Good Things Come in Threes

I've been a little more active with the knitting lately. Still wearing my braces and I have really good days where I have little pain or achy-ness and some days where there is more. I still don't knit at the level I did before all this but it's getting better. I'm still concentrating on only three things, two socks and the scarf for my SIL.

On my travel sock with the STR Romancing the Stone colorway, I've completed the 80 round leg [about seven inches long] and have started the short row heel, again. I'm just over half done with the decreasing part, another 10 rows to go before I start increasing. It makes such a striking heel. As mentioned before, I've started knitting on the way to the range when we go target shooting. If we leave early enough I can sometimes knit most of the way way before it gets too dark.

Sweetie's gray sock in Nancy Bush's County Sock pattern is about four inches long now. I'm on round 25 of the leg. As I'm back to knitting while watching TV this is getting a little more action, too. I figure the leg is about one third complete.

The Paws to Remember scarf for my SIL is still "resting". Nothing wrong with it, just takin' a break from it with the Country Socks. I pick it up now and again and knit a row or two. It's 34" long. I've got about 4 more 12 row pattern repeats with both strands of the #5 colorway left to do.

I'm about to start my first online read-a-long. It's Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. I'm on page 44 of OMG! 1,168. The goal is about 100 pages per week. I'm reading along with a note pad for notes. Not my usual reading style but I am enjoying the read. I'm also reading Ann Coulter's new book Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault on America. Normally, I'm a library kind of gal as it leaves more money for other things but these are keepers. I had a 40% off coupon I used for Atlas Shrugged and Ann's book was 30% off. Win:Win I'm really enjoying Ann's book, too. Sometimes, she's too much but she nails it with this book. I'm reading this one with with a hi-lighter in hand.

We went target shooting late this afternoon. I was strictly a 1911 gal today. For IDPA this Thursday, I'm going to shoot the 1911 .45 caliber. That gun just likes me. I shot around 150 rounds from each gun and although I like both, I'm clearly better with the .45.

Sweetie and I also made a discovery. If I hold the gun (any of our guns) with the grip firmly in the webbing of my hand, I can't reach the trigger with my index finger. I've adapted by holding it slightly to the left so my index finger can reach the trigger but it allows the gun to rotate a lot to the right and it takes a bit of time to get it back down for the second shot. I have TINY hands. My index finger is only about 2½" long.

blogging to: a quiet house

also reading: Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride (a DS Logan MacRae mystery)

Parting Shot: "Who is John Galt?" ~ Ayn Rand from Atlas Shrugged

Settling Down & In Again

Things are starting to normalize a bit, well as far as they can now that we're $787 billion more in debt than were Monday. And my state is broke. We got our taxes done today and I wonder which KS resident I should make my $51 check out to. Only problem is they're going to have to wait until April 15th for it. I guess that's why we've seen more police checking speeders, trying to beef up the revenue stream so they can get a paycheck.

We went target shooting today and although we haven't been for two weeks, I did fairly well. Shot the center out of a whole buncha paper targets. Yeah! Sweetie did pretty good, too. I must be a .45 caliber kinda gal. Most of the other pistols I can pick up and settle into them after shooting a magazine / cylinder or two but when I pick up the 1911, I can get it right from the get-go. I have to change my stance (right foot forward and left foot behind for bracing) as it literally rocks me back on my heels. And it can't be just the 1911 style. My 9mm 1911 Kimber is not the same. Of course it could be that the .45 has a 5" barrel, the longest barrel of any of our pistols. But it can't be ALL barrel length. It's just a fun gun to shoot. And it makes BIG holes in the paper! The .38 makes nice round, neat ~ civilized ~ holes while the other calibers tend to leave torn edges.

Next time we go, hopefully Thursday or Friday, we're going to make it a rifle outing. I like bench resting my bolt-action 22LR. The range we frequent most often is an indoor 25 yard range. We're currently getting our stuff together to apply for membership at an outdoor range. After you qualify with the range safety officer they have a 300 yard rifle range, otherwise you're limited to 200 yards. I'm mostly interested in the 100 yard rifle range. I don't think I can even SEE the target at 300 yards, even with a 9 power scope! Should be fun, though.

I knit a little on the way to and from the range today. Instead of trying to be speedKnitter I tried to knit at a leisurely pace. I did eight rounds on the travel sock. That puts me on round 76, four rounds from the short row heel. At my "normal" knitting speed, I'd of been over halfway through the heel. Knitting slower I don't have to watch what I doing as closely; I can knit and watch the scenery.

In a few weeks, I'm going a participate in a read-along of Ayn Rand's book Atlas Shrugged. I don't think I'll wait. I've never read it and I"m looking forward to it. I think I'll read it then review as the read-along continues.

blogging to: a quiet house

reading: Last Things by Ralph Mcinerny (a Father Dowling mystery)

Parting Shot: "Americans need never fear their government because of the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation." ~ James Madison

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Keepin' On Keepin' On

H A P P Y V A L E N T I N E ' S D A Y !

When The Bunker was shut down I must have also shut down on some level. I've been cleaning, tossin' clutter, organizing and even got down on my hands and knees and washed the kitchen and both bathroom floors. Normally, I use a mop. This is getting beyond scary. I don't what what the heck's got into me but I sure hope it leaves soon. It's cuttin' into my knitting and computer time.

I hope I can stop before I hit the garage, although it does need a good "airing". We've got crap from boat in there, a canoe, there's corn cob media all over the floor from the shell polisher mixed in with the sand and grit from the street, boxes of parts from Sweetie's job that need to be packed up and returned and just crap. We don't have a basement or a very accessible attic space so it all goes in the garage. Both vehicles are also in there so it's not THAT bad, yet.

As to the shut down of The Bunker on Raverly, I'm still hurting and angry but the other Bunker's making up for it somewhat. I decided I'm keeping my protest Ravatar for a while as the libs are still trying' to shut all the Conservatives out by ganging up on the remaining Conservative forums.

Well, the knitting. Still not dong all that much, the eldaboews and all. Both Sweetie and I had colds. He started the Zicam gel swabs last weekend and I think they've helped. He still got a cold but it's not as severe as he usually gets or was mine was. And there's the placebo effect, too. So who knows if it would have been the same or worse without the Zicam. I'm going to insist that he keep taking it until he's had no cold symptoms for 48 hours as per directions. Hopefully, he'll be done by the end of the weekend.

Ah, the knitting; I got several rounds done on Sweetie's County Socks today. It's about 2½" long now including the 20 round cuff. I'm on round 11 of the leg and it's going very nicely. It doesn't look much different that it did here. I imagine the dark gray yarn has something to do with that.

On my travel sock with the STR Romancing the Stone colorway, I'm on round 68 of an 80 round leg on the first sock. Once my eldabows heal it'll be a lot faster as I'll be able to knit on the way to and from the range or Kansas City. As it is now, it just gets worked on a few stitches at a time at stop lights on my errands around town. As you'll recall, I had the leg, the short row heel and a couple inches of the foot done on this sock. I'd decreased on the calf portion of the leg to make it fit better. Anyway, I tried it on at that point and it was too tight across the ankle so out it all came. No decreases as I'd forgotten I'd also cast on less stitches than I had in the past.

I'm still splitting my time between these three projects. Everything else has been packed away to keep the dust out.

blogging to: a quit house

reading: Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith

Parting Shot: "Grow old with me! The best is yet to be. ~ Robert Browning
"I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach. ~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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Requiem for A Bunker

For those not on Raverly, for those that are on Raverly but not Conservative or Christian you can tune out now.


At around 2pm cst today a piece of freedom was forever lost. The Bunker, a Conservative forum on Raverly was permanently shut down by the site's owners. We were given about 24 hours to come to terms with the situation. The public initial reason given was that the mods couldn't control the group. In reality, if folks from opposing groups had kept away from our group the way we kept away from their groups this would never have happened. In the end, less than an hour before the end, the site owner posted the "real" reason in the list of what not to do as a mod . . .

"Argue with us when we ask you to moderate legitimate problems, every time. Avoid conveying to your users that there was actually a problem or simply say 'Ravelry made us'".

Our mods fought for us. They defended posts that were much less volatile and / or offensive than similar posts on other forums. They also deleted and edited members posts when necessary to try and keep site owners happy.

But it was and is a no win situation. We are outnumbered 300 : 1 and the site owners are on the opposite side.

In the large scheme of things is this important? Not really unless you were part of it as many of us were. If you couldn't read your favorite blogs any more because they weren't allowed to blog or be published because of their content would it matter? Maybe only to you and others that like those blogs. If you were forced to stopped blogging because people complained about your content, would it matter? Maybe only to you and those that read your blog.

Small things but small things gather into large things and it's easier to stop the small things before they get bigger. And that's just it. It's easier to stop the small things, like Conservative forums and blogs and websites and talk shows the more fair and better balanced news channel (note the singular here). Thankfully it works both ways but if you're the one they're trying to shutter you have the bigger fight. It seems like there are so many of them and that's not so. They're just louder and brasher and bolder and viler than we are.

We're not Silent MAJORITY for nothing. Well this part of the MAJORITY will be silent no longer. I quit apologizing this Christmas for being a Christian and celebrating the birth of my Savior. And he wasn't born 47 years ago, either. It felt good to say Merry Christmas loud and proud and mean it every single time. And you know what, No One said they were offended! I got lots of good wishes and Merry Christmases in return. I can't remember a single Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings.

[Can you hear the music swelling? O, Fortuna from Excalibur]

We do have another site. Another Bunker. An off Raverly site where we can be safe. But now long will any of the Conservative forums be allowed to exist on Raverly? Already, the opposition has moved to start flagging posts and disagreeing in the ones that are left. With this precedent already in place how long before they're gone, too? And how long before the Christians and their fourms are also hounded off Raverly. All that will be left will be the lazy, the stupid and the godless. They have a right to exist. But so do we.

This will continue to be mostly a non-political site with knitting and sailing and target shooting and whatever else I happen to fall into. There are many others that to the political and say it much better than I. My current list is [right now] near the bottom on the left side of the page under the One Against An Army heading.

So I will leave you with this. You MUST stay informed. You MUST have more than one outlet for your news. You MUST be an independent thinker. And most of all you MUST not be afraid to stand up for what is right and to what is wrong.

"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

-- Dylan Thomas

eta: I will edit the comments like the Bunker mods.

Flash! This Just In

As I mentioned in my last post I've been slippin' in a couple of dpns worth of knitting here and there. And doing my hand exercises. The other day I did a little more knitting than usual and I didn't hurt the next day. So things are getting a wee bit better in that respect.

To that end, the knitting end, the cuff on Sweetie's dark gray heather County Socks is complete. I've finished one pattern repeat (4 rounds) of the leg pattern. Here's a photo of the progress.

Normally, I don't wear my braces when I knit but Thursday I decided to re-institute the knit during the TV program and housework during the commercials thing. And I need / want the braces for the house work. I only knit a couple of dpns worth or in two cases a whole round because I forgot to stop during the program. So a bit more knitting but with my braces on. So maybe that made a difference.

And it's finally stopped bothering me (so much) not knitting when Sweetie's driving somewhere, like to the range in Topeka, (about 45 minutes) or Kansas City (the same). I usually didn't knit when when we would be in town but for several weeks it kinda bothered me; all that wasted knitting time. It also helped that most of the trips home were in the dark when I couldn't knit anyway.

The weather here has been fabulous yesterday (Friday) and today with temperatures around 70°F. Sweetie has had a rough couple of days (he had to work this morning) and so he's napping. So since I had the camera out for the Country Sock cuff I decided I was ready to further deal with the yarn I got from my SIL's friend K who died from cancer last August. It's been sitting in a bag in a basket next to the spinning I never do all this time.

Except for the leftovers from a dreadlocks hat (knew she was knitting it, never saw the hat so I have no idea what pattern she used) it's all sock yarn. There are two hanks each in five colorways of Memories and two skeins in the same colorway of Sock Garden. There are also four skeins of Plymouth Sockotta and one skein of Lion Brand Baby Soft. There is the little leftover ball from the Knit Picks Sock Garden Hydrangea socks I finished along with two other small leftover balls of sock yarn; one is Memories and I have no idea what the other is.

I took photos of all of those, cropped and saved them to my FlickR account and then added the photos to my Raverly stash. I got this far, but I can't quite split them up and incorporate them into my stash or put them up for sale or trade (if that's what I decided to do with some of them) on Raverly yet. So I'm putting them all into one bag in my stash.

There are also three sets of dpns, the very short ones are set of five 2.25mm Brittany dpns that were on the Hydrangea socks I finished. There is also a set of four (one is missing) 6mm / US 10 Brittany dpns. As all of these needles have tooth marks on them, I suspect her dog, a Yorkie got the other one. There is also a complete set of us 10½ 8" Plymouth dpns — sans toothmarks. I suspect the larger ones were for the dreadlocks hat. The needles I will put into my needle stash. Why the needles and not the yarn? Dunno. Just feels right to do it this way now.

Blogwise today, I updated the 2008 FO links on the side bar. As things progress and I take updated photos, I usually keep the On the needles section and the changing photo thing at the top up to date.

blogging to: a quiet house

reading: Hard Boiled: An Anthology of American Crime Stories edited by Bill Pronzini & Jack Adrian

Parting Shot: "Conduct is more convincing than language." ~ John Woolman

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