Bonehead Department of Transportation Ideas

Have you ever seen a bright red "Wrong Way" sign and worried that it applied to you?



Wrong-Way Signs
For non-U.S. readers, the braintrust that decides on highway signage in this country put "Wrong Way" signs on the on-ramps and off-ramps to many highways around the states. These signs are used to tell you that you've entered a one-way access ramp going the wrong way.

The stupid part about these signs is that they are posted between the on and off ramps, so they are visible to folks going both the wrong way and folks going the right way.

The secret to knowing if a particular "Wrong Way" sign applies to you, is that the signs always come in pairs, so if you see one of these odd warning signs on your left, you should quickly check to your right to see if you are about to have a head-on collision.

Current Knitting
I keep thinking that this current project doesn't require much concentration.

Why can't there be a "Wrong Way" sign for me when I start to make a mistake on one of the pattern stitches?

Again, last night, I had to rip back two rows before proceeding any further. I'm now at row 83 of 101 rows for the first set of color blocks. I have gotten very efficient at my ripping back by only ripping back the rows in the color block where the mistake is. Intarsia allows me to isolate the un-knitting and re-knitting to just the one offending block.

More Quilting
After my last post of the quilt, I was able to make some additional progress.



You'll notice that I'm trying to complete 3 nine-blocks at a time, and this time was no exception. I'm now up to 135 snowballs...isn't this moving along fast?

After consulting with my quilting guru and looking through all my Kaffe quilting books, I've decided that I will do a pieced border. I figure that since I'm quilting using Obscure's method of blinding the critics with busy designs and bright colors, adding more busy-ness can only make the final patchwork more interesting and bohemian and less subject to critique.

Readers' Comments/Questions
Kenny asks, "What inspires you to knit? What do you look for in the patterns you decide to knit? Is the vineyard throw a sampler throw? Where did you get the pattern?"

Inspirations include any of the following:
- A new technique that I want to try
- A clever use of an old technique
- An appealing use of color
- Diverse pattern stitches in one design (to keep my interest)
- Complex pattern or colorwork
- Any overall successful design (that pulls together color, shaping and technique)
- Recommendations from trusted knit-friends

The Vineyard Throw pattern is a Design Source Collection pattern from a small booklet called "More Throws 1" by Judith Shangold that I purchased at Simply Knit when it was still open.

Franklin wants to know, "We didn't have any paste eaters, but I do remember girls using Elmer's glue to make fake long fingernails. Did any of you? Including Joe?"

I never realized this was an option, else I probably would have attempted it. Does it count that I made rubber cement snot-balls?