stuff

HAPPY NEW YEAR, (almost.)

Been a tad busy over here at chez AoK.  Expect some major changes, (but don't hold your breath or anything, these kind of changes take a LOT of time!)

In the meantime....

Some hats for Claudine's charity.

Many dangly beads sewn onto a sweater.

Bit of a lame-o post, I know.  See you in 2010!!!!!

Friday the 13th

I'm not superstitious.
There are certain things that I do the same every time. I always put my right sock on before my left and the same goes for shoes. I always tip my shoes upside-down and give them a shake before putting them on but that's because things can fall, (or crawl), in there and I'd rather find out before I put my foot in!
I don't throw salt over my left shoulder, I'm OK with walking under ladders and over cracks in the pavement.
I don't have to go through a ritual of:
Touch your toes
Touch your nose
Never go in one of those
Until you see a dog.
when I see an ambulance - it's just reminds me of how fragile we are as humans.

So why when I see today's date on the calendar do I feel like maybe I should spend the day safely tucked up in bed? I did a bit of online research and found the following:

FRIDAY THE 13TH - how did Friday the thirteenth become such an unlucky day?
fear of Friday the 13th is rooted in ancient, separate bad-luck associations with the number 13 and the day Friday. The two unlucky entities combine to make one super unlucky day.
There is a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at Valhalla, their heaven. In walked the uninvited 13th guest, the mischievous Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Balder died and the Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned.
There is a Biblical reference to the unlucky number 13. Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th guest to the Last Supper.
A particularly bad Friday the 13th occurred in the middle ages. On a Friday the 13th in 1306, King Philip of France arrested the revered Knights Templar and began torturing them, marking the occasion as a day of evil.

In ancient Rome, witches reportedly gathered in groups of 12. The 13th was believed to be the devil.

Both Friday and the number 13 were once closely associated with capital punishment. In British tradition, Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and there were supposedly 13 steps leading up to the noose.
It is traditionally believed that Eve tempted Adam with the apple on a Friday. Tradition also has it that the Flood in the Bible, the confusion at the Tower of Babel, and the death of Jesus Christ all took place on Friday.
Numerologists consider 12 a "complete" number. There are 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus. In exceeding 12 by 1, 13's association with bad luck has to do with just being a little beyond completeness.
KNITTING - (this doesn't have anything to day with Friday or the number 13 but I thought I'd just throw it in here because I don't have anything knit-related to post!)
It's bad luck to leave a project unfinished. The intended recepient will get bad luck from the unfinished item.
Stabbing your needles though your yarn balls brings bad luck to anyone who wears something made from that yarn.
Don't knit a pair of socks for your boyfriend or he'll walk away from you.
If you knit one of your own hairs into a garment, it will bind the recipient to you.
Knitting for children you may have in the future, but before you are pregnant, is bad luck (it may prevent one from getting pregnant, or bring ill health to the baby).

FRIDAY THE 13TH - how is fear of the number thirteen demonstarted?
More than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor.
Many airports skip the 13th gate.
Airplanes have no 13th aisle.
Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.
Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery.
On streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half.
Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue
In France, socialites known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14th guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.
Many triskaidekaphobes, as those who fear the unlucky integer are known, point to the ill-fated mission to the moon, Apollo 13.
If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck . Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13 letters in their names.

My name has twelve letters in it - Phew! I won't end up as a serial killer - that was a close one! How about you?

Stealing Meme

Stole this from right under Passionknitly's nose - Ha! 

THE DEAL: You mark the things you have knit in bold, you italicize the things you intend to try, and everything else you just leave in regular font. 

Afghan

American/English knitting  - (I do everything American/English now.)

Baby items - (Always thinking that they won't take as long as they do!)

Bobble

Buttonholes

Cable stitch patterns - (Cables and I have long since been involved in a love affair)

Cardigan - (I like wearing cardigans, but prefer knitting pullovers because there's no extra fiddley fastenings to worry about)

Charity knitting

Combination knitting (????) Is this like a combination oven?

Continental knitting - (but only when I'm eating croissants!)

Darning - (the fella's socks are hanging around waiting patiently for me to get to work on fixing the holes...)

Designing knitted garments - (It's my job!)

Drop stitch patterns - (I love dropping stitches - it's almost as satisfying as undoing crochet.)

Dyeing spinning fiber - (I have fibre waiting for me to play with it!)

Dyeing with plant colors - (If grass stains are included then I could count this as a yes!)

Dyeing yarn

Entrelac - (I have some on the needles right now!)

Fair Isle - (Love it!)

Free-form knitting - (This is best done under the influence of mind altering substances)

Fulling/felting

Garter stitch

Gloves 

Graffiti knitting

Hair accessories

Hats: Cuff-up

Hats: Top Down

Holiday knitting - (I presume this means Christmas and the like, as opposed to Summer Holidays? It doesn't matter anyway, I've done 'em both!)

Household Items - (There's knitting all over this household!)

I-cord - (so much easier on one needle than teeny dpns!)

Intarsia - (I always get in a tangle!)

Jewelry - (I've done more crochet Jewellery than knitted.)

Kitchener stitch - (I can do it but I don't enjoy it.)

Knitted flowers

Knitting a gift - (tonnes!)

Knitting a pattern from an on-line knitting magazine - (I love knitty!!!!!)

Knitting and purling backwards - (Why would you do this?)

Knitting art - (not sure, maybe?)

Knitting for a living - (it's what pays the rent!)

Knitting for pets - (Lucky wears 'em well!)

Knitting for preemies

Knitting in public - (How else would I get it all done?)

Knitting items for a wedding 

Knitting on a loom - (It is those plastic things with the knobs!)

Knitting smocking

Knitting socks (or other small tubular items)

Knitting to make money - (Not sure how else I would survive!)

Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously - (Got in an awful tangle.  Maybe my first attempt should've been a single colour!)

Knitting with alpaca

Knitting with bamboo yarn

Knitting with banana fiber yarn - (I need to get in on some banana knitting action.)

Knitting with beads

Knitting with camel yarn

Knitting with cashmere

Knitting with circular needles

Knitting with cotton

Knitting with dog/cat hair - (Not that keen on the idea.)

Knitting with dpns - (I hate their nasty stabbiness!)

Knitting with linen

Knitting with metal wire - (Really hurt my fingers.)

Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn - (Didn't have much choice til a few years ago.)

Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn - (Like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get!)

Knitting with silk

Knitting with someone else’s hand-spun yarn - (I love hand-spun. I need to get more!!!)

Knitting with soy yarn

Knitting with synthetic yarn

Knitting with wool

Knitting with your own hand-spun yarn - (add it to the list of to-dos.)

Lace patterns

Long Tail CO - (I always do cable cast on though.)

Machine knitting - (I own 4 machines, including one in England.)

Mittens: Cuff-up

Mittens: Tip Down.

Moebius band knitting -  (Only by mistake.)

Norwegian knitting - (Don't know what this is so I may have done it.)

Participate in an exchange 

Participating in a KAL

Pillows - (I assume this means, cushions?  Pillows to me are what you rest your head on in bed.  If I slept on knitted pillows, my hair would felt!)

Publishing a knitting book

Purses/bags

Rug

Scarf

Shawl

Short rows

Shrug/bolero/poncho

Slip stitch patterns - (nope, don't think I ever have.)

Slippers - (Only slipper-socks but I don't think that counts.)

Socks:toe-up

Socks: top-down - (Much prefer toe-up so I can maximize yarn usage.)

Steeks

Stockinette stitch

Stuffed toys - (Take much longer than I think to make!  Lots of parts to sew together and stuff.)

Swatching

Sweater

Tassels

Teaching a child to knit

Teaching a male how to knit

Textured knitting

Thrummed knitting - (I like the idea of this, being rather nesh.)

Toy/doll clothing - (It's how I got started.)

Tubular CO

Twisted stitch patterns - (Not sure.)

Two end knitting - (???)

Writing a pattern

Double Knitting - (Not sure either.)

Well, that was interesting, (for me at least!)  Looks like I've still got a few things to learn.  Thanks Jen :o)

Still only knitting for work, so no photos to share   :o(

Happy Bonfire Night!  Shake a sparkler for me!