Hey Google...

Why haven't you put up a Google doodle for International Women's Day?

But you did for Vivaldi's 332nd birthday a couple of days ago?

I mean, 322's not even a round number...

Finish line!

The Ravelympics are over, and I finished both of the events I entered!

Contestant 1: Senior Auction Mittens

Pattern: The Alice Carroll All-rib Mitt, Yarn: Plymouth Encore worsted in a yellow-orange color.

They were a hit. The person who won these in the senior auction was properly enthused about getting them, and sent my hallmates and me a nice email thanking us for all the hard work that went into them. Score.

Contestant 2: Cthulhu Bag

Pattern: Cthulhu Dice Bag! by A.A. Leavitt-Reynolds. Yarn: Red Heart in Black and a lime green.

This is my third try at making a coin purse of a reasonable size to carry laundry money in. While this one is smaller than my last attempt (the Tsantsa shrunken head bag), it still is the size of a small evening purse, not a coin purse. Conclusion: I need to use thinner yarn if I want to make a bag any smaller. Going down a needle size isn't going to cut it: this bag was worked on 6's and is already approaching bullet-proof fabric. It stands up on its own. Sport-weight yarn may be the way to go.

WTF Utah?

First, read this article: Utah Bill Would Criminalize Illegal Abortions (NY Times)

Now that you're all back with me...

WTF Utah? Let's make every miscarriage a potential criminal investigation. Because miscarriage isn't painful and stressful enough as it is. Let's make every child-bearing woman in the state of Utah a potential criminal suspect. 10 to 20 percent of all known pregnancies end in miscarriage.¹ Is Utah going to investigate all of them? Make sure the woman wasn't doing anything untoward in the days before she miscarried? Take the women down to the station and grill them while they're grieving and trying to figure out if there was anything they could have done to prevent it?

Also, if you're seeking an illegal abortion, that's a pretty good sign that you don't have access to a legal one. Whether that's because you don't have the money, you're underage, you're fearful of what would happen if husband/boyfriend/family/pastor/neighbors/etc. found out, you don't have an abortion provider in your community, or any other reason, that's not cool. Please. No more back-alley abortions. No more coathangers. Safe, legal abortion for all women who choose to have one, and a society that allows that choice to be a completely free one.

If you live in Utah (or even if you don't), contact Governor Gary R. Herbert to urge him to veto this bill. You can fill out the contact form at http://governor.utah.gov/goca/form_comment.html, or call him at 801-538-1000 or 800-705-2464.

1. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/miscarriage/DS01105

Ravelympics Time!

Well, Tepes is nearly done. I just have to weave in ends and embroider the spikes. It would have been nice to have had it done in time to be helpful during the Snowpocalypse, but I managed to survive without.

But I'm putting that aside for the moment, because...

It's Ravelympics time!

I'm doing two projects for Team Mine (Selfish Knitters and Crocheters), and if I get both of them done before the games are over (cue laugh track) I'll maybe start something else.

The entrants:
1) Senior Auction Mittens. Entered in Mitten Moguls and Single Skein Speed Skate. The pattern is The "Alice Carroll" All Rib Mitt, and I'm using Plymouth Encore in a gold color. This is my contribution to the mitten, hat, and scarf set that my hall-mates and I entered for the senior auction. I was a bit hesitant about entering this for Team Mine, but the proceeds went to fund Senior Week, which I definitely have a stake in, so that's enough selfish motivation for me.

2) Cthulhu Dice Bag. Entered in Bag Jump and Nordic Colorwork Combined. The pattern is Cthulhu Dice Bag! by A.A. Leavitt-Reynolds, and I'm using some acrylic that I know the black is Red Heart, and I think so for the green too, but I'm not sure. I need something to put my laundry quarters in, and so far all my attempts to knit a coin purse have been unsuccessful. Hopefully this one will actually hold coins and not be the size of a small evening bag.

See everyone at the finish line!

From the ACBs

Two threads on the Haverford College ACBS:

Attractive, sweet guys who aren't tremendously self-absorbed
Attractive, cute girls who aren't tremendously self-absorbed

Why are the guys sweet, but the girls cute?

Why are the girls' personalities being erased from the discussion?

I know that one doesn't turn to the ACBs for enlightened discussion, but this just seemed a little strange to me, especially as the "cute girls" thread was created as a response to the "sweet guys" one. Why did the person creating the thread change the qualifications in the title, instead of directly copying over the title and just changing "guys" to "girls"?

I'm assuming no malicious intent, but this just shows the different qualifications society has for girls and guys. Guys have to have a personality, guys have to be nice, guys have to have something going for them other than looks. Girls don't have that "problem." They just have to look nice. Being a whole human being not required.

Socks!

Well, the Bat Shawl still hasn't been blocked yet. I can't find any flat surface in our house large enough to pin it out and let it dry without it getting in someone's way. However, my sister assures me that she has no immediate plans to wear it, so it's not a problem. I still want to get it completely finished before I go back to school, though.

Promised picture of Owl Pin:

Pattern: hoot! by Ysolda Teague. Yarn: Red Heart Heather in Grey Heather.

And now, the exciting news: I finished my first pair of socks!
Here's one:

Pattern: Lifestyle Toe Up Socks -- No Swatch Needed from K1 P1 Design1 Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll in Mermaid.

I haven't had a chance to take a picture of both of them yet, but the second one looks pretty much just like the first one.

Currently up: hat for me. Details to come...

Gift Guide Fail

I'd like to direct everyone's attention to the following article: Gizmodo's "Gifts for Significant Others Neglected By Tech-Addicted Lovers".

Does anyone see the obvious fail in the article? Hint: what gender is the significant other?

Of course! Even though the article is ostensibly about "significant others" and "lovers," gender non-specific terms, it's really about what guys should get their girlfriends for Christmas (It actually admits this in the url: http://gizmodo.com/5416345/8-gifts-for-girlfriends-neglected-by-tech+addicted-boyfriends). Because of course only guys are tech-obsessed, and of course all girls are intimidated by technology. Thanks for reminding me of that, I had forgotten while I was busy blogging (using the HTML editor, not the WYSIWYG one) on my laptop and trying to figure out the cheapest source for a barcode scanner and a free database with good metadata that I can use to catalogue our library.

Also, some of the specific advice in the article bugs me too:

23andMe: What better way to make up for neglecting your girlfriend than by giving her the most personal gift possible: a detailed analysis of her genetic code. She'll be able to learn about her descendants as well as get clued in on what sorts of diseases she needs to look out for in the future. And as an added bonus, all that data she'll get will require a good amount of time for her to go through. Time you can spend playing video games.

So instead of spending time with your girlfriend, have some website give her a dense packet of all the ways her genes could kill her, so you can have more time to play video games? If you don't want to spend time with her, why are you going out in the first place? Also, where were you planning to get the DNA sample for them to analyze? Were you going to ask her first? This is getting into serious creepy and invasion of privacy and personal autonomy areas.

Classmates.com membership: Nothing will make her appreciate your half-assed brand of boyfriending like a trip down ex-boyfriend lane, especially the high school sections. Look, you might not be able to make it through a dinner without dicking around with your phone, but at least you didn't get fat and never leave your hometown like these schlubs. Here's to being the most palatable of an unpalatable group!

Great, so instead of giving a gift that shows any consideration of what she actually wants, buy her a membership to a website under the assumption that you'll look good in comparison to people from her past. Why bother actually being considerate when you can settle for not-as-bad-as-your-ex-right-honey instead? Ever occur to you that maybe if you're practicing a "half-assed brand of boyfriending" and can't "make it through dinner without dicking around with your phone," that maybe you should shape up and be a decent human being?

Asus O!Play: Getting a gadget for a gadget-wary girl might seem like an obvious blunder, but think about it: with this thing, you can stream downloaded movies and TV shows to your TV that you can watch together! As long as you are well prepared with some of her favorite movies and shows, you'll be able to sneak in some gadget-lust fulfillment in a way that you can enjoy it together instead of by yourself. A novel thought!

Let's all repeat, the purpose of gift-giving is to give something that the recipient will like and enjoy, not something you want for yourself. Purchasing something for yourself and pretending that it's for your girlfriend doesn't count.

Don't get me started on the heteronormativity of the article, how it assumes that in any partnership where one member is tech-obsessed and the other is less so, that it must necessarily be a heterosexual couple. Or actually, that it assumes that all couples are heterosexual.

So in summary, all couples are boy-girl, all girls are intimidated by technology, and all tech-geeks are male, selfish, socially dysfunctional, and terrible boyfriends.

Thank you, Gizmodo, I don't think I'll be taking any more of your advice. Come back and we'll talk when your perceptions of people have caught up to the twenty-first century, not just your gadget recommendations.