I wasn't on facebook right now when the desire to check it came over me. I was like an addict missing my fix. I felt ridiculous even caring about it.<br />
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A few days after the deactivation date, hubby and I drove long distances with his parents on our way to some sightseeing destinations and then to his daughter's wedding (which was beautiful). I knitted in the car and took notes on my school books I have to write papers on when we stopped. I didn't spend any time on facebook. That's good because I didn't have time to spend, or waste.<br />
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It's funny though, that a few family members seemed annoyed at my being off facebook because they couldn't share pictures with me of the wedding and the family events easily. I asked them to simply email the pictures to me. Only one person has done that so far, and she's the mom of the groom who I didn't even know before. (She is a lovely person that I would very much love to get to know better.) Everyone else I suppose just assumes I'll see the error in my ways and rejoin facebook so I can get the pictures from those family members' pages. Maybe, but maybe not.<br />
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Now I've been home for a week or so. I'm still on the internet, I've been emailing and texting and talking (yes, talking!) with some dear friends who I used to keep up with more on facebook. And it's been far more personal and enjoyable than a public facebook post or a private message session ever was. I've been working on schoolwork more than I used to, (I just finished a paper last night!) and I've been spinning and doing things around the house that I've been putting off for a very long time. Much of the time I'd not been doing all of those things in the past, I was on facebook.<br />
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And you know, I find that my mood is much better since I'm not on facebook. I don't read things from my interest groups that distress or anger me, and I have somehow managed to live without my food groups and recipe sharing. But mostly I don't spend time reading stuff that I can live without knowing. Much of the information on facebook can be found elsewhere online, minus the copious amounts of comments, pissing contests, and negativity. I find that I appreciate most not having people comment on everything because though everyone (even me!) is certainly entitled to their opinion, most people wouldn't be so crass or argumentative in person. Rules of friendly and civil conversation seem to be suspended on facebook a good amount of the time.<br />
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So will I go back? I'm not sure yet. I'd given myself 30 days off to think about it and I still have 17 days to go. If I had to make a decision right this moment, I'd say I probably won't return. So feel free to email me, text me, or call. And if you need my contact information, send me a message here and I'm glad to respond. But don't send me a message on facebook.<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-78873816943413076062012-12-17T17:16:00.004-05:002012-12-17T17:16:55.327-05:00Please don't<br />
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Please, don’t tell me “I’ll pray for you”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOwEkxaHphouoSfE4RWJ81cMyjgpn3BZeYoDI_Mc-MWTMmLpljSRuqMzaxS48YWH-xYUFq64i7i9xm9Jk4oRIn7UIkJh0FbLyb5JGUD3qDuUfL-OwoArNohyphenhyphenGlSip30YubGthG/s1600/wood-violet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOwEkxaHphouoSfE4RWJ81cMyjgpn3BZeYoDI_Mc-MWTMmLpljSRuqMzaxS48YWH-xYUFq64i7i9xm9Jk4oRIn7UIkJh0FbLyb5JGUD3qDuUfL-OwoArNohyphenhyphenGlSip30YubGthG/s400/wood-violet.jpg" width="400" /></a>When a friend on Facebook loses a spouse, pet, family
member, or otherwise encounters a downturn of one kind of another, I watch the repetitive
posts of “I’ll pray for you” being put up on the friend’s page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So what does “I’ll pray for you” really
mean?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you praying because you have
no intention of doing anything else but doing exactly what you’d been doing
before, except that you typed “I’ll pray for you” on the person’s comment line?
Is “I’ll pray for you” the new way of saying that you care but that you’re not
going to, for whatever reason, get off your butt and do anything real to show
your condolences or help the family in their time of need?<o:p></o:p></div>
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So you’re praying because you want to and not because it’s
going to benefit the person in their hour of need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Admit it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
You might believe that prayers work wonders, but nothing works wonders like getting out there and helping. </span>If you really wanted to help that friend, you’d actually “do” something.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When someone in a family died near us when I was growing up,
my mom went into casserole mode immediately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She made food for the family to eat after the funeral was over and
nobody was going to want to cook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
made comfort food because she knew they’d need it. She often filled their freezer with food, and then later on brought over baked goods and sandwiches. She knew that it's hard to even function when you're in grief. She did something.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mom would offer to babysit the children if there were any, so
that the folks could go attend to whatever they had to do for the funeral.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> That's doing something. </span>When my uncle died, we flew to Illinois and
mom immediately went into “doing laundry” mode so my aunt would have less to do
while suffering in grief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Helping could
involve pitching in and helping with housework, yard work, or whatever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It didn’t involve praying. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mom got to work and tried to lighten the
load.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Dad helped with things around the house as well. Mom was the organizer of the help brigade. </span>She did something.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>When somebody in the family died, we’d go to visit the
family left behind to say that we cared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If they were far away we’d send handwritten notes and letters, but not just at
funeral time, we’d do it later on so they’d know we remembered even after the
funeral was over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mom taught us to “do”
something. True, this was in the age prior to Facebook, but even now, handwritten personalised notes are always appreciated more than a one line repetetive response on a computer.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>When my mom died, some family friends came to the house at first, but
after the funeral was over, my dad, sister, and I were left sitting and looking
at each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> We weren't even able to think yet, much less function. </span>We had plenty of people
that said “I’ll pray for you” to us, but you know, it was a non-effort on their part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was an empty house, empty fridge since
we’d been busy with the funeral, and no food around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was nobody that came over to offer my
dad to run to the store for him, because he was pretty devastated in his
grief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there were plenty of “I’ll
pray for you’s.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
I've got to tell you, the Jewish way of "sitting Shiva" and having food brought to the house where friends are received for a week by the mourning family really beats the Christian way of having a funeral and maybe a quick lunch and then everyone going home for the grieving family.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>I also heard a lot of “god’s will” stuff when my mom
died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s when I stopped
believing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got through it, so did my
dad and sister somehow, but we were all so much more cynical as a result of it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>So when my sister most recently died, I got a whole bunch of
“I’ll pray for you’s” on Facebook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
know people sometimes don’t know what to say, so I didn’t take offense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the one message I got was a handwritten
letter from a month or two after from a dear friend that actually said
something and let me know that he really cared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And you know what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He never once
said that he’d pray for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it was
beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>So if you want to pray yourself that’s fine, but leave me
out of your feel-goodisms, ok? If you want to pray for the kids in CT’s
families, I’m sure they’d rather you sent them a couple of dollars for a burial
fund for their child, or how about sending a tray of food in a week or so when
the families are dealing with the vacant chair at their dining room table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe you could send a couple of small toys
for the rest of the children of the school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>How about maybe sending a small monetary gift if you can to the parents
to be used to get the surviving kids some mental health help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You could also do some volunteer work on
their behalf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it all requires that
you DO, rather than that you pray.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>Also, how about not assuming that your Jesus holding their
little lambs pictures are appreciated since quite a number of the families
affected were not ardent, or even Christians?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not everyone believes in Jesus, or even in god, though few are going to get into it on Facebook
or wherever you’re posting the “I’ll pray for you”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re sorry for the loss, just say
so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
But whatever you do, please don’t say you're going to pray for me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-62749686428397745582012-12-17T15:36:00.001-05:002012-12-17T15:36:25.689-05:00In the Aftermath<span class="userContent"><div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">
I took this from another post on Facebook but it pretty much sums up how I feel about the whole gun issue. If you want to comment, read the entire article first, please. Thoughtful comments will be admitted, those that are hateful or show lemming like lack of thinking/reading/consideration will not. Serious dialogue needs to happen so these types of horrific deeds won't continue to happen.</div>
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHyk9eD4MHUA68XyOiJ69UXFGcO8zaJlsxCZTyCZEfWUr5MsLvulcDu040M8zmp20wYXRXyaaD_0_k5bL_1gpz_E6unNRwndjjNxVQoPvXRpLHWH8Y9JCUtpeU4XhilzHxlg_k/s1600/new-england-decal-shes-12152012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHyk9eD4MHUA68XyOiJ69UXFGcO8zaJlsxCZTyCZEfWUr5MsLvulcDu040M8zmp20wYXRXyaaD_0_k5bL_1gpz_E6unNRwndjjNxVQoPvXRpLHWH8Y9JCUtpeU4XhilzHxlg_k/s320/new-england-decal-shes-12152012.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed">
I'm confused at the confusion. Seriously.<br /> <br /> A. Countries with stricter gun laws have fewer gun deaths than we do. That's just a fact.<br /> <br /> B. Countries with just as many guns, but who educate their gun owners, have less gun deaths than we do. Fa<span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span></div>
<div class="text_exposed_show">
ct.<br /> <br /> C. Countries who have guns, but offer Universal Healthcare that provides things like help for mental issues, have less gun deaths and suicides than we do. Fact.<br /> <br /> D. Countries who allow hunting and personal gun ownership, but don't allow guns that are unnecessary for anyone but a soldier, have less gun deaths than we do. Fact.<br /> <br /> E. Every country has rules involving driving a car or getting a prescription drug AND buying a gun, we only worry about the first two, and they have less gun deaths than we do. Fact. <br /> <br /> F. No one in those countries is crying about their rights being taken away, but I can only assume, that is because those people might see the right to LIVE as being a tad more important than the right to feed your man-gun-love issues.<br /> <br /> G. Every time someone mentions gun laws, someone cries about how we are going to take your gun away, which is NOT what anyone is saying (just watch how many people post under here about how we're going to take their gun away - wish some of you would learn how to read). <br /> <br /> H. It's not about YOUR freedom, it's about OUR safety. We also have DRIVING LAWS, meaning you have to prove to us you can drive, you can see, you can buy insurance, you can put your seat belt on and you can avoid driving drunk...if you can't do these things, you don't get to drive. Same thing with guns....prove to use that you are smart enough to have a gun, because walking around with a gun and no brain is about as idiotic as letting you drive through town without a brain. <br /> <br /> I. Again, no one wants to take your gun away, we just want less idiots to be able to buy the types of guns that can kill 20 people in one minute. I repeat, no one wants to take your gun away. <br /> <br /> J. You can cry that guns don't kill, people do. Or that people don't kill, guns do, but the fact is that idiots kill and guns just make it easier for them to kill more people faster. Yes, they could stab you with a pen or chop you with a sword or beat you to death with a puppy...but fact of the matter is, they can't do the same amount of damage as they can with a semi-automatic, and to pretend otherwise is just stupid. Gun + Idiot = problem. And this country is full of guns and idiots...so we either need to have massive education reform or gun laws...and you and I know we're never fixing education. <br /> <br /> K. Saying the bad guys will get guns ANYWAY, so what's the point...that's about as stupid as saying your two year old is going to hurt themselves ANYWAY, so just hand them a chainsaw and a bottle of bleach and stop trying to stop something that is inevitable. </div>
</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-25726942823342398662012-09-12T15:41:00.000-04:002014-09-14T10:49:15.500-04:00The poem "Shirt" by Robert Pinsky<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3HT4XMAZN5iVG_u4VusIQWlg8WATIvJdVm7qMJLHUvf5nwLBmSalbBFLTwdFEWqMO0UGH6EuR43R-H4ZKTtsScYjO5p_3PwmVF_5SSgWBI6fGtuF2QK_t9-Pg5qPEFUdZFIU/s1600/287px-Image_of_Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire_on_March_25_-_1911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3HT4XMAZN5iVG_u4VusIQWlg8WATIvJdVm7qMJLHUvf5nwLBmSalbBFLTwdFEWqMO0UGH6EuR43R-H4ZKTtsScYjO5p_3PwmVF_5SSgWBI6fGtuF2QK_t9-Pg5qPEFUdZFIU/s320/287px-Image_of_Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire_on_March_25_-_1911.jpg" height="320" width="244" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Triangle Factory Fire. The hoses couldn't reach the fire.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Most of you know that I'm a student in addition to the other things I do. I had to do an analysis of a work of poetry for a Literary Criticism class. I chose this poem, Shirt, because it evoked very strong images in me...in short, it spoke to me. If you really, really read and digest the poem, it will haunt you. Here is the text of the poem:<br />
<br />
<br />
Shirt, by Robert Pinsky<br />
<br />
The back, the yoke, the yardage. Lapped seams,<br />
The nearly invisible stitches along the collar<br />
Turned in a sweatshop by Koreans or Malaysians<br />
<br />
Gossiping over tea and noodles on their break<br />
Or talking money or politics while one fitted<br />
This armpiece with its overseam to the band<br />
<br />
Of cuff I button at my wrist. The presser, the cutter,<br />
The wringer, the mangle. The needle, the union,<br />
The treadle, the bobbin. The code. The infamous blaze<br />
<br />
At the Triangle Factory in nineteen-eleven.<br />
One hundred and forty-six died in the flames<br />
On the ninth floor, no hydrants, no fire escapes—<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikeALEnVdxN1azwKmqO6CUoLRWa80cCFfoVu7CE3zugqpQ0f5ANYdRR2yhEupHVDhPBl_C1OTMiUMnGZQw1UN3xJM4QRmfJhVBt9UR5VdYDKXWuYftp1ZaXHF4M_5SWfvvJ4Ob/s1600/Triangle_Bodies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikeALEnVdxN1azwKmqO6CUoLRWa80cCFfoVu7CE3zugqpQ0f5ANYdRR2yhEupHVDhPBl_C1OTMiUMnGZQw1UN3xJM4QRmfJhVBt9UR5VdYDKXWuYftp1ZaXHF4M_5SWfvvJ4Ob/s320/Triangle_Bodies.jpg" height="182" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pile of 40 bodies of women that jumped to avoid the flames</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The witness in a building across the street<br />
Who watched how a young man helped a girl to step<br />
Up to the windowsill, then held her out<br />
<br />
Away from the masonry wall and let her drop.<br />
And then another. As if he were helping them up<br />
To enter a streetcar, and not eternity.<br />
<br />
A third before he dropped her put her arms<br />
Around his neck and kissed him. Then he held<br />
Her into space, and dropped her. Almost at once<br />
<br />
He stepped up to the sill himself, his jacket flared<br />
And fluttered up from his shirt as he came down,<br />
Air filling up the legs of his gray trousers—<br />
<br />
Like Hart Crane's Bedlamite, "shrill shirt ballooning."<br />
Wonderful how the patern matches perfectly<br />
Across the placket and over the twin bar-tacked<br />
<br />
Corners of both pockets, like a strict rhyme<br />
Or a major chord. Prints, plaids, checks,<br />
Houndstooth, Tattersall, Madras. The clan tartans<br />
<br />
Invented by mill-owners inspired by the hoax of Ossian,<br />
To control their savage Scottish workers, tamed<br />
By a fabricated heraldry: MacGregor,<br />
<br />
Bailey, MacMartin. The kilt, devised for workers<br />
to wear among the dusty clattering looms.<br />
Weavers, carders, spinners. The loader,<br />
<br />
The docker, the navvy. The planter, the picker, the sorter<br />
Sweating at her machine in a litter of cotton<br />
As slaves in calico headrags sweated in fields:<br />
<br />
George Herbert, your descendant is a Black<br />
Lady in South Carolina, her name is Irma<br />
And she inspected my shirt. Its color and fit<br />
<br />
And feel and its clean smell have satisfied<br />
both her and me. We have culled its cost and quality<br />
Down to the buttons of simulated bone,<br />
<br />
The buttonholes, the sizing, the facing, the characters<br />
Printed in black on neckband and tail. The shape,<br />
The label, the labor, the color, the shade. The shirt.<br />
<br />
I wrote a paper analysing the poem, you might find it interesting. Feel free use it in your research or work as long as you cite it.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivKMFUm8B1qi5fd_4kW2YoUyjU1ZI6luth5zVUQrd_ie9-QyQWgETh-3z4KUFBu95XkxmBkH4spEdX82neEqFvHxph8Rx-cAOhi26O0TIbwZN9mo4ufzPeIUYokTgcyJflxDA6/s1600/800px-Triangle33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivKMFUm8B1qi5fd_4kW2YoUyjU1ZI6luth5zVUQrd_ie9-QyQWgETh-3z4KUFBu95XkxmBkH4spEdX82neEqFvHxph8Rx-cAOhi26O0TIbwZN9mo4ufzPeIUYokTgcyJflxDA6/s320/800px-Triangle33.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">100th anniversary memorial for Triangle Fire in New York</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 9pt 0in 15.75pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333;">Upon Respect for a Common Item<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 9pt 0in 15.75pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333;">Examining “Shirt” by Robert Pinsky<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 9pt 0in 15.75pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333;">By Vicki Michalski<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 9pt 0in 15.75pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>University of
Maryland University College<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A simple object rarely given any
thought evokes in author and former national poet laureate Robert Pinsky a
collection of images focusing upon the shirt he wears; of the fabric, of
design, of colors, of pattern, of the construction and elements of that shirt, of
the machinery that made the fabric and the garment, of the people that made his
shirt, of the history of those that labored to make shirts in the past, of the
owners of the mills in which those laborers worked, and even of the tragic loss
of life of many of them in a historic fire at a shirt factory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pinsky’s “Shirt,” sometimes presents a confusing
jumble of images and historical background that asks the reader to consider the
history of textiles along with the physical shirt itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">The poem asks the reader to look at items that are
commonly taken for granted not just as objects, but as the product of material,
lives, work, history, and design.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reviewer
Olivia Kay feels that Pinsky’s writing “shows that simple objects have the
ability to generate a wide array of thoughts.” <w:sdt citation="t" id="1744606637"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Kay)</span></w:sdt><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In asking the reader to think about a common
item, “Shirt” teaches the reader to look closely at other seemingly simple
things in life for the meanings that might not be so readily apparent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the end of the poem, the simple garment,
the shirt, is an integral part of all the hands that created it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><w:sdt citation="t" id="-422882358"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Bates)</span></w:sdt><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">The poem “Shirt” is a poem narrated by the poet as he
reflects upon his wearing of a shirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
lets the reader know that he is the narrator by his use of images of the shirt
“This armpiece with its overseam to the band/Of cuff I button at my wrist.”
(Lines 5-6) though he frequently switches back and forth from the present
wearing of the shirt to the history of the shirt and the workers the produced
it. Because of this constant switching from the physical shirt to the scene of
its production and back again, <w:sdt citation="t" id="-672343136"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Gilbert)</span></w:sdt>,
the poem is not in strictly chronological order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">The poem is written as a series of sixteen sections of
three lines each, in which Pinsky takes the reader from the sweatshop where his
clothing is made to the physical shirt, bringing the language of manufacture
and machinery to the reader and adding the history of workers that have made
shirts in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><w:sdt citation="t" id="1718076701"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Magill's Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)</span></w:sdt><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pinsky said that while writing, he became
“hypnotized…by the sounds of the consonants in the language for the parts of
those handsome old machines:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
treadle, the needle …the bobbin.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><w:sdt citation="t" id="1082562110"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Brodeur)</span></w:sdt> Pinsky uses that
rhythm throughout the poem, albeit slowing it down for thoughtful images, or
speeding it up a bit in the thick of the tension of the poem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">The poem’s lines do not rhyme, yet the work employs
rhythmic elements in the sentences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pinsky’s sentences are sometimes as short as two words, or sometimes as
long as six or more lines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of two
short sentences found in the poem is “The code.” (Line 9)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These two words break the rhythm of the work
and slow the reader’s progress in the poem. Immediately after this break, the
poem returns to a longer rhythm, though the author creates tension as he
discusses the scene observed by a witness across the street from the Triangle
Factory fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the fire, further tension
is created in a discussion of the workers that only escaped the fire through
being dropped or jumping from the building to certain death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tension in the poem resolves only when
Pinsky takes the reader back to the fabric, the mills, the machinery and those
that labored to get the fabric to the factory, regaining the fluidity and
rhythm of the earlier part of the work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even the inspector that made sure that Pinsky’s shirt was correct appears
in the work, returning the reader to the garment once again, and causing the
reader to reflect another time upon the physical attributes as well as the
labor that went into making the “Shirt”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The other two word sentence is “The Shirt” from the very last line of
the poem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This effectively ends the
rhythm, and forms closure to the poem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">Pinsky uses repetition as an effective tool in “The
Shirt”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He repeats details of the
construction and fabric of the shirt multiple times in the poem. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he brings the reader back to the details
of the physical shirt each time, he changes his emphasis somewhat, visiting
different aspects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this way, his imagery
is used to focus the reader’s attention back on the shirt, though the images
are at least slightly different each time he returns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This imagery gives the reader more
appreciation for the design decisions and physical work that went into making
the shirt that the reader might never have thought about before. The fabric,
the pieces, the construction, where the fabric came from, and the work necessary
to produce it all become part of the finished product.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The shirt also becomes inseparable from the
conditions under which sweat shop textile workers toil and sometimes die to
make cheap manufactured goods like the shirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The poem reminds readers of the importance of appreciating the history
and work that go into each item used in daily life, and in this way, to not
take anything in life for granted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: #333333;"><o:p> </o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">In the first section of the poem, Pinsky uses “isolated
noun phrases” <w:sdt citation="t" id="-432122238"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Gilbert)</span></w:sdt>
to draw the attention of the reader to the various pieces of cut fabric that
are sewn together to form the physical shirt. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The back, the yoke, the yardage. Lapped
seams,/The nearly invisible stitches along the collar” (Lines 1-2) <w:sdt citation="t" id="-1985302585"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Gardner, Lawn and Ridl)</span></w:sdt> These short phrases acquaint
the reader with the variously named pattern pieces of fabric and types of
sewing that have become the product that becomes the shirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The many parts come together as a whole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pinsky finishes the first section by telling
the reader that the shirt is not made locally, like many products.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Turned in a sweatshop by Koreans or
Malaysians” (Line 3)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as the reader
discovers in the next section, these workers are no different than workers
anywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">In the second section, Pinsky continues by humanizing the
workers in those other lands, pointing out that they take breaks, eat, and talk
about a variety of subjects while they work just as the reader might do in his
or her own job. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Gossiping over tea and
noodles on their break/Or talking money or politics while one fitted/This
armpiece with its overseam to the band” (Lines 3-6) This imagery transports the
reader to his or her own neighborhood, and life, pointing out that the foreign
sweatshop workers are no different than the person that wears the finished
shirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">In section three, Pinsky brings the reader back to
wearing the shirt as he buttons it up. “Of cuff I button at my wrist.” (Line
7)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He then quickly returns the reader to
the garment factory with images of machinery found there, but also inserts a quick
reference to the workers and their struggle for worker’s rights. “The presser,
the cutter,/The wringer, the mangle. The needle, the union,/The treadle, the
bobbin.” (Lines 8-9)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His mention of “the
union” in the middle of the mechanical tools of the garment worker’s trade
gives the reader a moment of pause since it is imbedded in the middle of the
tools and machinery of line 8 and 9.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
does not separate “the union” from the other tools that the workers use in the
making of the shirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reader might
not have thought about this entry being an integral part of the history of the
garment, though Pinsky obviously wants the reader to consider it as such.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then comes the one short sentence that breaks
the rhythm, and with it, the reader’s fluid reading of the work. “The code. The
infamous blaze” concluding line nine initially puzzles the reader, especially
if the reader is not familiar with the historical information to come.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">The reader will become immersed in the garment worker
industry’s worst disaster in section four.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“At the Triangle Factory in nineteen-eleven./One hundred and forty-six
died in the flames/On the ninth floor, no hydrants, no fire escapes—“ (Lines
10-12, section 4)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The author writes this
section with an immediacy in his prose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The speed of the poetic rhythm increases, as does the tension in this
section.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The author seeks to educate the
reader about this historical event that shaped the way that workers in the US
were treated after the disaster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pinsky
creates imagery that causes the reader to read on with urgency, expecting to
get more information about the fire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">Pinsky’s mention of the Triangle Fire again asks the
reader to think about the workers that created the shirt, inviting more
understanding of the hands of the human beings that made shirts in the past and
lost their lives while doing so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
the 275 girls that worked at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company’s factory in New
York City began to collect their belongings to go home on Saturday, March 25,
1911, a fire started.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many workers
perished in the fire, as the materials needed to create the shirts fueled the
fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Triangle Factory was located
on the 9<sup>th</sup> floor of the Asch building in the garment district. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><w:sdt citation="t" id="1960918185"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Trial: Building and Safety Laws)</span></w:sdt> Workers found that
the only fire escape available to them collapsed under the weight of people on
them, and fire department ladders could not reach them on the 9th floor, the
streams of water could reach only the 7<sup>th</sup> floor. Some doors that led
to the stairwells were locked, and those that were unlocked opened inward, quickly
being forced closed by the rush of women trying to escape, again, in violation
of “the code” which required the doors to open outwardly and not be locked in
any way during business hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><w:sdt citation="t" id="1142309053"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Trial: Building and
Safety Laws)</span></w:sdt>
There were no hydrants in the factory, only 27 buckets of water to use to fight
the fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These horrible conditions
forced many women to endure terrible deaths in the flames and smoke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When workers found that they could not
escape, some jumped out of the windows to death on the street a hundred feet
below as discussed by Pinsky in Sections 4-7. <w:sdt citation="t" id="-789043897"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Leap for Life, Leap of Death)</span></w:sdt> As mentioned in the
poem in line 11, the death toll for the Triangle fire was 146 employees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The women were aged 13 to 23 years, the
average age was 19.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><w:sdt citation="t" id="-1816950334"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Leap for Life, Leap of Death)</span></w:sdt><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">“The code,” in line 9, refers to the New York City codes
that were violated and not as stringent as they should have been, leading to a
great loss of life during the Triangle Fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The New York Laws did not require the Asch building to have fire escapes
that led to the ground. Instead, they led to the second floor skylight which
could not hold the weight of people upon it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sprinklers were not required in New York City buildings at that time, and
fire drills were not required either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The building was slightly short of the height that would require
non-wood material in it, so the wooden building had plenty of wooden fuel to
burn. The doors at this time were not unlocked while workers were in the building,
so the women could not get out on one end of the building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nets used by the firemen were insufficient
for the weight of people falling or jumping from a high floor, so they ripped
and did not help the women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><w:sdt citation="t" id="1308358307"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Trial: Building and
Safety Laws)</span></w:sdt><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The owners of the business, Isaac Harris and
Max Blanck, were tried for manslaughter, but later acquitted as the safety
regulations in place at that time were deemed to be insufficient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><w:sdt citation="t" id="1773664273"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Leap for Life, Leap of Death)</span></w:sdt><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This disaster changed American labor unions
and labor laws, created stricter fire safety codes to protect laborers, and
created a clearer set of guidelines that employers must follow to protect the
safety of their workers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><w:sdt citation="t" id="-46842042"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Markowitz and Rosner)</span></w:sdt><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">In section five, though the reader thinks he or she has
learned a bit about the Triangle fire, Pinsky extends the tension by telling the
reader that “The witness in a building across the street” (line 13) saw the
tragedy and must have more information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pinsky’s prose creates one very large sentence that flows quickly across
sections four to six, speeding up the reader’s eye while propelling the reader
to more information about the tragedy. “Who watched how a young man helped a
girl to step/Up to the windowsill, then held her out” (Lines 14-15)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pinsky has created a powerful image of a man
helping the girls out of the window onto the ledge, holding them out, and then
dropping them to their death, presumably a less painful death than being burned
alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>United Press reporter William
Shephard, an onlooker, said at the time “…thud—dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sixty-two thud---deads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I call them that because the sound and the
thought of death came to me each time, at the same instant.” <w:sdt citation="t" id="401495813"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Leap for Life, Leap of Death)</span></w:sdt><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so it is with Pinsky’s images in the poem,
each figure in the poem becomes real, and conjures the thought of death in the
commission of making a simple shirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">Section six continues the horror as the male “helper”
continues to help the young girls to their possibly quicker and less painful
deaths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man held each girl “Away
from the masonry wall and let her drop.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pinsky has inserted a period here in line 16, to slow the reader down in
order to think about the reality that the images create.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next line, line 17, creates a short
sentence to again slow the reader down: “And then another.” This continues to
confront the reader with the enormity of the situation, as if there were many
women lining up to make the jump to avoid dying in the flames.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Continuing with line 17 “As if he were
helping them up” completes the line and quickly pushes the reader to line 18 where
Pinsky again reminds that though the image of the male helping the women looked
normal at that moment in time, that the man was actually helping the women go
to their certain death. “To enter a streetcar, and not eternity.” (Line 18 This
line brings the reader to the end of the section, completing the image with a
period to again break the rhythm. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pinsky
also creates a transition that propels the reader into the next section to find
out more about the people he has introduced the reader to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">Section seven continues the image of the man on the
window ledge, showing the emotion of the event: “A third before he dropped her
put her arms/Around his neck and kissed him. Then he held” (Lines 19-20)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reader can easily imagine the third woman
he helped off the ledge being so caught up in emotions of fear and gratitude
for his help, and knowing that she was soon to die, she kissed the man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man would not have wanted to prolong the
girl’s fear by postponing what he was to do, so he helped her to her death as
well: “Her into space, and dropped her.” (Line 21)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Completing the section, “Almost at once” (Line
21) brings the reader back to the image and the tension of wondering of what
will happen next, causing the reader to look for a conclusion in the next
section.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">“He stepped up to the sill himself, his jacket flared” in
section eight, line 22, makes readers hold their breath as the male helper steps
up onto the window ledge, bringing the man to where the girls were just moments
before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reader thinks “Oh no!” and
though he or she knows what must happen next, the reader hopes that indeed the
man will not jump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pinsky cleverly
crafts the image of the man prior to this point so that the reader does not
know quite what to think of the man’s actions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By putting the male helper on the window ledge, the reader is confused,
waiting impatiently for a resolution as to exactly why he is there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The end of line 22, and lines 23 and 24
answer quickly with an unforgettable image: “his jacket flared/And fluttered up
from his shirt as he came down,/Air filling up the legs of his gray trousers—“<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Readers can imagine his clothing flying up
due to the air rushing by as the man fell to his death with the girls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reader feels sad and let down by the
deaths of the man and the girls, yet Pinsky is not finished thinking about the “shirt”
yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">Section 9 begins with a reference to another poet and
poem: “Like Hart Crane's Bedlamite, ‘shrill shirt ballooning.’” (Line 25)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The word “bedlamite” in Hart Crane’s poem “To
Brooklyn Bridge” refers to an insane person, an lunatic, a madman, <w:sdt citation="t" id="-1564561460"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Wordnik)</span></w:sdt><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>like the man that would jump to his death
with the women he helped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His “shrill
shirt ballooning” of line 25 is a direct quote from “To Brooklyn Bridge” by
Crane in which the image of another person falling is made ”A bedlamite speeds
to thy parapets,/Tilting there momently, shrill shirt ballooning,/A jest falls
from the speechless caravan.” (Lines 18-21, “To Brooklyn Bridge”)<w:sdt citation="t" id="-1520774215"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Crane)</span></w:sdt><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The male helper in Pinsky’s poem, is the
person throwing himself off Crane’s Brooklyn bridge, insane with the tension of
the moment as he jumps off the building and to his death on the street
below.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the man is propelled downward,
the wind makes his shirt balloon up, bringing the reader back from the man falling
to the street to the shirt itself again. Pinsky said in an interview, that he
had read the account of the young man helping the young women and then jumping
himself in Irving Howe’s book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire</i>, adding that the account was likely fake and in
the realm of “what might have been.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><w:sdt citation="t" id="-702009128"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Brodeur)</span></w:sdt> Now Pinsky writes; “Wonderful
how the pattern matches perfectly/Across the placket and over the twin
bar-tacked” (Lines 26-27) These lines not only direct attention back to the
fabric and construction of the shirt, but also momentarily cause the reader
confusion as he or she wonders how to reconcile interest in the garment with
the horrors of the man falling to his death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The tension eases as the poet moves readers back to the garment itself
again, with the prose leading easily into more attributes of the shirt in the
next section.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">Finishing in section ten what began in the last line of
section nine, the “twin bar-tacked/Corners of both pockets” (lines 27 and 28) the
precision involved in the construction of the corners of the pockets of the
shirts reminds the poet of the strict rules relating to the rhyme of some
poetry or of a chord found in music. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“like a strict rhyme/Or a major chord.” (Lines
28-29) While still painting an image with words of the perfection and
regimentation required with the construction of the pocket tacking of the
shirt, Pinsky runs images from one line into the next to speed up the rhythm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He takes the reader then into the types of
fabrics that shirts might be made from; ”Prints, plaids, checks,/Houndstooth,
Tattersall, Madras. The clan tartans” (Lines 29-30) inviting the reader to
imagine various garments that might be made from the many different fabrics
available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This section is all about
pattern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lines read quickly, easily,
and rhythmically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They blend nicely into the next section which
then changes direction and feel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">While readers are pondering the “clan tartans” in the
last line of section ten, Pinsky transitions into section eleven in which
readers learn that those tartans were “Invented by mill-owners inspired by the
hoax of Ossian,/”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this image, the mill
owners that created fabrics that were not really clan tartans are compared to
the literary hoax of Ossian. According to the article “Top 10 literary hoaxes”
which was published in the U.K., in the 1760s poet James Macpherson supposedly
discovered fragments of a third-century epic by a poet named Ossian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Macpherson said that he had “translated”
these works from the Scottish Gaelic, and the works made their way around the
literary world of that time which was very much in the midst of a “primitivism
craze.” <w:sdt citation="t" id="-1000890973"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Guardian News and Media, Limited)</span></w:sdt><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Hoax was created because people yearned
for things more primitive, older, and historical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similar
to the Hoax of Ossian, mill-owners were able to capitalize upon consumers’
desire for things historic and ancient, inventing supposedly historic clan
tartans to sell to the unsuspecting public. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">In the next line of section eleven, “To control their
savage Scottish workers, tamed/By a fabricated heraldry: MacGregor,”(Line 33)
refers to the Scottish workers that manufacture Macgregor Tartan cloth,
encouraged to produce the clan fabric with pride for the MacGregors clan though
the pattern and the cloth they made were likely part of the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>false inventions as the hoax of Ossian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The MacGregors
clan was known as ferocious and war-like, living by the sword throughout the
1800s, <w:sdt citation="t" id="1954737586"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(A History of Macgregor Tartan)</span></w:sdt> so this clan name
would be an enticing one to consumers. Amazingly, Pinsky wrote this line with
knowledge that “Highland Scots being considered as sub human by the English who
tried to tame them as factory workers.” <w:sdt citation="t" id="-1936191938"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Brodeur)</span></w:sdt>
A parallel can be drawn to the Triangle workers who were considered so
untrustworthy that they were locked into the factory to avoid their pilfering a
shirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">In section twelve of Pinsky’s poem, the mill owners used
the not only the name of MacGregor to identify the Tartan they would invent,
but also the historic Scottish clan names of “Bailey and MacMartin.” (Line 34
in section 12)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Owing to the public’s
fascination with things historic and ancient, the mill-owners again felt that
the fabric would sell if named something that sounded historic, though it
actually was not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rest of line 34
brings the reader to a new subject: the kilt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“The kilt, devised for workers” (Line 34) The kilt, according to Pinsky,
was another myth that had been attributed to ancient history, but was later
debunked. <w:sdt citation="t" id="-281112913"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Brodeur)</span></w:sdt><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The majority of Scots regarded the kilt as a
barbarous form of dress, calling the few Highlanders that wore the kilts as
“redshanks” to indicate that their legs must have been red with cold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though never the “national dress,” a few
Scots did wear the garment and it gained popularity, so it became associated
with Scottish dress “to wear among the dusty clattering looms.” (remainder of
Line 35)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">Again returning the reader to reality, though with more
of the history of the shirt mingled in; “to wear among the dusty clattering
looms” of Line 35 brings us back to the textile mills, where workers produced
the cloth on looms after the thread was produced from raw fiber. “Weavers,
carders, spinners. The loader,” (Line 36) This line paints images of the
workers that bring the fiber into the factory, loading it into machines that
will card or arrange the fiber to be spun into thread, spinning the thread, and
then weaving the thread into the cloth that will become the shirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pinsky wants to take the reader even further
back in the process of making cloth which he does so in the next section.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">Section thirteen presents images of the people that
brought the fiber to the weavers, carders, and spinners of line 36, as well as
the sewers in the shirt factory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The
docker, the navvy. The planter, the picker, the sorter” in line 37 lists for
the reader in noun phrase form, some of the people that had to work to produce and
transport the fiber to that the mill would then spin into thread and weave into
cloth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The Navvy” in line 37 refers to
an unskilled worker, the word comes from that of a laborer on railroads or
shipping, earlier, one that worked in navigation, usually building navigation
canals, thus “navy/navvy” or navigation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><w:sdt citation="t" id="-340008732"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Navvy, Definition)</span></w:sdt><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These workers brought the cotton in for the textile worker, in what is
known as a sweatshop due to the heat and generally poor conditions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">“Sweating at her machine in a litter of cotton” (Line 38)
returns the reader to the image of the worker sweating while working, with the
refuse of the machine and manufacture all around her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next line ties this worker to the image
of another worker that made her job possible:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“As slaves in calico headrags sweated in fields:” (Line 39)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While references to the Triangle fire stir
the reader to appreciate the tragedy of lives lost in the history of producing
the shirt, these two lines tie two images of history together in just a brief
moment, causing the reader to ponder the conditions of the slave as connected
to that of the sweatshop worker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
shirt might not be a product of slave labor in the present day, but those
sweatshop workers of far off lands work just as hard and under as difficult
conditions as their historical counterparts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><w:sdt citation="t" id="-527796884"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Gilbert)</span></w:sdt><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pinsky draws attention to the injustices in
the textile industry in section thirteen, which he continues in the next
section.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">“George Herbert, your descendant is a Black/Lady in South
Carolina, her name is Irma” in Section fourteen, lines 40-41 refers to Welsh
poet George Herbert that was educated in England in the 1600s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Herbert preached, wrote poetry, was a public
orator, and is considered one of the great metaphysical poets of all time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><w:sdt citation="t" id="2054649363"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(From the Academy of American Poets)</span></w:sdt><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Herbert wrote a poem titled “The Collar” as a
possible point of entry into Pinsky’s poem, <w:sdt citation="t" id="-1450540420"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Gilbert)</span></w:sdt>
but it might also be possible, given immigration and integration that Herbert
(or any person) could have a descendant that was a black woman from South
Carolina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pinsky again makes the shirt,
down to the women that inspected it, no different, and perhaps related to, any
person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“And she inspected my shirt. Its
color and fit” (Line 42) The reader again faces how integrated everything and
everyone really is. Even Herbert, or the black woman Irma, that inspected
Pinsky’s shirt is perhaps part of the large extended heritage of the wearer of
the shirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, the garment, the
reader, and the people involved in producing the garment have been drawn
together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">Section fifteen moves the reader from the people that
made and inspected the shirt to the physical shirt itself by sharing the
experience between the inspector and the wearer:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“And feel and its clean smell have satisfied/both
her and me.” (Line 43 and a portion of line 44)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The imagery of the “feel and clean smell” has further enhanced the
reality of the actual shirt using more senses than Pinsky used thus far in the
poem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Additionally it continues to meld
the inspector as part of the textile industry, with the wearer, and even with
the reader, drawing the reader’s attention to the connection that each
participant has with the finished product.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The simple shirt that had been taken for granted before reading and
pondering the poem is now more appreciated by the reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">“We have culled its cost and quality/Down to the buttons
of simulated bone,” (Remainder of line 44, line 45) finishes out the fifteenth
section by switching now to the mill or factory owner’s voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The owner has culled, by definition, reduced
or removed some of the shirts, eliminating those that were not desirable for
whatever reason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><w:sdt citation="t" id="-106275595"><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">(Definition of Culled)</span></w:sdt> In this line,
culling refers to the negative action of reducing or removing some of the
shirts’ “cost and quality”, making the shirts a cheaper and less desirable
shadow of what it was in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In finishing
up the image on the next line “Down to the buttons of simulated bone” (Line 45)
Pinsky has further alluded to the reduction of cost and quality by pointing out
that the buttons now are no longer made of bone as they once were, but are now
“simulated”, most likely with plastic or some other cheaply produced material.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In these images the reader realizes that the
garment is more cheaply made all the way around, from materials, to labor, even
to the buttons sewn onto it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The image
of cheaply made buttons forms a smooth transition into another repetitive noun
string in the last section, section sixteen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;">“The buttonholes, the sizing, the facing, the characters”
(Line 46) again brings attention back to the garment that the poet wears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This noun string puts another list of items
that are pertinent to the shirt into images for the mind of the reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Printed in black on neckband and tail. “
(Line 47, first portion) causes the reader to pause for a moment, remembering
perhaps his or her own shirt, and looking for the printing that might or might
not be in both locations just as Pinsky has noted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This line slows the reading down and gets the
reader ready for the last string of images as the work draws to a close. “The
shape,/The label, the labor, the color, the shade. The shirt.” (Remainder of
line 47, and Line 48)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These words
deliver a noun phrase string that incorporates an image of each portion of the
components of the shirt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, Pinsky
has included physical and historical images, reinforcing to the reader that the
poet feels that the labor and the history of the item are important and should
not be taken for granted or forgotten when looking at any common, every-day
item such as a “Shirt”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<w:sdt docparttype="Bibliographies" docpartunique="t" id="1480571830" sdtdocpart="t">
</w:sdt><br />
<h1 style="margin: 24pt 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Works Cited<o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><w:sdtpr></w:sdtpr></span></span></h1>
<br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<i><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">A History of Macgregor Tartan</span></i><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">. n.d. 4 September 2012.
<http: history="history" macgregor.html="macgregor.html" www.lochcarron.com="www.lochcarron.com">.<o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Bates, Robin. <i>The Triangle Fire and the Face of
Labor</i>. 24 March 2011. 4 September 2012.
<http: p="8305" www.betterlivingthroughbeowulf.com="www.betterlivingthroughbeowulf.com">.<o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Brodeur, Brian. <i>How a Poem Happens: Robert Pinsky</i>.
12 December 2010. 4 September 2012.
<http: howapoemhappens.blogspot.com="howapoemhappens.blogspot.com" robert-pinskey.html="robert-pinskey.html">.<o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Crane, Hart. "To Brooklyn Bridge." Weber,
Brom, ed. <i>The Complete Poems and Selected Letters and Prose of Hart Crane</i>.
Liveright Publishing Corporation, 1966. Print. 4 September 2012.
<http: prmmid="prmmid" viewmedia.php="viewmedia.php" www.poets.org="www.poets.org">.<o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">"Definition of Culled." 2011. <i>Mirriam-Webster
Dictionary.</i> 8 September 2012.
<http: culled="culled" dictionary="dictionary" www.merriam-webster.com="www.merriam-webster.com">.<o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<i><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">From the Academy of American Poets</span></i><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">. 2012. 6 September 2012.
<http: poet.php="poet.php" prmpid="prmpid" www.poets.org="www.poets.org">.<o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Gardner, Janet E, et al., <i>Literature: A Portable
Anthology</i>. Third Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Gilbert, Roger. "On "Shirt"."
2000. <i>Modern American Poetry.</i> 3 September 2012.
<http: m_r="m_r" maps="maps" pinsky="pinsky" poets="poets" shirt.htm="shirt.htm" www.english.illinois.edu="www.english.illinois.edu">.<o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Guardian News and Media, Limited. <i>Top 10 literary
hoaxes</i>. 15 November 2001. 4 September 2012.
<http: books="books" news="news" nov="nov" www.gardian.co.uk="www.gardian.co.uk">.<o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Kay, Olivia. <i>Poetry analysis: "Shirt",
by Robert Pinsky</i>. 28 February 2012. 2012. 3 September 2012. <http: items="items" poetry-analysis-shirt-by-robert-pinsky="poetry-analysis-shirt-by-robert-pinsky" www.helium.com="www.helium.com">.<o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<i><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Leap for Life, Leap of Death</span></i><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">. n.d. 3 September 2012.
<http: ghy7463="ghy7463" mw2.html="mw2.html" www.csun.edu="www.csun.edu">.<o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<i><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Magill's Survey of American Literature, Revised
Edition</span></i><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">. 2012. 3 September 2012.
<http: shirt-salem="shirt-salem" shirt="shirt" www.enotes.com="www.enotes.com">.<o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Markowitz, G and D. Rosner. "From the Triangle
Fire to the BP Explosion: A Short History of the Century-Long Movement for
Safety and Health." <i>New Labor Forum (Murphy Institute)</i> 20.1
(2010): 26-32. 8 September 2012. <http: eds="eds" ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu="ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu" pdfviewer="pdfviewer" sid="ccd37224-e001-4ba8-a649-7679af417eca%40sessionmgr15&vid=7&hid=23">.<o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">"Navvy, Definition." 2009. <i>World English
Dictionary through Dictionary.com.</i> Web Document. 6 September 2012.
<http: browse="browse" dictionary.reference.com="dictionary.reference.com" navvy="navvy">.<o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Trial: Building and
Safety Laws. <i>New York Building Codes Relating to the Triangle Shirtwaist
Fire Disaster</i>. n.d. 3 September 2012.
<http: faculty="faculty" ftrials="ftrials" law2.umkc.edu="law2.umkc.edu" projects="projects" triangle="triangle" trianglescodes.html="trianglescodes.html">.<o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Wordnik. <i>Bedlamite, Definititions</i>. n.d. 4
September 2012.
<http: bedlamite="bedlamite" suggested_from="Bedlamite" words="words" www.wordnik.com="www.wordnik.com">.<o:p></o:p></http:></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-17164789850006380552012-08-20T10:15:00.002-04:002012-08-20T10:15:27.960-04:00Quilted wool batting in Civil War (repro) overcoat<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf5FYc7APRaw6rXFO6mNk0yoWBiJCK81b7Q8WF0ODL0p-Adv3c81VZC3AgBFIhX4O1bNY52LI5ifoAncgKSXO1eTylamTSVKz0kxTFe5orjskHRXFcGJfQ_8uCEcaBFecTXTdr/s1600/Lee+jackson+parade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf5FYc7APRaw6rXFO6mNk0yoWBiJCK81b7Q8WF0ODL0p-Adv3c81VZC3AgBFIhX4O1bNY52LI5ifoAncgKSXO1eTylamTSVKz0kxTFe5orjskHRXFcGJfQ_8uCEcaBFecTXTdr/s320/Lee+jackson+parade.jpg" width="255" /></a>I've been asked by a few reenactor friends to photograph my largest and warmest Civil War era paletot (overcoat). The pattern I used was from Katerina Gnagey under her pattern name "Kay Fig". I have added a foot of length to the bottom of the pattern all around. All of Kay's patterns are very well researched, documented, and contain notes and information for an accurate reproduction of the original garment or garments used to create the pattern. The paletot is shown to the right, and I made it bigger than usual so it would accomodate a thick wool dress, a knitted sontag (vest) and another unlined wool shorter paletot. The day was very cold, and I had to stand outdoors at a memorial ceremony for over an hour, yet I stayed warm except for my feet.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00YGLxfGcCDV-3a7Vbcvt4dYdxT-SM9Ez4P__BCfpVL18iNj_qQYj9zQ2pel19652Gc2Jt4_Ccf9-H_TVBfJxt9n1129Q37J6wmhDJHuoFPtX66u9NGbNuB3eD-3ll5HeJRba/s1600/100_3157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00YGLxfGcCDV-3a7Vbcvt4dYdxT-SM9Ez4P__BCfpVL18iNj_qQYj9zQ2pel19652Gc2Jt4_Ccf9-H_TVBfJxt9n1129Q37J6wmhDJHuoFPtX66u9NGbNuB3eD-3ll5HeJRba/s320/100_3157.jpg" width="320" /></a>I put the wool fabric for the body of the paletot together and then added the velvet ribbon trim. I put the lining fabric right side down, put a layer of wool batting on top of it, and then flipped each piece so that the batting was on the sewing machine bed and I stitched on the fabric in a square pattern. I didn't need paper or any type of stabilizer, but you might if you're using a finer fabric such as silk. I had made my first paletot ever in a class with Carolann Schmitt, and when asked if the batting should be "sandwiched" between two layers, she had replied at that time that the original garments that she'd seen only had one layer of fabric attached to the batting. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I was using real wool (from a fleece) batting that I had processed (washed, picked, carded, and made into a batt) by McClellans's Frankenmouth Woolen Mill from some fleeces I bought from a shepherdess. I'm a spinner so I always have wool fleeces around the house. I love these batts in quilts as well, they're warm but not too warm. The consistency of this wool is different than the wool batting you buy at a fabric store but either works just fine. My lining fabric is cotton.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQuy1-TPIx72YnsWfzex2vUda-ZSmY0Dz4Kz-7svmfrfYN-gYYEIKLCNT2AsTtIWKc_f7RI7Wj2x3lQbZLO7_yBgiggGY0qamsZ4w528ktsbb9EeZGMT2mL4q7z5MaXzln_JEw/s1600/100_3158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQuy1-TPIx72YnsWfzex2vUda-ZSmY0Dz4Kz-7svmfrfYN-gYYEIKLCNT2AsTtIWKc_f7RI7Wj2x3lQbZLO7_yBgiggGY0qamsZ4w528ktsbb9EeZGMT2mL4q7z5MaXzln_JEw/s320/100_3158.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I did each piece of the lining separately and then when I was very close to the edges, I put the pieces together to form the lining. Then I went back and finished up the quilting to the edges of the seams. I hate hand work, the entire paletot is done by machine except for sewing on the buttons, hooks, and eyes. Here is a view of the batting quilted into the coat. I put the body of the coat together with the lining and sewed it together around the edges at the sides and top, leaving the bottom hang free. I hemmed the lining and the wool separately. Don't forget to add your collar while you're sewing together the lining and the wool.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOxbsY8I-xPcZkzlN6lIw0K4vJegvtfhZxf42Gaue88UF03u3HcEHBbaQQt7MpbbHaZdwICoEcP6asPV1tsUpzFVA8cP8L1kPEinN1pZYGmw6Es7sgkZI6ZQ31x8ipsU5tjFu/s1600/100_3159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOxbsY8I-xPcZkzlN6lIw0K4vJegvtfhZxf42Gaue88UF03u3HcEHBbaQQt7MpbbHaZdwICoEcP6asPV1tsUpzFVA8cP8L1kPEinN1pZYGmw6Es7sgkZI6ZQ31x8ipsU5tjFu/s320/100_3159.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Here's another view of the inside of the coat. The piece sticking out at the bottom is from the front side of the coat, it just happened to be lying that way. You can see where I opened up the seams and then quilted them in that position. Also I usually turn back a portion of the front edges (lining and wool together after they're sewn together) on each side to make a nice opening treatment but since I was making this paletot to go over a lot of clothing I didn't do it this time. This allowed me plenty of room for all that other clothing underneath.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmJkUCWAtPYh2jxjgrUq-sazy__jQkGZp70rdumGHX657m_b_PtTGv6T3Qorq_hrqM6BCCrCgonHwX8hSHiQVbYR3tCE4fC0vuTlFpuVGRpHMU6p8Nw2FjquwQfPRpV6Ch65Vt/s1600/100_3162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmJkUCWAtPYh2jxjgrUq-sazy__jQkGZp70rdumGHX657m_b_PtTGv6T3Qorq_hrqM6BCCrCgonHwX8hSHiQVbYR3tCE4fC0vuTlFpuVGRpHMU6p8Nw2FjquwQfPRpV6Ch65Vt/s320/100_3162.jpg" width="320" /></a>Here is one of the armseyes. When I was applying the batting, I tried to keep the wool out of the area that I knew I would be sewing into the seam. You can see that I've done the same type of quilting in the sleeve lining. I did this in the same manner as I did the body, I added trim to the outside of the wool, then I added the batting to the lining (before I sewed it into a circle) and then sewed the lining to the wrist portion of the sleeve, carefully matching up seams. At this point I pulled out a bit of the batting that had expanded into the armseye area, sewed the sleeve into the armseye, and trimmed down the excess batting.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi78_FMkak9wJOFHkgzYX5qX9qXCN177DRRdDAIO_lfYDfusLz3EmdLFRenvkOnjgwGOOjleSPo0Wc23TKOqRsxvesxbATc0L7OcI_eQEUBJrCQ0wvEVQWVJ2DD-FQNT1h2DBt-/s1600/100_3163.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi78_FMkak9wJOFHkgzYX5qX9qXCN177DRRdDAIO_lfYDfusLz3EmdLFRenvkOnjgwGOOjleSPo0Wc23TKOqRsxvesxbATc0L7OcI_eQEUBJrCQ0wvEVQWVJ2DD-FQNT1h2DBt-/s320/100_3163.jpg" width="320" /></a>This photograph shows the buttons and closure of the paletot. I used large hooks and eyes for the closure since I don't like to make buttonholes by hand, and I wasn't sure if I'd need to change the fit for the future. The area in which the eyes and buttons are located is the area which I would normally fold in half down each side and whip stitch to the back to have a smaller front piece as well as a nicer opening. This one looks just fine though, so either way will work.<br />
<br />
I added a piece of velvet ribbon in the mid-back at the Civil War waist and put two buttons on it, but I'm glad I promised to do a photograph, I noticed that I'd lost one of the buttons and need to replace it. I probably would have worn the paletot again with a missing button if I hadn't really looked at the entire piece. Please let me know if you have any other questions by replying and I will answer you as soon as I possibly can.<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-56499090566588084222012-08-16T10:36:00.004-04:002012-08-16T10:36:43.936-04:00An Olympic knitting project<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_APzPWyBvz8Ohs8Qt9GAFv05iWdWiZvMr6ynUS3K54sbJz88ycjeWHdZi0ErxleA9l1Eku_8EqdTSTMLX05HCAp40hOxJUWistQd_61m6dEqzcTBTDcfcrN-qDMaudWNmChh/s1600/2012OlympicRings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_APzPWyBvz8Ohs8Qt9GAFv05iWdWiZvMr6ynUS3K54sbJz88ycjeWHdZi0ErxleA9l1Eku_8EqdTSTMLX05HCAp40hOxJUWistQd_61m6dEqzcTBTDcfcrN-qDMaudWNmChh/s320/2012OlympicRings.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
As the 2012 Olympics progressed from the opening ceremony through the competition to the closing, I watched and enjoyed what I could of the games, and worked on a knitting project. The local yarn shop near me that I love the best had a "Ravellenic Games" in cooperation with <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/">www.Ravelry.com</a> (which is a yarn lover's website) promotion where anyone that wanted to signed up a pledge to try to finish a project of our choice during the games. They awarded prizes randomly to people that had a complete entry, but the biggest prize for me is to have another finished project!<br />
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I did a lot of knitting this summer since I took the semester off from school. I also did a lot of cleaning and cleaning out, I moved my office and sewing room from a bedroom on the top floor down to the basement, though I'm still in the process of unpacking it all and going through things that were pushed into boxes. The office part is usable, but things are very cramped down in the basement. That will take time to finish up. The best part, though, is that we have a guest bedroom again, it's a very sunny and cheerful room and makes me happy to look in as I pass by. Our orange cat, Oliver, also spends time in that room since we have to separate him from the other resident felines.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC6Brd25KyZmhSZIbqAeKi_f8_Wt50iFEG9RuOvZHFr6DnP1NWbyafci_H-eBbZn49LimQNQ4GBb6x9d_-_OB2uH6u4UYitKgsip4BLSLMfzz0y9sHYU1QHokFVYafOHsoALK3/s1600/FebLadyFinished.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC6Brd25KyZmhSZIbqAeKi_f8_Wt50iFEG9RuOvZHFr6DnP1NWbyafci_H-eBbZn49LimQNQ4GBb6x9d_-_OB2uH6u4UYitKgsip4BLSLMfzz0y9sHYU1QHokFVYafOHsoALK3/s320/FebLadyFinished.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
But back to knitting. My Olympics project this year was the February Lady sweater that I'd wanted to make for several years. First I had to complely frog the back of a large aran sweater that I'd started for my husband (but was too awful to finish) and then I started my sweater earlier in the summer and decided that I wanted to finish it during the games. It was lace and took quite a number of hours stitching but it's finished and I love it. I can't wait to be able to wear it. I lightened the picture a little much, it's actually a deeper, pretty turquoise color.<br />
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In other news, school has now started again for me this Fall semester. I'm taking a full time schedule so I will probably not be knitting much if at all. I'm going to try to use knitting as a de-stressing strategy, but with 12 credit hours this semester, I doubt that I'll have a whole lot of time to knit or anything else. Oh yeah, I will have to make time to work full time, too! Oh, and clean, cook, and do all of the other things that life entails. But still, I'm excited about having finished two sweaters this summer, besides two wraps, two berets, a pair of mittens, and a large shawl. Knit (or study, in my case) On!<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-15304907530428865622012-07-19T20:55:00.002-04:002012-07-19T21:11:33.004-04:00My windstar and an academy award<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCaTI1RjL9AGPtkvquivFPgP0mO6ZSwaAoPZscX4EHLtxMJyRmAfybJq58A2I-gTMuX_U1DDQ8rQ_xDMcwgZHttrX-BkTDPJWN7WLMtLFnL8yex7Un79PUTdUcfttnfouOSZc/s1600/2000_ford_windstar_lx_bakersfield_ca_94822704859637626.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCaTI1RjL9AGPtkvquivFPgP0mO6ZSwaAoPZscX4EHLtxMJyRmAfybJq58A2I-gTMuX_U1DDQ8rQ_xDMcwgZHttrX-BkTDPJWN7WLMtLFnL8yex7Un79PUTdUcfttnfouOSZc/s320/2000_ford_windstar_lx_bakersfield_ca_94822704859637626.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
So what in the world does my Windstar (which looks a lot like the one pictured here, but isn't exactly the same because I couldn't find a perfect picture and was too lazy to get off the couch to go outside and take a picture) have to do with winning an academy award? It's kind of complicated. It's also kind of amusing, in a 50-something seeing right through her 20-something's plotting kind of way.<br />
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You see, my 20-something year old son is living at home right now (did I say rent-free but temporarily while he supposedly gets on his feet?) and using my Windstar. It's a great car, but it's nearing 300,000 miles right now, and I need it to last me a few years more before it gasps its final breath. It just got a brand new transmission a month or so ago which has really set us back a ton, but that's another issue. To make this a little shorter, I'm trying to preserve the car. I've told my son repeatedly when he's assumed he's going to drive his Boy Scout troop to a camp out, or drive to somewhere other than the necessary days at work, that he is not to take the car anywhere, anytime, for any reason that is not essential. I thought that was pretty straightforward.<br />
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A little background here. He dated/got engaged/moved in with/broke up with/had to be rescued from with all of his stuff a similarly aged female in the short span of September of last year to moving in with us in April of this year. They were "in a relationship" on Facebook after one day. They were engaged in one month. They moved in together within 2 months. Then they were broken up in about 4 months but he still lived with her for awhile since he was using her car. September-April. That's a total span of 6 months for those that are counting. We packed and moved his stuff out of the apartment over Memorial Day weekend. That was 6 weeks ago. She lived in the next state. I didn't want my car going up there. He plotted and tried a variety of ploys to take my car up there but eventually had her come and pick him up on weekends prior to his moving in with her in that neighboring state. I caught him in a couple of lies and figured I'd let it go since he was moving out of my house , butat that time I didn't see him moving back in with me after only 6 months. His girlfriend, or should I saw fiance, was really different. There, that's how I'm going to put it. But I guess when you get engaged in a few weeks, and move in within a couple of months, you don't notice that kind of stuff beforehand. Some people also drive their significant other nutso and I wasn't there to see it so I can't say what happened. Either way, they were both to fault for moving so fast.<br />
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So fast forward to now, 6 weeks past that girlfriend, son is home again, and still without a car. There are many excuses why he has no car, says he's saving, so he's been driving my car to see the NEW girlfriend who thankfully lives really close by. He's told me three stories about how he met her, and three versions of how long he's known her, but supposedly he just spent time with her for the first time over the weekend, and on Tuesday they were "in a relationship". Are you freaking kidding me? No, I guess he didn't learn anything last time around. Then, on Thursday she posted on his page that she wanted to spend her life with him. Sounds like a middle schooler that's desperate, doesn't it? Just like the first girlfriend he had, but there are a couple of differences. This one is nearly 5 years younger than him, and has a child that's under a year. She or her parents (or grandmother) that she lives with should know better than to get the child involved with my son so quickly, but maybe they're looking for someone to step in as a dad for the kid. I don't know if I should giggle or gag, only this is serious, for not only the child, but for my kid. Deja vu?<br />
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He says when I ask about the Facebook stuff that they're casually dating, yet he's been there every day this week. Yeah right. Casually dating. And he tries to tell me that I'm out of date on what status changes mean. I'm laughing now. I'm friends with a ton of people in their 20's from our kids and co-workers, reenactors, and other people I know. So duh, no, I'm not out of date. And don't get me started on how many versions of how the girl got pregnant with the child I've heard now. Nothing against the child, but just get the story straight, it's taking me too many brain cells to keep the stories straight.<br />
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So he goes to see her last night, and I tell him to be back by 9. At 11:25 he texts to say he's on his way. He finally makes it home after 1am. He's driving my car, which I told him wasn't going to happen for anything but work again because he can't be considerate about getting home at a decent hour...before I go to bed. My bedroom sits in the front of the house and the car coming in wakes me up. Plus I don't sleep until my ancient Windstar comes in because it's ancient. Needless to say I was up until 4:30am because I was so pissed. I yelled, he tried to placate me, and I calmed down. He's burning some pretty important bridges with me. <br />
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So here's where the academy award happens. He texts me today from work to say he will have to work until 8pm. (Really, I think, raising my eyebrow.) So I tell him to do what the boss says and that I might drive out to his job and see him around 7pm. Then he starts going on about how burned out he is (he's been getting off rather early this week to go spend time with the new girlfriend.) I'm thinking "burned out?" He's gotten off early (for him) every day and didn't work this past weekend at all. Do you think it's sleep deprivation from him getting in so late? NAH, he says he functions better on only 4 hours of sleep. So even when he's in his room, he's messaging with her anyway. She lives at home and doesn't work. She has help for her parenting duties because mom and grandmom, dad, and brother live there, so she can sleep if she needs to. But he is getting tired, admitted or not. He's never mentioned being "burned out" at this job until this point...just kept saying how much he loves his job. I guess having this girl makes him 'burned out". Go figure. <br />
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So the texting conversation continues. I told him to keep his social activities to the weekend, separate from work during the week, and the response is that he might have to work on Saturday. (There is still a lot of time on the weekend.) Then he gets into how he needs his social activities and his friends to keep sane when he's burned out. He's worked 60 hours a week in the past and it was fine. He's worked 50-60-70 hours a week before the girlfriend and everything he said was about how he loves his job. Now he needs to have social/friends to hang with or he's going to get burned out. Now mind you, he hasn't had any friends to "hang with" besides girlfriend #2 and #1 and his former girlfriend from North Carolina since he moved back from North Carolina June 2011. He sees this friend occasionally for a few hours, but that's been it. I asked him about friends when he moved back, he told me he didn't keep in touch with anyone from High School, he didn't fit in, and didn't really like anyone from that time period. So all of a sudden he's got all these friends from his High School to hang with. Really? (Imagine the eyebrow raise now.) I didn't even respond. Why bother? <br />
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And that's after trying to link a co-worker with meeting this girl when I know he met her on the internet. That's no big deal to me, but why the elaborate story?<br />
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What a performance. Honestly, the whole conversation was such great acting that I almost (just almost) felt badly about seeing right through it. Come on, it's not like she's going to de-materialize if he doesn't see her every moment. I'm sure they text all day anyway, I just hope she doesn't cause him to lose his job. Then he'll be homeless, carless, and jobless. Maybe he can move in with her big happy family. <br />
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It reminds me of my daughter sneaking around in middle school to see a boy because "She had to see him". Emphasis on "had to". But middle school is middle school, he's in his mid twenties. That gut wrenching drive to do anything to see that person...even if it means your head goes completely up your ass and you stop thinking logically, it's just not smart. It's tough to be enfatuated and lose all of your brain cells to the point that you don't realize that when you make things up, people are on to you, and you start doing stupid things in all other areas of your life.<br />
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I told him point blank that if he takes my car to her house against my wishes there will be serious ramifications. (Like as in "Move your Ass out right this minute".) and that I will know. Trust me. I will know. It's not like he isn't very close to getting a car...but it's always "I don't have enough money this week." That story is best left for another day. And it has nothing to do with her per-se, she's just another desperate young girl that has been charmed by someone paying her some attention. A desperate young (19) girl with a baby. But I just don't understand anyone that can be totally in love to the point of already proclaiming that she wants to "spend the rest of my life" with someone after less than a week. Even a week, even a month, really screams desperation. What kind of dating website is he using where he's finding these girls? Why don't girls realize how important it is to really get to know the guys they date over a period of time? Why doesn't she realize that her child depends on her to make sure this guy is a keeper over a period of time. I would imagine that abusers and creeps hone in on these types of girls, and that's alarming. No, I am not calling my kid one of those kinds of guys.<br />
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Perhaps girlfriend #2 should talk to girlfriend #1 who thought the same thing about everything being perfect immediately and has a different opinion now. I actually feel sorry for the girl because she seems nice, and I know that he's leading her on. And her family seems to like him too. I hope they slow her down if not for her own sake, for the sake of the child.<br />
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But I digress again, I apologise. So I decide to take a drive over to visit his work site this evening. I figure I'll leave at 6:15 or so and miss most of rush hour and go say hi to him at work (if he's even there) but he calls at 5:30 to say that he's going to be able to leave. He gets home and he's not hungry at all and wants to go to bed right away. Since there has been so much deceit, I'm wondering if he didn't get off early again (he can get off after 3ish) and have dinner with her on the way home. But he brought the car home and is home before I go to bed so I'm satisfied. But I can't wait to see his pay stub for his hours. lol<br />
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So I can't wait to see how this plays out over time...it's pretty amusing so far. And my Windstar is sitting outside.<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-42553943304304538662012-07-16T13:53:00.001-04:002012-08-20T10:25:28.254-04:00News from my waistline<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdks-72cGA13pwkYA2F3LDPCfsKSajBHnyvTIzQYu9FJK_8zLyc4Jc_DRK5dBJcApAW074Klv54nOlzL9D91ytpgAbAzpsgbz1jxyogVWN5lLy4G5fuQwoIazWEhWNg9bjEjU/s1600/428775_419447444766172_682025357_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ca="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOdks-72cGA13pwkYA2F3LDPCfsKSajBHnyvTIzQYu9FJK_8zLyc4Jc_DRK5dBJcApAW074Klv54nOlzL9D91ytpgAbAzpsgbz1jxyogVWN5lLy4G5fuQwoIazWEhWNg9bjEjU/s320/428775_419447444766172_682025357_n.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
I hate to admit it, but I've been slowly gaining weight, especially since my sister passed away at the end of June last year. We went to Hawaii in April for our son's wedding and when I saw the pictures I easily saw that I was the largest woman there. It broke my heart. I knew that I'd been gaining but I didn't come to terms with how bad I was looking until I saw the pictures. It was just a little bit here and there, but it was getting difficult to button my pants and my knees, back, feet, and ankles were screaming at me! I just got off the scale, I have now lost about 8 pounds in 15 days. It's no gimmick.<br />
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I'd done weight watchers many times before, but I would always feel sick while I was doing it. . They really push processed foods on people, selling their own brand of bars, smoothies, and snack foods, as well as pushing their yogurt and such found at the grocery store. I'd read "The China Study" and seen the fantastic documentary "Forks over Knives" so I knew how harmful dairy foods are, and that there is more calcium in plant milks, something that Weight Watchers fails to mention. The science is there to link animal foods to disease, heart disease, stroke, cancer, alzheimers, diabetes, the list goes on. So I had to rethink what I was doing as far as food was concerned. I knew I was snacking a lot, and grazing on a lot of breads and things like that because I wasn't eating animals (but I WAS eating seafood which is horrible for you...it's higher in Cholesterol than meat!) but I didn't have a direction in terms of what to do about gaining weight or reversing the trend.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixqvEL4hGNQ-Wycnhh6GjNfFO0P700L57_-Bs_InY8tPsvoJVMl_pompVZQEkRWWYp4m8hf9OIHg_RVcPBjYcT1fyeYMWcrceZ-VykMupXjRPozGtV4RS9mpNgLfo2BoJpMlr7/s1600/pancake-main-image-2small.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ca="true" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixqvEL4hGNQ-Wycnhh6GjNfFO0P700L57_-Bs_InY8tPsvoJVMl_pompVZQEkRWWYp4m8hf9OIHg_RVcPBjYcT1fyeYMWcrceZ-VykMupXjRPozGtV4RS9mpNgLfo2BoJpMlr7/s320/pancake-main-image-2small.png" width="320" /></a>You know I'm very committed to the vegan lifestyle, and I found that I was using too much of the meat substitutes that were mostly made up from oil. I was also eating a lot (A LOT!) of carbs, and not being careful about things that had egg or milk in them like I should. I kept getting vertigo and would be able to look back and see why (maybe butter on the veggies or something like that). I was talking about looking for a book I'd heard about called the Engine 2 diet. Hubby said he wanted to look over the Engine 2 diet <a href="http://www.engine2diet.com/">http://www.engine2diet.com/</a> as well so I bought the book one day at whole foods. It gave me a very easy to do and consise clean up of my diet.<br />
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So far it's been great. I have lost a little bit daily, and my mood swings are gone, I feel good, and the only issue that I have is if I don't drink enough water while I'm flying to keep me hydrated which is certainly not the fault of the diet. This is basically an easy one, it's just vegan, but tells you how to get the amount of fat (oil) and salt and sugar out of your diet...very well put especially for the men in the audience. Their website (link above) is fantastic and you can food journal there and ask for help from the community if you'd like. The science and studies behind their diet are included, so you can do more research if you'd like. The science and studies are linked to their website, and they follow the same recommendations as all of the University studies that have been coming out. <br />
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Best of all, I am NEVER hungry! I'm hoping to be able to get back into my reenacting clothing by the time our Conference on the Ladies and Gentlemen of the 1860's comes around in March of next year again. Hubby keeps asking me if I miss anything (he's doing the diet as well) and I honestly can't think of anything that I miss. Even eating at resteraunts is very doable, the waitstaff has been great about making meals for me that are all plant based. I don't know if hubby will continue to improve his health, but his blood pressure is already down to within normal limits from being high enough in the past that his doctor wanted to put him on meds. I can't wait to see how much his cholesterol numbers have improved! I've seen my hematocrit go way up...that's a measure of the red blood cells in your blood, or anemia. It's perfect now. I feel great...and I don't ever want to go back to feeling like crap after eating again.<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-36338074582741002882012-07-16T12:15:00.001-04:002012-08-20T10:25:53.655-04:00Color Affection Finished<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfDK2fxgs0CA9KCOP0gBZgvqZLTwt0bR45PWlRn7Ghic0A63V22RWsDgWt95HhbHyI5rTYUGCzKGD9TiSWT2WCoPDM0ZZWpu6XTm3-aAsfR18TENq8WgfBxSwhsBuf-oRuRoS/s1600/ColorAffectionFinished.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ca="true" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfDK2fxgs0CA9KCOP0gBZgvqZLTwt0bR45PWlRn7Ghic0A63V22RWsDgWt95HhbHyI5rTYUGCzKGD9TiSWT2WCoPDM0ZZWpu6XTm3-aAsfR18TENq8WgfBxSwhsBuf-oRuRoS/s400/ColorAffectionFinished.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
On the knitting/crochet website <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/">http://www.ravelry.com/</a> there is a list of "trending" patterns that are very popular. One of them was the wingspan pattern that I finished up a few weeks ago, and another is the "Color Affection" shown here which is a really neat wrap or shawl pattern. I just finished it a couple of days ago and got it blocked and washed over the weekend so I thought I'd post a picture. I did my Color Affection in Louet MerLin Wool and Linen yarn and it has a very nice feel to it. It is cool enough to use for a slight chill on a summer evening, yet also has enough wool in it to be used in the Fall and Winter.<br />
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This wrap had so much knitting to it (it's huge, but it was impossible to photograph the whole length of it) that I've made sweaters that had less stitching to them! It took me a little over three hours just to bind off the last row. I used linen grey, burgundy, and eggplant for my wrap, and yes, that's an eggplant plant just above it in the middle of the planter! It's a quick and easy knit that got too large to take to work, though I did do the majority of stitching on breaks at work and in the car going exploring in Philadelphia with hubby driving. Now, on to the next project!<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-87051709374463901272012-07-16T12:07:00.001-04:002012-08-20T10:25:12.016-04:00YAY, Another fleece carded<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9oLHJYZLA2BFrG4LLWaCkbfq-fN0ES0iVQgRjF1-p9iYvmTQntc-ewc_udC3fjIhp5rPrMywJH0dMXAskNSrUMYj7FKMzf25d08OWX0-8PeGSHczmjS5xPhE0DLxxeUxRak8r/s1600/Carder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ca="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9oLHJYZLA2BFrG4LLWaCkbfq-fN0ES0iVQgRjF1-p9iYvmTQntc-ewc_udC3fjIhp5rPrMywJH0dMXAskNSrUMYj7FKMzf25d08OWX0-8PeGSHczmjS5xPhE0DLxxeUxRak8r/s320/Carder.jpg" width="190" /></a></div>
I've been trying to have a meaningful relationship with my Patrick Green Super Card here, but it's been challenging with working and other things on my agenda this summer. This morning, I finally finished carding another of my stash of shetland fleeces. It's been a long process trying to work on the fleeces that I've had stashed in my basement and there is still work to be done. A couple of weeks ago, my dear hubby picked two of the fleeces for me so that I could card and not worry about having to do the picking as well. <br />
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For those not familiar with the wool processing process, here is a quick overview. Sometimes I send my fleeces to be processed by a woolen mill, and I get the finished wool back as long "snakes" of roving, ready for the spinning wheel. But when I have small fleeces, the woolen mill can't process them, or when I'm poor, I opt not to pay the $8.00 or more per pound to have the work done for me. My personal favorite woolen mills are "Gurdy Run" outside of Harrisburg, PA, and McClellan's Frankenmuth Woolen Mill in Frankenmuth, MI. I really like the way each mill processed the wool, but the fleeces I'm working on are too small to send to them. But I digress. Here's the "by hand" process: <br />
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When I buy a fleece from a sheep and wool show or a shepherd, it's dirty and greasy, so it needs to be carefully washed in hot water and dawn soap (the best thing I've found) to get rid of most of the natural lanolin. This is a time consuming process since the wool will felt if it isn't handled properly. Then the fleece is dried on a screen either on my back deck or when the weather isn't great, in my living room. After that, it is picked which means that the locks are separated in some way. I have a picker which is a scary thing that has incredibly sharp points that pull the locks apart, but some people do this step by hand. I wear a welding apron and welding gloves when I do this because the points of the picker are scary dangerous. I keep the picker locked with a padlock and key when I'm not using it. The picker has been living in my dining room with my carder but it will need to go back to the basement prior to school. <br />
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Then after the fleece is picked and looks like the fiber next to the carder, After picking out the small ends and pieces of hay and brambles by hand, I run it through the carder which will line up the fibers in a pretty straight line, open up the locks, and basically produce a "batt" which I then take off the carder drum and roll in a tube so that I can spin from it later. The carder also gets rid of a lot of barnyard matter like straw and grass that has gotten stuck in the fleece. The bag to the right is made up of batts from the fleece that I just finished. <br />
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I have three more Shetland fleeces under the table ready to pick and card. Shetland sheep are fairly small with the largest fleece being around four pounds, all the way down to two pounds. It's been taking me a couple of weeks per fleece to process them and get them ready to go to the basement to wait for winter when I will hopefully have time away from my school work to start spinning them. I have the three shetland fleeces you see here ready to pick and card, plus one that is already picked to card. I also have a number of other fleeces and portions of fleeces ready to pick and card, but my goal this summer was to get all of the Shetlands ready to spin so I'll forgive myself if I don't get everything I have finished. The ones remaining are tan and brown, beautiful colors indeed. Then i have to begin to work up the Corriedale, Rominov, Finn/Romney, and CVM fleeces I have already washed that are ready to be processed, as well as the colored wools I dyed a number of years ago that also need to be picked and carded. I think that the CVM and Finn will probably be sent to the woolen mill to do, they're huge fleeces.<br />
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Somehow I think I'm not going to get it all done prior to going back to school August 13th. I've been knitting too, but the biggest thing that has cut into my time working on the wool has been work. Still, I'm happy to have a job, and to have some time at work to knit. :) That's what getting the wool ready is really about, using it to knit beautiful things!<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-22947318387025940632012-06-22T13:46:00.001-04:002012-06-22T14:02:04.189-04:00Two more projects off my "to-do" list<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've been flying, that is, working a lot lately. My trips have all had a 3-4 hour layover somewhere, so I get myself a sandwich or something to eat and then go find the gate for my flight and sit and knit. The lighting is better in the concourse than it is in the crew lounge, and the people watching makes having to sit in public with the passengers all worth while. I finished a couple of projects this week and got ends woven in and them washed and dried so I could photograph them. <br />
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The project to the right is called "Wingspan" and it is something that I just started recently (so it doesn't qualify for being a long-term unfinished project), but I'd been wanting to make one of these since I saw the pattern pop up on Ravelry. This was a big trending pattern (12,000+ downloads so far) especially this spring, and I finally got the yarn and got around to getting mine done. It was a very quick knit, and took all of 10 days total to make. I used a size 7 needle and Noro Silk garden Sock yarn, 2 skeins. I added one extra triangle since I wanted it to be very cozy, it's a perfect size to cover my shoulders when I wear a summer top or sundress. I think it came out nicely. It is still wet in this picture, the actual colors are a tad lighter and brighter when it is dry.<br />
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This is the kind of project that I could actually see myself making another copy of. That's very unusual for me, I usually only want to make one item using a pattern so that I keep doing new things and learning new skills.<br />
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I also got out a very old project that had been in the back of my car for a couple of years, I was so bored with all the straight stitches on huge needles that felt like trees to me that I really didn't want to work on it.. I started that project when we had only been reenacting for a year or so. I had made a triangle shawl before reenacting and wore it to an event before I realized that it was much too small to be accurate for the era. This one is much larger, and though it looks like lace, it's just a simple garter stitch done on a big (size 13) needle. The yarn is all handspun, and the fringe took me nearly a day to complete. <br />
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I still have more research to do to see if this would be accurate for Civil War reenacting wear (that is, did the people of the era really wear shawls like this during their time?) before I wear it to most events. True, there are plenty of people that just put things on and figure those items "look" old but what they're wearing is inappropriate for the era. The term that reenactors use for people wearing things that didn't exist or were the wrong material, pattern, etc. for the era is "Farby". There is a lot of "Farby" in the reenacting community, but I pride myself by improving the accuracy of my impression as much as I can every chance I get. Everyone learns as they go, and I wore some Farby things as a newcomer to the hobby.<br />
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I'm on to the next project...now I'm making the Color Affection shawl and February Lady sweater. The sweater is using up yarn from a horrible attempt at making a sweater for hubby some years ago, the shawl yarn is from my stash. It'll take awhile to clear out the bin of unfinished projects, but I have until August 13 before I go back to school to work on it. :)<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-44723391779696308612012-06-15T11:36:00.000-04:002012-06-15T11:36:04.252-04:00Off the Roller Coaster for awhile<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8avCWRUVBE20SRSepeIDKV678eIxUU2rpoaohtxAYwc6PRmtIUtcdqJlI9bCLAk410palInUTs9hBPFR6228pFDKaFo_iVtvZXdU8ll1ulZ-_VhFd4PMbbIre566NQZJbf-u/s1600/100_2944_medium2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" pca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt8avCWRUVBE20SRSepeIDKV678eIxUU2rpoaohtxAYwc6PRmtIUtcdqJlI9bCLAk410palInUTs9hBPFR6228pFDKaFo_iVtvZXdU8ll1ulZ-_VhFd4PMbbIre566NQZJbf-u/s320/100_2944_medium2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I decided to take the summer semester off from school. It was a huge decision because I'd like to be finished with this BA earlier rather than later since I'm likely going to need to begin my MA work immediately thereafter. But I was so burned out I couldn't see straight and though I'd already registered for classes for summer, I withdrew from them and felt immediately better. <br />
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I'd been knitting again since about February when my son was in the hospital. With my best friend here visiting, I discovered a yarn shop that I hadn't been to in years, and began to make hats for the family, and because I needed to have something to do while sitting in the hospital with my son. I also needed to keep my hands busy so I didn't get frustrated with my son's (now ex) girlfriend at the hospital. Eventually I knit about 8 hats like this one, all in Noro Silk Garden light, using a free pattern from Ravelry to make them all. I could do one in about a day. They made great gifts for the kids and grandkids, I've now given most of them away..<br />
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Then after my son had surgery and got out of the hospital (he's all better now), I began to look toward our trip to Hawaii in April for another Son and Daughter-in-law's wedding / renewal of vows. I always look at trips like that as knitting opportunities. I'd bought the book of Noro accessories and found this warm and wonderful cowl in it, so off I went to the local Yarn shop for two different colorways to use for the project. I'd intended to knit while on the plane on this, but it was so quick to make, and such an enjoyable pattern that I got it finished before we were ready to leave. I ended up taking a pair of mittens that I'd worked on long ago as an airplane project, but I was so stressed over schoolwork that I barely made any progress on them. I ended up having to spend hours a day on schoolwork each day that we were in Hawaii. Although it was wonderful to be back on the Island (Oahu), I was really stressed out by my class. We've both spent a lot of time on Oahu, so we did enjoy our time, but it was difficult with the stress of the schoolwork hanging over my head. But I digress.<br />
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So my intended summer projects are to work on unfinished projects and to get some of the stash of fiber and yarn gone through, organized, and hopefully to use at least some of it. </div>
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Hubby and I went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival in May and bought a couple of new fleeces because I couldn't resist...so I got those washed up, dried, and they're waiting for me in bags in the basement. I will take them to the fiber mill eventually since they're large enough to have processed there. I have plenty of smaller fleeces in the basement to process myself since the fiber mill requires 4 or 5 pounds of fleece to process per run.</div>
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I do have my picker and carder out and on my dining room table since I'm working slowly through my collection of Shetland fleeces that are too small to take to the fiber mill. The progress is pitifully slow but I know I need to work at it if I'm going to get them finished.</div>
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Then I went into my large collection of other wool to begin to spin yarn for a sweater. This picture shows some of the yarns I decided to use for the sweater, the white is from a moorit-a corriedale with the moorit gene which makes it eggshell colored, a dark brown romeldale, and the darker grey is from a CVM (California Variegated Mutant) fleece that was a mixture of cream, darker, and lighter grey. I already had some of the yarn on a bobbin, so I plied it up with some newly spun yarn and was letting the yarn all "rest" before I put it into yarn balls for use.</div>
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So which sweater did I choose to make? It was a tough decision since I haven't knit a sweater since I was a new spinner and made the one out of the "Ashford Book of Spinning". It was so horrible and bumpy from my inexperience at spinning that I gave it away a few years back. I went onto <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/">http://www.ravelry.com/</a> to look at simple sweater patterns, maybe something with a bit of Fair Isle, and discovered that I really liked Elizabeth Zimmerman's seamless yoke sweater which is found in her "Knitting Without Tears" book.<br />
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Ravelry is fantastic, I've got all of my books, magazines, and patterns entered into my library on the website, so it gives me lists of all the patterns in them all and makes it easy for me to look through the patterns to decide what I want. Anyway, I decided to do the dark grey as the main color, with Fair Isle in the other two colors. I got started as soon as the first couple of skeins of yarn came off my spinning wheel. I took the sweater and it's parts everywhere I went and knitted as many hours each day as I could find to knit and finally finished it within a month's time. I think it came out well, but it's a little tight to remind me that I need to lose weight. All in all, it was an enjoyable project and I will undoubetly make another one some day with this pattern..<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-708417253016312842012-03-21T13:06:00.000-04:002012-03-21T13:06:59.440-04:00Keeping Busy<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHn7ARAZGoD-o8AzpU_gujXXRvDEgtNG6Ye24zzJDFdO3bSVXzxf3i4GKAACgJyBViyMZD2fzx4tGo4dDMw25xS_hgHp9OMlDIk5F365IbyXHsY9VCb9lrmxkTH12fOwtQaP3A/s1600/100_3109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHn7ARAZGoD-o8AzpU_gujXXRvDEgtNG6Ye24zzJDFdO3bSVXzxf3i4GKAACgJyBViyMZD2fzx4tGo4dDMw25xS_hgHp9OMlDIk5F365IbyXHsY9VCb9lrmxkTH12fOwtQaP3A/s320/100_3109.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Queen Belle Supervises while I work</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Spring is upon us now and everything outside is in bloom. I'm enjoying the extra hours of sunlight with Daylight Savings Time to get some projects finished that have been on the back burner for a long time. I've been outside walking a bit, doing schoolwork (this quarter I have "Sociolinguistics"), sewing and working on some more knit hats. As you can see, Belle spends a lot of time in the bed on my cutting table making sure that she's the first one to see any thread stealing opportunities. I've already found my edging tape strung into the hallway, that's the beautiful thing about cats, you never know what they'll get into. I like her being at my side when I'm sewing, that way I know what she's doing. The others aren't quite so miscevious.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5N89rJyQtyvdW0byJvjnVQ651BSTeUWgwv70W90H2JG1ocmDU2dM43JGkP6fTtZKuoojnsndItau8JIopWDCpQCQv_IojXEcc6vMeYsJX55JJW0xNA9NyPxn2kBaQNmAQ3Kfa/s1600/Linensundress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5N89rJyQtyvdW0byJvjnVQ651BSTeUWgwv70W90H2JG1ocmDU2dM43JGkP6fTtZKuoojnsndItau8JIopWDCpQCQv_IojXEcc6vMeYsJX55JJW0xNA9NyPxn2kBaQNmAQ3Kfa/s320/Linensundress.jpg" width="165" /></a></div>I finished my linen sun dress last week and found this great short sleeve lacy sweater to go with it. The dress is perfect for the warmer weather and I'm planning to wear it when we're in Hawaii for the wedding. It's a little bit sheer so I decided that I wanted to get a slip for it. I checked all of the places that one would think you'd find a half slip and I found were polyester and very clingy and short. They'd be perfect for a very form fitting dress in the winter, but that slimy fabric is so hot in the summer and I'm not going to need anything clingy. So after not finding what I wanted, I decided to make a slip for the sundresses out of 100% breatheable cool cotton. Slips are easy, I just made a smaller version of the simple Civil War over petticoat. No pattern needed.<br />
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I've been trying to use fabric out of my stash only as of late so I don't have to purchase any more fabric. I know that's not in keeping with stash building, but my fabric stash has truly gotten out of hand. Tthis linen was left over from making my daughter some maternity clothes when she lived in Texas and needed cool clothing for the heat there. The linen has a lot of body so it's not going to wrinkle too much which is nice. I have a couple of other nice linen prints that I intend to sew up eventually, more fleece, some silk, wool, and tons of cottons. I don't think I'm going to run out of fabric any time soon, in fact, not at any time during my lifetime. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKGbooaqJPA5otz3ldogTDQwnO9EbTrITZ84InFYBY6TB_FNPDhI0d85VPek3aHbrBvrQVT9w9Iabj1Pm2KTOtXcj-k1Kja-sEyzrsPA_xos5fmT49SMX0WgqbeO3pD707Hiaf/s1600/100_3108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKGbooaqJPA5otz3ldogTDQwnO9EbTrITZ84InFYBY6TB_FNPDhI0d85VPek3aHbrBvrQVT9w9Iabj1Pm2KTOtXcj-k1Kja-sEyzrsPA_xos5fmT49SMX0WgqbeO3pD707Hiaf/s320/100_3108.jpg" width="213" /></a>This is the slip I made for the sundress. Once I started working on this simple garment, I went all "Civil War" and added tucks for body and even some edging on the bottom with a little bit of lace. There is embroidery above the tucks, though since it isn't for Civil War reenacting use, I went ahead and used my sewing machine to create it. The fabric is just plain 'ole ecru or off-white muslin, the same stuff I use for so many of the linings in my Civil War dress bodices. It's pretty thin (I bought it online and didn't realize it wasn't a tighter weave) so it'll be nice and cool for the summer. I had to make myself get away from the sewing machine or I probably would have continued to add more embroidery and such...it's just a slip, after all, and it needs to be finished and off the table. I'm not going to promise that I won't fiddle with it again at some point. I see a lot of room for more embroidery and I<br />
have so many lovely floral patterns on my machine to choose from.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqIaNbiqXxXMgSo6p8vjJPcOh62G9jM6dc9lvLzYUAokqN7oNcH_YjUYTinKpQix8jbOK-hjQMhU6hOU0JBRYTXmkYyjgzfGPRQR_jCaJUv9FyYkJyVi-6dhOZqXZ20rc5k_Q0/s1600/100_3107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqIaNbiqXxXMgSo6p8vjJPcOh62G9jM6dc9lvLzYUAokqN7oNcH_YjUYTinKpQix8jbOK-hjQMhU6hOU0JBRYTXmkYyjgzfGPRQR_jCaJUv9FyYkJyVi-6dhOZqXZ20rc5k_Q0/s320/100_3107.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>I also had in my mind that I wanted to make myself a new bathrobe. The one that I had been using was falling apart and every time I washed it I think it got a little bit smaller. I've been needing a new robe for a long time. I have a lot of polarfleece in the stash (omg I just admitted that publicly!!!) that I bought to do throws and such so I figured I'd find a pattern and make a fleece robe. This was a fairly easy pattern, but because it's so big and long and it's very thick fleece, it was a real pain to work with. It took a lot of fabric, and it is a bit big but it's very nice and warm and cozy with a hood on top. I plan on making at least one more and won't add the sleeve cuffs and will make it smaller. I hate it when you follow the measurements on a pattern and make the size that is closest to your own measurements and the thing ends up way too big or small. I try things on and adjust them as I'm sewing with things like dresses but a robe didn't seem to be an issue for fit. That's ok, though, I'd rather it be too big rather than too small. It'll no doubt shrink up a little bit as it's washed and dried more. <br />
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Next up, I have a wrapper (Civil War) pattern cut out and want to get working on that, and I have a couple of possibilities for what to do with some more of my linen fabric. Oh, and there is always schoolwork and flying. Busy, Busy!<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-14007085808227727952012-03-12T15:46:00.001-04:002012-03-12T15:52:14.396-04:00Happy Spring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_RsuPCrbeQXeN1OUeqZ5K_j1HQiUYhpPDDO9Zle0sNXoVUTnePHQcWvZ08bV7CaakaJXMjAET4yz3ltM4QlBpiyAqtYixP3eYiG6QIcmBE6PCfLbixnPayj8zuCFYA1z-mxx/s1600/100_3067.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_RsuPCrbeQXeN1OUeqZ5K_j1HQiUYhpPDDO9Zle0sNXoVUTnePHQcWvZ08bV7CaakaJXMjAET4yz3ltM4QlBpiyAqtYixP3eYiG6QIcmBE6PCfLbixnPayj8zuCFYA1z-mxx/s320/100_3067.jpg" width="320" yda="true" /></a></div>I just love my weekends, hubby is home and there is a world of things out there to do, especially in the spring time when the weather gets warmer. But sometimes the week in between the weekends is especially busy and fruitful, and this past week was one of those. Monday morning was busy with getting laundry done and things put away from the Conference we'd attended over the weekend, but I took time from all that and went to meet some of the lovely ladies that I attended conference with (see my last blog post) at an exhibition of Titanic Era clothing put on in cooperation with the Shippensburg University Fashion Archives Museum, and the Hanover (PA) area Historic Society at the Warehime-Myers Mansion. It was a private showing of the exhibition and showcased the fashions of the era (1912) as well as the wonderful home and some other colectible items pertaining to White Star Line and the Titanic that were on display. Please feel free to google either the SUFAM work or the Hanover Historical society for more information. The exhibition is open through the end of April if you want to view it, check the Werehime-Myers website for hours that they're open.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDl1El5dKCsSeHdQg_wDkJei6KyI84MNw2MQcFnFSW-SWwSQZtdSDL30l8-mmLmUTZmUsWZIFBX3LggNmCOqtoHxN9Fsl-FvNf7ya3-Irc42JP28wjUkMiOKPWTGpexFKfJ5-h/s1600/100_3070.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDl1El5dKCsSeHdQg_wDkJei6KyI84MNw2MQcFnFSW-SWwSQZtdSDL30l8-mmLmUTZmUsWZIFBX3LggNmCOqtoHxN9Fsl-FvNf7ya3-Irc42JP28wjUkMiOKPWTGpexFKfJ5-h/s320/100_3070.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
After the exhibition, I left the Mansion and headed to one of my favorite antique malls in Hanover where I purchased a few small display cases to house my antique comb collection. I also found a couple of broken combs for 99cents that went into the collection because they are examples of types that I didn't already have. The one at the left is most likely tortoise, and I didn't have any metal combs in my collection, though I think this one is relatively recent. <br />
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Since I hadn't really looked at my combs in a while and had bought the cases to house them, I took each one out, looked it over, catalogued each in a database that I built, and put them into a case. Unfortunatly I found a couple that had the celluloid virus that will end up turning them to dust eventually. I'm very sad about that as I very much like both of the combs that are infected, and the larger one is one of my favorites.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUXyOD375Zj5O9wJlDWglv2Y4QiKXsxXZtB5bKFgNDPdr4SMnd5T3lb4lo59QhC6uUYhn4d3hdJHhbKiQd-RKfmnDmucbAcmjwR3wf0GcppPF0omAuyO2CwmNXnwKP9kXU67yZ/s1600/100_3090.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUXyOD375Zj5O9wJlDWglv2Y4QiKXsxXZtB5bKFgNDPdr4SMnd5T3lb4lo59QhC6uUYhn4d3hdJHhbKiQd-RKfmnDmucbAcmjwR3wf0GcppPF0omAuyO2CwmNXnwKP9kXU67yZ/s320/100_3090.jpg" width="258" /></a>This one has the virus starting to eat away the comb on the left side (your right). I'm really upset about this because when I put it away after purchasing it I didn't notice that it was having any problems at all. I had to take the two infected combs out of my collection and make sure they are stored separately so their virus won't spread to the others. I found this reference on a bulletin board about hair combs, written by "Heidi W" and though I don't know Heidi, I want to say thank you for the information on what the "virus" is: </div><br />
<em>One thing to know about any celluloid combs:"they do have a tendency to get what is termed the "disease" sometimes referred to as the "virus." When purchasing a newly acquired celluloid comb, it's important to quarantine the comb for maybe as long as a month, I would suggest. This is for collectors in particular of celluloid combs: real celluloid was made with camphor which outgasses. The outgassing is how other celluloid combs can become infected. Today's plastics do not contain camphor and it's generally believed that these later plastics wouldn't be so infected. Same is true for real organic combs derived of horn, bone, shell, and so on (they can get other things sometimes).</em><br />
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<em>What to look for - how to tell, you ask?</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<em>Typically a circular like area will be a high yellow color, in stark contrast to the rest of the color of celluloid (which is typically a brownish color although celluloids were dyed differing colors, and I have yet to see one with the "disease" that is a colored or dyed comb, such as red, for example. It may well exist: I just haven't seen it yet and can't be sure how that would appear.) The other accompanying detail to this high hue of yellow is that inside it appears as though there's a crackling effect, but isolated to that yellow zone. It appears splintery.</em><br />
<em>In time, some combs completely break down and even disintegrate in that spot; often, though, they just break. Combs that have this can be dipped to stall the progress. Sometimes it never progresses, but one never knows the future. Sometimes a comb with this is still worth keeping yet separated from a collection (unless it's all over your house as mine is becoming) because the design of the top piece can be unique. (Sometimes it can be worth it to buy 'damaged' goods.)</em><br />
<em>We have people who are watching their diseased combs to check on progress, just to see how it all works since little is understood and little is written on the subject.</em><br />
<em>But this disease can spread (the name disease or virus is derived from the concept that it can spread from celluloid to celluloid although not to humans or animals). This is important to know if you have two or more."</em><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IQlSeBiZwIwE_eiXZGOhZWqrnpfWsLh52G7N8LREtKc0Ay8yIAOf_poC3-Fsay-wxMcw6VK1BSS16IhtpWLiGi9EykLmzzc_1x4eiG8pqbIWdPylGLMh5QgvR6xRbYNOqTBn/s1600/100_3101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IQlSeBiZwIwE_eiXZGOhZWqrnpfWsLh52G7N8LREtKc0Ay8yIAOf_poC3-Fsay-wxMcw6VK1BSS16IhtpWLiGi9EykLmzzc_1x4eiG8pqbIWdPylGLMh5QgvR6xRbYNOqTBn/s320/100_3101.jpg" width="136" /></a></div>So, after putting all my combs away, I moved on to the next project, studying for my Physical Science final which was coming up on Saturday. (It's now 2 days post final...it took me about 7 hours to do the final exam, and I got an 88.6% on it...I needed only a low "C" to get an "A" In the class so I'm happy, but I digress.) I also flew to Denver and back for work, and cut out and sew up a sun dress for myself this week. Oh, and I also had to completely rearrange my office/sewing room to move my study table to the other side of the room and put up my cutting table so that I could actually cut out some patterns. The cat children were particularly happy about that as they've missed having their cat bed on the cutting table in the sun streaming in from the window. It was quite a week.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5EsPVTDkJyOwdRKU0g7vWCHg-2JHGsqkY6cnRyBlyk9bbf-_DJpYGbZ1aFSqjBC2K2h4xmrQfF9GDJ44_lqhJzxEvMtpVcxztTCXQlWXJl33rAXqM8NGwi9vhJdCLv3nvkpFe/s1600/100_3096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5EsPVTDkJyOwdRKU0g7vWCHg-2JHGsqkY6cnRyBlyk9bbf-_DJpYGbZ1aFSqjBC2K2h4xmrQfF9GDJ44_lqhJzxEvMtpVcxztTCXQlWXJl33rAXqM8NGwi9vhJdCLv3nvkpFe/s320/100_3096.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Belle and Rose enjoying the sun in their bed</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
We have a wedding, or more accurately, a renewal of vows of our son and daughter-in-law to go to in Hawaii in April so I thought it would be nice to have a sun dress for the occasion, especially since little that I own fits anymore. The fabric is actually a civil war era reproduction but I didn't think it was light enough to be festive for a wedding so I decided to go stash-diving again. I found some linen that I liked, so I cut out and started to sew another sun dress using the same pattern that will be lighter colored and hopefully more festive for the wedding. Over the weekend I found a light lace short sleeve sweater to wear with both dresses if it's a little chilly in air conditioning so as soon as I get the other sun dress finished I'll post the picture of that as well. Along with sewing and studying, I also finished another Noro hat for the pile to go to the kids and grandkids.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhegrGRVayVjnYfbgl8D_Y75nZTQMlmImzNZYVshoRWSoQeflqrV8dtz3_CFcKghWZFZDS1BFYJOlD7gnPnjagsVSoOYzpxdnv3wc6gapNwqUHQxCM7Ar1KhyphenhyphenGxfTOKY1BO-QN6/s1600/100_3095.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhegrGRVayVjnYfbgl8D_Y75nZTQMlmImzNZYVshoRWSoQeflqrV8dtz3_CFcKghWZFZDS1BFYJOlD7gnPnjagsVSoOYzpxdnv3wc6gapNwqUHQxCM7Ar1KhyphenhyphenGxfTOKY1BO-QN6/s320/100_3095.jpg" width="315" /></a> I have just a few more to finish up and then I'll be able to get started on some other knitting projects that I've been wanting to work on. These hats are so easy because I nearly don't even have to look at what I'm knitting, and I'm really proud of myself for getting them done without putting them aside and never getting back to them. Being an ADHD knitter and sewer means that I have tons of unfinished projects everywhere all over the house. I have another one on the needles that is just about ready to start the decreases at the top of the hat. But of course, I do have to work this week.<br />
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So back to the final, since I got it finished on Saturday, we had Sunday to go and explore and enjoy the beautiful weather. We went antiquing and went through three or four large antique mall type stores (various vendors have stalls inside). We even found a couple of places in New Oxford, PA that we didn't know existed, because they were behind the main street through town. We love looking at the old things even if we don't buy a thing, it's just one of the things that we love to share together. Sure, there are a few things that we collect such as "Kitchen Cats" from the 1950's, hair combs as I mentioned above, a certain china pattern that is hard to find and is called "Hawaiian Flowers" which is self explanatory, <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgON15tL4qqC9YT4qQaKkj3lpnj4i-nZerhZTYv_b2QJgLaN2mGpWKQgw09Q1IMFDQLEETpFypTd3iVaF6ux2MXNXiyXWKlx7hISg1utlnFfut3RH8usR17XnpArA05xNHc4Atx/s1600/100_3104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgON15tL4qqC9YT4qQaKkj3lpnj4i-nZerhZTYv_b2QJgLaN2mGpWKQgw09Q1IMFDQLEETpFypTd3iVaF6ux2MXNXiyXWKlx7hISg1utlnFfut3RH8usR17XnpArA05xNHc4Atx/s320/100_3104.jpg" width="286" /></a></div><br />
and I especially love looking at all of the period and vintage sewing accessories. I didn't think we were going to find anything new when I happened to see this sitting in a very poorly lit and very full display case in one of the antique stores, this comb. I have a similarly colored one that is more angularly shaped, but this one was really affordable (everything I collect tends to be really cheap!) so it got to come home with me. Not bad for all the hours we spent looking around and enjoying each other's company. I figure that the entertainment value was definitely worth the price of the comb. And now I have a nice new item for my collection. And we stopped and got my dear husband some clothes for work...and then had dinner at one of our favorite places. All in all it was a wonderful day after a busy but productive week.<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-74132808305401645932012-03-12T11:02:00.000-04:002012-03-12T11:02:41.341-04:00Conference 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOJcuSeiAl88s1jnLqaIXLrNMNPvY_YndIv3-ZXVa4leKXncTv7t0p2k42yxAD6IFDmnK-SfUbB4-afRWDL5YN_hP74jt67SCVz0ko9LSJ8N2t65zuHyeyMPfzan3fYeSfYM1w/s1600/100_3022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOJcuSeiAl88s1jnLqaIXLrNMNPvY_YndIv3-ZXVa4leKXncTv7t0p2k42yxAD6IFDmnK-SfUbB4-afRWDL5YN_hP74jt67SCVz0ko9LSJ8N2t65zuHyeyMPfzan3fYeSfYM1w/s320/100_3022.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The beginning of March always marks one of our favorite events: The conference on Ladies and Gentlemen of the 1860's in Camp Hill, PA. We spend a couple of days doing workshops that are hand's on and then spend a couple of days attending presentations and lectures by historians and researchers about the material culture of the 1860s.&<br />
This year I took workshops on making personal flags, which were very common especially in the CSA, and also a class on making wristlettes for wearing with any attire but mainly dressy. I also took a class on making weighted pincushions (my pincushion has already come in very handy) and a beautiful belt. I took pictures of those with my phones so I don't have them handy for this post. I ended up making 3 sets of different wristlettes, two flags, two pincushions, and a belt. It was a very productive conference for me, though I ended up sewing all the time I was listening to presentations after the workshops had ended.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgc1klwnxsVL-pxmXTpJXctkjz7FVxRj0CvgDPC93VVOYpD0gkGIsEf_7keAF7IkTAgOpBmq2n-Znnz_Go-WzSCUeDvZN0t8fJ-7XQqjAam-bp4gWH80VMjTB78ziUE3UuDkq2/s1600/100_2981.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgc1klwnxsVL-pxmXTpJXctkjz7FVxRj0CvgDPC93VVOYpD0gkGIsEf_7keAF7IkTAgOpBmq2n-Znnz_Go-WzSCUeDvZN0t8fJ-7XQqjAam-bp4gWH80VMjTB78ziUE3UuDkq2/s320/100_2981.jpg" width="213" yda="true" /></a><br />
The biggest problem I encountered this year is that I've gained a bit of weight and when it came time to figure out what to wear for the fancy dress ball, the only thing that I had that fit was this mourning dress. I spent quite a bit of time working on making this silk taffeta dress for an event two years ago but something or other happened and I didn't end up wearing it so I'd never actually had it on. It was hard enough getting laced into the corset that I've had since about 2005 when I was 30 pounds lighter, but when I went to braid my hair and put it up, the motion of lifting my arms tore out the sleeves from the bodice. Thankfully some friends were staying in the room next door and were gracious enough to whip stitch me closed. Luckly I had made a lightweight paletot for the occasion as well.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4FlxCxxMticCzrXx2icl1YDNDT9b2bQ-EJFzrZrpwDiBnp3c81v6ZtoYXvaW-SHooOMRrtU95qhGIxYHvBwbLQPjNTHDC1xSHlqcjiXQ0atW7jqkooGZwEG1GEm3VyNaYqLBc/s1600/100_2983.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4FlxCxxMticCzrXx2icl1YDNDT9b2bQ-EJFzrZrpwDiBnp3c81v6ZtoYXvaW-SHooOMRrtU95qhGIxYHvBwbLQPjNTHDC1xSHlqcjiXQ0atW7jqkooGZwEG1GEm3VyNaYqLBc/s320/100_2983.jpg" width="240" yda="true" /></a><br />
Here's the back of the paletot...I spent the better part of two years off and on putting the braid on this paletot. It was a lot of work and very frustrating but it ended up coming out nicely.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig1dmvqE7Ke5_rgVqM6bgsNGp_ahuVBxGTkT8XClVEA9D1NCA5BfBok5g-LwtdUXJGv-bcYXVBUsGqfPjpwJAFZrNquaASNIdODXyVqE6FkMK0HVo92OZzY_fsoLXn34iVQx-m/s1600/100_2986.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig1dmvqE7Ke5_rgVqM6bgsNGp_ahuVBxGTkT8XClVEA9D1NCA5BfBok5g-LwtdUXJGv-bcYXVBUsGqfPjpwJAFZrNquaASNIdODXyVqE6FkMK0HVo92OZzY_fsoLXn34iVQx-m/s320/100_2986.jpg" width="240" yda="true" /></a></div>Here's the silk dress without the paletot, I love the shine and the way the fabric moves. It was a wonderful conference, and as usual, I'm looking forward to next year.<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-30131787635700086332012-02-29T15:35:00.001-05:002012-02-29T15:36:38.220-05:00I just don't get it (a rant)I just don't get people, I guess. A person the age of my kids starts telling me about something I have an intimate knowledge of...taxes and the possibilities of audit, and how this person is going to add this and that onto the business expenses (car payment, gas receipts (without receipts), unsubstantiated mileage, etc.) for a job that she was paid to do "under the table" without having withholding taken out. I explain how that isn't legal and will likely get the interest of the IRS and an audit to follow. So then she's going to report the work as income to "stick it to her boss" for paying her under the table. It all seems pretty shaky to me, and I so don't mess around with my taxes that I pay a very good accountant that is also a tax lawyer to do my taxes every year. I sleep much better at night that way.<br />
Been there with the audit thing, done that, made a simple arithmetic error in a very different situation, but it triggered a not so pleasant trip downtown to substantiate every penny on my return just because of the math error. What a nightmare. I had no clue what it was all about when I was "asked" to come in. It isn't smart to do anything that you don't fully understand on your tax form, so I didn't. I didn't count on being unable to hit the right keys on my calculator being such a problem, so I can only imagine what they'd do with a more complicated situation. The IRS isn't kidding around, even if you think you did everything right.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip-FiDfxVEsgDwng1jOTW-8bldJgbcHQTeNGJgyZwxdTl_KkTI6mIYGgepHltnC5PZtvwbeRnOXSE0GtBbgj699PWS66kGlkyHU8prJfRMJrORP9LFS8necFKZNlKGWFSiyC-8/s1600/arrow-through-the-head-97144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip-FiDfxVEsgDwng1jOTW-8bldJgbcHQTeNGJgyZwxdTl_KkTI6mIYGgepHltnC5PZtvwbeRnOXSE0GtBbgj699PWS66kGlkyHU8prJfRMJrORP9LFS8necFKZNlKGWFSiyC-8/s320/arrow-through-the-head-97144.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>So after talking to this person, my frustration level went up as the conversation continued. Just shoot me, ok? So you'd think that the voice of reason (me) that advised "talk to someone that knows what they're doing...not Liberty tax for free" before you send it in would have some weight. But no. I get told that "I don't want to talk about this anymore" because I wasn't saying what this person wanted to hear. Great, huh? That kind of attitude really puzzles me. At least get a handle on some of the questions to ask when you go wandering into the "free tax prep place". And please remember that you get what you pay for.<br />
<br />
I felt like saying "then why even mention it to me if you already were sure that you knew everything that there was to know", but I stayed polite. Heck, google your questions at the very least prior to running off and doing something that you could really get in trouble for. And in the future, don't even bother to ask me anything, ok? Because although I have 30 years of life experience on you, everything I say is "stupid" and instantly discounted. Ok, rant over.<br />
<br />
From a sociological point of view, I think that this type of attitude is endemic in society today anyway. I've seen it more often in the people younger than I am more so than in people my age (and if anyone wants to know, I only admit to being 29). If a person comes looking for pats on the back and instead they get some good old fashioned feedback that perhaps they should look at the situation a bit differently, then they don't want to hear it. Heck, I don't care if you take my advice or the advice of any other person on a subject, but at least listen and look into any concerns that you hear. I don't know if the inability to listen to concerns from another person all the way through is because we're such a "soundbite" society with no attention span anymore due to technology and the constant stream of information coming in that dulls our senses. It sure seems that those that seem to know it all often do the least good research and have the least accurate information. Ok, I feel better now. Remind me in a couple of years when this person gets audited that I wrote this post. :)<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-2922667894876490612012-02-28T10:27:00.004-05:002012-02-28T14:14:19.670-05:00On a Noro KickI've been on a knitting kick lately, thanks to the visit of my dear friend, Loraine. I always thought Noro yarn was pretty but had no idea what I would be able to "do" with it so after I bought a few skeins years ago, they sat ignored in my stash while I was knitting all kinds of socks and such. While Loraine was visiting recently, we went to three different yarn stores and looked at all the pretty Noro. She wanted to find some of the Silk Garden Lite to make some easy hats for gifts.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho85gdHUJAtNDmzIFmrmglRy_RlaUtiS3a8D_HxTTYG7I8gGseOCC7xMjzqjao9ADbXmi5qNiagal9FyYA_HYIv2L1FfyAypw7JQMoko2maO9yOQL5l3I-UGL8hlwnO9kUtivv/s1600/100_2947.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho85gdHUJAtNDmzIFmrmglRy_RlaUtiS3a8D_HxTTYG7I8gGseOCC7xMjzqjao9ADbXmi5qNiagal9FyYA_HYIv2L1FfyAypw7JQMoko2maO9yOQL5l3I-UGL8hlwnO9kUtivv/s320/100_2947.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> This whole Noro kick I'm on right now, actually started a year or so ago when Loraine sent me two skeins of a Brown/Grey/Black Silk Garden Noro yarn. The yarn was really pretty, but I couldn't think of what I was going to make from it as they really weren't my colors and I thought they were way too dark. She suggested that I pair those two skeins of yarn with some yarn I had in my stash that was pink/blue/purple Noro Silk Garden Thaw, I think, and gave me the site to find the pattern. (It's called Brooklyn Tweed). It's available on Ravelry as Striped Noro Scarf, or feel free to look at my projects on Ravelry, my Ravelry name is "Gator". It's basically K1P1 all the way across using two rows of each yarn alternating. As you can see it makes for a very pretty scarf, and it's really soft. I did 3 rows of the first color and then started the second color on the side opposite of where the first color's row ended to make a very nice edge. After the first row, you do 2 rows of each color, alternating. That's it! All I had to do, since the colors ended on opposite sides, was to wrap the working yarn around the tail of the other color and keep on with the pattern, no slipping stitches required. The edges came out really well, very consistent, and very soft. I love this scarf, it's become my favorite go to scarf for the winter. Even though I'm allergic to wool, especially scratchy wool, I enjoy using this soft and warm scarf.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPx7CKBYLmpnZ6JAkvX7bMwslpj1NA2BnoV77f2x3uR1RFPUR4pxKpvnosQuZ0hpw5fq4nsAitcsBQ5-QHLJjFaYI4sJvUc9OhIexjMsYdn3ryGWzbsc91tMjR46WrHOXIWX1/s1600/100_2946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPx7CKBYLmpnZ6JAkvX7bMwslpj1NA2BnoV77f2x3uR1RFPUR4pxKpvnosQuZ0hpw5fq4nsAitcsBQ5-QHLJjFaYI4sJvUc9OhIexjMsYdn3ryGWzbsc91tMjR46WrHOXIWX1/s320/100_2946.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> As I said, when Loraine was here, she was on the hunt for Noro Silk Garden Lite yarn. We went to the local yarn store that is about 5 minutes from my house looking for some the first day when she got in town, while we were driving, she told me about the simple pattern she uses to make hats for lots of friends. The pattern is "Snowflakes on Mulberries Hat" and it's by Amy Klimt. The pattern is free on Ravelry and there is a Silk Garden Lite version as well as one for the slightly thicker Noro Silk Garden. It is really easy and quick to knit. This one is the first one I made.<br />
Since my son went in the hospital and was there for 6 days, I took my knitting with me and just sat with him and talked to Loraine, my son, my husband and my son's girlfriend while knitting in the hospital. When this one was finished, I decided that it was long enough for one of my grandsons, but for an adult, I'd add more to the body of the hat in order to make an area large enough to flip up into a brim. This smaller one had the 5 inches before the decreases started as per the pattern. Loraine is making one of these for my son...she's been his "other mom" for years and had promised him one of the hats. She's also making him a cowl. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh20S14Lv30hiHuWP4fYAcwY7_zfLxHrkwtsu0zXSrSRW-Jl51O2isESYagDQtsG24tvpcFJqGuLFviecOAwoQjz8HvESAwOtjO7sd-KDq8gGCOwV0guD5gDanb1GgZzdSNuTa5/s1600/100_2945.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh20S14Lv30hiHuWP4fYAcwY7_zfLxHrkwtsu0zXSrSRW-Jl51O2isESYagDQtsG24tvpcFJqGuLFviecOAwoQjz8HvESAwOtjO7sd-KDq8gGCOwV0guD5gDanb1GgZzdSNuTa5/s320/100_2945.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> This pastel colored one has about 5.75 inches of body prior to the pattern. I had enough yarn to finish the hat, and even some left over. This one has such pretty colors, it might end up being for me. But never fear, I have a few more skeins of the same yarn in different colorways, and I know where to get more. We went to another fairly close yarn store that I hadn't been to in 20 years, and there was a good selection of the Silk Garden, and Noro Sock yarn (beautiful colors, but I have so much sock yarn I didn't buy any THIS time). It was less expensive than the first shop that we went to so I was happy, and they offered a punch card for anything bought in the store, and they were very nice and helpful, unlike when I was there 20 years ago. I got a book called "Weekend Hats" there which has a bunch of really fun looking patterns for me to work on in the future. I also got "Knit your own Cat" which is hilarious and I might just knit up a cat that looks like one of the "kids". Anyway, this one was finished in combination of time knitting at the hospital and time knitting while watching TVat home after leaving the hospital in the evenings so my son could sleep. The time when he was in the hospital and during his surgery was rather stressful, so I was happy to have my knitting as a de-stressing tool.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcO0vjfSK_62tkcrrPOoUzNWaLqv79wqFHEreJVwGiV0otLuvA4cviaRQuWRMy8iFvW0fndOsIjh2aXLE1Ee-2XZKnutFvd63AITBGFf41inmVXglrxRvYWcdSPW7VeM7uaRUS/s1600/100_2944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcO0vjfSK_62tkcrrPOoUzNWaLqv79wqFHEreJVwGiV0otLuvA4cviaRQuWRMy8iFvW0fndOsIjh2aXLE1Ee-2XZKnutFvd63AITBGFf41inmVXglrxRvYWcdSPW7VeM7uaRUS/s320/100_2944.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A couple of days later, my son was to be released from the hospital. We knew that it was going to be a waiting game for him to be discharged, so Loraine and I loaded the food we'd cooked for him the day before and took it to where he lives via another yarn store that was kind of on the way. Ok, it was in the same state. This time we hit the mother lode of Silk Garden Lite, and it was another 50 cents cheaper than the second shop, a full dollar cheaper than the first one. I bought three skeins of this darker blue with green and burgundy yarn...but if you're not familiar with striped yarn like this, you can't really tell completely how the yarn is going to look when you knit it up, and the pattern you use will really change the look fo the yarn. Anyway, I digress. The first thing I did with my three skeins was to make up a hat for myself from it. I have to wear a navy blue coat to work so I thought these colors would look nice with that. I somehow messed up counting so the hat ended up being 4 stitches short and I had to fudge the decreases. It's a little tight, but it still fits me fine. I made this one with nearly 6 inches of body prior to the decreases so it makes a nice brim. I had enough yarn to finish, but I don't think it would have been enough if I hadn't had 4 stitches less than the usual 120 for the body of the hat. I'd say that 5.75 inches of body is probably a good point to stop doing the body of the hat and switch to the decrease pattern.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcyIiQrXVEIZcdewAygHN2hVAkEOUHFRC-4Tsy33nO2KPhAXxb2Pk7qN-A-OIFpXtkoQsejBU5Lb3p1poX5XvZJgwAn6lY2AnVghQLvmnvz74pYLgXxVWB6fhocRW1G735GhLh/s1600/100_2943.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcyIiQrXVEIZcdewAygHN2hVAkEOUHFRC-4Tsy33nO2KPhAXxb2Pk7qN-A-OIFpXtkoQsejBU5Lb3p1poX5XvZJgwAn6lY2AnVghQLvmnvz74pYLgXxVWB6fhocRW1G735GhLh/s320/100_2943.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This is a cowl pattern that I found for free on Ravelry. It's called "Stacked Eyelet Cowl". I did it on Size 6 needles, though the pattern calls for 7's. It's CO 120, then P the first row, the second row is YO, K2tog, the third row is all P, then 10 rows knit. I used a cable cast on and bind off with size 8 needles, but I would use the same size needles in the future as for the knitting since the CO and BO edges were too big, enough so that the edges roll. I did the cowl with 2 skeins, and is long enough to pull up over my ears and head if I forget my hat. I wore it the other morning and it's really nice and warm and soft. It's the same colorway as the hat above it. Sorry about the lighting in the pictures, though.<br />
<br />
So now, my son is back to work, he's much better since they took his gall bladder out, and hopefully he won't have any more episodes of abdominal pain in the future. Loraine is back where she lives, and I have another hat on the needles. It feels good to get back to knitting and since I have a lot (A LOT!) of unfinished projects on needles all over the house, I hope I can sustain my enthusiasm in order to finish some or most of them. I'd really like to make a sweater, but I want to get some of the numerous knitting bags I have out with projects in them put away before I start anything else. And of course, there is always schoolwork, housework, and the job to contend with. :)<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-9442541533294772812011-06-19T16:23:00.002-04:002011-06-19T16:26:41.237-04:00Quick and Cheap hummusI ran out of hummus the other day. Bummer. I love putting it on bread rather than another spread, it's low in fat and high in protein. Have you seen how expensive it can be? Are you kidding me? It's so cheap to make it's ridiculous and it takes about 5 minutes. Here's the recipe... <br />
<br />
Plain hummus, add more spices or whatever you want for more flavor...<br />
<br />
1 14 ounce can garbanzo beans<br />
OR about 1 cup of dried beans that you've soaked overnight, drained, added 4 cups of water to, and cooked (bring to boil and then simmer for about 2 hours.) This gives you about 2 cups of cooked beans. Add about a cup or so of their cooking liquid. Dry beans are even cheaper than canned.<br />
1/4 cup tahini. You'll find it in the peanut butter section. This is sesame seed paste.<br />
2 TBSP flax oil. You can also use olive oil, grapeseed oil, or even canola, but flax is best.<br />
1/4 cup lemon juice<br />
2 garlic cloves, chopped, more if you'd like.<br />
1 1/4 tsp ground cumin. I like more than that, I use about 2 1/4 tsp in mine.<br />
1/2 tsp sea salt<br />
1/4 tsp ground pepper<br />
<br />
Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Process until smooth. Add garlic, red peppers,spices, or anything else you'd like to make the hummus more flavorful.<br />
<br />
Enjoy!<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-5305487102602374902011-05-31T19:51:00.000-04:002011-05-31T19:51:31.350-04:00Do it yourself cat tree<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOGrMGXqgrTV2KPAIcBmL9Gw5vUOnchZLs1PVC7XYoIpYRuc5Fw4yi6atO3pfL8ldysLPqSWDcAY_cxxgjW6quxLeXoNb9mhO_jD1IdTCIZwvf3PLjwREArrHG4-IcgkEEb3w5/s1600/Cardboard+cat+tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOGrMGXqgrTV2KPAIcBmL9Gw5vUOnchZLs1PVC7XYoIpYRuc5Fw4yi6atO3pfL8ldysLPqSWDcAY_cxxgjW6quxLeXoNb9mhO_jD1IdTCIZwvf3PLjwREArrHG4-IcgkEEb3w5/s320/Cardboard+cat+tree.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>I just had to post this, it was on the "Life with Cats" website. This was billed as a "college cat tree" but my husband pointed out that there was no beer cans involved so that couldn't be right!<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-85857446028724915272011-05-02T20:16:00.000-04:002011-05-02T20:16:52.060-04:00Research paper: Banning Convenience Declawing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjddMad2JauvClYS76_xCG0ujEbwiAnUM6WvTdufDyUczI6Cw48y2hD0xTz0IQ3KldtpNi1NvBc21OT9O0U2leBYbsA5MtncL9ji-gG7klBK3lDqN5LNzTmGentHXwKv-ccAC2N/s1600/funny-pictures-cat-asks-what-is-up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjddMad2JauvClYS76_xCG0ujEbwiAnUM6WvTdufDyUczI6Cw48y2hD0xTz0IQ3KldtpNi1NvBc21OT9O0U2leBYbsA5MtncL9ji-gG7klBK3lDqN5LNzTmGentHXwKv-ccAC2N/s1600/funny-pictures-cat-asks-what-is-up.jpg" /></a></div><em>I'd promised to post the research paper when it was finished and proofed. I ended up getting a 98% on the assignment and have now corrected the errors that took points off. I hope this paper does some good for the cats in this country. Thanks for your interest.</em><br />
<br />
Banning convenience declawing<br />
April, 2011<br />
<br />
From the increasing popularity of pet spas and pet day care “camps” to the billions of dollars spent on premium food, toys, accessories, and treats, Americans show that devotion to their animals continues to grow. Most pet owners treat their animal companions as family members and would never purposely hurt or disfigure them. Yet some owners hurt and disfigure their cats by declawing them. Convenience declawing is done for such non-medical reasons as “we just got new furniture”, “we don’t want to take the time to train the cat”, or other reasons that have nothing to do with the welfare of the cat. This controversial surgery is considered as cruel, painful, and mutilating, though it is still performed by many vets in the United States. More humane vets educate clients about non-surgical alternatives rather than providing declawing. Official policy statements against declawing have been issued by numerous national and international animal welfare groups and veterinary medical associations. Pet owners are wise to question the ethical position of vets that offer elective declawing strictly for the convenience of an owner and not for medical reasons, as vets have pledged to alleviate animal suffering and not to cause it. There are a few medical reasons to declaw a cat such as an owner having a compromised immune system, or if a cat has injured a paw so severely that the claw and lower toe must be amputated. However, most declawing surgeries are requested to keep the cat from possibly clawing in the future. A ban on declawing for owner convenience should be supported because the procedure is cruel, mutilating, and painful for the cat, because there are non-surgical alternatives to keep the cat from scratching, because most medical and animal welfare organizations publicly oppose the procedure, and because there are already proposed and enacted laws in the US and abroad to prohibit the surgery unless it is medically necessary.<br />
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Owners are frequently told that declawing is a simple procedure and is easily done. But declawing is certainly not a simple and routine surgery such as spay and neuter. (Broder, 2003) “It seems there is a big difference between neutering to prevent unwanted animal births and performing a surgical mutilation for our own comfort.” (Ben Shaul, 1994) Declaw surgery is complicated and extremely painful and is often the cause of medical and behavioral complications. Declawing is so cruel that it is termed “inhumane” and an “unnecessary mutilation” in England, where it is banned. The entire toe is amputated up to the joint, including the claw, the bone, nerve, joint capsule, collateral ligaments, and all of the tendons. The surgery consists of “ten separate, painful amputations of the third phalanx up to the last joint of each toe”. In human terms, it would be having each finger cut off at the last joint. (Schelling, Technical Facts) The recovery is long and extremely painful, and the rate of complication is very high compared to other surgeries, fifty percent of the declawed cats had one or more complications immediately after surgery. (Feline Onychectomy at a Teaching Institution: A Retrospective Study of 163 cases, 1994) Using a laser rather than a knife does not change the level of pain or the result of the surgery, though some vets try to convince their clients otherwise. Vets that have spent upwards of forty-five thousand dollars for the laser machine frequently promote declawing in their practices. (Jan's Kitten Kids) Veterinary Doctor Nicholas Dodman said that partial digit amputation (declawing) is so horrible that it has been used as torture for prisoners of war. (Syufy, Declawing: Disclouse and Wait, 2011) The cat is designed to walk on the portion of the toes which are cut off during declawing. Removal of the last joint of the toe changes the animal’s balance and gait. This change of gait causes later arthritis and pain in the paws, shoulders, and spine. <br />
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In addition to the pain of amputation, the declawed cat is likely to exhibit behavioral problems that may lead to the animal’s surrender for euthanasia. Aggressive biting and litter box avoidance are common problems in declawed cats surrendered to shelters. While cats with claws are surrendered to shelters for human-related issues such as the owner moving and not being able to take the cat, declawed cats are surrendered for behavioral problems. Most declawed cats that entered shelters were euthanized because of litter box issues. Animal behaviorist Carole Wilborn quoted a study of a Delaware animal shelter that found “more than seventy-five percent of the cats turned in for avoiding their litter boxes had been declawed.” (Wilbourn) Other shelter studies report percentages of declawed cats euthanized for behavioral issues as higher, some as high as ninety percent. (Goldstein) Veterinary colleges do not even teach the ethics of declawing along with the surgical technique, nor do they teach the new vets the possibility that the surgery itself often leads to problems that end with euthanasia.<br />
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Scratching is a normal behavior that provides psychological comfort to the cat. “Vet students should learn the long term effects, along with why the cats need to scratch, along with their anatomy lesson.” (Syufy, Anti-Declaw Advocates Score Major Win: What Lies Ahead on the Declawing Front?, 2011) Cats relax through kneading with their claws extended. Claws additionally allow cats to climb and to fully stretch out their legs and back. Through scratching with their claws, cats also create a visual and scent identification mark, and condition their claws. (Swiderski, 2002) Scratching behaviors are instinctive to the cat. Humane alternatives to declawing surgery allow the clawed cat to enjoy these behaviors and still live in harmony with home furnishings. Nail trimming will lessen damage from scratching, synthetic feline facial pheromone sprays artificially mark territory and lessen the cat’s desire to mark with claws, and scratching posts and mats provided to the cat preserve furnishings. Behavior modification training and use of anti-scratching items also teach the cat where it may or may not scratch. In addition, easily applied plastic nail tips called “Soft Paws” protect all surfaces from the cat’s claws. Each or a combination of alternatives will eliminate the cat scratching on furnishings and other household items, solving the issue with little effort from the owner and without declawing. <br />
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A small percentage of declawing supporters say they would surrender their cats if they could not declaw them. Yet owners in countries which ban the procedure have millions of companion cats. The owners in non-declawing countries have no choice but to train their cat, provide alternative solutions such as “Soft paws” and scratching posts, or not adopt at all. Inconvenience of the owner for a time does not begin to compare to the pain and behavioral issues of the cat recovering from the amputation of its toes. The AVAR (Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights) notes that “some veterinarians have argued that some people would have their cats killed if declawing was not an option. We should not, however, allow ourselves to be taken 'emotional hostage' like this. If a person really would kill her or his cat in this case, it is reasonable to question the suitability of that person as a feline guardian, especially when there are millions of non-declawed cats living in harmony with people.” (Syufy, Are there any states in USA where declawing is illegal ? Which ones?, 2011) <br />
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Declawing is considered so cruel that numerous animal and veterinary groups have issued statements against the procedure, especially for non-medical reasons. The leading animal welfare organization is against declawing. “The ASPCA is strongly opposed to declawing cats for the convenience of their guardians. The only circumstance in which the procedure could be condoned would be if the health and safety of the guardian would be put at risk, as in the case of individuals with compromised immune systems or illnesses that cause them to be unusually susceptible to serious infections.” (ASPCA) Some other organizations that have issued similar public policy statements are: the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights (AVAR), Cat Fancier’s Association (CFA), World Small Veterinary Association, Humane Society of the United States, American Association of Zoo Veterinarians (Sturges, 2005), and the American Humane Society. Even the public position statement of the American Veterinary Medical Association says that declawing should be “considered only after attempts have been made to prevent the cat from using its claws destructively or when its clawing provides a zoonotic risk for its owner(s).” (Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 2003) <br />
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Though the American Veterinary Medical Association says in their position statement that declawing should always be a last resort, (Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 2003) some member vets continue to declaw strictly for owner convenience. Departing from its own published position statements, the organization continues to fight efforts to ban convenience declawing. Declawing for non-medical reasons also contradicts the Veterinarian’s Oath in which the vet pledges to relieve animal suffering, not cause it. “I solemnly swear to use my scientific knowledge and skills for the benefit of society through the protection of animal health, the relief of animal suffering, the conservation of animal resources, the promotion of public health, and the advancement of medical knowledge.” (Journal of the American Veterinarian Medical Society, 2004) One vet commented, “As a profession, are we not giving a mixed message to the public in advocating companion animal health and welfare on the one hand and not abandoning such practices that are considered unethical by veterinarians and their clients in many other countries?” (Fox, 2006) The American Veterinary Medical Society has stated that it encourages educating clients about the actual procedure and what will actually happen to the cat. Unfortunately, many veterinarians do not fully educate owners about the procedure when promoting convenience declawing. Sadly, some owners also do not care to know what will happen to the cat. The only way to be sure that veterinarians are truly treating cats humanely is to ban convenience declawing.<br />
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Laws exist to protect animals in the United States from cruel living conditions, poor treatment, abuse, and neglect. Yet there has been no ban of declawing. While declawing is most commonplace in the United States and Canada, in many other countries declawing is either illegal or considered extremely inhumane and only performed under extreme circumstances. Declawing is banned in Europe, the British Isles, Bosnia, Slovenia, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Malta, and Israel. (Schelling, Outlawed Countries) Declawing is a money making procedure for the vets that provide it, and many of those vets have fought against a ban of the procedure. Pro-declawing vets say they want the decision to declaw to be between the vet and client, and not regulated. It seems that these vets are also motivated by loss of declawing as a source of income. Some pro-declawing vets use this reasoning, “Since destructive clawing behavior can sometimes lead owners to euthanize their cat, the procedure can be a lifesaver.” (Syufy, Anti-Declaw Advocates Score Major Win: First Declawing Ban in US - West Hollywood, CA, 2011) But shelter directors, volunteers, and other vets state that surrender and euthanasia is much more common for litter box avoidance issues seen in declawed cats than for scratching behavior in clawed cats. In countries that ban declawing, owners use alternative non-surgical methods to counter destructive clawing behavior, driving euthanasia for litter box avoidance to low rates. <br />
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The movement to ban declawing has been growing with support from vets, animal owners, and animal welfare organizations. In California, some cities in which have introduced legislation are: Santa Monica (Drug Week staff editors, 2009), San Diego, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, and West Hollywood. West Hollywood’s ban initially passed in 2003, was subsequently overturned, but upon appeal was upheld. As recently as last year, Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood, CA) “introduced legislation that will prohibit veterinarians from declawing cats in the State of California.” (Goldstein) Legislation has been introduced to ban the procedure in other states; some bills have also focused upon the illegality of landlords requiring that cat owners declaw their cats. Attorney Brian Pease said of the fight against the practice in Massachusetts: “There’s no way that a federal law or any other law would require cats to be declawed because it’s such a cruel procedure.” (Wilbourn) Grass roots efforts in small municipalities to pass a declawing ban help other areas to pass bills to ban the surgery in these other communities. Many individual communities banning the procedure will help the United States join the long list of countries that have humanely banned declawing.<br />
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It is estimated that 93.6 million cats live as household companions in the United States. From seventy-five to eighty percent of cat owners do not declaw their cats. Some vets continue to perform declawing surgery despite causing long lasting physical and behavioral problems that often lead to surrender and euthanasia of the animal. The United States lags behind the rest of the developed world by delaying banning this cruel procedure. Since humane and non-surgical alternatives to declawing are available, there is little reason to consider declawing a cat. Public outcry is becoming more vocal as laws are introduced to ban declawing surgery as cruel. Though slow, the movement to ban convenience declawing in the United States is gaining momentum. The humanity of a people is illustrated by how the least of the creatures in their care are treated. It is up to owners and care givers to protect and treat humanely the beautiful cats that have been living with people for thousands of years. “If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat." - Mark Twain<br />
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Works Cited<br />
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Feline Onychectomy at a Teaching Institution: A Retrospective Study of 163 cases. (1994, Jul-Aug). Vet Surg, 23(4), 274-80.<br />
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ASPCA. (n.d.). Position Statement on Declawing Cats. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from ASPCA: <a href="http://www.aspca.org/Sites/CMS/Layouts/PrintViewDisplay.aspx">http://www.aspca.org/Sites/CMS/Layouts/PrintViewDisplay.aspx</a><br />
<br />
Atwood-Harvey, D. (2005, December). Death or Declaw: Dealing with Moral Ambiguity in a Veterinary Hospital. Society and Animals, 13(4), 315-342.<br />
<br />
Ben Shaul, D. (1994, August 28). Keep Claws on your Cat. The Jerusalem Post, p. 7.<br />
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Broder, J. M. (2003, January 25). In West Hollywood, a Cat's Right to Scratch May Become a Matter of Law. New York Times, p. 12.<br />
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Cloutier, S., Newberry, R. C., Cambridge, A. J., & Tobias, K. M. (2005). Behavioural signs of postoperative pain in cats following onychectomy or tenectomy surgery. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 325-334.<br />
<br />
Drug Week staff editors. (2009, October 9). The Paw Project: Santa Monica Votes to Draft Ordinance on City-Wide Cat De-Claw Ban. Drug Week, p. 1832.<br />
<br />
Eckstein, S. r. (2009, June 28). Declawing Cats Q&A: Positives, Negatives, and Alternatives. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Healthy Cats Guide, WebMD: <a href="http://pets.webmd.com/cats/guide/declawing-cats-positives-negatives-alternatives">http://pets.webmd.com/cats/guide/declawing-cats-positives-negatives-alternatives</a>?.<br />
<br />
Fox, M. W. (2006, February 15). Questions Ethics of Onychectomy in Cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, p. 602.<br />
<br />
Goldstein, L. D. (n.d.). The Debate on Declaw Laws. Retrieved March 15, 2010, from Stray Pet Advocacy: <a href="http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/declaw_law.html">http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/declaw_law.html</a><br />
<br />
Hammett, D. E. (n.d.). Is Declawing Cruel? Retrieved March 15, 2011, from PetStation CatStation: <a href="http://petstation.com/declaw.html">http://petstation.com/declaw.html</a><br />
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Jan's Kitten Kids. (n.d.). Laser Declaw: Is it really better? Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Jan's Kids: <a href="http://www.janskids.com/laser.html">http://www.janskids.com/laser.html</a><br />
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Journal of the American Veterinarian Medical Society. (2004, June 1). Veterinarian's Oath Reaffirmed. Retrieved April 7, 2011, from Journal of the American Veterinarian Medical Society: <a href="http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/jun04/040601t.asp">http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/jun04/040601t.asp</a><br />
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Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. (2003, April 15). AVMA position statement on the declawing of domestic cats. Retrieved March 16, 2011, from AVMA Online News Archives: <a href="http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/apr03/030415c.asp">http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/apr03/030415c.asp</a><br />
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Lee, J. D. (n.d.). Is Declawing Cats Cruel? Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Dr. Justine Lee: <a href="http://www.drjustinelee.com/blog/cat-questions/85-is-declawing-cats-cruel">http://www.drjustinelee.com/blog/cat-questions/85-is-declawing-cats-cruel</a><br />
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Mohd Idris, S. (2008, July 30). Enough of this Mutilation. New Straits Times (Malaysia), p. 23.<br />
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Nolen, R. S. (2006, February 1). California City's Ban on Declawing Struck Down - Court affirms. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 333-334.<br />
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Patrick, C. (n.d.). Declawing As Seen by a Shelter Volunteer. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from About.com Cats: <a href="http://cats.about.com/od/declawing/a/ucfeature7.htm">http://cats.about.com/od/declawing/a/ucfeature7.htm</a><br />
<br />
Prouts, L. G. (1998, March 17). The Declawing Issue. Washington Post, p. Z11.<br />
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Pukay, B. D. (1994, September 29). Training Cats not to Scratch a Better Alternative to Declawing. The Ottawa Citizen, p. B4.<br />
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Sacks, A. (2003, April 26). Kitty's Claws for Concern. Daily News (New York), pp. Now, 39.<br />
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Schelling, C. D. (n.d.). Home: Written by Veterinarian, Dr. Christianne Schelling. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Declawing: What You Need to Know: <a href="http://www.declawing.com/">http://www.declawing.com/</a><br />
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Schelling, C. D. (n.d.). Outlawed Countries. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Declawing: What You Need to Know: <a href="http://www.declawing.com/htmls/outlawed.htm">http://www.declawing.com/htmls/outlawed.htm</a><br />
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Schelling, C. D. (n.d.). Technical Facts. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Declawing: What You Need to Know: <a href="http://www.declawing.com/htmls/declawing.htm">http://www.declawing.com/htmls/declawing.htm</a><br />
<br />
Singer, Z. (2001, August 10). Veterinarians seek ban on declawing of cats: Procedure should only be allowed 'where euthanasia is only alternative'. The Ottawa Citizen, p. A1/Front.<br />
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Sturges, L. (2005, January 29). For Cats' Health, Scratch This Surgery. Washington Post, p. A23.<br />
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Swiderski, J. D. (2002, November). Onychectomy and its Alternatives in the Feline Patient. Clinical Techniques in Small Animal Practice, 17(4), 158-161.<br />
<br />
Syufy, F. (2011). Anti-Declaw Advocates Score Major Win: What Lies Ahead on the Declawing Front? Retrieved March 16, 2011, from About.com Cats: <a href="http://cats.about.com/cs/declawing/a/nodeclaw_2.htm?p=1">http://cats.about.com/cs/declawing/a/nodeclaw_2.htm?p=1</a><br />
<br />
Syufy, F. (2011). Anti-Declaw Advocates Score Major Win: First Declawing Ban in US - West Hollywood, CA. (The New York Times Company) Retrieved March 16, 2011, from About.Com Cats: <a href="http://cats.about.com/cs.declawing/a/nodeclaw.htm?p=1">http://cats.about.com/cs.declawing/a/nodeclaw.htm?p=1</a><br />
<br />
Syufy, F. (2011). Are there any states in USA where declawing is illegal ? Which ones? Retrieved April 11, 2011, from About.com Cats: <a href="http://cats.about.com/od/declawing/f/uslaws.htm">http://cats.about.com/od/declawing/f/uslaws.htm</a><br />
<br />
Syufy, F. (2011). Declawing: Disclouse and Wait. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from About.com Cats: <a href="http://cats.about.com/cs.declawing/a/disclose_wait.htm?p=1">http://cats.about.com/cs.declawing/a/disclose_wait.htm?p=1</a><br />
<br />
The New Zealand Herald. (2003, May 9). West Hollywood Bans Cat Declawing. The New Zealand Herald, pp. News, World: Latest.<br />
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Wall Street Journal. (2007, June 29). Declawing and the Law. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from The Wall Street Journal: <a href="http://blogs.wsu.com/law/2007/06/29/declawing-the-law/tab/print">http://blogs.wsu.com/law/2007/06/29/declawing-the-law/tab/print</a><br />
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Wilbourn, C. (n.d.). Don't Declaw Cats! Retrieved March 15, 2011, from The Cat Therapist: http://www.thecattherapist.com/dont_declaw.htm<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-86893801193985650332011-05-02T11:29:00.003-04:002011-05-02T11:35:47.388-04:00But where are you going to get your protein?!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdHQoVyphhhrnM2KB2bC4N6fmBPGsjRHwoXihDn0o5ArpuHzL3rxJgQFNhDwUfHNE0_R-XTOBhO1Kkagx2NHVgcDitHeOpBWllSk3avzTEq0_uw8DRLtUof7oJmbL2GTVQn2K/s1600/wood-violet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdHQoVyphhhrnM2KB2bC4N6fmBPGsjRHwoXihDn0o5ArpuHzL3rxJgQFNhDwUfHNE0_R-XTOBhO1Kkagx2NHVgcDitHeOpBWllSk3avzTEq0_uw8DRLtUof7oJmbL2GTVQn2K/s320/wood-violet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This question comes up all the time when I tell people that I'm not eating meat (and even more when I mention that I don't eat other animal things either)...where are you going to get your protein? Many people that ask do so with the look of supreme knowledge that vegetarians are going to somehow die of lack of protein, but that isn't even a vague issue. The National Cattlemen's Association and the United Poultry Farmers have worked long and hard to convince the American public that we need lots and lots of protein, (not to mention the promotion of the myth that we need animal sources of iron and calcium, not true, either) but it just isn't true. Too much protein has its own inherant health issues, but lets get back to how vegans get plenty.<br />
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The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends .5g of protein per kg for the average adult. To get your weight in kg, just divide the pounds by 2.2. So that means that my overweight self (I will admit to weighing a hefty 175 right now) needs only about 40 grams of protein a day to be perfectly healthy. The USDA's RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance)says that we need .8g per kg. Of course, the USDA is pretty much run by factory farm giant corporations. But I'll figure that out for you anyway...for the same weight at .8grams per kg, I'd need 63.64 grams of protein a day. That's still well below what the meat folks would like you to believe, and what will cause heart and arterial disease as well. <br />
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So now that I know that I only need somewhere between 40-64 grams of protein a day, where is a vegan to get it? Easy! Here are some unexpected sources:<br />
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1/2 cup vital wheat gluten flour is 46 grams<br />
1/2 cup textured vegetable protein(TVP), dry is 24. (Fake meat ingredient)<br />
1 cup soybeans, cooked, boiled (edamame) is 22.07<br />
1 cup wheat flour, whole grain is 16.41<br />
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, shelled is 16.4<br />
1/2 cup of whole almonds is 15.17<br />
2 TBSP brewer's yeast is 14<br />
1 cup wheat flour, white, all purpose is 12.91<br />
1 cup yellow cornmeal is 9.91<br />
1 cup cooked peas is 8.24<br />
1/2 cup quinoa (keen-wa, a very yummy grain) is 8.14<br />
1 1/2 TBSP Red Star nutritional yeast is 8<br />
1/2 cup pinto beans, cooked is 7.7<br />
1/2 cup kidney beans, cooked, 7.7<br />
1 cup of SPINACH, cooked has 7.62<br />
1/2 cup black beans, cooked 7.6<br />
1/2 cup navy beans, cooked is 7.5<br />
1/2 cup chickpeas/garbanzo beans, cooked is 7.3<br />
1/2 cup vegetarian baked beans, canned is 6<br />
1 cup of BROCCOLI, cooked, is 5.70<br />
and 1 cup long-grain brown rice, cooked is 5.03<br />
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Source: USDA Nutrient Database via "Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Foods" by Alicia C. Simpson.<br />
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As you can see, the beans aren't even at the top of the list of power protein foods. If I have a cup of rice and some broccoli, I'm already over 1/4 the way to having enough protein. This also doesn't list the protein found in soy foods like soy yogurt and tofu. So please put to rest the myth that vegetarians and vegans don't get enough protein, it simply isn't true.<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-61272956726844526972011-03-23T11:25:00.000-04:002011-03-23T11:25:25.267-04:00My Case Against Declawing Cats<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWl_iIFPhdMPqWp6EjZ6PeSpjOcCVhLqc-nSUJnluZ90zvi1mdlNTz81DhC_gNxi1XzRZ6IudX_nwRgpbB-x4Hk138r-3xUGDCt8yJ5biWRVBCN6o0iUvrmNmhNbW3UzXOXcRl/s1600/computercat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWl_iIFPhdMPqWp6EjZ6PeSpjOcCVhLqc-nSUJnluZ90zvi1mdlNTz81DhC_gNxi1XzRZ6IudX_nwRgpbB-x4Hk138r-3xUGDCt8yJ5biWRVBCN6o0iUvrmNmhNbW3UzXOXcRl/s320/computercat.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><em>This is a persuasive essay assignment for my writing class this semester. Though it is not as long as a full-scale research paper (that's the next assignment), there is a lot of information in this essay that might be of interest if you're thinking about declawing your cat. I hope you don't, but here is some information to consider:</em><br />
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Declawing cats<br />
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Most people who adopt a pet intend to treat the animal with great love and care. Sometimes, through lack of information, or based upon having done so to another cat in the past, an owner will decide to have a cat declawed. The owner might not realize that prevailing thought about declawing cats has changed greatly over the years, or might not realize what the surgery actually does to the beloved pet. Declaw surgeries are still being performed in the United States despite the growing outcry of many veterinarians and cat lovers that the procedure is cruel and outdated. The ASPCA, Cat Fancier’s Association, World Small Animal Veterinary Association, Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights (AVAR), American Humane Association, and the Humane Association of the USA have all issued position statements which oppose declawing cats for the convenience of their guardians. If each pet owner will not declaw his or her own cats and not patronize vets that perform the procedure, much needless suffering will be averted. Each owner who chooses to be humane will help declaw surgeries fall from favor and eventually stop altogether. The declawing of cats is a complex, painful, mutilating surgery causing frequent medical and behavioral complications; since there are humane and non-surgical alternatives to keep cats from damaging household goods with their claws, no caring owner should declaw his or her cat.<br />
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Many owners who opted for declaw surgery on their cats say later that they were not aware of what the procedure entailed (Syufy, 2011), nor were they counseled as to non-surgical alternatives to counter the cat’s natural instinct to scratch. Some veterinary offices tell their clients that declawing is a fairly simple, relatively painless and routine surgery for the cat. But this procedure actually consists of “amputating not just the claws, but the whole phalanx (up to the joint), including bones, ligaments, and tendons! To remove the claw, the bone, nerve, joint capsule, collateral ligaments, and the extensor and flexor tendons must all be amputated.” (Christianne Schelling, Technical Facts) Dr. Schelling writes that the surgery is not at all simple but includes ten separate, painful amputations of the third phalanx up to the last joint of each toe. She compares the surgery to cutting off of a person’s fingers at the last joint of each finger. Sometimes clinic staff will deliberately misinform owners that declawing removes only the claws and is a minor surgery, but removal of the claws is not sufficient to declaw the cat, the bones must be removed to prevent the claw from growing back. (Christianne Schelling, Technical Facts) Declawing is considered so inhumane that it has been banned entirely in a number of countries, (Christianne Schelling, Outlawed Countries) or is used only in cases of medical necessity such as a toe being injured so badly it must be amputated.<br />
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Laser declawing surgery is often promoted as painless by vets who have purchased the forty-five thousand dollar laser machine. Regardless of the method used for the surgery, the result and after effects are the same. The toes of the cat are still cut and mutilated. The laser burns the tissue and bone off rather than requiring the vet to do as much cutting by hand. Some people feel that the cost of the laser machine gives veterinarians a financial reason to promote declaw surgery even though they know of the painful aftermath. (Jan's Kitten Kids) A vet with the machine may suggest clients declaw at the same time as neutering the cat. This practice is a form of cross selling as the vet tries to recoup money invested in the equipment. Veterinarians who decline to mention the severity of the surgery also do not mention the severity of the recovery. Dr. Nicholas Dodman, DVM has written that “cats bounce off the walls in recovery cages because of the excruciating pain after declawing, as opposed to neutering surgery recoveries which are fairly peaceful.” He further says that partial digit amputation (declawing) is so horrible that it has been used as torture for prisoners of war. (Syufy, 2011)<br />
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The declawed cat now must deal with a very painful recovery. The rate of complication after declaw surgery is relatively high compared to other procedures. Direct complications can include excruciating pain, nerve damage, hemorrhage, bone chips that prevent healing, painful regrowth of deformed claws inside the paw which are not visible to the eye. Chronic back and joint pain is common as shoulder, leg and back muscles weaken because the cat was designed to walk on the toes which have been amputated. Abscesses can also form. (Christianne Schelling, Technical Facts) . Studies quoted by Dr. Schelling and published in peer-reviewed veterinary journals note that “fifty percent of the cats had one or more complications immediately after surgery.” The studies also noted that many cats suffered a loss of balance because they could no longer maneuver well on their amputated stumps. (Christianne Schelling, Technical Facts)<br />
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Even after its paws have healed, a declawed cat frequently has behavioral issues due to the surgery. Grooming is important for feline mental and physical health. A cat cannot groom fully without claws. The cat can learn to use its teeth more, but it cannot scratch and groom itself in the region of the head, mouth, neck, and ears. Anyone who has ever had an itch that cannot be scratched can sympathize with this dilemma! Scratching and stretching its claws are pleasurable activities which are also taken away from the cat. Any cat has a natural love of climbing that is impossible to switch off. Without claws, the cat will slip and fall, causing confusion and disbelief. The simple act of climbing up to a chair or window perch may now prove to be hazardous. A declawed cat must never be let outdoors. If the cat ever found itself lost or homeless, it would no longer be able to hunt and would die of starvation. A declawed cat will frequently resort to biting when confronted with even minor threats. The cat becomes very insecure with no claws with which to defend itself. All cats have an instinctive need to scratch in the litter box which is also frustrated by declawing. A high percentage of animals surrendered to shelters for behavioral reasons are there because of misuse of the litter box, not clawing. Of cats euthanized for behavioral reasons, seventy-five percent are declawed. (Jan's Kitten Kids) Declawing is also reported to have changed cats’ personalities, though the medical community does not recognize this side effect. (Christianne Schelling, Home: Written by Veterinarian, Dr. Christianne Schelling) Each person knows his or her own pet, personality change can be a very subjective observation. Just one frustration can cause behavioral issues in any cat, while the declawed cat has many challenges to overcome.<br />
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Owners sometimes mention fear of the cat scratching household furnishings as a reason to declaw. However, there are many non-surgical alternatives to declawing that will protect household goods. Claws are fairly easily trimmed by the owner of even the most difficult cat with a bit of practice. Even claws of reluctant cats can be trimmed by an owner using a cat bag or enlisting a helper. Cats gain comfort from the act of scratching. Providing scratching posts and pads rubbed with catnip train the cat to scratch on the scratching post and not on the furniture. Multiple scratchers throughout the house give the cat acceptable places to scratch whenever the desire occurs. Double sided tape can be applied to furniture to train the cat not to touch an area, cats really hate the sticky feeling on their paws. Aluminum foil over a surface also discourages cats from scratching inappropriately. Cats climbing curtains can be immediately cured by using a loosely attached spring tension rod. The cat will climb it and the rod will fall down, often requiring only one effort to teach a cat not to climb or scratch the draperies. Another alternative is a product called “Soft Claws”. These are vinyl tips that are glued to the claws of the cat to protect furnishings. They are widely available, easy to apply, and stay on four to six weeks. Cat trees and gyms are fun alternatives, cats love to climb and scratch on them, leaving the furnishings in the house untouched. Sprays are also available to deter scratching, and squirt bottle training works well to prevent scratching inappropriate items. Dr. David E. Hammett, DVM said it well: “home furnishings are expensive, but a cat’s well-being is priceless.” (David E Hammett) <br />
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It is important for pet owners to educate themselves about the care and well-being of their pets, and to choose humane options for them. Owners that consider declawing a cat should be aware of the extent of this complex, major, mutilating surgery. They should be aware that declawing is denounced by most animal organizations and banned in many countries as inhumane. Owners should explore all the non-surgical alternative methods available to keep the cat from scratching furnishings. Owners should not believe a vet’s assurance that complications occur only occasionally or that the cat will recover and be able to walk just fine, since statistical and anecdotal evidence does not agree. Owners that say they have tried alternative measures to declawing and that declawing is being done so that the cat’s life may be saved often have not sought help or used sufficient effort to train the cat to change its behavior. If they lived in a country which bans declawing, owners would find ways to train the cat or provide alternative places to scratch. Polls have been publicized in which a small percentage of owners say they would surrender their cats if they could not declaw them, suggesting more euthanasia deaths of pets. But rather than creating more euthanasia deaths, those owners might not adopt a cat at all if they knew they were unable to declaw it, or would use alternative methods of training the cat if declaw surgery was unavailable. Inconvenience of the owner for a time does not begin to compare to the pain and behavioral issues of the cat recovering from the amputation of its toes. Cats grace the lives of the people around them with charm, beauty, intelligence, and companionship. It is up to cat owners to make the best, most humane, choices for their care. Scottish veterinarian James Herriot said, “I hope to make people realize how totally helpless animals are, how dependent on us, trusting as a child must that we will be kind and take care of their needs... [They] are an obligation put on us, a responsibility we have no right to neglect, nor to violate by cruelty.”<br />
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Works Cited<br />
<br />
ASPCA. (n.d.). Position Statement on Declawing Cats. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from ASPCA: http://www.aspca.org/Sites/CMS/Layouts/PrintViewDisplay.aspx<br />
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Christianne Schelling, D. (n.d.). Home: Written by Veterinarian, Dr. Christianne Schelling. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Declawing: What You Need to Know: http://www.declawing.com/<br />
<br />
Christianne Schelling, D. (n.d.). Outlawed Countries. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Declawing: What You Need to Know: http://www.declawing.com/htmls/outlawed.htm<br />
<br />
Christianne Schelling, D. (n.d.). Technical Facts. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Declawing: What You Need to Know: http://www.declawing.com/htmls/declawing.htm<br />
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Jan's Kitten Kids. (n.d.). Laser Declaw: Is it really better? Retrieved March 15, 2011, from Jan's Kids: http://www.janskids.com/laser.html<br />
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Patrick, C. (n.d.). Declawing As Seen by a Shelter Volunteer. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from About.com Cats: http://cats.about.com/od/declawing/a/ucfeature7.htm<br />
<br />
Syufy, F. (2011). Declawing: Disclouse and Wait. Retrieved March 15, 2011, from About.com Cats: http://cats.about.com/cs.declawing/a/disclose_wait.htm?p=1<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-31020380835732306502010-12-08T11:20:00.000-05:002010-12-08T11:20:13.763-05:00Stashing or hoarding?Today’s question is something that has been bothering me a lot this vacation. I am busy taking apart my sewing room shelves and carrying everything on them down to the basement for storage. I’m making a real guest room of my sewing room and reorganizing everything that was in both my sewing/guest room and my office/study area. I need a guest room for my children and grandchildren to have somewhere set up for when they come to visit rather than having to scramble to unfold the futon every time. My sewing machine will most likely end up in my office or against one wall in the guest room so I can use it, but the fabric stash will have to come up from storage one piece at a time.<br />
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So the question is: when you’re a hobbyist, where is the line between stashing and collecting fabric or yarn or hobby supplies and hoarding? Like many people, I watch the shows on hoarders and though my home is full and definitely qualifies for the title “cluttered’, there aren’t the piles of stuff heaped on every surface that make it impossible to use the rooms or to even walk through the house. The sewing room gets messy when I’m working on a project, but everything was put away on shelves and in bins beneath my cutting table besides a few things that were on the floor waiting to be put away properly. I’ve been told by other people I know that sew that my stash is very small compared to theirs. <br />
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Perhaps it’s the size of the storage you have available that dictates if it’s good or bad in terms of stash or hoarding? I have heard some very creative ways of hiding the stash from husbands, mine knows the full extent of my fabric and yarn so that isn't necessary with me.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZM2sQFvyVwiIpVyi2hgzAsgbbyKcjayaYVYm-v2mfquvsLakh1B_KgQqEQkPvW4zx6sYLr27tkwIUpq-IuV3OTX1xDW5Un_lUfvk2taPhgsMNbqU85pkhf-Ldqa6J2nnI9Gzj/s1600/100_2754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZM2sQFvyVwiIpVyi2hgzAsgbbyKcjayaYVYm-v2mfquvsLakh1B_KgQqEQkPvW4zx6sYLr27tkwIUpq-IuV3OTX1xDW5Un_lUfvk2taPhgsMNbqU85pkhf-Ldqa6J2nnI9Gzj/s320/100_2754.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Contents of one shelving unit stacked in the corner</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
I think of hoarders as:<br />
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1. Unable to throw away even their trash/garbage.<br />
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2. Unable to get rid of anything they’ve ever owned.<br />
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3. Shopping compulsively but rarely even using what they buy.<br />
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4. Creating an unsafe environment in the house through not being able to walk through the hallways and such.<br />
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5. Psychologically at need for the things to substitute for something else in their life or a traumatic experience that has not been dealt with as of yet.<br />
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I don’t think that I’m any of those things, though I do have extra stuff and clutter that I am slowly working through. I donate things to goodwill about 3 or 4 times a year so it's not that I can't get rid of anything. I was happy with my sewing room being full of wonderful fabric, but moving and going through it all is really difficult. My organizational skills need improvement.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidtvPMFsQNIhkq7Zpeb6h7cUjDYpMlnrqK-8XC1D04Qb05RAllcVRF52iDL3kI_cgwySzIywq5XsP9_JaL254UpYUThSSYNt1lfadpHhIFvvRDWm3wTxL3PcEecLOLaV67_FzE/s1600/100_2748.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidtvPMFsQNIhkq7Zpeb6h7cUjDYpMlnrqK-8XC1D04Qb05RAllcVRF52iDL3kI_cgwySzIywq5XsP9_JaL254UpYUThSSYNt1lfadpHhIFvvRDWm3wTxL3PcEecLOLaV67_FzE/s320/100_2748.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My "Civil War" closet</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
So as I go through my fabric stash while taking it off the shelves to move the shelves to the basement, I see fabric that I have kept that I might not ever use, but I don't know if I will or not. At some point I will be finished with school (again) and have more time to sew. But what to do with it all now? I don’t want to just donate it to goodwill or throw it away when there is someone that might be able to make good use of it. <br />
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I realize that I might never live long enough to use up all of the dress sized pieces of fabric that I have purchased, especially since with being in school, my Civil War dress production has fallen to just a few a year, and I really don’t have the time to reenact, either. I have piles of beautiful cottons, wools, and silks, just waiting for me to turn them into beautiful gowns. Each year I sell the overage in my closet at a reenactor's consignment store so I have more room for the new ones I have created. They sell really well because they're made from really nice fabric and use period construction techniques, but I don't make a profit from selling them, I just get about what I have in them in terms of fabric cost. I enjoy making them, it's a lot of fun for me, and I figure any loss is entertainment value.<br />
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So, gentle readers, where is that line between stashing and hoarding, specifically fabric? I'd really love to know!<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9274067.post-74750279728271638322010-11-29T16:50:00.001-05:002010-11-29T16:50:21.817-05:00Enjoy your shopping. :)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHpbQy_7WYCfhJgFx7eEJuHPdJkqAWpQwnEHHC_6Kvp_PWlOYFjHsFrRB9qsnoYX-xZ5Hf6XhDeF5_iofIRcYl1tpIjN4R0F9tofs3YqYgr-Rgzme-FA3-cxPPs-IMtD3ziJvl/s1600/Grinch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHpbQy_7WYCfhJgFx7eEJuHPdJkqAWpQwnEHHC_6Kvp_PWlOYFjHsFrRB9qsnoYX-xZ5Hf6XhDeF5_iofIRcYl1tpIjN4R0F9tofs3YqYgr-Rgzme-FA3-cxPPs-IMtD3ziJvl/s400/Grinch.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><em>In honor of the greatest of all retail holidays, Christmas (or Xmas for us lazy typists) here is a bit of historical factual information for you...</em><br />
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I. When was Jesus born?<br />
A. Popular myth puts his birth on December 25th in the year 1 C.E.<br />
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B. The New Testament gives no date or year for Jesus’ birth. The earliest gospel – St. Mark’s, written about 65 CE – begins with the baptism of an adult Jesus. This suggests that the earliest Christians lacked interest in or knowledge of Jesus’ birthdate.<br />
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C. The year of Jesus birth was determined by Dionysius Exiguus, a Scythian monk, “abbot of a Roman monastery. His calculation went as follows:<br />
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a. In the Roman, pre-Christian era, years were counted from ab urbe condita (“the founding of the City” [Rome]). Thus 1 AUC signifies the year Rome was founded, 5 AUC signifies the 5th year of Rome’s reign, etc.<br />
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b. Dionysius received a tradition that the Roman emperor Augustus reigned 43 years, and was followed by the emperor Tiberius.<br />
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c. Luke 3:1,23 indicates that when Jesus turned 30 years old, it was the 15th year of Tiberius reign.<br />
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d. If Jesus was 30 years old in Tiberius’ reign, then he lived 15 years under Augustus (placing Jesus birth in Augustus’ 28th year of reign).<br />
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e. Augustus took power in 727 AUC. Therefore, Dionysius put Jesus birth in 754 AUC.<br />
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f. However, Luke 1:5 places Jesus’ birth in the days of Herod, and Herod died in 750 AUC – four years before the year in which Dionysius places Jesus birth.<br />
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D. Joseph A. Fitzmyer – Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at the Catholic University of America, member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, and former president of the Catholic Biblical Association – writing in the Catholic Church’s official commentary on the New Testament[1], writes about the date of Jesus’ birth, “Though the year [of Jesus birth is not reckoned with certainty, the birth did not occur in AD 1. The Christian era, supposed to have its starting point in the year of Jesus birth, is based on a miscalculation introduced ca. 533 by Dionysius Exiguus.”<br />
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E. The DePascha Computus, an anonymous document believed to have been written in North Africa around 243 CE, placed Jesus birth on March 28. Clement, a bishop of Alexandria (d. ca. 215 CE), thought Jesus was born on November 18. Based on historical records, Fitzmyer guesses that Jesus birth occurred on September 11, 3 BCE.<br />
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II. How Did Christmas Come to Be Celebrated on December 25?<br />
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A. Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the weeklong celebration. The festival began when Roman authorities chose “an enemy of the Roman people” to represent the “Lord of Misrule.” Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week. At the festival’s conclusion, December 25th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman.<br />
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B. The ancient Greek writer poet and historian Lucian (in his dialogue entitled Saturnalia) describes the festival’s observance in his time. In addition to human sacrifice, he mentions these customs: widespread intoxication; going from house to house while singing naked; rape and other sexual license; and consuming human-shaped biscuits (still produced in some English and most German bakeries during the Christmas season).<br />
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C. In the 4th century CE, Christianity imported the Saturnalia festival hoping to take the pagan masses in with it. Christian leaders succeeded in converting to Christianity large numbers of pagans by promising them that they could continue to celebrate the Saturnalia as Christians.[2]<br />
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D. The problem was that there was nothing intrinsically Christian about Saturnalia. To remedy this, these Christian leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday.<br />
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E. Christians had little success, however, refining the practices of Saturnalia. As Stephen Nissenbaum, professor history at the University of Massachussetts, Amherst, writes, “In return for ensuring massive observance of the anniversary of the Savior’s birth by assigning it to this resonant date, the Church for its part tacitly agreed to allow the holiday to be celebrated more or less the way it had always been.” The earliest Christmas holidays were celebrated by drinking, sexual indulgence, singing naked in the streets (a precursor of modern caroling), etc.<br />
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F. The Reverend Increase Mather of Boston observed in 1687 that “the early Christians who first observed the Nativity on December 25 did not do so thinking that Christ was born in that Month, but because the Heathens’ Saturnalia was at that time kept in Rome, and they were willing to have those Pagan Holidays metamorphosed into Christian ones.”[3] Because of its known pagan origin, Christmas was banned by the Puritans and its observance was illegal in Massachusetts between 1659 and 1681.[4] However, Christmas was and still is celebrated by most Christians.<br />
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G. Some of the most depraved customs of the Saturnalia carnival were intentionally revived by the Catholic Church in 1466 when Pope Paul II, for the amusement of his Roman citizens, forced Jews to race naked through the streets of the city. An eyewitness account reports, “Before they were to run, the Jews were richly fed, so as to make the race more difficult for them and at the same time more amusing for spectators. They ran… amid Rome’s taunting shrieks and peals of laughter, while the Holy Father stood upon a richly ornamented balcony and laughed heartily.”[5]<br />
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H. As part of the Saturnalia carnival throughout the 18th and 19th centuries CE, rabbis of the ghetto in Rome were forced to wear clownish outfits and march through the city streets to the jeers of the crowd, pelted by a variety of missiles. When the Jewish community of Rome sent a petition in1836 to Pope Gregory XVI begging him to stop the annual Saturnalia abuse of the Jewish community, he responded, “It is not opportune to make any innovation.”[6] On December 25, 1881, Christian leaders whipped the Polish masses into Antisemitic frenzies that led to riots across the country. In Warsaw 12 Jews were brutally murdered, huge numbers maimed, and many Jewish women were raped. Two million rubles worth of property was destroyed.<br />
III. The Origins of Christmas Customs<br />
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A. The Origin of Christmas Tree<br />
Just as early Christians recruited Roman pagans by associating Christmas with the Saturnalia, so too worshippers of the Asheira cult and its offshoots were recruited by the Church sanctioning “Christmas Trees”.[7] Pagans had long worshipped trees in the forest, or brought them into their homes and decorated them, and this observance was adopted and painted with a Christian veneer by the Church.<br />
B. The Origin of Mistletoe<br />
Norse mythology recounts how the god Balder was killed using a mistletoe arrow by his rival god Hoder while fighting for the female Nanna. Druid rituals use mistletoe to poison their human sacrificial victim.[8] The Christian custom of “kissing under the mistletoe” is a later synthesis of the sexual license of Saturnalia with the Druidic sacrificial cult.[9]<br />
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C. The Origin of Christmas Presents<br />
In pre-Christian Rome, the emperors compelled their most despised citizens to bring offerings and gifts during the Saturnalia (in December) and Kalends (in January). Later, this ritual expanded to include gift-giving among the general populace. The Catholic Church gave this custom a Christian flavor by re-rooting it in the supposed gift-giving of Saint Nicholas (see below).[10]<br />
D. The Origin of Santa Claus<br />
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a. Nicholas was born in Parara, Turkey in 270 CE and later became Bishop of Myra. He died in 345 CE on December 6th. He was only named a saint in the 19th century.<br />
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b. Nicholas was among the most senior bishops who convened the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE and created the New Testament. The text they produced portrayed Jews as “the children of the devil”[11] who sentenced Jesus to death.<br />
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c. In 1087, a group of sailors who idolized Nicholas moved his bones from Turkey to a sanctuary in Bari, Italy. There Nicholas supplanted a female boon-giving deity called The Grandmother, or Pasqua Epiphania, who used to fill the children's stockings with her gifts. The Grandmother was ousted from her shrine at Bari, which became the center of the Nicholas cult. Members of this group gave each other gifts during a pageant they conducted annually on the anniversary of Nicholas’ death, December 6.<br />
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d. The Nicholas cult spread north until it was adopted by German and Celtic pagans. These groups worshipped a pantheon led by Woden –their chief god and the father of Thor, Balder, and Tiw. Woden had a long, white beard and rode a horse through the heavens one evening each Autumn. When Nicholas merged with Woden, he shed his Mediterranean appearance, grew a beard, mounted a flying horse, rescheduled his flight for December, and donned heavy winter clothing.<br />
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e. In a bid for pagan adherents in Northern Europe, the Catholic Church adopted the Nicholas cult and taught that he did (and they should) distribute gifts on December 25th instead of December 6th.<br />
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f. In 1809, the novelist Washington Irving (most famous his The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle) wrote a satire of Dutch culture entitled Knickerbocker History. The satire refers several times to the white bearded, flying-horse riding Saint Nicholas using his Dutch name, Santa Claus.<br />
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g. Dr. Clement Moore, a professor at Union Seminary, read Knickerbocker History, and in 1822 he published a poem based on the character Santa Claus: “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in the hope that Saint Nicholas soon would be there…” Moore innovated by portraying a Santa with eight reindeer who descended through chimneys.<br />
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h. The Bavarian illustrator Thomas Nast almost completed the modern picture of Santa Claus. From 1862 through 1886, based on Moore’s poem, Nast drew more than 2,200 cartoon images of Santa for Harper’s Weekly. Before Nast, Saint Nicholas had been pictured as everything from a stern looking bishop to a gnome-like figure in a frock. Nast also gave Santa a home at the North Pole, his workshop filled with elves, and his list of the good and bad children of the world. All Santa was missing was his red outfit.<br />
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i. In 1931, the Coca Cola Corporation contracted the Swedish commercial artist Haddon Sundblom to create a coke-drinking Santa. Sundblom modeled his Santa on his friend Lou Prentice, chosen for his cheerful, chubby face. The corporation insisted that Santa’s fur-trimmed suit be bright, Coca Cola red. And Santa was born – a blend of Christian crusader, pagan god, and commercial idol.<br />
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IV. The Christmas Challenge<br />
· Christmas has always been a holiday celebrated carelessly. For millennia, pagans, Christians, and even Jews have been swept away in the season’s festivities, and very few people ever pause to consider the celebration’s intrinsic meaning, history, or origins.<br />
· Christmas celebrates the birth of the Christian god who came to rescue mankind from the “curse of the Torah.” It is a 24-hour declaration that Judaism is no longer valid.<br />
· Christmas is a lie. There is no Christian church with a tradition that Jesus was really born on December 25th.<br />
· December 25 is a day on which Jews have been shamed, tortured, and murdered.<br />
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.Many of the most popular Christmas customs – including Christmas trees, mistletoe, Christmas presents, and Santa Claus – are modern incarnations of the most depraved pagan rituals ever practiced on earth.<br />
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Many who are excitedly preparing for their Christmas celebrations would prefer not knowing about the holiday’s real significance. If they do know the history, they often object that their celebration has nothing to do with the holiday’s monstrous history and meaning. “We are just having fun.”<br />
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Imagine that between 1933-45, the Nazi regime celebrated Adolf Hitler’s birthday – April 20 – as a holiday. Imagine that they named the day, “Hitlerday,” and observed the day with feasting, drunkenness, gift-giving, and various pagan practices. Imagine that on that day, Jews were historically subject to perverse tortures and abuse, and that this continued for centuries.<br />
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Now, imagine that your great-great-great-grandchildren were about to celebrate Hitlerday. April 20th arrived. They had long forgotten about Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen. They had never heard of gas chambers or death marches. They had purchased champagne and caviar, and were about to begin the party, when someone reminded them of the day’s real history and their ancestors’ agony. Imagine that they initially objected, “We aren’t celebrating the Holocaust; we’re just having a little Hitlerday party.” If you could travel forward in time and meet them; if you could say a few words to them, what would you advise them to do on Hitlerday?<br />
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On December 25, 1941, Julius Streicher, one of the most vicious of Hitler’s assistants, celebrated Christmas by penning the following editorial in his rabidly Antisemitic newspaper, Der Stuermer:<br />
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If one really wants to put an end to the continued prospering of this curse from heaven that is the Jewish blood, there is only one way to do it: to eradicate this people, this Satan’s son, root and branch.<br />
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It was an appropriate thought for the day. This Christmas, how will we celebrate?<div class="blogger-post-footer">From http://fiberaddikt.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss</div>Fiber addikthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16337713510985307427noreply@blogger.com0