Just want to keep this blog post for me to save knitting resources I want to keep.
Kate Davies has a post about reinforcing a steek with crochet. I think I did it wrong the last time I did it. Boo me.
Another video on hand stitching a steek reinforcement.
Thumb trick, basically an "afterthought" thumb.
Alphabet charts!
Tips on doing a jogless join
Two-stitch i-cord edge
Binding off for a neat and easy-to-pick-up neckline
Picking up stitches
Knitting together five stitches (or more or less) easily
Simple hat calculator
Joining yarn without ends
Monday, May 22, 2017
Friday, May 19, 2017
Middle Class Standard Time [MST]
Here's a great piece on Middle Class Standard Time. It's also very white.
In my experience, people of color and working class people of all races value relationships over both time and achievements.
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Christian Hegemony
I read history and it makes me wonder with the connection is to the situation we find ourselves in today. The wealthy hates a group of people and does things in order to undermine their power and then eradicate them.
Some things I learned from reading The Empire of Necessity by Greg Grandin:
Hernan Cortes, the Spaniard who invaded Mexico, called Aztecs "Moors." One priest thought the nomadic peoples who roamed northern Mexico reminded him of Arabs. Spaniards used the word mosque to describe Aztec and Incan temples and believed some of the rituals to be similar to Islamic rites. When Spanish royals arrived to survey Castile's new possessions, they were welcomed with reenactments not of the American conquest but of the reconquest of the Iberian peninsula. The saint they picked to be the patron of America was St. James the Moor Slayer. And this eye opener: Columbus himself described his voyage as the next step in the struggle against the "sect of Mohamet and of all idolatries and heresies," even though one of the reasons he sailed west was to avoid Islam, to find a way to bypass Muslim control of trade routes to Asia.
Some things I learned from reading The Empire of Necessity by Greg Grandin:
Hernan Cortes, the Spaniard who invaded Mexico, called Aztecs "Moors." One priest thought the nomadic peoples who roamed northern Mexico reminded him of Arabs. Spaniards used the word mosque to describe Aztec and Incan temples and believed some of the rituals to be similar to Islamic rites. When Spanish royals arrived to survey Castile's new possessions, they were welcomed with reenactments not of the American conquest but of the reconquest of the Iberian peninsula. The saint they picked to be the patron of America was St. James the Moor Slayer. And this eye opener: Columbus himself described his voyage as the next step in the struggle against the "sect of Mohamet and of all idolatries and heresies," even though one of the reasons he sailed west was to avoid Islam, to find a way to bypass Muslim control of trade routes to Asia.
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Remembering Dorothy
This came up in my Facebook memories for today, March 19, 2011, the day of Dorothy Ackerman's memorial. She's been in my thoughts lately. Yesterday, we used a bowl we got from her for a potluck and I told this story. On the way home from that party, Liz told me that the sculpture that Dorothy did of people in Quaker worship is at TCFM. One the people in the sculpture is me. Then I remembered that today was the anniversary of her memorial. That's three times in two days.
So here's the story I told at her Meeting for Worship for Memorial in 2011.
After the bone marrow transplant in 1994, I had to go to the clinic every day for several weeks and Dorothy drove all the way from Minnetonka to take me to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. One fine late August day, she decided to stay in the car to finish listening to Garrison Keillor on the radio at the state fair and she told me she'd meet me up in the clinic.
We always played scrabble as I sat in my chair getting blood or IGG or fluids or whatever they were giving me that day. And she always beat me. Bad.
That day, I was getting red blood cells and nodding off when I heard her and the nurses' laughter as they walked into the treatment room. Then she told me this story.
Garrison Keillor was at the state fair and a man holding a baby in one of those kangaroo-like pouches walked by, and Garrison asked him if the baby was his. He said, nah, it's a rental.
When the show ended she walked up to the clinic, and my nurse asked if she was looking for her granddaughter. Then she said, "Nah, I'm just a rental."
I never really knew any of my grandparents, and rental or not, she was a great substitute grandma. Someday, I hope to finally square up with her for the rental fees. Maybe one day I'll get to be a rental grandma too.
So here's the story I told at her Meeting for Worship for Memorial in 2011.
After the bone marrow transplant in 1994, I had to go to the clinic every day for several weeks and Dorothy drove all the way from Minnetonka to take me to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. One fine late August day, she decided to stay in the car to finish listening to Garrison Keillor on the radio at the state fair and she told me she'd meet me up in the clinic.
We always played scrabble as I sat in my chair getting blood or IGG or fluids or whatever they were giving me that day. And she always beat me. Bad.
That day, I was getting red blood cells and nodding off when I heard her and the nurses' laughter as they walked into the treatment room. Then she told me this story.
Garrison Keillor was at the state fair and a man holding a baby in one of those kangaroo-like pouches walked by, and Garrison asked him if the baby was his. He said, nah, it's a rental.
When the show ended she walked up to the clinic, and my nurse asked if she was looking for her granddaughter. Then she said, "Nah, I'm just a rental."
I never really knew any of my grandparents, and rental or not, she was a great substitute grandma. Someday, I hope to finally square up with her for the rental fees. Maybe one day I'll get to be a rental grandma too.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
On Minnesota Care Buy-in
Today I gave testimony at the Minnesota senate in support of the governor's budget for a Minnesota Care buy-in option. Here's what I said:
In 1993, I was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia, a then-fatal disease. Because of a class of drugs approved in 2000 that attack only the diseased cells in my body, I am alive and well today. Sprycel put me in full remission in early 2013 for the first time since 1993. In fact, I had my annual checkup at the U this afternoon right before this meeting, and Dr. Greg Vercellotti told me all my tests show I’m disease free.
I am in a state of dis-ease, however. The president and congress have consistently signaled their intent to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, which has kept me alive since it was enacted. Because of the cost of Sprycel at $15,335.82 a month, I reached my lifetime limit sometime in 2013. The ACA got rid of lifetime limits and it protects people like me from being denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions.
I joined my spouse’s individual Medica plan in January after Blue Cross, a plan I’d had since 1999, kicked off all of their individual subscribers last year. I didn’t know Sprycel wasn’t in Medica’s formulary, so last month I had a profoundly stressful week appealing Medica’s denial of my prescription, which they eventually and reluctantly approved.
That week of uncertainty was a glimpse into what my life will be like without the ACA. I felt like I had no recourse if Medica hadn’t approved my drug because they aren’t accountable to anyone other than themselves and their bottom line.
At this point, if the ACA goes away, I will have to bankrupt my family in order to qualify for Minnesota Care.
I’m here today to beg you to extend Minnesota Care to all Minnesotans. If the federal government turns our health insurance industry over to the free market, I will be uninsurable, as will many tens of thousands of Minnesotans. Thousands of people with CML for sure. Minnesota Care for all will be a safety net to ease the fears and uncertainty of many Minnesotans and cure my own dis-ease.
In 1993, I was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia, a then-fatal disease. Because of a class of drugs approved in 2000 that attack only the diseased cells in my body, I am alive and well today. Sprycel put me in full remission in early 2013 for the first time since 1993. In fact, I had my annual checkup at the U this afternoon right before this meeting, and Dr. Greg Vercellotti told me all my tests show I’m disease free.
I am in a state of dis-ease, however. The president and congress have consistently signaled their intent to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, which has kept me alive since it was enacted. Because of the cost of Sprycel at $15,335.82 a month, I reached my lifetime limit sometime in 2013. The ACA got rid of lifetime limits and it protects people like me from being denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions.
I joined my spouse’s individual Medica plan in January after Blue Cross, a plan I’d had since 1999, kicked off all of their individual subscribers last year. I didn’t know Sprycel wasn’t in Medica’s formulary, so last month I had a profoundly stressful week appealing Medica’s denial of my prescription, which they eventually and reluctantly approved.
That week of uncertainty was a glimpse into what my life will be like without the ACA. I felt like I had no recourse if Medica hadn’t approved my drug because they aren’t accountable to anyone other than themselves and their bottom line.
At this point, if the ACA goes away, I will have to bankrupt my family in order to qualify for Minnesota Care.
I’m here today to beg you to extend Minnesota Care to all Minnesotans. If the federal government turns our health insurance industry over to the free market, I will be uninsurable, as will many tens of thousands of Minnesotans. Thousands of people with CML for sure. Minnesota Care for all will be a safety net to ease the fears and uncertainty of many Minnesotans and cure my own dis-ease.
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Fuck Quakers
Tonight an African American woman named Avis Wanda got kicked out of Quakerism because she advocates for justice.
That's a simplification of what some Quakers would say is a complex issue. But when I heard this, I thought, this is what Quakers do. They emotionally and spiritually bludgeon people until they conform, leave, or, in this instance, kick you out (but in a really "nice" way so you feel like it's all your fault). That's my experience anyway.
You can read about her experience here. Don't read the articles responding to her article. The response from her now former Meeting called her a liar in the nicest way possible. We can't possibly be racist, they claim.
I admire her. I couldn't stick it out with Quakers. My experience of them is that they sit, listen, fold their hands, and do only things that protect their reputation and privilege.
One Voice Mixed Chorus in the Twin Cities commissioned a choral piece about Bayard Rustin. It was powerful and I hope many people get to see it. The one flaw is that the piece holds up Quakers as if they were all fighters for justice. A few were extraordinary. But most mirrored the rest of the culture, like they do today. See Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship by Vanessa Julye & Donna McDaniel.
I've watched this process over the couple of years from an intimate perspective. Liz is a support to Avis, and I've been astounded at the inaction at the quarterly meeting and yearly meeting level.
Tonight, Avis asked me to knit her a hat. In black. You bet I will. Because Fuck Quakers.
That's a simplification of what some Quakers would say is a complex issue. But when I heard this, I thought, this is what Quakers do. They emotionally and spiritually bludgeon people until they conform, leave, or, in this instance, kick you out (but in a really "nice" way so you feel like it's all your fault). That's my experience anyway.
You can read about her experience here. Don't read the articles responding to her article. The response from her now former Meeting called her a liar in the nicest way possible. We can't possibly be racist, they claim.
I admire her. I couldn't stick it out with Quakers. My experience of them is that they sit, listen, fold their hands, and do only things that protect their reputation and privilege.
One Voice Mixed Chorus in the Twin Cities commissioned a choral piece about Bayard Rustin. It was powerful and I hope many people get to see it. The one flaw is that the piece holds up Quakers as if they were all fighters for justice. A few were extraordinary. But most mirrored the rest of the culture, like they do today. See Fit for Freedom, Not for Friendship by Vanessa Julye & Donna McDaniel.
I've watched this process over the couple of years from an intimate perspective. Liz is a support to Avis, and I've been astounded at the inaction at the quarterly meeting and yearly meeting level.
Tonight, Avis asked me to knit her a hat. In black. You bet I will. Because Fuck Quakers.
Friday, January 13, 2017
Please Help
I didn't know what to call this. But I am asking for your help.
The congress is working on repealing the Affordable Care Act, and I'm wrecked. The ACA allows me to be able to have insurance, not just because I am being treated for leukemia, a pre-existing condition. The drug I take that keep me in remission costs $14,346.49 per month. I've been on this drug and a another one like this since February 2002, and if you do the math, I hit my lifetime limit sometime in 2013.
I'd have to bankrupt my family to get onto medicaid, and I refuse to do that. If that'll even be an option by the time the GOP controlled congress is done.
So I have three asks.
1. Call your senators and representative. Here's where you find your representative and their contact information. Here is where you find your senators and their contact information. Tell them a story of yourself or someone you know who will be impacted by overturning the ACA. Even my story. You could say that you have a friend who will have to bankrupt her family in order to live if the ACA goes away.
Here's a script:
Hi my name is ___ and I live in____ I am a constituent of Congressman ______ or Senator _______.
I am VERY concerned about plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut medicaid. These plans would mean many hundreds of thousands of people would lose their health care and over millions of Americans have pre-existing conditions. It is unacceptable to play politics with something as important as healthcare. (If you are talking to someone ask if the congressman supports repealing without having a replacement for the ACA and whether he will cut medicaid).
I/my family member/someone I love will be impacted (Share the story).
If you live in Minnesota, it's estimated 374,000 people will lose their health care, and 744,000 people have pre-existing conditions that would disqualify them from having health insurance.
2. Ask your friends to make the calls. Ask them in person. Call them to ask them. Email them. Share this post on social media.
3. There are five GOP senators who are on the fence about repealing the ACA. Please also call them, and ask your friends to call them.
Here are the 5 Senators we must call today.
Please call for the women, mothers, children, the veterans, the sick, those living in rural areas...
Senator Bob Corker - (202) 224-3344
Senator Lisa Murkowski - (202) 224-6665
Senator Rob Portman - (202) 224-3353
Senator Susan Collins - (202) 224-2523
Senator Bill Cassidy - (202) 224-5824
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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