Check out this article + movie of these octopuses who can walk on two feet and look like coconuts doing it.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Your Basic Sock
Finally, an actual knitting project on our knitting weblog. Many of us are digital camera impaired, which inhibits the internet sharing of our work. My camera has died, but I got Erik to let me use his camera to take a picture of the sock I just finished knitting for Vigo.
I knit these on US1 double-pointed needles with Fortissima Colori 9070 sock yarn, which I bought at the Knitting Room in Arlington. The Self-patterning yarn is slightly cheaper online (minus shipping), but at the yarn shop they have little sample socks knitted up so you can see the colors and patterns really well. One skein of yarn was enough for one pair of socks for Vigo. I plan to use two skeins to knit socks for Erik.
Knitting socks is very enjoyable. When I got to turning the heel, I was so excited about it that I stayed up until about 1:30 in the morning knitting, and watching this incredible movie called The Happiness of the Katakuris.
(I can't describe this movie in any interesting way, but I very highly reccomend watching it. Especially the opening claymation insanity.)
I found a recipe for this sock on Woolworks. It is much easier to do than it is to understand by reading it. Just follow the instructions step by step and it all comes out like magic. Easy sneazy. Click on "continue reading" to see the sock recipe.
Generic No-Frills Sock Recipe
Here is a basic pattern for socks, made on double-pointed needles, using
whatever size yarn and needles you feel like using. This makes socks that are fairly short, so there is no need to shape the calf.
Getting Started
You need a few measurements from the target (the potential sock-wearer). Measure the length of the foot and the approximate circumference of the ankle -- maybe an inch or two above the slenderest area.
Take your desired yarn. Worsted weight or bulky yarn makes thick socks; use sports weight to fingering weight for thinner socks.
Make a swatch to determine your gauge. Try a few different sizes of needles, because sometimes the yarn looks best knit at a different gauge. Usually, the thicker yarns end up at 3-6 stitches/inch, while the thinner ones look better at about 6-10 stitches/inch. You don't need an exact gauge--you can often be off by up to plus or minus half a stitch per inch without making too much difference in the size and fit of the final product.
If you knit loosely and can't get a tight enough gauge, you can always make the sock too big and full it (ie shrink it) after it's done. You might want to try this on a swatch to see how much shrinking will occur. You can also use two strands of yarn to make a thicker sock.
Measure around the ankle and subtract one inch. Cast on enough stitches to go the circumferance of the ankle minus one inch.
Another method I've seen is "measure around the ball of your foot, and subtract 10%." For adults, this usually turns out to be just about "ankle minus one inch."
I've also simply used ankle circumference, with no adjustments. This seems to work fine, especially with a few inches of ribbing at the top. I've only done this with wool, so I don't know how it would work with cotton or other materials. I'm more likely to use this measurement if I think the socks might shrink a bit.
Another thing to be on the lookout for is the yarn thickness. A thicker yarn is more likely to be close to "ankle circumference," while a thin yarn is more likely to be "ankle minus X."
Cast On and Knit the Calf
Cast on loosely onto double-pointed needles (dpns).
Join, and knit a ribbing for an inch or two. (Use your favorite rib - k1p1, k2p1, k2p2-- it doesn't really matter.)
Then, switch to stockinette stitch (or your pattern stitch) and knit until the top of the sock is long enough (usually from 4-8 inches long).
Divide for the Heel
Now, divide for the heel. Half of the stitches (the instep) are left on the dpns or put on a holder. The other half go on another needle, and will become the heel. Unless it's important for your particular pattern (cables, symmetric patterns, etc.), it doesn't matter which half of the stitches becomes the heel and which the instep.
Put the heel stitches on one needle. Knit back and forth on the needles in stockinette stitch (k 1 row, p 1 row) until you end up with more or less a square. End the heel with a purl row.
Turn the Heel
Purl to the middle of the row. (If you have an odd number of stitches, purl the middle stitch, too.)
Then, p1, p2tog, p1, and turn.
Slip 1, k back to the middle, k1, SSK, K1, and turn.
Slip 1, P back to the middle, p2, p2tog, p1, turn.
(You should be doing the p2tog across the gap created by the slipped stitch.)
Slip 1, k back to the middle, k2, SSK, k1, turn. (SSK across the gap.)
Slip 1, p back to the middle, p3, p2tog, p1, turn.
Slip 1, k back to the middle, k3, SSK, k1, turn.
And so on, until you reach the edge of the heel. If you haven't finished with a purl row, then turn your work and knit across.
(The Secret Heel-Turning Formula
What you are doing in heel-turning is the following:
(a) you are setting up two decrease points, which are spaced equally far from the middle of the sock heel.
(b) once the decrease points are set up, you simply decrease across the gaps. After the first set of decreases, careful stitch-counting isn't really necessary.)
Pick up Stitches on the Sides of the Heel
Pick up stitches on the side of the heel -- 1 stitch for every 2 rows.
Knit across the instep stitches that you set aside earlier.
Pick up more stitches on the other side of the heel (the same as on the first side of the heel).
Knit one row around in order to get things moving again.
(I often pick up an extra stitch in each corner of the instep, to help prevent a hole from forming there.)
Getting Ready to Knit the Foot
Re-arrange stitches on your dpns
The round now begins in the middle of the heel, and instep stitches should be kept on their own needle(s): 1 needle if using 4 dpns, 2 needles if using 5 dpns.
Knit the Gusset and Foot
Now, decrease away the extra stitches.
Round 1:
Starting from the middle of the heel, k all the way up the side of the heel and K2tog the last two stitches at the side of the heel.
Knit across the instep needle(s).
SSK the first two stitches on the other heel needle and finish
knitting the round.
Round 2:
Knit the next row around.
Repeat these two rounds until you're back to the number of stitches you started the sock with.
For kids' socks, skip round two and decrease every round, to make a shorter gusset. The sock will fit more snugly that way.
The Toe
Knit the foot of the sock until it's about two inches less than the final length of the foot. Then, decrease for the toe.
Starting from the middle of the heel (or bottom of the foot, at this point):
Round 1:
First needle: K until the last 3 stitches on the needle, K2tog, K1;
Instep needle(s): K1, SSK, K until the last 3 stitches on the instep, K2tog, K1;
Last needle: K1, SSK, K to the end.
Round 2: knit evenly around
If you think this toe is a little too pointy, here is a slight variation:
Knit the foot of the sock until it's a bit less than two inches less than the final length of the foot. Then, decrease just like above. When you're down to about half the original number of stitches, decrease every round instead of every other round.
Grafting the Toe
When you're down to the last inch or so of stitches on each side of the foot (usually 4-8 on each side of the foot or 8-16 total stitches), break off sufficient yarn and graft the remaining stitches.
If you can't stand grafting, you could finish the sock like a hat. Continue the toe decreases until only 6-8 stitches remain. Break off sufficient yarn and run it twice through the stitches, pulling it snug.
For those of you who like to understand percentages and proportions:
The heel is done on half the stitches.
About half (or half plus a few) of the heel stitches will remain after turning the heel. Heel-turning decreases are symmetric around the middle stitch(es) of the heel.
The number of stitches picked up on each side of the heel should be about one half of the number of heel stitches (i.e. - one quarter the original number of stitches, picked up at each side).
At this point, you have about 1.25 times the original number of stitches you started with (plus maybe a few more).
Decrease the sock back to the original number of stitches for the foot.
The toe decreases start about 2" from the end. You'll need to use your row gauge and your toe-decrease plan to figure out when to start toe decreases if your sock is very large or very small.
Happy knitting!
--jp
jpa@agora.rdrop.com
I knit these on US1 double-pointed needles with Fortissima Colori 9070 sock yarn, which I bought at the Knitting Room in Arlington. The Self-patterning yarn is slightly cheaper online (minus shipping), but at the yarn shop they have little sample socks knitted up so you can see the colors and patterns really well. One skein of yarn was enough for one pair of socks for Vigo. I plan to use two skeins to knit socks for Erik.
Knitting socks is very enjoyable. When I got to turning the heel, I was so excited about it that I stayed up until about 1:30 in the morning knitting, and watching this incredible movie called The Happiness of the Katakuris.
(I can't describe this movie in any interesting way, but I very highly reccomend watching it. Especially the opening claymation insanity.)
I found a recipe for this sock on Woolworks. It is much easier to do than it is to understand by reading it. Just follow the instructions step by step and it all comes out like magic. Easy sneazy. Click on "continue reading" to see the sock recipe.
Generic No-Frills Sock Recipe
Here is a basic pattern for socks, made on double-pointed needles, using
whatever size yarn and needles you feel like using. This makes socks that are fairly short, so there is no need to shape the calf.
Getting Started
You need a few measurements from the target (the potential sock-wearer). Measure the length of the foot and the approximate circumference of the ankle -- maybe an inch or two above the slenderest area.
Take your desired yarn. Worsted weight or bulky yarn makes thick socks; use sports weight to fingering weight for thinner socks.
Make a swatch to determine your gauge. Try a few different sizes of needles, because sometimes the yarn looks best knit at a different gauge. Usually, the thicker yarns end up at 3-6 stitches/inch, while the thinner ones look better at about 6-10 stitches/inch. You don't need an exact gauge--you can often be off by up to plus or minus half a stitch per inch without making too much difference in the size and fit of the final product.
If you knit loosely and can't get a tight enough gauge, you can always make the sock too big and full it (ie shrink it) after it's done. You might want to try this on a swatch to see how much shrinking will occur. You can also use two strands of yarn to make a thicker sock.
Measure around the ankle and subtract one inch. Cast on enough stitches to go the circumferance of the ankle minus one inch.
Another method I've seen is "measure around the ball of your foot, and subtract 10%." For adults, this usually turns out to be just about "ankle minus one inch."
I've also simply used ankle circumference, with no adjustments. This seems to work fine, especially with a few inches of ribbing at the top. I've only done this with wool, so I don't know how it would work with cotton or other materials. I'm more likely to use this measurement if I think the socks might shrink a bit.
Another thing to be on the lookout for is the yarn thickness. A thicker yarn is more likely to be close to "ankle circumference," while a thin yarn is more likely to be "ankle minus X."
Cast On and Knit the Calf
Cast on loosely onto double-pointed needles (dpns).
Join, and knit a ribbing for an inch or two. (Use your favorite rib - k1p1, k2p1, k2p2-- it doesn't really matter.)
Then, switch to stockinette stitch (or your pattern stitch) and knit until the top of the sock is long enough (usually from 4-8 inches long).
Divide for the Heel
Now, divide for the heel. Half of the stitches (the instep) are left on the dpns or put on a holder. The other half go on another needle, and will become the heel. Unless it's important for your particular pattern (cables, symmetric patterns, etc.), it doesn't matter which half of the stitches becomes the heel and which the instep.
Put the heel stitches on one needle. Knit back and forth on the needles in stockinette stitch (k 1 row, p 1 row) until you end up with more or less a square. End the heel with a purl row.
Turn the Heel
Purl to the middle of the row. (If you have an odd number of stitches, purl the middle stitch, too.)
Then, p1, p2tog, p1, and turn.
Slip 1, k back to the middle, k1, SSK, K1, and turn.
Slip 1, P back to the middle, p2, p2tog, p1, turn.
(You should be doing the p2tog across the gap created by the slipped stitch.)
Slip 1, k back to the middle, k2, SSK, k1, turn. (SSK across the gap.)
Slip 1, p back to the middle, p3, p2tog, p1, turn.
Slip 1, k back to the middle, k3, SSK, k1, turn.
And so on, until you reach the edge of the heel. If you haven't finished with a purl row, then turn your work and knit across.
(The Secret Heel-Turning Formula
What you are doing in heel-turning is the following:
(a) you are setting up two decrease points, which are spaced equally far from the middle of the sock heel.
(b) once the decrease points are set up, you simply decrease across the gaps. After the first set of decreases, careful stitch-counting isn't really necessary.)
Pick up Stitches on the Sides of the Heel
Pick up stitches on the side of the heel -- 1 stitch for every 2 rows.
Knit across the instep stitches that you set aside earlier.
Pick up more stitches on the other side of the heel (the same as on the first side of the heel).
Knit one row around in order to get things moving again.
(I often pick up an extra stitch in each corner of the instep, to help prevent a hole from forming there.)
Getting Ready to Knit the Foot
Re-arrange stitches on your dpns
The round now begins in the middle of the heel, and instep stitches should be kept on their own needle(s): 1 needle if using 4 dpns, 2 needles if using 5 dpns.
Knit the Gusset and Foot
Now, decrease away the extra stitches.
Round 1:
Starting from the middle of the heel, k all the way up the side of the heel and K2tog the last two stitches at the side of the heel.
Knit across the instep needle(s).
SSK the first two stitches on the other heel needle and finish
knitting the round.
Round 2:
Knit the next row around.
Repeat these two rounds until you're back to the number of stitches you started the sock with.
For kids' socks, skip round two and decrease every round, to make a shorter gusset. The sock will fit more snugly that way.
The Toe
Knit the foot of the sock until it's about two inches less than the final length of the foot. Then, decrease for the toe.
Starting from the middle of the heel (or bottom of the foot, at this point):
Round 1:
First needle: K until the last 3 stitches on the needle, K2tog, K1;
Instep needle(s): K1, SSK, K until the last 3 stitches on the instep, K2tog, K1;
Last needle: K1, SSK, K to the end.
Round 2: knit evenly around
If you think this toe is a little too pointy, here is a slight variation:
Knit the foot of the sock until it's a bit less than two inches less than the final length of the foot. Then, decrease just like above. When you're down to about half the original number of stitches, decrease every round instead of every other round.
Grafting the Toe
When you're down to the last inch or so of stitches on each side of the foot (usually 4-8 on each side of the foot or 8-16 total stitches), break off sufficient yarn and graft the remaining stitches.
If you can't stand grafting, you could finish the sock like a hat. Continue the toe decreases until only 6-8 stitches remain. Break off sufficient yarn and run it twice through the stitches, pulling it snug.
For those of you who like to understand percentages and proportions:
The heel is done on half the stitches.
About half (or half plus a few) of the heel stitches will remain after turning the heel. Heel-turning decreases are symmetric around the middle stitch(es) of the heel.
The number of stitches picked up on each side of the heel should be about one half of the number of heel stitches (i.e. - one quarter the original number of stitches, picked up at each side).
At this point, you have about 1.25 times the original number of stitches you started with (plus maybe a few more).
Decrease the sock back to the original number of stitches for the foot.
The toe decreases start about 2" from the end. You'll need to use your row gauge and your toe-decrease plan to figure out when to start toe decreases if your sock is very large or very small.
Happy knitting!
--jp
jpa@agora.rdrop.com
Monday, March 28, 2005
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Friday, March 25, 2005
No one Suspects the Turtle
A turtle named Lucky is the only animal to survive a petshop fire. The petshop owner sees the image of Satan on his back and now says, "The marking on the shell was like the devil wanted us to know he was down there. To me, it's too coincidental that the only thing to come out unscathed would have this image on it." Coicidence, or Satan. You decide. Now on DVD.
On the subject of turtles, this turtle is a professional painter. I have underestimated the mighty turtle.
On the subject of turtles, this turtle is a professional painter. I have underestimated the mighty turtle.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
A League of Ordinary Gentlemen
Sorry to have missed bowling and knitting night! But, I can make up for it... As I think Beth and I have told you all, we have an advance (whew!) copy of "The League of Ordinary Gentlemen," a documentary about the PBA coming out in a couple of months... It is VHS format, and I have a VCR (in the closet) that I can hook back up and host a viewing party for... plus, I will make treats! I have comfortable seating options, three televisions, one sad ghost lamp, and a baking penchant...
I am snowboarding (or trying to) most weekends until mid-april, but I am happy to host a weekday evening fest... what night works well for people? Or, we could do it as an alternate Wednesday activity... you all get to pick!
I am snowboarding (or trying to) most weekends until mid-april, but I am happy to host a weekday evening fest... what night works well for people? Or, we could do it as an alternate Wednesday activity... you all get to pick!
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
The Blackhole
Like I was saying...The Blackhole exists... maybe. And get this, "Ten times as many jets were being absorbed by the fireball as were predicted by calculations." It's from the BBC - that's very newsy!
Monday, March 21, 2005
Broccoli salad + Fruit Pizza
Here's the broccoli salad recipe:
lots of broccoli florettes (i love that word)
raisins
sunflower seeds
chopped red onion
Throw above ingredients in a bowl.
Dressing:
1+1/2 cups mayonaise
1/2 cup sugar (or less)
4 T red wine vinegar
2 T curry powder (or so, as much as required for a nice maize tint)
Combine. Toss with broccoli & company.
Fruit Pizza
This one's from memory so I'm not sure it's completely accurate.
Spread sugar cookie dough (I usually get one of those pillsbury refrigerated rolls) across pizza pan (or other circular pan if you don't have a pizza pan). Bake as instructed for sugar cookies. While crust is baking, combine half cup of lemon juice and a half cup of sugar and cook over medium heat. (This is the part I'm not so sure of so if you have a different method for making lemon curd you should probably use that.) Once sugar is dissolved and mixture thickens, remove from heat.
Melt a couple of tablespoons of raspberry (or blackberry or strawberry...) jam in microwave. Cut up some fruit, any kind you like.
Spread lemon curd over crust, then jam, then fruit. Sprinkle sugar over fruit and broil a minute or so until sugar melts and fruit looks glazed. Remove from oven. Cool. Eat.
lots of broccoli florettes (i love that word)
raisins
sunflower seeds
chopped red onion
Throw above ingredients in a bowl.
Dressing:
1+1/2 cups mayonaise
1/2 cup sugar (or less)
4 T red wine vinegar
2 T curry powder (or so, as much as required for a nice maize tint)
Combine. Toss with broccoli & company.
Fruit Pizza
This one's from memory so I'm not sure it's completely accurate.
Spread sugar cookie dough (I usually get one of those pillsbury refrigerated rolls) across pizza pan (or other circular pan if you don't have a pizza pan). Bake as instructed for sugar cookies. While crust is baking, combine half cup of lemon juice and a half cup of sugar and cook over medium heat. (This is the part I'm not so sure of so if you have a different method for making lemon curd you should probably use that.) Once sugar is dissolved and mixture thickens, remove from heat.
Melt a couple of tablespoons of raspberry (or blackberry or strawberry...) jam in microwave. Cut up some fruit, any kind you like.
Spread lemon curd over crust, then jam, then fruit. Sprinkle sugar over fruit and broil a minute or so until sugar melts and fruit looks glazed. Remove from oven. Cool. Eat.
X-celling Over Men-Maureen Dowd-NYTimes
OP-ED COLUMNIST
X-celling Over Men
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: March 20, 2005
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Men are always telling me not to generalize about them.
But a startling new study shows that science is backing me up here.
Research published last week in the journal Nature reveals that women are genetically more complex than scientists ever imagined, while men remain the simple creatures they appear.
"Alas," said one of the authors of the study, the Duke University genome expert Huntington Willard, "genetically speaking, if you've met one man, you've met them all. We are, I hate to say it, predictable. You can't say that about women. Men and women are farther apart than we ever knew. It's not Mars or Venus. It's Mars or Venus, Pluto, Jupiter and who knows what other planets."
Women are not only more different from men than we knew. Women are more different from each other than we knew - creatures of "infinite variety," as Shakespeare wrote.
"We poor men only have 45 chromosomes to do our work with because our 46th is the pathetic Y that has only a few genes which operate below the waist and above the knees," Dr. Willard observed. "In contrast, we now know that women have the full 46 chromosomes that they're getting work from and the 46th is a second X that is working at levels greater than we knew."
Dr. Willard and his co-author, Laura Carrel, a molecular biologist at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, think that their discovery may help explain why the behavior and traits of men and women are so different; they may be hard-wired in the brain, in addition to being hormonal or cultural.
So is Lawrence Summers right after all? "Only time will tell," Dr. Willard laughs.
The researchers learned that a whopping 15 percent - 200 to 300 - of the genes on the second X chromosome in women, thought to be submissive and inert, lolling about on an evolutionary Victorian fainting couch, are active, giving women a significant increase in gene expression over men.
As the Times science reporter Nicholas Wade, who is writing a book about human evolution and genetics, explained it to me: "Women are mosaics, one could even say chimeras, in the sense that they are made up of two different kinds of cell. Whereas men are pure and uncomplicated, being made of just a single kind of cell throughout."
This means men's generalizations about women are correct, too. Women are inscrutable, changeable, crafty, idiosyncratic, a different species.
"Women's chromosomes have more complexity, which men view as unpredictability," said David Page, a molecular biologist and expert on sex evolution at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass.
Known as Mr. Y, Dr. P calls himself "the defender of the rotting Y chromosome." He's referring to studies showing that the Y chromosome has been shedding genes willy-nilly for millions of years and is now a fraction of the size of its partner, the X chromosome. "The Y married up," he notes. "The X married down."
Size matters, so some experts have suggested that in 10 million years or even much sooner - 100,000 years - men could disappear, taking Maxim magazine, March Madness and cold pizza in the morning with them.
Dr. Page drolly conjures up a picture of the Y chromosome as "a slovenly beast," sitting in his favorite armchair, surrounded by the litter of old fast food takeout boxes.
"The Y wants to maintain himself but doesn't know how," he said. "He's falling apart, like the guy who can't manage to get a doctor's appointment or can't clean up the house or apartment unless his wife does it.
"I prefer to think of the Y as persevering and noble, not as the Rodney Dangerfield of the human genome."
Dr. Page says the Y - a refuge throughout evolution for any gene that is good for males and/or bad for females - has become "a mirror, a metaphor, a blank slate on which you can write anything you want to think about males." It has inspired cartoon gene maps that show the belching gene, the inability-to-remember-birthdays-and-anniversaries gene, the fascination-with-spiders-and-reptiles gene, the selective-hearing-loss-"Huh" gene, the inability-to-express-affection-on-the-phone gene.
The discovery about women's superior gene expression may answer the age-old question about why men have trouble expressing themselves: because their genes do.
E-mail: liberties@nytimes.com
X-celling Over Men
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: March 20, 2005
Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Men are always telling me not to generalize about them.
But a startling new study shows that science is backing me up here.
Research published last week in the journal Nature reveals that women are genetically more complex than scientists ever imagined, while men remain the simple creatures they appear.
"Alas," said one of the authors of the study, the Duke University genome expert Huntington Willard, "genetically speaking, if you've met one man, you've met them all. We are, I hate to say it, predictable. You can't say that about women. Men and women are farther apart than we ever knew. It's not Mars or Venus. It's Mars or Venus, Pluto, Jupiter and who knows what other planets."
Women are not only more different from men than we knew. Women are more different from each other than we knew - creatures of "infinite variety," as Shakespeare wrote.
"We poor men only have 45 chromosomes to do our work with because our 46th is the pathetic Y that has only a few genes which operate below the waist and above the knees," Dr. Willard observed. "In contrast, we now know that women have the full 46 chromosomes that they're getting work from and the 46th is a second X that is working at levels greater than we knew."
Dr. Willard and his co-author, Laura Carrel, a molecular biologist at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, think that their discovery may help explain why the behavior and traits of men and women are so different; they may be hard-wired in the brain, in addition to being hormonal or cultural.
So is Lawrence Summers right after all? "Only time will tell," Dr. Willard laughs.
The researchers learned that a whopping 15 percent - 200 to 300 - of the genes on the second X chromosome in women, thought to be submissive and inert, lolling about on an evolutionary Victorian fainting couch, are active, giving women a significant increase in gene expression over men.
As the Times science reporter Nicholas Wade, who is writing a book about human evolution and genetics, explained it to me: "Women are mosaics, one could even say chimeras, in the sense that they are made up of two different kinds of cell. Whereas men are pure and uncomplicated, being made of just a single kind of cell throughout."
This means men's generalizations about women are correct, too. Women are inscrutable, changeable, crafty, idiosyncratic, a different species.
"Women's chromosomes have more complexity, which men view as unpredictability," said David Page, a molecular biologist and expert on sex evolution at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass.
Known as Mr. Y, Dr. P calls himself "the defender of the rotting Y chromosome." He's referring to studies showing that the Y chromosome has been shedding genes willy-nilly for millions of years and is now a fraction of the size of its partner, the X chromosome. "The Y married up," he notes. "The X married down."
Size matters, so some experts have suggested that in 10 million years or even much sooner - 100,000 years - men could disappear, taking Maxim magazine, March Madness and cold pizza in the morning with them.
Dr. Page drolly conjures up a picture of the Y chromosome as "a slovenly beast," sitting in his favorite armchair, surrounded by the litter of old fast food takeout boxes.
"The Y wants to maintain himself but doesn't know how," he said. "He's falling apart, like the guy who can't manage to get a doctor's appointment or can't clean up the house or apartment unless his wife does it.
"I prefer to think of the Y as persevering and noble, not as the Rodney Dangerfield of the human genome."
Dr. Page says the Y - a refuge throughout evolution for any gene that is good for males and/or bad for females - has become "a mirror, a metaphor, a blank slate on which you can write anything you want to think about males." It has inspired cartoon gene maps that show the belching gene, the inability-to-remember-birthdays-and-anniversaries gene, the fascination-with-spiders-and-reptiles gene, the selective-hearing-loss-"Huh" gene, the inability-to-express-affection-on-the-phone gene.
The discovery about women's superior gene expression may answer the age-old question about why men have trouble expressing themselves: because their genes do.
E-mail: liberties@nytimes.com
Brunch Report
Four men learned a bit of knitting on Sunday: Aaron of the fast hands, quick-study Brian, slightly tipsy Mr. Wild, and Reluctant Erik.
I found this very well-maintained man-knitter weblog this morning. When Knitting Was a Manly Art:
"Another wet and cold day on Pumpkin Ridge. A young friend showed up at 9am this morning to help me clean out a much ignored horse barn. Luckily the John Deere 420 was up to the task and three hours later we got the barn done. Both with aching backs and cold bodies.
Restarted the Moebius this morning...The Moebius is a bit too feminine for me, but I'm really tempted to buy some more Qiviut for a nice scarf for myself. I will continue on the Moebius for now. I've got two washcloths already finished and the Zigzag is close enough that I should be able to finish it with occasional evenings working at it. The slip stitch cloth is really close to being ripped out. I dislike the yarn, I dislike the patterrn and I'm thinking it's not worth the effort."
One of the best things about Sunday was all the food. Heres the muffin recipe I use. I just put in whatever fruit I want, and I vary the amount of sugar on whim.
Justine, how about that broccoli salad recipe, and fruit pizza recipe.
Eventually we will need to have a Teach a Man to Purl Party. And a Casting-On Cruise.
I found this very well-maintained man-knitter weblog this morning. When Knitting Was a Manly Art:
"Another wet and cold day on Pumpkin Ridge. A young friend showed up at 9am this morning to help me clean out a much ignored horse barn. Luckily the John Deere 420 was up to the task and three hours later we got the barn done. Both with aching backs and cold bodies.
Restarted the Moebius this morning...The Moebius is a bit too feminine for me, but I'm really tempted to buy some more Qiviut for a nice scarf for myself. I will continue on the Moebius for now. I've got two washcloths already finished and the Zigzag is close enough that I should be able to finish it with occasional evenings working at it. The slip stitch cloth is really close to being ripped out. I dislike the yarn, I dislike the patterrn and I'm thinking it's not worth the effort."
One of the best things about Sunday was all the food. Heres the muffin recipe I use. I just put in whatever fruit I want, and I vary the amount of sugar on whim.
Justine, how about that broccoli salad recipe, and fruit pizza recipe.
Eventually we will need to have a Teach a Man to Purl Party. And a Casting-On Cruise.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Creepy Crafty
I meant to post about reborning dolls after reading this article in the NYTimes Sunday magazine, weeks ago. Unfortunately, I never got around to it until today.
Some of these dolls are almost as ugly as real babies.
Some of the supplies are creepier than the dolls themselves. Like the beating heart (scroll down) and the tushy fat.
Do it yourself.
Linky linky.
Men, Get Some Balls...
of yarn.
The Teach a Man to Knit Brunch, our first event, is coming up this Sunday. Last night Katie and Hiral and I bowled a string and then went to The Burren and made adorable invitations.
When I got home, I started thinking about cool TV shows Pins and Needles could make for Cambridge and Somerville community access cable. One idea: a five-minute show every two weeks or once a month, filmed at a different bowling alley each time. Each show we teach our audience one new stitch and we each give a review of the bowling alley.
Who has a video camera?
The Teach a Man to Knit Brunch, our first event, is coming up this Sunday. Last night Katie and Hiral and I bowled a string and then went to The Burren and made adorable invitations.
When I got home, I started thinking about cool TV shows Pins and Needles could make for Cambridge and Somerville community access cable. One idea: a five-minute show every two weeks or once a month, filmed at a different bowling alley each time. Each show we teach our audience one new stitch and we each give a review of the bowling alley.
Who has a video camera?
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Mexican Milagros
Sorry for not posting this info sooner. I'm sure you've all been waiting anxiously for this link about the milagros. This is the best page I've been able to find about them, but I also didn't spend very much time. Let me know if any of you find out anything more. Enjoy!
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