Prayer

I found this in a newspaper. I am praying it for the nine days.

May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, loved, glorified, an preserved, throughout the world, now and forever.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.
St. Jude, worker of miracles, pray for us.
St. Jude, helper of the hopeless, pray for us.

Pray this nine times daily for nine days. God will answer your prayer.

Look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls!

Have dictionaries gone the way of the dial telephone? Are they gathering dust on a book shelf, never opened to check a spelling or meaning or use? I suspect there'd be less internet ranting if people just grabbed their Funk and Wagnalls or Webster's or even log on to a Web dictionary, because as the Princess Bride fanatics are always saying "I do not think it means what you think it means".

Trinity Stitch Cap

I like the look of trinity stitch (AKA blackberry stitch). It is actually a non-lacy looking lace stitch, made by pairing a double increase (working three stitches into a single stitch) with a double decrease (working three stitches together).

A few years back, I was making a Christmas stocking and couldn't figure out how to work this stitch in the round, but by the next stocking, I had it figured out. The pattern I used called for purling across the right side (the first and third rows), then working KPK and P3tog on the wrong side. To work in the round, I substituted PKP and K3tog for the second and fourth rows/rounds, and guess what? It worked. But all that purling!

So I decided to try working this cap inside out: I would have the side facing me be the wrong side of the cap, the side that doesn't look like blackberries. The side away from me would be the side I wanted  to be seen in the completed cap. Does that make sense?

Here's how I did it. You'll need two colors of worsted weight yarn. I used less than a skein each of  two acrylic worsted weight yarns, one unlabelled, one Dawn Sayelle. My gauge  with size 7 needles over the 2x2 ribbing was 10 stitches in 2 inches. The trinity stitch contracted somewhat, but stretches enough to fit my 21" head. To make the cap bigger add stitches in groups of eight (Important for the decreasing to work out).

Cast on 96 stitches with first color.
Work in 2x2 ribbing for 4.5 " making sure your stitches aren't twisted and marking the end of round
Switch to second color and P one round.
Rd 1 and Rd 3: K around
Rd 2: (P3tog, KPK ) 24 times
Rd 4: (KPK , P3tog) 24 times

Repeat these four rounds until length from cast on edge is 9.5", ending with a Rd 1. Begin decreasing for crown.
Rd 1: (P3tog, KPK, K 2, K2tog) 12 times   84 stitches at end of round
Rd 2: (K 5, K2tog) 12 times   72 stitches at end of round
Rd 3: (KPK, P3tog, K2tog) 12 times   60 stitches at end of round
Rd 4: (K 3, K2tog) 12 times   48 stitches at end of round
Rd 5: (K 2, K2tog) 12 times   36 stitches at end of round
Rd 6: (K, K2tog) 12 times   24 stitches at end of round
Rd 7: K2tog 12 times   12 stitches at end of round
Rd 8: K2tog 6 times, with 6 stitches left.

Cut yarn, thread through these 6 stitches and pull tightly. Fasten off by securing yarn end on side of work still facing you. Also, weave in any yarn ends on this side.

Now, turn hat inside out and enjoy!

Here's what the hat looks like before turning it inside out.

Here's the finished cap, turned inside out and brim folded up. No pom-pom for me, though the inspiration cap from Lands' End did have one.

How to sell on eBay

I'm no expert on eBay selling, but  if something, say yarn, doesn't sell at $14.99, nor at $12.99, and there's still no bids at $9.99, increasing the minimum bid back up to $12.99 seems counter-productive. I had decided to place a bid on the yarn at $9.99, maybe even both lots, but when I saw that the seller increased the minimum bid, took both items off by watch list. Good luck with that.

I also wonder how some people set their prices. Some of the yarns are so over-priced as to be ridiculous. If I can buy what you're selling at Big Lots for a much better price, why wouldn't I?  I know that there are Dazzle Aire fans who'll push up the prices on it, but most acrylic yarn isn't that distinctive. You may think that just because your Wintuk is old that it is valuable, but it's not.

"I support small business"

I am sick of the politicians and their "I support small business", as if "businessmen" are the only people we should care about. Consider this: a small business, IIRC, is generally considered to be one with 2 to 50 employees. That means that roughly 67 to 98% of people associated with "small business" are employees, not owners. So who really benefits from the politicians promises to support small business? The owners, of course. And what does supporting small business mean? Getting rid of any regulation that hampers the owners' ability to make more money, even at the detriment to their employees?

Then's there's the fantasy that lowering the tax rates on the highest earners will somehow create more jobs. Studies have shown that this is not true, but the Republicans continue to shove it down our throats, perhaps thinking if they say it often enough, it will come true, or enough people will believe it, voting them into office so they can cut the taxes on millionaires like Romney. The same Romney who claimed his show horse as a business expense. I guess since he's trying to sell the American people horseshit, it is a business expense.

Baby Aran Cardigan

Just finished a baby Aran cardigan from a pattern I got at the knitting-and-crochet site-that-shall-not-be-named.

I made it with  unknown acrylic yarn I bought at Goodwill ( I lost the labels). Judging by the colors, I'm guessing it's from the 70's. The original pattern called for a bobble and cable stitch that I really didn't like for several reasons: bobbles eat up yarn and I only had two skeins with NO chance of finding a third; babies lying on their backs will also be lying right on those bobbles; I tried them for the front and didn't like how mine turned out. So I substituted braided cables on the front and trinity stitch on the back. I also inserted a row of eyelets for an I-cord drawstring on the sleeves.

It will be my entry for child's cardigan, knitted.

Hallowe'en rules

There should be rules for Hallowe'en trick-or-treaters. These are mine:

1. No costume=no candy. If you're "too old" or "too cool" to wear a costume, then you're "too old/cool" to go trick-or-treating. Also, asking for candy when you're not in costume isn't trick-or-treating, it's begging, and there's a law against panhandling.

2. Don't ask for extra candy for your little sister/brother/whoever who was "too sick" to go trick-or-treating. Let this be a learning moment: either you learn to share or the invalid learns to suck it up when necessary.

3. If you're too young to eat the candy, you're too young to show up on my doorstep with your mom/dad/grandparents asking for the candy.

4. The candy is free to you, but not to me. Making nasty remarks about said candy within earshot of the person who spent money on it is rude. Next year, there may be no candy for you to complain about.

Have a Happy Hallowe'en!