Intent vs Letter

I know it seems a lot easier to have a world that's black and white with no grays, but as most of you know, life just doesn't work that way. Looking at what policies, rules and laws intend may take a bit more work, but it accomplishes what was originally....well....intended.

Certainties?
I have a friend who is very conservative, both politically and socially. He rages against folks that don't use turn signals, and can't abide folks that can't make snap decisions about things like sending troops into Afghanistan.

We were at lunch one day in a restaurant, and he loudly berated the waitress for some minor infraction of server etiquette. It seemed to me the ultimate in hypocrisy.

Etiquette, to me, is the set of rules by which we show civil politeness to each other, and yet my friend was willing to throw out all attempts at being polite...in fact he was quite rude...to insist that someone follow the rules of politeness.

The irony was lost on my friend when I tried to explain this.

I know it would be easier to just blindly follow the rules and pressure people to do the same, because a world of absolutes is so much easier, but the more experienced, sage folks among us will always tell you that there are no short-cuts. The easier, softer way will only lead to needing to fix shit later.

Current Knitting
I started a new project this week (as if I didn't have enough on the needles). A week or so ago, my mom asked me if I would make her a heather-gray cardigan for Christmas. She couldn't have asked for a nicer gift for both of us.

I measured one of her existing cardigans, did a bunch of test-swatches and then calculated out the majority of the pattern.



You can see I haven't gotten too far on the bottom ribbing, but based on the picture below, you'll note I'm working on quite small needles.



Fortunately, my mom is petite, so it shouldn't be too difficult getting this all knit up and finished in time for Christmas.

Readers' Comments/Questions
Thanks to all who commented about the new recommendations on breast cancer screening. As always, I found your ideas interesting and thought-provoking, and I was mostly glad to be able to read perspectives from women. I was particularly grateful to hear from the women that shared personally incidences.

Regarding my latest gossamer lace project, Kerry writes, "That lace design is interesting. Is it one of your own designs or is it commercially available?"

It comes from one of my lace books...I think it's from Gossamer Webs by Galina Khmeleva. I can't remember the pattern stitch name at the moment, and I don't have it with me...I'll check when I get home on Wednesday.