Great News from the World of Fruit, and Other Vagaries of the Universe

First off, two interesting bits of news.

I noticed on my MSN home page this morning that fruity cocktails may actually be healthy. US and Thai scientists discovered, purely by accident, that adding a splash of alcohol to fruit enhanced its antioxidant nutrients. They claim they discovered it while looking for ways to preserve fruit, but I like to think it happened at a luau-themed office party for the lab techs.

I’m going to have a strawberry daiquiri this weekend to celebrate. Who’s up for blender drinks?

And in NH news, the state legislature voted to adopt civil unions and the governor is expected to sign it into law sometime in the near future. I was kind of surprised to hear it, actually. I was under the impression that the last few times it was discussed that it had a snowball’s chance in hell of passing. And then yesterday, with little fanfare, they just voted and said, “Okay, then.” Apparently, we’re only the fourth state to do so and so far the first one to do it without any kind of court order.

So now in NH, homosexuals have the right to ruin their lives just like straight people. Poor bastards. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…SHOW SOME SENSE! SAVE YOURSELVES!

I’m just kidding. Married life is swell.

And guess where I’m going next month? Okay, time’s up, I’ll tell you. On Mother’s Day weekend I’m going to be at the NH Sheep and Wool Festival at the Hopkinton Fairgrounds. You may (or you may not) remember that last year it was raining. Buckets of rain. A deluge of biblical proportion. And we went anyway and had a great time and scored some lovely if somewhat dampish wooly treats. We’re set to go on Sunday again this year and I hope to meet up with some Knittyheads this year. I’ll have my Knitty pin on so’s y’all will recognize me!

And the following weekend my Sister and I are taking Dad to the Springfield Armory. He’s a gun enthusiast, particularly antique and historical rifles and they apparently have a heck of a collection down there. So Friday we’re going to learn everything we ever wanted to know about rifles and then spend the night in Springfield.

The next day, we’re heading home. And you know what’s between Springfield and Belmont? WEBS! And you know what Webs is having that weekend? THEIR ANNUAL TENT SALE! Yarn! Everywhere! As far as the eye can see! And on sale! Oh, it’s almost too much to stand.

Needless to say, there will be much stash enhancement that weekend, and you will for sure have some nice yarn porn to drool over.

I had so many nice comments yesterday about my upcoming Chinese-inspired baby set that I’m going to make. I thought it was really cute too, and absolutely perfect for the occasion. The pattern is in Vogue Knitting “Baby Knits Two”. The original pattern is done with the red in a wool/mohair blend, the black is a wool/silk blend, and the gold is wool. But since the recipient is getting here just in time for summer, I think I’m going to do it in a cotton or cotton blend. I think she’ll get more use out of it that way. Also because it’s a one-size, 12 month pattern and she’ll be just shy of one when she gets here. The measurements are generous, and it’s a wrap type sweater which will allow for growth, but I can’t imagine her wearing it too far into the cold weather. So a lighter fiber will make it seasonal.

“mom” wanted to know yesterday too what kind of fiber I liked for knitting baby things. Personally, I knit with whatever yarn speaks to the garment. I’ll be honest here. Most acrylic baby yarns are pretty limited in their color selection, and my experience with machine washable wools has been that they’re only machine washable if you do it with great, great care. And they still have to be dried flat anyway. Not a real labor saver, in my opinion.

Perhaps it’s pigheaded of me, but I’m not going to settle for a yarn I don’t like just because it’s easy to care for. As a matter of fact, ease of care is pretty far down on my list of what I look for in a yarn. I guess mostly because I don’t find handwashing a chore. And I’m puzzled by those that do. Especially when running a regular load of laundry involved sorting the clothes, transporting them to the laundry room or Laundromat, waiting the half-hour or so for the machine to do its thing, then transferring it over to the dryer, all the while hanging or blocking clothes that can’t be dried and fretting over how much the clothes that can be dried are going to shrink.

I can toss a baby sweater in a big bowl of cool water and Eucalan, swish it about, squeeze it dry in a towel, and block it flat in less than 10 minutes. And I don’t have to give a thought as to whether or not it’ll come out of its bath misshapen, snagged, stretched, tugged, shrunk or felted.
Wow, that was a long response to a short question.

Speaking of questions, today’s inquiring mind is Tasha, aka “knitmommy” and she wants to know “Why is the sky blue, the grass green (in some places), and the sun yellow?”

There’s a long and a short answer to both of these. The short answer is “because God made them that way.”

The long answer has to do with how humans perceive color and how objects absorb and reflect different parts of the color spectrum as transmitted through light.

You can read this explanation from Wikipedia, and then ask yourself instead, “Is the grass really green, the sky really blue, and the sun really yellow, or is that just what we see it as? And if an animal who perceives color differently sees the sun as gray, is the sun really gray, or is it yellow only because we say it is.”

Think about that for awhile. Get back to me.

And if you know of any good places to eat in Springfield Mass, let me know!