The look... the feel... the smell?

What is more important to you when choosing a yarn - the look of the resulting fabric, or the feel of the yarn? [insert Jeopardy theme song here]

This was the weekly question on Knitter's Review, a weekly e-newsletter by Clara Parkes featuring a review (doh) of a yarn or product each issue, along with a readers' poll; the archive of yarn reviews is an invaluable resource, IMHO. If KR doesn't already appear in your inbox, go sign up. I'll wait.

Take the poll and make your senses heard, then feel free to share a comment here about a yarn experience you've had - good, bad, or downright ugly. Was the allure of a beautifully twisted skein deceptively harsh on your skin? Did an ugly duckling yarn transform into a swan-like fabric once knitted? (And I'm OK with using actual brand names if you are.) Inquiring minds want to know!

What to do...

Dave Freeman, co-author of 100 Things To Do Before You Die, has died at the tender age of 47.

He wasn't gored by a bull in Pamplona.

He wasn't skewered through the heart by a stingray off the Great Barrier Reef.

He fell in his own home and hit his head.

Do you have your own list of experiences you crave or places you dream of visiting? Take a minute today and, somewhere on your computer, start your list. It doesn't have to be definitive, and it's completely open to editing at any time, but just write it down. You don't even need to assign numbers. Just. Write.

After you make your list, feel free to leave a comment on this post and share as many ideas as you'd like. Simple or complex, exotic or domestic - they're your dreams.

A break

So Papa and I spent about five hours scrolling through photos of those damn beautiful buildings last night, trying to identify what we could. Google helped in a few situations, but there is a deplorably large puddle of "assorted" edifices. I am on skyscraper overload right now, so the apple slices are sitting in some lemon juice for the night; tomorrow is another day.

p.s. It's nice to see that, via the sidebar poll, there isn't much that rattles the readership. I knew I liked you guys.

Slice of the Big Apple #5

token photo by Jason R. DeCesareWe rode the subway A LOT. If there were frequent flyer miles for riding the trains, we'd have come close to cashing them in for a free trip to Antigua.

The mosaic art on the station and platform walls ranged from old-world classic to vivid contemporary expression, and was a beautiful distraction while running around. I was a bit fixated.

This billboard from the tunnel didn't quite fit into the rest of the slide show. It cries out for its own classification, but which I'm not sure. Oddity? Just Say No? Feel free to express your opinion in the sidebar poll.

ADDENDUM, to record the sidebar poll for posterity:
"This photo is..."
choice 1: "... sooo what I need! Does Walgreens carry it?" (1 vote)
choice 2: "... an ad. No big whup." (3 votes)
choice 3: "... odd. Where else but New York?" (1 vote)
choice 4: "... insane! OMG - Just Say No!" (1 vote)

SA (Stashers Anonymous)

You may have seen the warning signs.

A basket here, under-the-bed containers there, an innocent bag hanging on a chair. The fiber is everywhere, and you have no idea how much there really could be. Time for action.

You can ask, "How big is your stash?" until you are blue in the face, but only when the patient is ready will they take a deep breath and say, "It's big. Taller than me."

Hi, my name is Meema, and I'm a stashaholic.

I can't pinpoint the straw that broke my camel's downy back, but I came home the other day with five transparent totes, pulled yarn from all known stashing points, and set to work sorting by weight.

Crap. A bad sign: I needed more totes.

If you want all the gory details, visit my stash page if you're on Ravelry (I'm Meema there as well). Tote content, top to bottom: random worsted, heavy worsted/aran, Cascade worsted, bulky/novelty/laceweight, fingering/sock, Malabrigo worsted, sport/DK.

There are many more impressive stashes out there, I'm sure. Come clean with me, people. How is your relationship with your stash?

End Times, and other things

from the editor: I'm a bad LYS employee. I've really done scant knitting this week, and thusly another fiberless post. Le sigh.

This is the last week of school for my studio singers. I know, everyone else under the sun is done but us. Graduation is on Friday (the 13th - don't think the irony is lost on some of these "adults"). And although most teachers spend the next three months travelling on vacation improving themselves at workshops, I teach a summer studio. As an independent contractor, if I want to be paid, lessons are taught.

I've never really been a get-the-heck-outta-Dodge vacationer - nor have my people - but this summer is proving to be different. The third week of July will be a Genuine Road Trip Vacation, the likes of which haven't been experienced by my family for over 20 years (ahem).

Destination: The Big Apple :-D
Motivation: seeing the MN Twins play at Yankee Stadium before they tear it down
Participation: mom, dad, sis, and moi

Driving halfway across the country.
In July.
Watching outdoor baseball (here's the view from our slice of Yankee heaven):No me gusta the potential heat/sweat/humidity factor with this itinerary, but I will shut my yap and deal with it.

OK, one question: I am certainly not the most sportly-minded lesbian to walk the face of the earth (though I have been known to cheer on a championship whatever in a social context), but shouldn't it be illegal or unethical or something to tear down Yankee Freakin' Stadium? It's like the Mecca of baseball, isn't it? Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and all? (Heh, I didn't even google those names. Pretty impressed right about now, aren't you?)

side note: On this day in 1969 the Yankees retired Mickey Mantle's number, 7. Ironical. (This factoid was looked up after I wrote his name above, thus the ironicalness. And yes, I know it's not a real word.)

Lay it on me, readers. What should I petition the fam to see whilst in Nueva York? Leave me a comment with your favorite tourist-y spot, off-the-beaten-path eatery, or whatever. You're going to be listening to me blog about it, so the sights might as well be something we'll all enjoy.

There can be only one

I love SNL's ability to capture the tenor - and highlight the ridiculousness - of current events, especially politics. My friend Cate posted yesterday about this very topic - well, not spoofing the race per se, but rather her (dis)comfort brought about by having the candidates themselves on the show. Check out her blog, leave your two cents in her comments, and come on back.

And now back to the actual campaign... With a win in Oregon tomorrow, Senator Obama would likely have the majority of delegates needed to claim presumptive nominee status. Here's the question of the day: do you think Senator Clinton will pull out of the race on Wednesday if results are decisive, or will she push on through June's contests? Leave your thoughts in the comments, SVP.

Make your voice heard!

Moses!

It's confession time, people. I have a strange compulsion that, whenever Cecil B. DeMille's epic film The Ten Commandments is broadcast on television, I must watch it from title to credits. Of course I've seen it at least a dozen times, but that didn't stop me this weekend.

One of my top ten cinematic moments occurs in the first part of the movie: Nefretiri (played by Anne Baxter) leans over the palace balcony when she spies Charlton Heston approaching and throatily - nay, lustily - shouts, "Moses!" It's my favorite bit of overacting ever.

So dig deep and unburden your freshly-won soul in the comment section, o readers: what's your crazy gotta-see-it, gotta-listen-to-it, gotta-just-because guilty pleasure?