Thinking Sheep Thoughts

Recently I have found myself obsessed with a new yarn. Sublime Organic Merino.

It's as light as a feather and it might just be the softest wool that I have ever come in contact with.

Like "softer-than-Malabrigo" soft.

Everything about this little strand oozes naturalness to me. The lightly spun single ply construction gives it a handspun feel and I love this subtle natural shade.




Pondering over this yarns organic qualities led towards another new knitting related obsession for me.



Sheep!

Its only fitting that a child's sheep sweater be made from a super soft merino sheep!

And plus I found the cutest sheep buttons ever while visiting Portland.

Its a perfect match.

Pattern coming soon!

Hateful Greed

I can be self-serving sometimes, to the point of mild greed, but I will never understand the ridiculous amount of greed there is among the people running our largest companies.

Blatant Piggishness
Having worked in Human Resources all my career, I have seen decisions made by CEO's (and the boards they chair) that were so blatantly self-serving, that it was embarrassing beyond words.

Is it any wonder that CEO's, who can practically approve their own salaries and bonuses, have such bloated salaries that are so out of proportion with employee salaries that they should be ashamed of themselves? And that's just salaries and bonuses. I can't tell you how many times I had to help write descriptions of benefit plans that would increase overall compensation to executives through lower medical deductibles, or reducing taxes, or overriding government limits on benefits, etc., etc., etc. Or the CEO I worked for who relocated the entire administrative offices to a location 10 minutes drive from his house (and took relocation benefits for being transferred).  To provide one example of the huge difference in how executives are treated compared to their employees, if the minimum wage in the U.S., which was $3.80 an hour in 1990, had grown at the same rate as CEO pay over the decade, it would now be $25.50 an hour, rather than the current $5.15 an hour.

I often wonder what would have happened if I had been more ambitious and aggressive in my career, and had attained an executive level position.

Would I have been caught up in the power-hungry greed, or would I have been more even-handed in the compensation and benefits shared among the employees that make the company function?

It's impossible to tell, but I could only hope that I would have had friends who would have given me an abrupt wake-up call.

Current Spinning
Okay...so I didn't have anything on the wheel for a little while, and then I got a note from Australian knitter, Kerry. He had a friend who had an extra kilo or so of incredibly fine merino top, and would Ted and I be interested in splitting it?

Uh...is that a trick question?

His friend Libby sent me two bumps of some of the nicest spinning fiber (I guess it's fibre, since it's Australian) I have ever seen or touched. Actually she sent me four bumps, but two of them were for Ted, and with the postal strike in Canada, she asked if I'd forward it on to him since I could bring it with me in my travels and post it from Canada.

This stuff is gorgeous. It has a luster like silk, and the individual fibres are so fine and light, they practically float.

Suffice it to say, I couldn't hold myself back from spinning the miraculous fibre, so I dropped all knitting projects this past weekend, and spun up about a half a spool of singles.

When double-plied, it will probably make some of the nicest fingering weight yarn I have ever produced (click on the photo to see that I've been able to find the "sweet spot" as far as the gauge of the single this fibre produces).

From Shame to Pride

Kind of sums up my life as a Catholic gay boy growing up and growing into loving who he is.

We've Come a Long Way Baby

JoeMyGod posted a great blog post on the reporting of the Stonewall Rebellion that clearly shows how far we've come.

Having gotten legally married last year and then having my marriage recognized in the State of Pennsylvania was unthinkable as recently as five years ago, and it couldn't have happened without the fierce and courageous New Yorkers who stood up 45 years ago.

I couldn't be more proud.

Current Knitting

I was sitting watching television, with no handy project sitting around, so I took some of the leftover yarn from the bed runner and starting doing a stranded/twined knitting "swatch" that turned into a hat.

Since I wanted the fabric to be a uniform thickness even in the places where it was only one color, I used two strands of the same color, knitting each alternate stitch with a different strand.  

It made a nice warm fabric, but honestly, it wasn't very soft feeling on my ears, so I picked up stitches around the bottom of the hat with a very soft alpaca yarn, and knit a headband lining.

Almost finished sewing in the lining, just in time for July.

Readers' Comments/Questions

Regarding the three sweaters from Leslie, Maur asks, "...does your friend have a blog as well?"

No, she doesn't but she's an excellent knitter (as you can see).

Alex writes, "That first vest is beautiful. Do you have pattern links that you could share?"

The vest is called Tumbling Blocks Vest and is by Kaffe Fassett.  It was published a couple of places, but mainly in the Rowan Magazine number 6 if you can get your hands on it.

Little Voices

When corporations or entire industries decide to spend money, they can persuade an enormous number of people to their way of thinking.  Little voices, like this blog, are the only ways regular people, like me have of trying to set things straight...so to speak.

Health Care
This issue is rather simple.  For-profit health insurance companies want to make money.  Health care providers (hospitals, doctors, etc.) want to make money.  Insurance companies make money every time they deny a claim for services...it is in their best interest to deny claims (how many of you have ever had to submit the same claim multiple times before it was paid...how many more of you have ever given up after the first or second denial?)  To make up for unpaid health care costs, hospitals and doctors increase their fees, so they can maximize what the insurance companies and patients combined will pay them.

So, the insurance companies don't want certain provisions of the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare)...like exchange pools for the uninsured...so they trash the entire concept, and many people believe it's a bad idea.  Combined with the conservative/Republican hatred of anything-Obama, the public opinion of Obamacare is low.

That will change when 2014 rolls around, and the benefits start to become clearer and clearer.

I further predict, that the public will start to realize that government-sponsored health care will be a great thing (by taking the profit motive out of it), and eventually, Obamacare will be extended even further to allow Medicare for everyone who wants to pay into it.

Seems like a perfect solution...the insurance companies don't want to create uninsured exchange pools...let the uninsured buy into Medicare instead.

See?  Simple.

Current Knitting
I have been LOVING knitting the Milano blanket.

It's going to be an extended project to make the blanket as large as I want it, but I love the colors, the pattern is simple and enjoyable and the progression of colored stripes makes me want to make it to the next on and then the next one...and so on.

Readers' Comments/Questions
Benita asks, "So, does this mean you will be pushing back retirement now that you are your own boss? Or was this what retirement was supposed to be anyway?"


Retirement was originally scheduled for April of 2013.  It looks like it might take me a bit longer to reach my retirement goals (financial), but even so, being an independent contractor will allow me to decide if/when I want to work a lot more easily than being part of a consulting company.

How Am I Doing?

Remember at the beginning of the year, I actually made a few New Year's resolutions...what was I thinking?

Half Year Status Update

Just like the good corporate citizen I am, where I review my annual work goals with my boss at the mid-year period, I thought it would be a good idea to do the same for my New Year's resolutions.  Here's where we are:

1. Read The Hunger Games Trilogy
1. Status - Complete
2. Watch The Hunger Games
1. Status - Complete
3. Finish the Blanket/Coffin Cover project
1. Status - Made minimal progress...now that the blogathon is over, I can pick it up again
4. Travel overseas
1. Status - No progress on this yet and nothing in the foreseeable future
5. Get down to 190 pounds and stay below 195 all year
1. Status - went the wrong way on this one and just hit 200 for the first time in years
6. Grow at least one kind of vegetable
1. Status - this was a bad idea, because it required Thaddeus to participate...he won't
7. Blog an average of at least twice a week (and yes, this one counts!)
1. Status - With the successful blogathon, I think I'll meet this goal handily
8. Thank someone daily
1. Status - either in person or via e-mail or phone call, this has definitely been happening

Honestly, I'm still glad I set some goals for myself this year, even though I won't meet them all.  And it's even nice to have a chance to publicly assess them.  With the most recent Supreme Court ruling, I may soon be adding marriage as a goal.

The blogathon has also prompted me to do a bit more fiber work than I might have without it.  A pretty impressive month, no?

Current Reading

I think I've discussed here my feelings about The Hunger Games Trilogy...it was okay...I thought it had a compelling plot that make me want to keep reading, but I also thought it was either not extremely good writing, or it was dumbed down for a younger audience (which I always think is a bad idea).


Lately, I've been reading Pearl S. Buck...her Good Earth trilogy.  I just finished the second book and if you've never read this, it's well worth reading.  Can't wait to read the third book now.

Readers' Comments/Questions

Thanks to those of you who added me to your various social networks.  I've added a number of new Facebook Friends, RavKnitFriends, Google+ Knitting Circle Friends, Twitter Followers and Pinners on Pinterest.  I'm no Franklin Habit, but I can aspire.

A Sweater Photo-Bombing

A prototype of a new sweater design.. fresh off the needles.

Perfectly cozy in Quince & Co. Osprey with a stylish wide collar.

Whenever there is the "click" of a camera.. my six year old isn't far behind.

She loves to photo-bomb my knitwear shots.

Goal Almost Accomplished

Having decided to participate in the WordCount Blogathon again this year, I made a few decisions about how I wanted to participate.

Blogathon Goals

First and foremost, my over-arching goal was to re-energize the blog a bit and expand the readership.  I think the blog has definitely had more energy and interaction and comments from readers and the readership has definitely expanded, even if it's only for the period of the Blogathon.

Some other goals I had associated with the Blogathon:

1. Make sure the content had some meat to it...that I didn't just throw out a blog entry to comply with a daily blog post requirement.
2. Make sure the majority of blog posts had fiber content (not the digestive type).
3. Make sure the blog posts included as wide a variety of interest, while still sticking with the basic premise of queer life, personal thoughts and fiber crafting.
4. And make sure there were at least a couple of photos in each post.

I would dare say that each of these goals was completed successfully, and I will most probably do this Blogathon again next year.

Thank you to all who kept up with the frantic pace of daily blog entries and for all those who participated either here in comments, on various social networks or via e-mail.

Current Knitting

I'm halfway through the Koigu Picot Bias scarf (in that I've used up the first two of four hanks of Koigu).

I've just realized that my second hank of brighter Koigu is a different colorway than the first, so I'm hopeful the two halves of the scarf don't look completely odd when the scarf is finished.

Hello Readers...It's Your Mother

I hate to be a nag, but have you been to your dentist lately? Are you flossing regularly? Do you use a Sonicare toothbrush?

A Cautionary Tale
I used to floss irregularly (maybe once a week or in spurts for short periods). I brushed my teeth regularly. In the past few year, I've used a Sonicare toothbrush both at home and when I traveled. I used to go to the dentist about once a year for a cleaning. Each year I'd go, they'd tell me my teeth were in perfect shape.

Then, my dentist's practice was bought by one of those warehouse dentist chains that set up huge office spaces with cubicles instead of treatment offices. I went once, but hated the experience. Especially when I realized they were only interested in bilking my insurance company for as much money as they could by treating me for things I didn't need.

I stopped going to the dentist for a few years after that, until Thaddeus found an excellent dentist. And even though she wasn't accepting new patients, she was willing to take both Thaddeus and I on as new patients.

Coincidentally, I also started having a problem with one of my back molars. Timing seemed perfect.

Perhaps if I had gotten to see her six months previously, the timing would have been perfect.

As it turns out, I had quite a few dental problems which went completely undetected, requiring me to have the problem molar extracted.

Now, why do I write this?

Mostly, it's to alert folks (who don't already know) that there are some things I wish I had been doing about my dental care that I wasn't.

Here is my list of "motherly" dental tips:

1. See your dentist or periodontist at least once a year. It's important.
2. Learn how to brush your teeth correctly. I'm amazed that I didn't learn until I was over 50 years old.
3. Minimally floss every day.
4. Ideally, use inter-dental brushes



5. Gum disease (even rather serious gum disease) can be occurring without you know it at all, until it's too late to save a tooth.

I know most of you have heard at least some of this for years, but for some reason I didn't pay much heed to it, and I wish now that I had.

Current Knitting/Spinning
First off, I worked on both my Austermann Step project and my Heirloom Lace baby blanket project since my last blog entry.

I only have a photo of the sock project this week.

You'll note I finished the first sock, and started the second, and they will be relatively close to matching.

I don't have a lace photo because I didn't really get enough done since last blog entry to merit a photograph.

That's because I started a new spinning project over the weekend.

Stay tuned for more details on what I'm currently spinning.

Readers' Comments/Questions
Carol writes, "I have recurring dreams about losing my purse/wallet, too -- do you have similar ones?

I don't. Honestly I might, but I don't remember my dreams. Even when I wake up in the middle of one, the content fades from memory faster than I can take a mid-sleep gerontological pee (in the loo, not in Depends or anything).

What?!? Me Worry?

Shit My Friend Charles Says
A friend of ours has some great expressions, and I have no idea whether they're his or not...I doubt he does either.

One of my faves, is "Don't worry about anything money can fix."

I have always said that money does not buy happiness...in fact I bet if there were some way of quantifying happiness, that there would be more unhappy rich people than unhappy poor people.

However, I can say that not having money can also cause an enormous amount of stress. If someone is living paycheck to paycheck and sometimes has to worry where the rent/mortgage money is going to come from, or whether they can afford to pay for their kid's allergy medications, it can't make for an easy life.

I just heard that next year in the U.S., Healthcare Flexible Spending Accounts can not be used to pay for over-the-counter medications (unless you have a prescription from your doctor for it). What kind of bullshit is that? Just another way to make it more difficult or impossible for folks to keep up.

I always love how many ways there are to increase taxes without being labeled as a politician that "increased taxes."

Current Knitting
I ended up finishing the back of the Malabrigo Silky Merino pullover this past weekend, and started the front section.

I noticed there is quite a difference in color in one of the skeins used on the back, but I'm going to completely ignore it and call it a design element based on the kettle dyeing techniques.

I also felt I must start the scarf in the latest issue of Spin-off Magazine.

I'm using what I think is handspun from probably Black Bunny Fiber roving...but honestly, I'd have to look back in my blog posts to figure it out. The picture shows two pattern repeats, and I'm liking it a lot.

Top-10 List of Knitting Tools

The following list of items are must-haves if you're a serious knitter.  There are obviously other tools, but I wanted to make sure and include as many necessary tools that some folks might not have thought of.

QueerJoe's Top-10 List

Knitting all the time, there are certain tools that I couldn't do without, that most knitters also have in their toolkit, such as:

Point Protectors (I don't use them often and regret it)



Double Point Needles in different sizes (even if you don't knit socks) used for cabling, stitch holders, i-cord, etc.


Sturdy Yarn Swift and Ball Winder


There are also a number of tools that many knitters DON'T have in their stash that can be very useful:

Blocking Wires for "basting" pieces together


Susan Bates Weaving Needle, 5 inch Steel for darning in ends (Tom turned me on to these!)


Coiless Safety Pins for stitch marker (Thank Ted for this one!)


Digital Caliper for measuring needles (most accurately...and they're CHEAP...I just got mine for US$14)


Slider Pencil Cases for holding notions (thanks to John for this idea)


Tape Measures and Folding Scissors (and reading glasses if you're of a certain age) everywhere I knit


Latch Hook needles or crochet hooks in different sizes for fixing mistakes


I'm curious if there are other knitters/crocheters/spinners who roam around craft stores or dollar stores looking for ideas for inexpensive items that will round out their toolbox of crafting items?  Having a creative eye for re-purposing some item is always a useful skill.

Current Crochet and Spinning

I've added a couple more rows to the Koigu Interlocking Crochet Scarf and it's looking quite colorful and fine.

I've also measured the British Romney/Merino yarn and at 520 yards and 6.4 ounces (or 1,300 yards a pound), it's considered DK weight yarn.

I can't wait to come up with something I will use this yarn for, I just love everything about it.