Thursday, October 28, 2010

I have moths!

You can only imagine my horror when I arrived at school yesterday morning, and sitting down in the brightly lit lounge, I noticed several holes in my wool jacket. On further inspection, I found lots of holes, some small, some very large. Moths!

I don't understand how this happened. I keep my wool jackets and sweaters in sealed plastic bags, and they're all cleaned before being sealed inside. So how did those damn moths get in there?

Needless to say, I came home as soon as possible from school, and started packing bags of wool garments in my freezer (after I'd removed enough food to make room for some bags, which means I'll be cooking a good bit this weekend). I stopped on the way home and picked up lots of small cedar blocks, which I stuffed into cupboards, closets, and the bags I couldn't fit right away into the freezer. I tell you, I'm terrified of opening those bags and finding what damage has occurred.

I'm also tucking cedar blocks into my bags and tubs of yarn. I'll be inspecting the yarn after I get through the clothing. I can't believe this happened. All I can hope is that the damage is limited, and I won't have to be shopping for a new wardrobe any time soon. And that my yarn is okay. And that I don't need to invest in a lifetime supply of mothballs (assuming I can find those around here.)

I didn't sleep much last night. I kept imagining I could hear the little beasts munching. And as I was driving home today, I realized I didn't bag my wool pants. I thought of the sweaters, but for some reason, I just never connected pants to moth-danger. So, I 'll need to go through all my wool pants, checking for damage, too. And the wool area rug I have in the living. And ~ OMG, I just thought of all the fabric I have in my sewing room.

I'm 58 years old, and this is the first time in my life I have ever encountered moths. My mother never had them. Growing up, none of the neighbors had them. I've never had them. I don't even know anything about them. Guess I'll be searching the Internet tonight, looking for information.

About 11 o'clock last night, I sat on my bed and just cried. Maybe I'm being ridiculous, but this just hit me really hard. I absolutely loved that wool jacket I had to toss in the trash bin on the way from my garage to my apartment yesterday. (I couldn't take it off at work, because the top underneath was a little too skimpy to wear while teaching 10 and 11 year olds). I itched all day yesterday (and I know that's ridiculous, cause those moths don't bite people ~ at least, I don't think they do!)

I don't even know how long to leave the bags in the freezer. I know I'd read on somebody's blog about freezing the little monsters, but not how long they had to be frozen. So, I'm leaving them there until Saturday afternoon. 3 days. And when they come out, the next batch, now marinating in eau de cedar, will go in. I need a little time before I jump in to looking for damage in the wool clothing. I don't think I can handle that right now.

I'm also trying to get ready for parent conferences, which start next week. Ive got tons of material to sort out, reports to print out, forms to fill out. That's what I'd planned to do this weekend, rather than cooking up most of the contents of my freezer, and inspecting many of my most favorite sweaters for moth damage.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Bits and Pieces

The weather has turned to fall, at last. Steady days of cool temperatures. Some rain, but not too much of it. And it's clearing up every day. Which is good since I'm planning on going to an outdoor event, a local craft fair, on Saturday with my sister-in-law, so we're hoping the forecast is accurate.

One of the things we're sure to see, since we've seen them every year we go, is a bunch of knitted scarves, wildly overpriced. Cheap yarn, easy stitches. $40 and up. Basically a couple of dollars worth of yarn, and maybe an hour's worth of knitting. I've never seen many of them sell, which is both good, and sad. Good that people recognize that the product isn't quality, but sad that with an upgrade in yarn, and some interesting stitches, those scarves would sell well. And yet, every year, we see the same old cheaply made scarves, by the same vendors. Obviously, they're selling enough to continue, but not enough to put a little effort into upgrading their stock.

I'm surprized that they're allowed to return every year, given that this is a small, upscale community venture, called the Village Venture after the Claremont Village, where it's held every year. Lots of small shops and boutiques and restaurants line the streets of the Village. No chains, no outlets, all high-end products and services. And yet, they allow a vendor of cheaply made "handmade" items in every year. If I enjoyed knitting scarves, I'd be tempted to compete with them, but knitting the same thing over and over simply doesn't appeal to me. Guess they're safe from me!

Oddly enough, I am, presently, knitting a scarf. To send to my sister in Virginia. Where it does get cold enough to need a scarf to wear with a coat or jacket. I'm making this one in cashmere from the Lion Brand LB collection. With reversible cables, which are so much easier than I thought they would be.  I picked up a copy of Lily Chin's book,  Power Cables, which clearly shows how to achieve a wide variety of reversible cables. Very interesting, although I'm not sure I see the point in using reversible cables to make a pullover sweater, since you're the only one who will ever see the reversed cables, but still, it's neat to know. And I recommend the book to anyone who's interested in cables, or cable construction. Lots of information, and some patterns. Not that a pattern is really necessary for a scarf, but there's lots of information on constructing the cables in any width, with mandatory repeats info and ideas for using them. Just a really useful book.

I decided to knit this scarf before launching any of the items on my to-do list, since this has to be done for Christmas pretty early to mail it to Virginia to arrive in time. Better to be done early than to be looking for a mail service that can do miracles. And I am still knitting a little bit every now and then on my Vogue Early Fall sweater that's on tiny needles. (3s) Progress is hard to see on that, but there has been some progress. Tiny needles are so not my favorite, but I just fell in love with this sweater, so tiny needles it is. I just can't knit for hours with them, so I have to have something to switch off to with larger needles. The scarf is on 7s, which are much more comfortable for me.

Sometime between now and January 1, I'm also going to knit my first ever pair of socks. I've got some beautiful hand-dyed yarn and the DPNs ready to go. I just have to overcome my fear of DPNs (all those sharp pointed sticks!) and my confusion over how to figure out what size/number of stitiches to make to fit my feet. But I'm determined to knit one pair of socks in 2010.

And now I'm off to bed, since it's after 11, and I have to be up in less than 6 hours, getting ready to face my 32 10 year olds for another day.

Friday, October 8, 2010

On Franklin Habit

I'm home sick today, so I was browsing blogs to fill up my day. (I'm achy and coughing and fuzzy-headed, so reading and knitting seem like too much for me right now) I got to the Panopticon, and stopped. I love his humor, I marvel at his skill, I enjoy his style. So, today, it surprized me a bit to experience a vague sense of shame after reading this post, It Gets Better.

Not personal shame. I've never done anything like what he describes in his post. It's just shame that anyone who shares my profession, teaching, could ever say the indescribably sick, cruel things that Franklin describes. And that it was supported by the school itself just leaves me gasping.

I know that there's a large group of self-proclaimed "Christians" who feel the way the teacher felt. I know they are loud in proclaiming their right to tell us all how to think, live, love, feel. I just never gave them any respect for their agenda. To me they aren't Christian, they aren't democratic, they aren't right. And most of all, their arrogance just amazes me.

Admittedly, my religion is complicated. I wasn't raised in any particular denomination, or with any truly religious upbringing. My father was an Anglican, my mother a Presbyterian. I went to church irregularly, with lots of different friends, so I pretty much got a taste of a wide variety of Protestant religions. I didn't belong to any particular church or religion, however.  When I was an adult, I decided to join the Catholic church. As it turned out, the one place I felt closer to God was inside a Catholic church.

I didn't just "join", however.  I was blessed to have found a church that didn't have the regular program for inducting new members. I got assigned to a deacon, who met with me once a week, to explore my beliefs, to determine if I was really meant to be a Catholic. I loved it. We talked about a wide range of issues. We grappled with the Church's support for the death penalty (I'm opposed), and my belief that abortion is a woman's right (they're opposed). I learned more about myself and my spirituality in those conversations with my deacon than I had learned in the 30 years before.  I am a Catholic, with some disagreements.

Oddly, given its history as the oldest surviving Christian church, you don't find many Catholics running for office to impose church rule on everybody. You don't find Catholics shouting hateful anti-gay messages at the funerals of US soldiers. You don't find many campaigning against marriage equality (although the Church is opposed.) You do find some protesting abortion, however.  Now, I'm not claiming that Catholics are better. You don't find many Episcopalians, or Methodists, or Presbyterians out there doing that, either.  It just seems that the people in that "Christian" group belong to johnny-come-lately religions, rather than established ones.  Maybe they roar so loudly because they are newbies, feeling a bit insecure. Maybe they've crafted a "religion" that fits them as they are, enables them to give nothing of themselves, that gives them a "feel-good" reward for being themselves, and they use it to shout their frustration and envy and hate to the world.

I guess what I'm saying is that I just feel that religion is being used as an excuse for human desires. It's a cover-up, a misdirection. These people, with their arrogance and their hate are using religion as a cover for their desire to rule the world the way they like.  There's no real Christianity in any of their dogma. There's no hope, no charity, no love in their diatribes on "right living". It's all hate, intolerance, and prescriptions for living the right life.

Intolerant people have always been among us. You can find them in every walk of life. It used to be, however, that we pitied them for their limited understanding of life and love. Now they're attacking us for not being intolerant, beating us over the head with a Christ I can't recognize.

As a teacher, I am appalled by what Franklin endured at that despicable high school. As a human, I am appalled by a society that gives support to a group of intolerant, narrow-minded people set on destroying our society.  When are we going to say ENOUGH!