Knitting in the Shadows: Editing is fun .... but lace is better

As I'm editing this book, I get to look at all sorts of source documents.
They bring me strange giggles.

Here are two of the guidelines set forth in the Member Safety section of an Al Qaeda terrorist manual circa 2001.

"12) [The member should] break the daily routine, especially when performing an under-cover mission. For example, changing the departure and return routes, arrival and departure times, and the store where he buys his goods."

" 20). [The member should not] undergo a sudden change in his daily routine or any relationships that precede his Jihad involvement. For example, there should not be an obvious change in his habits of conversing, movement, presence, or disappearance. Likewise, he should not be hasty to sever his previous relationships."

Hmmm. I wonder if this inconsistency caused any members difficulty. You should change your daily routine, especially vis a vis departure and return routes and times, but you should not change your habits of movement ... You should shop at a different store, but not sever previous relationships (like, say, with your regular shop owner).

Ya gotta wonder...

I also wonder how to pronounce all of these Arabic names I'm verifying the spelling on.

But one thing you can stop wondering about is when I'm going to break down and wind that Korppi Laci for the Irtfa'a (and yes, I do delight in the fact that this too is an Arabic name - but I know how to pronounce this one):

Despite your lack of confidence in my ability to withstand the pressure of this luscious yarn, I didn't wind it until today. And actually -- I had help. J did most of the actual winding.

She makes a pretty nice yarn cake, doesn't she?

Now, does this mean I've also cast on? Is the answer to the contest question now available?

Yes! and yes.

This afternoon, the Divine Though Blogless Elizabeth came over, bringing her Thraven, and her pattern, and we sat down to begin our own personal Irtfa'a KAL.

She chose the waste yarn provisional cast on, and I used Judy's Magic Cast On.

I used the recommended size 3's for the edging here, and she (having forgotten hers) went for the 4's, (with which she'll be knitting the whole shawl).

We giggled along with the first few rows, simply delighted to be knitting this stuff into this pattern. We then declared the pattern fiddly, as the design starts with over 20 repeats of a four row pattern that ranges from 5-7 stitches. It was still fun for awhile. ... we giggled at each other as we said things like "I have to do this how many more times?" We got out kacha counters to count the repeats until the light bulb went off that said -- DUH! that place with the double yo's ... makes a clearly visible HOLE! and it happens only once every four rows. I'll be we could just count the HOLES to see if we've gotten enough.

Here we are having finished the 84 rows of the edge pattern. You'll note that hers (above in the picture up there, and to the left in the picture down there) is a tad larger than mine, but not by enough to make much of a difference - especially when we realize that I actually had one more repeat to go here:

Having agreed that we would NOT knit on this without each other right there, present, in the room, we were then faced with the question of whether or not to go on.

DUH

We couldn't resist. We finished page two of the pattern today:

Oddly, mine now seems larger.

There they sit. On their respective size 4 needles, stitch markers in place, ready to face the first charts (well, the second and third charts, since there was actually a chart for this bit, we just didn't use it). Alas, we weren't ready to go on. And it was nearing 6:00 -- and DH and I had West Coast Swing class at 7:00....

Irtfa'a now has to wait until the Divine Miss E comes by again (or until my children and I invade her home... whichever comes first.

But it's on the needles, which means that I need to pick a prize winner! Nicole (who appears also to be blogless) guessed that I'd start on January 22nd in the evening. She was the one who gave me the most credit for holding out.... and thus is the winner of this lovely skein of Hill Country Yarns Sweet Feet -- in Cowboy.

In the mean time, I've got 20 rows to go on the Pre-Columbian Shawl.....

Comments

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Pretty!! How long do you think it'll take the two of you to get enough knitting time together to finish it? Or before you bread down and book a room for a month. ;)

Posted by: Carrie K | January 25, 2008 at 05:28 PM

Pretty!! How long do you think it'll take the two of you to get enough knitting time together to finish it? Or before you break down and book a room for a month. ;)

Posted by: Carrie K | January 25, 2008 at 05:29 PM

What fun to knit with someone else! I'd like a knit buddy too.

I think Arabic names are pretty straightforward -- they're phonetic transliterations. I used to work at an aviation college and there were many Arabic students. While uniformly horrifyingly chauvinistic, they were delighted that I could pronounce their names.

Posted by: stefaneener | January 25, 2008 at 08:09 PM