Just back from the KR Retreat. What a fabulous weekend! The new venue was excellent and the classes and teachers were phenomenal.

I was able to take Shelia January's knitting lace edges class, which was (as always) well-planned, well-executed, clear, concise and fun (and I'm really not just saying that because she's my friend). Now I am totally comfortable with adding edges to my own lace creations (I really need to physically DO something rather than just reading directions).

I also took Kathryn Alexander's class on Knitted DooDads, which was really fun. Her creations never cease to amaze me, and as well as being a knitting genius she is also an excellent teacher (these two talents are not always mutually inclusive).

It was wonderful to see old friends and meet new friends. I laughed myself silly, ate too much, did not jog (in that cold? are you kidding?), saw much to inspire me and now have quite a number of knitting projects I want to start immediately, if not sooner. The first will be the hat kit I purchased from Kathryn Alexander at the market, which is my New Beginnings Project (first time in 7 years I actually have a NB Project!). Check out her kits and creations here. After that, a lace edge on a silk lace scarf I knitted last year.

After that ... well, there's the Pi Shawl with the yarn I'm spinning (photo of skein number one coming soon), the sweater from handspun samples of rare breeds fibers sold in my booth over the last several years, the vest from my alpaca/merino/silk yarn, the other sweater that's still on my needles in bluefaced leicester, the other "secret" shawl I'm designing in my head (this might take precedence over everything except the hat and finishing the silk scarf). Too Many Possibilities ... Not Enough Time.

Unfortunately my camera was dead and I didn't know it til I tried to take a picture, so no photos of the Retreat for me. bummer.

Yes, I have some knitting and spinning projects to photo which I'll share soon, but at the moment I am buried in 5 days of unread emails and dirty laundry, and other "good" things.


In the meantime, here's a bit of entertainment:

Obama's Use of Complete Sentences Stirs Controversy

In the first two weeks since the election, President-elect Barack Obama has broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his controversial use of complete sentences, political observers say.

Millions of Americans who watched Mr. Obama's appearance on CBS's 60 Minutes on Sunday witnessed the president-elect's unorthodox verbal tick, which had Mr. Obama employing grammatically correct sentences virtually every time he opened his mouth.

But Mr. Obama's decision to use complete sentences in his public pronouncements carries with it certain risks, since after the last eight years many Americans may find his odd speaking style jarring.

According to presidential historian Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota, some Americans might find it "alienating" to have a president who speaks English as if it were his first language.

"Every time Obama opens his mouth, his subjects and verbs are in agreement,"says Mr. Logsdon. "If he keeps it up, he is running the risk of sounding like an elitist."

The historian said that if Mr. Obama insists on using complete sentences in his speeches, the public may find itself saying, "Okay, subject, predicate, subject predicate -- we get it, stop showing off."

The president-elect's stubborn insistence on using complete sentences has already attracted a rebuke from one of his harshest critics, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

"Talking with complete sentences there and also too talking in a way that ordinary Americans like Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder can't really do there, I think needing to do that isn't tapping into what Americans are needing also," she said.

Andy Borowitz is a comedian and writer whose work appears in The New Yorker and The New York Times, and at his award-winning humor site, BorowitzReport.com.


Another fun test found over at Laurie's:

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test...

Balanced, Secure, and Realistic.

32 Impressionist, 16 Islamic, 10 Ukiyo-e, -37 Cubist, -42 Abstract and 20 Renaissance!

Impressionism is a movement in French painting, sometimes called optical realism because of its almost scientific interest in the actual visual experience and effect of light and movement on appearance of objects. Impressionist paintings are balanced, use colored shadows, use pure color, broken brushstrokes, thick paint, and scenes from everyday life or nature.

People that like Impressionist paintings may not alway be what is deemed socially acceptable. They tend to move on their own path without always worrying that it may be offensive to others. They value friendships but because they also value honesty tend to have a few really good friends. They do not, however, like people that are rude and do not appreciate the ideas of others. They are secure enough in themselves that they can listen to the ideas of other people without it affecting their own final decisions. The world for them is not black and white but more in shades of grey and muted colors. They like things to be aestically pleasing, not stark and sharp. There are many ways to view things, and the impresssionist personality views the world from many different aspects. They enjoy life and try to keep a realistic viewpoint of things, but are not very open to new experiences. If they are content in their life they will be more than likely pleased to keep things just the way they are.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

Happy Thanksgiving!

YES WE CAN!

Excited, thrilled, awed, proud, patriotic, inspired ...

These are some of the emotions I experienced Tuesday night as I watched the election results, sometimes in tears. This is the seventh time I’ve voted for President, but the first time I can recall voting for a candidate I was really excited about.

The emotion I felt most was Hope.

Tuesday night as I watched the polls closing and the results coming in, I had an interesting thought. Which was ~ like life in general ~ what has come before has led us to where we now are. As disappointing as Gore’s and Kerry’s losses were to me and many other people, had these men won their elections, we would not be where we are now.

Granted, in many ways, where we are now is pretty darn bad. An imploding economy. Rising unemployment. An international reputation which has sunk to all time lows. An administration that seems intent on undoing the Environmental Protection Act, the Clean Air Act and the Endangered Species Act, and opening up as much government land to drilling, mining and deforestation as possible. An administration that really doesn’t want the participation of its citizens and uses terrorism and national security (those most convenient of excuses for so many affronts to personal liberty) to disband the Freedom of Information Act. Then there’s Global warming. Terrorism. World Poverty. Genocide. To name but a few.

The blame for the first issues is squarely on the shoulders of Bush and his administration. And the Bush administration is at least partially responsible for the status of the group of international issues because of what it has NOT done to stop them.

I truly feel that Obama has come along at the time our Nation needs him most. Had he come into national politics four years ago would he have gotten the nomination? Very doubtful. Would he have won? Even more doubtful. Four years ago, I do not think most Americans would have voted for an African-American man. I don’t know exactly why I think this, but I do believe that we have experienced a cultural shift in the 8 years of Bush’s presidency that has laid the groundwork for this exceptional election.

It is a wonderful thing that there are times in our lives when the Universe conspires to actually give us what we need at the time when we most need it. Sometimes we are lucky enough to know this when it happens, and not in hindsight. And sometimes it actually is something to celebrate.

I think this is one of those times. From the incredible enthusiasm of Americans on election night, to the amazing international enthusiasm and rejoicing witnessed in television news reports, the long-slumbering HOPE has been reawakened in so many, and the opportunities are limitless. We know what we have been handed, in this man and the great possibilities he represents.

Yes, Obama has been elected to a Presidency that may very well be the most difficult, ever. Times are so much more complicated now, with events happening at a lightning pace. He is inheriting literally a world of problems. No other President has faced such complicated issues and crises, such a complicated world, in the manner this President will. He won’t be able to fix things overnight. He’s going to be tested, and he will probably fail some of those tests (he is, after all, only human).

It took 8 years to get to where we are now. And it’s sort of like losing weight: as much as one might like to lose it all immediately, one must consider how long it took to gain it, yes? And then get serious, with realistic expectations. It’s going to take time, effort, discipline, patience and sacrifice to get our country, and our world, back in shape. And it won’t be easy, or fast, or painless.

I am proud that we have elected a man with the intelligence to address these times. A man who has proven himself to be compassionate, respectful, open, just, honest, disciplined, humble, calm and thoughtful in addition to intellectually brilliant. A man who has shown himself to be a brilliant strategist and organized leader (few could have run the campaign that he did). A man who is all about inclusion, not the attitudes of exclusion and supremacy we have had for the last 8 years. A man that I truly believe the universe sent us at the time when we most needed someone with his abilities, qualities and talents.

I am also proud that John McCain gave the gracious concession speech that he did. I hope it serves as the beginning for his supporters to join with those who supported Obama, so that we can all work together, like I think he intended it. As I listened to McCain I had the same thought as a lot of other people: where was this man during the campaign? If this was the real John McCain, as many said, I would have liked him a lot more than I did. I still would not have voted for him, but I would have felt more respect for him.

I fiercely believe that we have elected the man best suited to lead us at this point in our collective history. He has inspired so many people in this country as well as other countries. He has already succeeded in joining together some rather dissparate groups (look at who voted for him).

I thank Obama for his ability to reawaken that most-elusive of emotions, Hope.

For the first time in many years, I actually look forward to listening to the President speak, and hearing what he has to say. January 20 can't come soon enough.

Begin doing what you want to do now. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand -- and melting like a snowflake.

-- Marie Beyon Ray

******

So, I've been doing some knitting, and doing some spinning.

My knitting: started a hat. Knit a gauge swatch. Measured it. Knitted several inches. It was pretty, but looked like it might be too big. Divided onto two needles to try it on. It would fit a large gorilla. Somehow messed up my gauge measurements. Drat. Ripped it out and started over. Hate it when I screw up something so simple.

My spinning: finished spinning the polwarth/alpaca/angora. I don't think it's going to be enough for my plan, so I grabbed some of the other polwarth blend I have to add to it. Different blend, and will probably be a different color. Need to figure out what to do to blend the two together, since they will be plied with something else and not each other. Also started to spin the cashgora, which is lovely and moving along nicely. My plan is to ply these two with the bison laceweight I purchased at NYS&W, and maybe some laceweight cashmere dyed a browny/eggplant color, into a sport-ish weight yarn to knit a very warm and wonderful Pi Shawl. Yeah, I know, two-ply works better for lace. Too Bad. Executive decision. Stay tuned for whether it works or not (I may be eating these words at a later date).

No photos of either.

Will be doing more dyeing this week for several wholesale orders and also more yarns for the Knitter's Review Retreat. After that, I'll work on getting the website up to date again.

Ok. So. With regard to the other kind of Spin, there's lots of stuff going on these days politically. Won't it be nice when all this campaigning is over? Maybe we'll all get really lucky and Caribou Barbie (thanks to Catherine for posting this perfect name for Her on the Knitter's Review forums) will fade back into her moose-hunting wilderness. Unfortunately for all of us, I doubt that. But one can dream.

Palin continues to surprise, annoy, and dismay me. Her latest? The press' cricitism of her constitutes threats to her rights of free speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Hello? Is she reading the same document that I am? Because mine guarantees a free press as well as an individual's right to free speech, not a politician's right to say whatever he or she may want free from cricitism in the press. C'mon. Seriously. Seems to me she doesn't like being cricitized and is looking for valid reasons to complain about it (other than just yelling No Fair! and taking her toys and going home). You gotta read this article for more (it's good, I'm telling you): Sarah Palin Speaks on the First Amendment.

Ok, another thing, with regard to this whole "tested" versus "untested" thing, I (of course) have an opinion, which I wrote in a forum thread on the KR Forums ...

Personally, I don't think there are very many "modern " Presidents who were "tested" in ways directly cogent to BEING President, before they became President. Except maybe Eisenhower, who was the Commanding General of the US army during the WWII before he became President, and proved himself to be a tremendous military strategist and political leader both during the war and and his two terms as President (oh, and George Washington and his generation would probably count as "tested," too). Eisenhower was, btw, the only 20th century President to have such military, strategic and political experience before becoming President.

Most of our modern day presidents didn't face such complicated issues head on in their professional or private lives before they became president. At least not in a way that would "test" them ~ direct responsibility for making significant and potentially world-altering decisions, for instance. McCain might have been a POW, he might have been in the Navy, he might have been in the Senate, but he was not a Leader or front line decision maker in any major way. This is all so clearly just a ploy, a spin, by the McCain campaign to criticize Obama for something that both of them could be critized for.

As past presidents have shown, prior testing and experience don't guarantee a good or effective president. Some of the best presidents have been the unexpected, like James Polk ~ who was not the first or even second choice for the Democratic nomination ~ a relative unknown now, but responsible for much of America's westward expansion through the annexation of Texas and acquisition of Oregon and California, and compromise with Canada on the 49th parallel as the division between the two countries.

And some of the worst presidents have been those with the most "testing." Like Ulysses S. Grant, who was surely tested during the Civil War but had a lackluster presidencey filled with controversy over the appointment of many of his cronies to positions of power, which were then shamefully used for personal gain.

To me, the most important facts to consider are the qualities a person brings with him or her to this office, which will enable him or her to make the decisions required by the office in a responsible, intelligent and thoughtful manner. Qualities of fairness, open-mindedness, intelligence, self control, patience, equality, integrity, honesty, humility ... these are the qualities that Obama clearly has but McCain clearly does not.

This whole "tested" thing bugs me as much as the stupid "Joe the Plumber" crap. Ok, the whole McCain campaign makes me nuts. So clearly based on negativity, criticism, fear mongering (do we really believe that Obama is going to raise taxes on middle class Americans making over $42,000 a year?), name calling (Socialist? seriously. How can Palin continue to say this?) and not on the issues affecting all of us here in the US as well as the entire world (other than they say they are Country First ... but as far as I'm concerned have yet to prove it or give any specific details ... they're too busy making jabs at Obama).

Finally, I leave you with Is Barak Obama a Socialist?. Read this. It's good.