The Bog of Lost Scholars

6 November 2010

Craft Update: Why This Project Gets Buried

Filed under: Uncategorized — Castiron @ 18:50

Apropros of yesterday’s post, my projects in process and why they get buried under other projects.

  • Swan Dishcloth. Might actually be done by time this post goes up; this is a dishcloth project I started yesterday and am 80% done on.
  • Bear Rug. Crocheting with two strands of yarn, one that’s fuzzy and makes the fabric hard to see to crochet into, gets boring. My incentive to finish is that it’s a pattern with no photo in Ravelry, and I think my younger son will like it.
  • Regia Monet Mosaic Socks. So far, staying unburied. Pretty yarn, mindless knitting.
  • Al-Araaf Sweater. My tolerance for the p2tbl is low. A couple rows at a time seem to be about what I can handle.
  • Hexaflexagon. Great bus project, but I haven’t ridden the bus lately.
  • Sherwood. I’m not enthused by ribbing, and that’s pretty much what this sweater is — uneven ribbing at that, so I can’t go too mindless.
  • Copper Penny Socks. One pattern row annoys me a bit. It works fast, though, so when it’s on my radar I can get a couple pattern repeats at a sitting.
  • Sydney Spice Socks. Got buried by the Mosaic socks. Plain stockinette, gorgeous colors, over half finished. They just need some time on the front burner to be done.
  • Linen Bag. Takes some attention to keep up with where I am, though now that I’ve done a pattern repeat it’s easier to read my knitting.
  • Japanese Vest. Still figuring out what one pattern stitch is supposed to be. Knitting in one piece rather than back and two fronts, so a row is really long. But I like the yarn, and the pattern’s starting to move along faster.
  • Loud Escher Socks. Five rows of mindless ribbing that’s no big deal to do, followed by one row of cabling that’s tedious.
  • Portland Sweater. Relatively mindless knitting and purling. I’m finding I can get a three-row ridge done easily at a sitting, so it just needs to be on the front burner more often.
  • Annemor #8 Gloves. I hate stranded glove fingers. When I’m actually working on them and in the rythym, they move along well, but the coefficient of static friction is through the roof. Also, I made one of the fingers too narrow, so I’ll have to rip and redo.
  • Shall We Dance Doily. #30 cotton that twists on itself. Doily is nifty, and I’ll love it when it’s done; process is aggravating.
  • Medallion Travel Bag. Nifty but complicated. Not a mindless project.
  • Spot Check Socks. I don’t know why I’m finding these so tedious. But they’re past the halfway point, at least.
  • Arietta. Love the colors, enjoying the pattern; not sure why this one keeps getting buried now that it’s on the good part.
  • Oblique. Not getting buried too much. It’s 75% done, and if all goes well I’ll have it done to wear sometime this winter.
  • Heere Be Dragone. Complicated, and takes 20 minutes to knit a row. Gorgeous yarn and fascinating pattern, but not a speedy project.
  • Flutter Cardigan. I’m still debating whether to rip out the body and start over with fewer stitches. It’s huge, but it’s hard to tell whether that’s because I’m stretching the pattern too much or because it’s genuinely huge.
  • Microsock. Perle cotton on 6-0 needles. I’ll probably never use them again once this ornament’s done, but until then, it’s nifty.
  • Neon Turkish Sweater. When I work on it, it’s fun, but the prospect of several hundred ends to weave in is daunting.
  • Aran sweater. A self-designed project; I stall on it because I’m not sure what to do next.
  • Fair Isle Swatch Cap. The fact that this project hasn’t been thrown out is testimony to my determination, given that it got eaten by moths once. I do a row every couple months, and in time it’ll be done.
  • Cross-stitch pieces (pentacle, Fantasy Sampler, Ruby, dance apron, Flanders map). When I’ve only got a couple minutes, it’s easier to pick up a sock and knit than to pick up the cross-stitch, adjust the fabric tension, pull the thread color needed, start the thread, check where I am, park the thread and needle where it won’t rust on the fabric….
  • Weaving: I’ve got a warp that’s been ready to go on the loom for months; I haven’t had a solid block of time to put it on the loom. (Once it’s on the loom, the weaving will go fast; it’s just getting it there.)
  • Sewing: We’re not going to even think about it. If I can make progress on the yarny stuff, I’ll be satisfied.

Why Some Projects Get Buried

Filed under: Crafts — Castiron @ 00:09

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee recently asked on her blog what makes you set aside and forget about a craft project you really like.

For me, it’s mostly the cumulative effects of newer and shinier projects.

Mind you, I’ll also set aside a project because it’s getting boring, or because I’ve hit a snag, or because while I really want the finished object I hate crocheting with #30 thread that tangles itself up every three stitches. (Yep, that’s a project that’s going to be finished in 2018.) And sometimes a project might be one I like, but it’s so complicated that it requires a stretch of uninterrupted time (see: Heere Be Dragone, which I actually hope to finish before 2018).

Most of the time, though, it’s just getting buried under other projects. Another project grabs my interest and attention, or I unearth an older project that now interests me again, or a project that I started as a quick project turns out to take longer than I’d thought, and the current project moves slowly to the bottom of the pile. Or I decide that some yarn sitting in stash is driving me up the wall, and I need to just start the project, adding to the UFO pressure but reducing the stash pressure. The result — the 20+ unfinished knitting and crochet projects, not to mention the other crafts that run the total even higher.

But so far, working on projects as they turn up on my to-do list seems to be helping with this. I only have to do a row every few days, or in some cases just a few stitches every few weeks. If it’s one I like, I’ll work on it more often; if it’s boring, it’s not that big deal to just knit a couple rows; if it’s crocheted with a tiny hook using #30 thread that is possessed by the ghost of a perverted topologist, I can still tolerate doing a few stitches. Nothing vanishes into the pile for too long. Ultimately, it’ll all be finished.

(Seven projects due this Sunday, though; we’ll see how that goes!)

7 October 2010

Craft Update: Caught Up on Knitting

Filed under: Crafts,Dejunking and Organizing — Castiron @ 23:13

Being a mildly organizationally-obsessed person, I’ve got all my unfinished craft projects listed in Toodledo, set to remind me to do a few stitches or a row every so often. And then when I don’t get around to working on the project, as happens fairly often, I know about how long it’s been since I picked up that sweater or sock or hat.

Over the past couple weeks, I’ve caught up on all my knitting projects.

Everything’s been worked on, even if it’s only a row or two. Newer items like the Japanese vest pattern, older ones like the Turkish sweater and the Fair Isle hat — it’s all been touched at least once. I have no overdue knitting tasks.

Now we’ll see how long I can keep up with this. Some days I only have one knitting project on my to-do list; others I have five, especially challenging when they’re the doozies. This Saturday, for example, five projects are showing up at once, and four of them are complicated ones that I have trouble getting the impetus to work on. But I’m finding I can talk myself into one row, or maybe two; one row means one step closer to done.

Still, it’s a nice feeling, knowing that all my knitting is current.

Now if I can just get there with the crochet and the sewing and the cross-stitch….

6 October 2010

A Letter to My Nephews

Filed under: People, Culture, and Society — Castiron @ 01:05

Dear nephews:

At the time I’m writing this letter, several years in advance of when I’d want you to read it, the news is full of stories of young gay men who killed themselves after being bullied for months or years. Given the percentage of men who are gay, while it’s most likely that all of you are straight, there’s a significant chance that at least one of you is gay.

It’s not a choice. You don’t have a choice about who you’re physically attracted to (if you’re straight, did you decide that you’d be attracted to girls?). You do have a choice about whether to act on that attraction, but the attraction itself? All hormones, pheremones, and the way your brain’s wired.

So, if you’re straight, and one day a friend (or your brother, or your cousin) tells you that he’s gay, which of these is an appropriate response?

  • a. You beat him up.
  • b. You tell all your friends, and the group of you make his life a misery.
  • c1. You say “Thanks for trusting me with that. It’s totally cool with me”, continue to be his friend, and stand up for him when someone else tries to harass him for being gay — there’s nothing wrong with him, and those jerks shouldn’t treat him like there is.
  • c2. You say “Wow, that must be tough for you, trying to live a Christian life and dealing with that. Hey, let’s pray for each other! It’s hard for me to stay chaste with all these cute girls around, so you can pray for me and I’ll pray for you”, continue to be his friend, and speak up when someone else tries to harass him for being gay — we’re all sinners, and God commanded us to love and help one another.

Hint: the answer starts with c. (Which version depends on whether you’re a non-observant Jew or a conservative Christian; if you’ve left the religious path of your parents, variations in the same spirit are acceptable.)

If you’re gay or bisexual, I love you as you are. You are part of my family, and if you need a safe place to live for a couple years, call me. I expect you to conduct your sex life ethically and safely — wait until you’re an adult for serious sex, treat your partner(s) well, use the damn condoms, and get tested for diseases regularly; beyond that, what you do is none of my business.

If you’re straight, I love you as you are. You are part of my family, and the offer of safe space stands if you need it for reasons unrelated to your orientation. I expect you to conduct your own sex life ethically and safely: wait until you’re an adult for serious sex, treat your partner(s) well, don’t have vaginal intercourse unless you’re willing to become a father and have a lifelong relationship with your partner, use the damn condoms, and get tested for diseases regularly; beyond that, what you do is none of my business.

You’re good kids. Make me proud.

Love,
your aunt

P.S.: Dear younger son: In case of my death or incapacitation before you’re of an age for me to tell you this, the above all applies to you too, and will also apply to your older brother if he’s ever of mental capacity to understand it.

P.P.S.: Dear nephews by marriage: Yep, you too.

29 June 2010

The Secondary Calendar

Filed under: Dejunking and Organizing — Castiron @ 23:55

One of David Allen’s recommendations in Getting Things Done is that you should only use your calendar for “hard landscape” tasks, tasks that must be done on that day — appointments, deadlines, etc. You shouldn’t put tasks you want to do today on your calendar; instead, you should keep them on your Next Action lists and choose from among them based on what your day is looking like.

This is great for someone who has a limited number of Next Actions and can easily decide what needs to be done in a given time and context. It’s not so great for someone who has 437 Next Actions, many of which can be done in a given context; that’s a recipe for choice paralysis, and can lead to wasting a chunk of time trying to decide what to do. It’s also not so great for someone who has a lot of tasks that ought to be done on regular intervals but don’t have to be — for example, the world won’t end if the toilet isn’t cleaned routinely, but it’s much pleasanter in the bathroom when it is cleaned regularly.

My solution: two calendars.

I use Google Calendar, backed up to my wall calendar, for my appointments and deadlines. And I use Toodledo’s calendar to assign dates when I might want to do a task, and to automatically assign the next date I want to do a routine task.

Those dates are entirely flexible; if a task shows up today that I can’t actually do today (or just really don’t want to do today), no problem; I’ll reschedule it, or just let it go to overdue. But when I’m too brain-fried to decide on something, I’ve got a narrowed-down list of things that I want to work on. And when I have more energy to choose tasks, I can look at the lists as a whole and say, “Actually, this task would be a better thing to work on right now, even though it’s scheduled for next week (or was tentatively scheduled for a month ago)”. A secondary calendar is a valuable tool for me.

21 June 2010

Unfinished Project Guilt

Filed under: Crafts,Dejunking and Organizing — Castiron @ 00:21

The Yarn Harlot recently posted wondering why she feels guilty about bailing on a project to knit something that’s more appealing. Predictably, many of the comments in response were along the lines of “Don’t feel guilty! Knitting is supposed to be fun! It’s the Puritan Work Ethic coming to harass you; just ignore it! You produce plenty of finished projects; you have nothing to feel bad about!”

All good points.

But sitting here surrounded by 20+ unfinished projects, I can tell you one reason why it’s legitimate to feel guilty about neglecting one to knit something else: the waste of money.

Yarn isn’t cheap. Even a few skeins of big-box craft store acrylic represents some money that could’ve been used for a lunch out; a sweater-quantity of luxury fiber could buy a week’s groceries; a large stash could represent enough money to rewire the house or take a nice vacation. Now, when the yarn’s still in skein form, the pleasure of petting it and imagining what projects you could make from it may well be worth what you paid for it. The process of turning that yarn into something nifty is another pleasure that’s well worth the cost; ditto the enjoyment of using or giving the finished item.

But when the project is sitting half-finished in a bag somewhere, it’s not doing any of those things. No dreams about what to make from the yarn, because a project’s already chosen and started; no fun of watching the project grow and feeling the yarn as you work, because you’re not working on it; no finished item to be proud of. If the project’s packed away somewhere, you don’t even have the pleasure of petting the yarn. It’s a waste of the money you spent on the yarn. You’d have been better off putting that money towards paying off debt or going out for a memorable meal…or buying yarn for a project that you actually would enjoy finishing.

26 May 2010

Craft Update: Yeah, a Few Things Got Finished over the Last Eight Months

Filed under: Crafts — Castiron @ 19:08

A massive case of startitis, a massive case of stashitis, and some occasional actual finishing; that’s been my life in crafts lately.

Finished:

  • Knit:
    • Socks from Regia Ringel Color in Clown
    • Andean Treasure Vest
    • Ballet socks
    • Coupling
    • Felted Lopi Bowl
    • Frondly Hat (too loose to do much good outside, but a nice hat for bed)
    • Frondly Scarf
    • Kureyon Backpack (felting turned out meh; waste of a nice color of Kureyon)
    • Claudia Sport socks
    • Colonnade Shawl
    • Snake & Mouse
    • Blue/red/purple print socks
    • Saints Victory Washcloths
  • Crochet:
    • Toy Brontosaurus
    • Lopi Bag
    • Two of my favorite pattern of string bag
    • A different string bag
    • Penguin
    • EVE
  • Woven:
    • Sampler Towel #4
    • Sampler Towel #5
    • Sampler Towel #6
    • Sampler Towel #7
    • Sampler Runner
    • Sampler Mat
    • Scarf in Telemark Scraps

Still ongoing:

  • Medallion Travel Bag: Done with the bottom and starting on the sides
  • Annemor #8 Gloves: Just the fingers left, but they’re a pain in the rear and taking forever…
  • Arietta: A few more rows (changed one of the colors at the last minute)
  • Heere Be Dragone: A couple more rows
  • Memories afghan: A few more rows (60% done!)
  • Aran Sweater: Sleeves are past the elbows, I think
  • Lace Coverup: Part of a motif
  • Neon Turkish Sweater: A few rows (hate running in ends)
  • Microsock: A few rows
  • Flutter Cardigan: Still think it’s too big; still need to make myself knit a few more inches and see if it’s as bad as I think
  • Oblique: Fronts and back are done; I’ve started the sleeves
  • Spot-check socks: Halfway down the legs
  • Shall We Dance Doily: Still in the boring section
  • Fair Isle Swatch Cap: Resurrected, and a few more rows knitted
  • All the cross-stitch, latch hook, and sewing projects: Yep, still lingering

Started in the meantime:

  • Turkish Stockings from a Gibson-Roberts book: barely started; one square inch of toe over the past six months
  • Portland Sweater: Starting at the yoke and have a few inches; hoping I have enough yarn since it’s discontinued and gone and I bought less than I’d thought I did
  • Loud Escher Socks: An inch of cuff on each
  • Socks in Knitpicks Dancing “Tap”: Most of the way through the foot and fixing to start the heels
  • Fuzzy Bathmat: What was I thinking to do a double-stranded bulky cotton chenille as my first entrelac project?
  • Vest from a Japanese pattern book: A very few rows; way too many of my UFOs can be described this way. They’re acting as placeholders rather than projects.
  • Wonnacott’s The Bag: A few rows, almost through the first pattern repeat.
  • Sydney Spice Socks: Toes done. This yarn was clearly dyed to match my wardrobe….
  • Sorcery Socks: Toes done, one foot half done
  • Cotlin Towels: Warp is measured; now need to put it on the loom

19 April 2010

Books for Entertainment vs. Books for Research

Filed under: Publishing and Writing — Castiron @ 23:06

A recent post by Sarah of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, helped me pinpoint one of the disconnects I feel as a publishing professional with the discussion of ebooks and publishing changes.

In On Demand: Get out of the Way, or Give Me the Clicker, Sarah says:

But look at the progress elsewhere in entertainment media, and look at the puzzle that is publishing. If you’re in publishing, do you know about the alignment and collaboration of different technologies to make it easier for me to do something else: from my couch, I can watch tv, watch a Netflix movie, watch something from Hulu, play a game, or listen to music.

And it finally clicked for me: Most of the discussions I read about ebooks are focusing on reading as entertainment. But university presses aren’t primarily about books as entertainment; they’re about books for education, reference, in-depth scholarship.

Not that on-demand doesn’t apply to these uses! Of course I want to get information as fast as possible. If I’m trying to identify a weird bird outside, it does me no good to order a book that’ll get here three weeks from now — but it also does me no good to fire up the Wii or download a movie. If I need to read a particular person’s scholarship on Clarice Lispector for a journal article, the Wikipedia entry isn’t going to help. If I want an in-depth study of Sweatt v. Painter, I may not be thrilled about waiting until September for a book, but Netflix is no help either — I might be able to find a documentary that gives an overview, but not the level of detail I need. When I have a specific need, I’d rather get the book now, but I’m willing to wait because there’s no substitute.*

On the other hand, if I’m looking for something to keep me entertained while I’m waiting at the bus stop or sitting up with a sick kid at 2am, if one book isn’t available, I’ve got plenty of other choices: a movie, or a game, or a different book, or a book I already own. It’s in the publisher’s interest to make their book as easy for me to get as possible, because there’s plenty of other books and activities to compete with it.

*Yes, sometimes there is a substitute — an online source, or a preprint in a university’s Open Access repository, or another study by someone else. But the number of choices for, say, scholarly studies of the relationship between writing and violence in Spanish American literature is far more limited than the number of choices for “how can I entertain myself for half an hour before I go to bed?”

9 January 2010

Earphones

Filed under: Music — Castiron @ 16:42

I was in musical ensembles throughout secondary school and college — marching and concert band, orchestra, choir. One of the most fun aspects of playing music in a big group was getting to know the inside of a piece. When I hear a piece on the radio or a recording, I notice the melody and the general melding of the sounds, but when I’m playing the same piece, I discover that nifty trombone melody or that cool rhythm in the lower strings that I wouldn’t otherwise notice.

Now that I have an MP3 player, I’m discovering that earphones give me some of the same effect, and not just with classical music: I never really noticed the bass lines for many favorite pop songs before; now I can hear and notice them, and realize why these folks are appreciated for being such good musicians.

It’s great to discover new aspects of songs I’ve known for 20+ years.

19 November 2009

Thoughts on Harlequin Horizons

Filed under: Publishing and Writing — Castiron @ 01:58

Up-front disclaimer: I work for a university press and have worked there for fifteen years as of the end of this month. I do not speak for my employer, the university, the state, the university press community, etc. etc.etc. That being out of the way….

Self-publishing is a perfectly legitimate endeavor. If you want 100% creative and marketing control over your work, or if you want to receive 100% of the profits from your book, self-publishing is the only way you’ll get that. If you regularly do lectures and have a built-in venue to sell your books, or if you’re an expert in a narrow area and you know how to reach the other people interested in that subject, self-publishing can work very well for you. Doing your family genealogy? Writing a book that’s of great interest to people in your small town but limited interest to anyone else? Great! Publish it yourself!

I’d even argue that some of the vanity publishing services can be worth the money for some people. I can readily imagine, say, a well-off lecturer who wants a book to sell on their tours but who’s too busy to do all the legwork of getting an ISBN, finding and hiring a copyeditor, designing a cover, etc.; for them, it may be worthwhile to pay a flat fee to a service to get these things done for them.

But the more I’m reading about Harlequin Horizons, the more little things bug me.

(more…)

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