Finished my sweater

I just finished my first full-size men's sweater. I've been working on this sweater since April 2013. I looked and looked for a pattern, and couldn't find one I liked, so I finally invented my own pattern. I knitted it while waiting in line at school to pick up the kids, the doctor's office, the thrift store while my wife shops, as a relaxant just before bed, when I was put on hold, and any other time I thought I could get away with it. But not church: my wife said that it would be too distracting, and also, it looks like I'm not paying attention. It's completely seamless, knitted completely in the round, and

from dark brown fisherman's wool on size 6 needles. I found out that I knit continental style (yarn in left hand). I find it to be a lot faster, and with less carpal tunnel issues. Yesterday, I found a new style called peruvian style- someone claims it is faster than continental. Hmmm. It looks weird to me, and too many moving parts.

Design: I wanted a design that would go with almost anything- jeans, slacks, night out, whatever- I'm a little disappointed that a simple sweater for a man without any girly-cables or flashy 1980's style colors isn't the first thing you find when you search. I guess there's no market for normal anymore.

 Construction: I wanted a sweater that's easy to make, and one that fits without being baggy in odd places. I opted for raglan style sleeves because with knitting in the round, it's easy to add stitches up to the point where the sleeves separate from the body of the sweater. This is a top-down in the round sweater, so I placed markers on the needles after finishing the neck to help define the sleeves. Top-down construction is a easier to fit as well while you're making it: you can try it on as you go to ensure a perfect fit. The neck, sleeves and waistband have to have the right proportions (thanks to my wife for eyeballing it for me).

So, because I went so slow, everything was perfect from beginning to end... Or not.

Problems: 1. The sleeves kept getting too skinny too fast- at one point, they were squeezing my forearms, at another they were too baggy. The trick is to decrease raglan sleeves quickly near the armpit, then don't decrease hardly at all until halfway down the forearm, then again at the wrist (slightly- I was surprised that from the forearm to the wrist was almost the same circumference). I think I pulled the sleeves out about 5 times before I finally got it right. I could have made 2 more sweaters. Oh well, lessons learned.

2. How do you finish sleeves and waistbands? I decided to knit the ribbing twice as long as I wanted, then fold it back on itself (towards the inside), and bind off using a 3-needle bind-off. This solves a few problems- stretched out sleeves won't ever happen, and the sweater becomes warmer because the ends are sealed off. I'm still working out what the final pattern was, and I'll post that soon.

Who is the best candidate for President of the U.S.?

I've been watching the back and forth about the direction of our country for some time now.  I think it's time to post my thoughts.

On the state of the Country:

Please thoughtfully read this.  It was written about a tyrant who lived 236 years ago.  I think we are headed in this direction.  My opinions on our current problems are in "[]". At the end of this, I give the my source:

He has refused [to uphold laws such as the Defense of Marriage and others that are]... the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has [tried to work around the] Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has endeavoured to [obstruct]... the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither...
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone [or appointed judges that will do his will]...
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has affected to render [a military such as the TSA, which is]... independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others [such as appointing many Czars, and unconstitutional organizations such as the FDA, BLM, and EPA] to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us [known as the TSA]:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world [through regulations on our oil companies and taxes on our corporations]:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent [through unlawful acts such as the Healthcare act]:
For...abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments......
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us [such as the Occupy Wall Street movement], and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the [Occupy wall street mobs]..., whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
*****
You may read the original document here.



2. The current republican candidates respond to a messy house....
Your house is a disaster.  Your closets are full, your cupboards are full.  In fact, if there's a flat spot in your house, it has stacks of stuff on it that you've been meaning to get to for years.  Finally, you've had enough.  You call three cleaning companies to get a quote on cleaning up the mess for you.  Here's how they respond:

Santorum cleaners: 
"Well, Ma'am, I think I can fix the whole thing for you, but this medicine closet looks pretty bad.  I don't know- you think I should focus on this medicine closet? You've got a pretty messy house, but this medicine closet really needs some focus.  What's that? Your office?  Oh, yeah, all the bills piling up. Sure. I can look at that.  Let me get this medicine closet fixed first, ok?"

Gingrish cleaners:
"First thing we need to do here is put an addition on the back that is already clean.  We'll call it the base.  What? how are you going to pay for that?  Oh, I'll get a bunch of your neighbors to help out.  They will want to help because they want you to have a clean house.  Yeah, I'll create a partnership, and they'll join it.  Hmmm? What if they argue? Oh, I'm a great debater.  Say, this house reminds me of a house I used to live in..."

Romney cleaners:
"Sorry, Ma'am- I'm not very good at being warm and friendly.  What's that? Oh, yes, I can clean this house. What we need to do is sit down and get a plan together- we'll figure out what you need, and what you don't.  We'll organize it by room.  I'll get the best people in here- they're all experts. Oh, don't worry about the cost- I've done jobs in the past for $2.  Yes, Ma'am.  $2. For the whole job.  What's that? Oh.  Sure- I can't start right now."

A house on fire, a.k.a.: Romney's not conservative enough.
Ok, so Romney's not conservative enough for you.  Fine.  Here's how I see it.  Say there's a building on fire.  Romney, the firefighter goes in and saves 25 people from the flames.  Sadley, 3 people are not saved and die in the fire.  It's really sad that those 3 people died.  The conservative media- Rush, Mark Levin, etc, are really upset about those 3 people.  Isn't this odd?  I mean, Mitt goes in, buys companies during his days at Bain Capital.  He cleans out the dead wood.  He fires people, closes stores- it's really painful.  Then the company starts making a profit.  They hire people, open tons of stores, sell a lot of products.  They get rich.  So does Romney.  The proportion of people he saved is like the story of him saving the 25 people.  Sure 3 people died.  But 25 people were saved.  How do you report this story?  "Oh, he's an evil vulture capitalist!"
puh-leez!

Don't try to debate me on the issues I don't know enough about:
Here's what I do know:
During the 2002 Olympics, Mitt worked for $1.00 per year as the president of the organization.  He turned down a salary of $825,000.00.  The Olympics, for the first time in a long, long time actually made a profit under his watch.  Has the government ever made a profit?  I can't remember.  The cost of the Japan games of a few years before that? $4 billion.  The original budget of the Utah Games? around $135 million.  Did Mitt Romney profit from the Utah Games? I think so- after he took a HUGE risk.  None of you would take that kind of risk.  He wrote a book about it.  You should read it. 

I was there during the Olympics.  I worked downtown.  I had to ride my bike just to get around because of the security after 9/11.  Some people complained about the lack of parking downtown for some of the events.  Mitt got wind of it, and bought a piece of property, brought in some dump trucks full of gravel, smoothed it out, changed some bus routes to pick people up at the new "park and ride" and boom! problem fixed. It took just a week.  He got in touch with decision makers- mayors, city councils, the transit authority, the property owner, the police- even the FBI.  He made his case, and they all agreed, and it got done!  It was amazing- the amount of talent the guy had for creating incentives and markets- I got lucky enough to get a "green jello Olympic pin WITH carrots" at work.  That thing was worth $100 by the time the Olympics ended.  He created an entire economy just for the olympics.   I wonder what he could do for our country?

It gets better: Mitt Romney donated his entire salary during his term as Governor of Mass.  Why? He said it didn't feel right to take a salary while other people were sacrificing during that hard time in that state.  That makes him a cold, heartless hairdo, doesn't it?  Why doesn't he CROW about this? Simple answer: he hasn't spent 20 years in Washington.  He doesn't care to tell you.  Research it.  My question is this: Hey- Newt, Rick, Obama- did any of you donate your entire salary while you were in public office?

I want freedom- freedom to fail, to succeed- whatever.  Taxes and regulations suck away that freedom.  Go Mitt!

What I learned from the tornadoes in Alabama

I fancy myself as a kind of a survivalist. But the tornadoes caught me by surprise. I told myself I would get gas on Thursday, after the storm was over. But on Thursday, I found out I didn't even have enough gas to drive 40 miles to get more. There is no gas without electricity. It took three days to get generators into Huntsville gas stations. So, I think there's some lessons here that I would like to share.

Food
1. Coolers: Doctors' offices usually get vaccines in super thick (1 - 2" walls, and triple lined lids) Styrofoam containers. I picked up three of them a year ago. They are not the cheap ones you get at the store, and are way better than the plastic-lined ones you get at camping stores.

2. Water: There are a lot of creeks and rivers in Huntsville, Alabama. The water towers and purification plants are run by electricity. I have two 55-gallon water barrels in my backyard, but did not need to use them. Purification tablets or bleach is useful, too.
3. Food: We had lots of cereal, but keeping the milk cold was a problem. Kroger wouldn't sell milk because it had lost refrigeration overnight. We bought some that afternoon at a pharmacy. It too, had not been refrigerated, and was room temperature. We put it on ice, and hoped for the best. The thing with milk, as long as it has not expired, you can save it in this situation if you act quickly. We used it for three days after that, and it was fine.

3. Dutch oven: I used a small wire screen in the bottom of a dutch oven to keep pizza off the bottom and was able to cook pizza in the oven. We also had souper chicken: 1 package of chicken tenders, 2 cans cream of mushroom soup, 1 can milk and 20 minutes with about 8 charcoal briquettes under the oven and 8 on top. During the last 5 minutes, boil water on top of the oven - just set a pan on top of the coals on top - for instant rice. I also appreciated having a two burner Coleman campstove: These are neat. I think you can even use gasoline for fuel, but don't quote me on that. Make sure you have enough fuel.

Clothing
I washed clothes by hand in a tub outside, then hung them on the fence to dry. It was nice to still have hot water because of our gas water heater.

Shelter
Keep the windows open during the cool part of the day, shut them when it gets hot.

Transportation
1. A good bicycle with a rack on the back is what was really helpful those first days when I had no gas. Even after I had gas, it was nice to conserve it by riding a bike. A great little item that is not expensive is a power inverter. I was able to keep batteries charged, and my wife's phone charged. She doesn't have a car charger. Harbor freight sells a solar charger for $12.00- that would have been nice.

2. Getting gas: Consistently: the lines were always longer in the morning. I found if you waited until 3 pm, the lines shortened up nicely. The guy on the radio said: figure 5 minutes for a fill up. That means every 12 cars is an hour wait. 75 cars were waiting at one station I went to.


Thoughts on gas generators:
Nice. But they take gas. And a lot of people said they hadn't used it in ten years. I helped a guy clean up his yard who had one. He said it used about 5 gallons per day (24 hours). They are easy to hook up:
1. turn off your main breaker
2. find the breaker for your dryer or some other big appliance (not your fridge- you want to use your fridge, right?)
3. disconnect those wires from the breaker.
4. Plug a 12 gauge extension cord into your generator (your generator is off, right?)
5. Cut off the other end of your extension cord. The white wire goes to your bus, and the black one goes to your breaker. Ground the other wire.
6. Choose the appliances you want to use and turn on only the breakers for those appliances.
7. Get an amp meter to measure your output, or just don't use many appliances.


If you had to go buy gas for it (40 miles one way) that's a 2 hour trip. That's if you can get gas. We did ok without power. If you want to get one, now is the time to buy. Now that the storm is over and the power is back on, I've found 5 on Craigslist already.

I'm looking into solar panels and an extra line just for the fridge. I'm found a kit online for about $300. Then I'll need batteries- the whole thing will probably cost $600.00. I know it sounds like a gas generator would be more convenient, but I'm figuring that the solar will pay off daily- even when there is no power outage, it will save on the electric bill. I figured it will pay for itself (at most) in two years. 6.5 amps at 110 volts means you need about 80 watts of solar (this figures in the cycling of the fridge, of course- i.e.: your fridge doesn't need to run constantly!).

Light:
Don't use those dinky little tea candles, if you can help it. I got some big 55-hour emergency candles, and they are nicer and brighter.

Neighbors:
Check on your neighbors. Every one I checked on and tried to help actually had info or equipment or transportation that ended up helping me, too. We looked out for each other. Until you've experienced it, it gets very dark without street lights and a moon. The curfew (dusk to dawn) only works for law-abiding citizens. Criminals don't pay attention to laws, and I'm glad our dog is a ferocious looking thing that     b a r k s    h i s     h e a d      o f f !      You need one with plenty of teeth on the business end of him, or a gun. I'm sorry, that's just how it is.

what's new in 2011

striped toe-up custom socks made from super wash wool

The year is already slipping away, and it's only April.  Knitting has had to take a backseat to Abstract Algebra, which is currently kicking my butt.  But I have managed to turn out a pair of socks with help from my Christmas present- a book called "Socks a la carte 2: toes up".  Julie is still not impressed because there is still evidence of a seam in the toes, even though I used "Judy's magic cast on" which  eliminates a seam in the toe.  Oh well. I will keep trying.  The garden is in place. mostly.  I think squirrels are getting the leaves of the tomatoes.  Taxes are done, dog is fat.  I'm going back to my abstract algebra...

Turtles

Sooner or later, I knew this was coming.  But I'll start at the beginning. Julie and I bought our house in 2008.  One day, Julie laid a rope out in the back yard in the shape of a pond, and started digging.  Of course I felt sorry for her, and started to help.  Ok I took over.  Using only a pick and a shovel.  The month after I started, she bought turtles from a source in Florida.  They ship the turtles overnight.  I built a temporary enclosure for them and continued to dig.  Three months later, we put in a liner and a pump. It ended up being 22 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 4 feet deep at the deepest point.  I think it's about 2000 gallons. In went the turtles. The first year, we put in a waterfall.  The next year, grass.  Last year, bushes and a garden.  And Julie thought the pond was too deep, so I filled it in a little.  It's a work in progress.  As in the grass keeps dying.  We're working on it.

The first turtles were a pond turtle (Moss), two western painted turtles (Dribble and Nick), and a musk turtle (Yoda).  We added a few box turtles that we rescued, but ended up taking them back to the forest when one of them drowned (I was able to resuscitate it by pushing it's legs into it's shell several times.  kinda weird, but it lived).  We rescued a wild cumberland slider with a huge bite out of it's shell, and also missing a tail.  We named him Sonny.

We had two surprises last year- two of our turtles had babies- the slider, Moss, and the musk turtle Yoda. On a side note, Bradley is upset that Yoda was a girl turtle  He tried to deny it for a while, and begged us not to let anyone know.  We have 16 new sliders inside out house now.

The turtles are pretty cool.  Mostly, they just like to sun themselves on the log.  They actually need sunlight to help them digest their food.  Other facts about turtles:
-Musk turtles get their name from the musk they emit when frightened.
-The largest freshwater turtle in the world is the Alligator Snapper.  They can weigh up to 200 lbs, and can be found in southern Alabama. And they do snap.
-Box turtles can pull their entire body inside their shell and can seal themselves in so tight they are nearly impossible to get out.
-pond turtles "hibernate" in the winter.  Their blood become a sort of "antifreeze" and they hardly move for 3 or 4 months of the year.  They burrow into the mud, and can absorb oxygen through their skin.
-a female slider turtle can hold 16 eggs inside her body for 2 years before laying them.
-the southeastern U.S. has more varieties of turtles than any other part of the world.

baby softshell turtle- very, very rare find!

baby snapping turtle- not an alligator snapper.  Notice the dinosaur-like plates on arm!

box turtle

female box turtle

Moss and a western painted turtle

baby map turtle.  Very hard to find at this age.

bottom of map turtle

a box turtle we named Spot.

photos

Here are some photos:

William S. Berry

I got into family history a few months ago. My great ++++ grandfather was killed as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints back in 1888 in the Tennessee Massacre. I found out I now live about 2 hours from the site. So I made the trip to see it. I took some photos.

Ironically, William Berry was born and died in Tennessee, but not before he moved to Nauvoo Illinois a few months after the prophet Joseph Smith was killed, and headed west with the pioneers and Brigham Young. After reaching the Salt Lake Valley, the Berrys were asked to settle in the St. George area. Finding their ambition was bigger than the area afforded, they moved just outside of town, and called their new home 'Berryville'. In those days, the town would give acreage to anyone willing to work on the canal that would provide Hurricane, Utah, with water.  I think William got about 10 acres out of the deal. He planted pecan trees on his land, and there are still pecan trees on the Berry side of town to this day.  After getting comfortable, William Berry was called on a mission to the Southern states by Brigham Young. He served in several areas in Tennessee before ending up in Hohenwald, TN.

Instead of retelling the rest of the story, here is a link to Bruce Crow's blog.

to knit

So, I learned how to knit. I know- not too manly. But only in America. Most other European countries, men are knitters, too. Granted, just try and find a magazine dedicated to men who knit (crickets chirp in the background). Well, for me, it started when Julie's mom had a kidney transplant in 2009, and Julie was so bored while at the hospital with her mom, so she asked if I had any ideas for what to do.

I said, "Ask her how to knit."

A few days later, Julie came home and showed me the 'knit stitch.' A week later, she showed me the 'purl stitch.' I was 'hooked.' I read all about it online- found the world's fastest knitter video, how to cast on, bind off, knit in the round, and with dpn's. I joined ravelry, and lion brand, and downloaded some patterns. I have knitted half a dozen hats, 2 pairs of socks, 3 scarfs, a pair of gloves (hobo gloves- the fingers are open at the end), a hoodie for Diesel, and I'm in the middle of a hoodie for Levi.

But it really started in New Zealand. All those people knit- men and women. I have some beautiful sweaters, (and some ugly ones, says Julie!), and a lady there tried to teach me to knit. I never had time to knit, I thought, and that was that.

Now I knit in my car while waiting in line at the bank, the doctor's office, the school, late at night. On a side note, it is really cold in my shed right now, and so woodworking has taken the season off.

October 2010