the inflammatory yarn

Now that’s what I call ‘extreme’ knitting

wwwneojacobincom — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 13:09:44 +0000

Right now I’m watching the ‘fun’ runners struggling through the streets of London to complete the 2007 Flora London marathon. I say ‘fun’ runners, but from what I can see on my TV, 20 miles and 3 hours later, ‘fun’ seems to be the last thing on many runners minds – the word painful comes readily to mind.

A friend of mine did the London marathon a few years ago, when he started the race he looked his age, 37 at the time – however, when he finished the 26 and a bit miles, he looked like he had aged by 10 years (at least). He also swore he’d never do that ever again.

So I have to give Susie Hewer my utmost respect – indeed, this lady seems able to run marathons as if they were going out of fashion. This year Ms Hewer is going for a new world record – not only is she going to run a marathon (an extreme feat in and of its self), Hewer will also be knitting a very long scarf at the same time – how extreme is that?

Normally, I talk about politics and knitting – but when it comes to sport, I believe in keeping politics way out of that. So, everyone here at The Inflammatory Yarn (erm, myself that is) wishes Ms Hewer the best of luck with her world record bid. Let’s hope she doesn’t drop too many stitches on her way to the finishing line.

practice: new born baby outfit

wwwneojacobincom — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 10:36:48 +0000

Xtreme-Knitting blog?

wwwneojacobincom — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 10:25:22 +0000

I found this site in Google blog search – I thought with a name like that I’m more than likely to see something fresh, or dynamic. To me, the word extreme conjures up images of experimentalism and, of course, extremism. Sounds great.

However, the only extreme thing I saw were the extremely nice looking hot-cross buns – and speaking as a former baker (many moons ago), I must say they did appear exceedingly decent.

Practice: one scarf

wwwneojacobincom — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 09:48:03 +0000

Knitting & civil liberties

wwwneojacobincom — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 08:06:37 +0000

It appears that the Virginia Tech shootings seems to be bringing out the worse in some people. According to ThreadingWater, ‘real courage means standing up to the tyranny of the National Rifle Association‘, but from where I’m standing, the NRA in some circles seems little more than derogatory code words for the Second Amendment. The NRA is presented as a three-word argument against the right of people to keep and bear arms. The perspective represents a rather lacklustre commitment to genuine liberties and freedom.

In the comment section, Paul summed up this powerful mood of conservative ambivalence towards real freedoms, ‘I cherish my second amendment right as an American born citizen’ however, the Second Amendment is fine for people like Paul, but for people born elsewhere (aka foreigners) unalienable Rights for them is a no no. According to Paul, this ‘does not give them the right to have this cherished second amendment privilege’. A fundamental liberty is magically transformed into a mere ‘privilege’ for the fortunate few. The idea that all men are created equally sits uncomfortably with the notion that the Second Amendment should in someway be a privilege. This notion is crystallised in the political phrase ‘education is a right, not a privilege’.

Indeed, you don’t hear of anyone taking Virginia Tech to task for enrolling Cho Seung-Hui do we?

I just don’t think you can use the actions of a crazy loser like Seung-Hui, to justify chipping away at peoples civil liberties – believe it or not, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are causes that are still worth fighting for.

Politics – and the art of knitting

wwwneojacobincom — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 08:04:37 +0000

Well, it least I got your attention – of course, this blog will have everything to do with knitting and crochet, and all things handicraft and beautiful – it will try to survey the on-line knitting community from (at the very least) a rather critical persective.

My interests in the world of knitting are primarily personal, my other half is a prolific knitter as you will soon find out. I welcome your views, comments and opinions, no matter how strong they may be, so don’t worry, I can handle it.

When it comes to politics, you knitters out there in web-land seem to be just as political as, er, politicians? For example, witness Queer Joe’s knitting blog that happens to be in a state of mourning right now due to the Virginia Tech (VT) shooting spree. Normally, I’d go into mourning only when a close relative or close friend has died. I was wondering if Joe actually knews any of the dead at VT, why else would you go into mourning? Or does Joe go into mourning everytime a tradegy takes over the headlines?
What are the consequescies of all of this to politics, and the art of knitting? I haven’t got a clue.