TV's Person of Interest

Knitting is everywhere, haven't you notice it? I always laugh to myself because when I was pregnant, all those decades ago, it seemed as though every other woman was pregnant when in fact it was a change in my focus. I just noticed pregnant women, that's all. I've now lost or given up that focus and moved my attention to all things knitting. Which brings me to the show "Person of Interest". (The segue isn't my strength, I'm sure you dear reader agree.)

In last night's "Person of Interest" (CityTV for those of you reading in the greater Vancouver area) even Paul caught the knitting reference and suggested I write about it. Oh, so sorry Paul, I think I may be a bad influence on you!

Mr Finch

First, the show focuses on two main characters: Michael Emerson plays Mr. Finch (I think they indicated last night his first name is Harold). Finch is a very private, geeky billionaire who designed a computer system for the US government to track all people in order to locate possible terrorist activity. The system also locates persons who may be in serious trouble, like the type of thing that almost always has the potential to lead to death.

Mr Reese

Finch hires John Reese who is played by Jim Caviezel. Reese is an ex-Green Beret who is very skilled at tracking people as well as protecting himself and others. He also seems to have not ended his relationship with the US government well. Reese saves the persons of interest from what I've already said appears to be imminent death. Here's a promotional video summarizing the premise of the show in one minute. (I hear you saying OK, OK what about knitting?)

So last night's episode, Number Crunch involved trying to save four people instead of the usual one person, thus the title. Without boring you with the entire plot, the money that had been stolen was hidden in a knitting bag and placed other a mother's hospital bed. This was first verbally introduced and I had a vision in my mind of that bag looking something like this with a wide strap, a zipper on the top and a good size.

My type of knitting bag

Instead when we finally got to the part where the bag was revealed it was in fact a gold lame' retail bag like this:

Not a knitting bag

OK, the bag used in the espisode might have been a bit shorter and wider, but you get the idea. Obviously the props persons do not knit. No self respecting knitter would put their precious yarn project in a bag like this for a few reasons:

It is ugly
Needles (or perhaps only my needles and the way I travel) have a tendency to poke right through paper or, plastic for that matter, leaving the potential to lose the tools of your trade
If the bag topples over, again a real possibility, whatever's in it will fall out and depending on the cleanliness of the floor can mess up your project
The carrying handles aren't designed for those who need to be able to use their hands for a certain amount of delicate work
It's ugly~~did I mention that already?

So look here TV people, if you are going to include details about things that some happen to know something about, get the details right. Use the proper tools of the trade. And while you're at it, when you have an actor knitting, get the person knitting lessons; avoid having them use a rowing motion with the needles, it's not correct . There are enough of us around ready to share our skills. If you have the actor spend 15 minutes with an experienced knitter you'll appear to have done all your homework.

Whew -- Glad to get that off my chest. I feel better now, thanks for asking.

Anatomy of a Sock

I've been knitting socks for a relatively short time. One of the disconcerting things for me as I started following patterns for socks is the pattern designer assumes the knitter (in this case that would be me) knows all the parts of a sock. So I thought I'd devote a post to improve my own knowledge about the anatomy of a sock and maybe some of you will learn something about the humble yet necessary sock as well. Here's the names of the parts of the foot as I know them. #49 ankle, #50 heel, #51, instep, #52 ball, #53 big toe, #54 toe, #55 little toe, #56 toenail. There are some parts more important for this discussion; first the heel of a foot is generally used to refer to the entire C-shape from the ankle to the instep. Speaking of the instep, it refers to that curve near the bottom of the foot. And what seems to be missing in the design above is the sole which generally refers to the bottom of the foot in total or plantar aspect in more technical terms. (BTW

Ode to the Cat

It has been six months since Mike, the cat's, passing. I think of him every day and miss him especially when Paul is away. Mike was a being in the house with me and we were close. Grieving his death has been muddled with my Dad's passing and sometimes I feel guilty about that happening. As time passes the ache becomes less hurtful for both and I am starting to get mostly good memories in its place. Recently I helped celebrate Pablo Neruda's birthday with Jami, my poet and overall very creative friend. Guests were asked to select one poem written by Neruda to read to the small group who gathered for the celebration. I picked this one: Ode To The Cat -- Pablo Neruda There was something wrong with the animals: their tails were too long, and they had unfortunate heads. Then they started coming together, little by little fitting together to make a landscape, developing birthmarks, grace, flight. But the cat, only the cat turned out finished, and

Knitting-Related Guinness World Records

I had to share some of the Guinness World Records connected with knitting. It is amazing to me the type of skill, stamina and unique characteristics these record holders have in common. How about trying to knit with these SPNs?? Ingrid Wagner and her large needles and knitted swatch The largest knitting needles measured 3.5 m (11 ft 5.8 in) long and had a diameter of 8 cm (3.15 in). Ingrid Wagner, a rug and art creation artist, from the UK used the needles to knit a tension square of ten stitches by ten rows at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, on March, 10 2008. (And I complained about getting certain SPNs stuck in my clothes.) See how this swatch was done with merely 5 people managing the needles. And what about the yarn? It is truly ex-bulky. It looks like they're knitting in a warehouse, but with a wingspan of almost 24 feet or 7 m, you'd need all that space. Or how about the longest piece of finger knitting that measured 4,321.4 m

Flagel Knitting Files

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