Apple TV and Knitting

This week Paul purchased and installed the Apple tv to our widescreen television. Since I'm out on a limb here with regard to what it really does, let me let Wikipedia explain it: "Apple TV is a digital media receiver developed and sold by Apple Inc. It is a small form factor network appliance designed to play digital content from iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Flickr, iCloud, MLB.tv, MBA League, NHL Game Center and any Mac OS X or Windows computer running iTunes on an enhanced-definition or high definition widescreen television." (Clear right??)

It's magic for me is allowing me to search for podcasts or videos relating to knitting. This weekend I've spent a certain amount of time checking out what's out there. I can say right now: 1) Apple tv is awesome, even I can operate it (after Paul took the time to give me a brief tutorial, but then I find if I'm motivated, it is possible for me to learn new tricks), 2) I will be entertained for years, 3) I can't knit and watch the videos because the videos are too distracting.

Here's a short video I found called The Last Knit. It is a nearly seven-minute long animated creation of Laura Neuvonen from Finland. The story highlights the problems with obsession. In fact, it shows how one can put their own life in peril if they are not willing to literally cut themself free. This animation has no dialogue, but instead wonderful sound effects to keep you interested. The video is great

Oh my I'm a bit worried this new toy, the Apple tv. It has the potential to negatively impact my knitting time, indeed, perhaps helping me manage my own knitting obsession!

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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...

Gosling's Meme and Knitting

What is a meme, you may first ask? Well Dr. Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist, came up with the idea in the late 1970's and stated something like: a meme is to a society what a gene is to a human. Both are an element or unit that can be replicated or passed from one individual to another. During the Internet age memes can be easily shared, replicated or otherwise passed on to another. Recent examples can be found on Gawker . Memes can include piano playing cats, a honey badger, the Call Me Maybe phenomenon and so on. The political campaign in the U.S. helped fuel memes using some of the most unusual statements like, "binders of women" and "you didn't build that." A few memes have staying power but most have a relatively short life span. Gosling's meme related to knitting has been around for some time; so when I again saw another post about him recently, it was time to figure out the origin. Ryan Gosling is a Canadian actor born in Onta...

Yarn Barf

It's back to quirkiness and time to step away again from the cuteness for a while. But as you see I'm someone who slips from one to the other without much effort so anticipate this back and forth to be my new normal. A dramatization of me in the midst of my startitist frenzy Yarn barf . I'm willing to bet you hadn't thought of putting those two words together, had you? It just so happens yarn barf can be a reoccurring pain for those of us who use yarns that come in a skein instead of a hank. (No pun intended regarding the current Noro virus, well maybe a little pun.) Skeins of yarn wound by the manufacturer These are hanks which need to be wound into balls If you look closely at the picture on the right you'll see the start on the millet yellow skein at the centre right of the photo. Its start can easily be seen coming from the centre of the skein onto the violet skein to the left. Easy to find, right! ...

Flagel Knitting Files

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