I continued to be unhappy with the holes left by the M1s in the brim of Headline News, so I fixed it by making wee little cables (I used those short bamboo needles) over the lines of holes. Now I am happy with this cap, and will wrap it up.
It is having to slouch in an odd position here to show you its brim. But it is quite cute. However, plenty of people liked it made from the original pattern, too. I don’t want my having changed it completely to look like criticism of the original pattern. Variety is the spice of life.
I need to remind myself of this, because I found myself in possession of a copy of an Annie’s Attic catalog. Annie’s Attic offers some things that other yarn companies do not. For example, you can get pattern books for Desperate Crochet, Desperate Knitting, and Desperate Beading. It is not clear what has made these crafters so desperate, but they must indeed be desperate to make these ugly things.
Or perhaps you need a Pooch Poncho Kit. Or a bizarre Tea Party Doily, which has attached to it a full crocheted tea set, making it entirely worthless for all normal doily purposes.
It is hard to choose a favorite from all these amazing objects, but I think the best is the collection of embroidered fly swatter covers, because they will “transform your dull, drab flyswatters into whimsical accents for every room,” a feat which I might like to see, if it were not such a disgusting thought. I don’t own any flyswatters, dull and drab or otherwise, so it may be that I just do not understand the heartbreak of having drab flyswatters in every room of my house.
And, indeed, it is a beauty in the eye of the beholder situation, isn’t it? Someone spent many hours making the prototypes of these objects which are to me so unappealing. They must have liked them. Someone published these patterns, someone chose to put them into the catalog (maybe Annie, for all I know), and someone will probably buy them, too.
And I strove for open mindedness among the creationists last night, too. I am making it sound as though everyone there was a Biblical literalist, but I am sure that was not true. There are 300 or so women in this group, from all walks of life and denominations, so obviously the creationists were probably not even in the majority. However, the materials we are reading for this class take the position that you cannot accept evolution and also be a Christian, which is an extreme viewpoint, one I have not previously encountered in the flesh.
My mother claims that she is a Christian but believes in reincarnation, and I don’t believe her for a second. So I know how the writers of the materials feel. On the other hand, I also kept wanting to say “Oh, for pity’s sake. There is direct evidence of natural selection. Get a grip!” I didn’t say that, and neither did anyone else. On the way back from class, however, I explained natural selection to Partygirl, who for some reason never studied that at the parochial school in West Memphis.
In return, she explained indulgences to me. #1 son has been studying the Reformation in APEuro, and The Empress gave me a copy of Martin Luther’s theses to read when it came up in her Sunday School class, so I had been reminded quite recently of the historical question of indulgences. However, I had no idea that they were still customary. Partygirl gave me a card detailing one particular indulgence and how to get it, which was quite fascinating. So I learned something yesterday, in addition to the beneficial mental exercise of attempting to be open-minded.
However unsuccessfully. You are just not going to see a flyswatter cozy in my house, that’s all.
I do like the cap.Are caps worn much over there?
What don’t you believe , that your mother is a Christian or that she believes in reincarnation? (My mother would profess the same I think. I have called myself both at different times over the years. Not sure I can specifiy what I am anymore.)
No openings for psychologists at your university. I have applied for one position in Oklahoma however (and Colorado and Ohio)
Embroidered flyswatter cozies.
I guess I’ll have to see Rush Hour.
My mother is a Christian and she told me she doesn’t believe good people go to Hell, even if they aren’t saved. That goes directly against Biblical teaching, doesn’t it?
Thanks for the comments! I’m perhaps unduly excited about coordinated accessories. I may see if I have enough yarn left over from Tempting to make a matching cellphone case.
The cables on the brim are a nice touch. That cap is just so cute!
I thought I had seen everything, but flyswatter cozies? I don’t even know how to respond to that. I’ve never been that desperate.
I’ve known many people who think that evolution and Christianity are mutually exclusive, but I’m not one of them. My AP Biology teacher was a minister before he began teaching. He said that at church he was treated like a heathen for studying science, and at the university he was treated like an idiot for being involved with religion, so he left the church, dropped out of his PhD program, and found his own balance.
I think you and I may slightly different definitions of ‘religion’. I consider a religion to be a formalised doctrine of a set of beliefs and philosophies – it begins with faith and becomes doctrine or (depending upon ones prejudices) dogma. While I do not believe it possible to be a member of any given religion without faith, I do believe it possible to have faith but no religion – no formalisation of that faith if you like.
I have to admit to a high level of cynicism as far as any ‘religion’ is concerned. In my first year doing undergrad varsity course I was taking a paper called ‘Universal Religions’. Part of that course required us to read parts of the scripts of the main religions – Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. I never made it to the last. Hinduism was fascinating – I could never understand how such an open-minded religion could be part of such an inflexible class structur. Studying Christianity and Islam however just made me angry. We had to read the history of both as well as the holy script (they are much alike historically and both appeared at approximately the same time) and my conclusion was that, at least a far as the doctrine/dogma of both were concerned, they were politically useful modifications of earlier religions, mainly Judaism which had outlived its political usefulness by that time. The ground rules in both the Bible and the Koran are remarkably similar – 10 commandments style (from Judaism of course). The higher level rules about the place of children,women and animals in the scheme of things were also very similar – very useful rules in a highly patriarchial society. I did my first two assignments but I was so disgusted with what I had read and learned from the Christianity part of the course that from that time on I ceased to consider myself Christian and I also gave up the paper.
The philosophies underlying the Christianity and Islam are alike – do good and be rewarded, do bad and be punished – with God (by whatever name) the judge and executioner (also stolen from Judaism). Both of course believe in a higher Being with Jesus or Mohammad as the mundane/divine link. They are religions.
People who mix and match from eastern and western religions do not have a religion of their own, they are creating a philosophy or structure within which to fit whatever their personal beliefs/ faith are. There is a difference (in my opinion anyway :-)) between a faith and a religion.
And one extra, also back to the personal. Your parental description would just have easily described both my parents. My father in particular never let facts blind him to his opinion 🙂 I remember arguing with him about something (a common occurrence from my teen years on) and my pointing out that his ‘logic’ was unsubstantiated – all the textbooks said other to what he was supporting. He told me, quite seriously, that the textbooks were wrong! The only difference between my mother and father opinionatedness is that my mother never claimed to be logical, my father did. (Growing up with charmingly opinionated parents has its compensations I suppose – my siblings and I were exposed to a much wider range of ideas as children than were most of my friends who had rather more ‘normal’ parents than we had. And I suspect a little of whatever it was that made adults and children really like them may have rubbed off on us – all three of us seem to adapt quite well to whatever social group we find ourselves in.)
Bravo on the altered cap brim. The tiny cables are great. Three cheers for altering patterns and making an original. Fibermom, thy name is Knitter vs One Who Just Knits.
Yes, it’s amazing how simply all these faiths interconnect…
And it’s easy to understand how anyone can get angry and disillusioned with any form of religion. In many ways, atheists who just follow their hearts are often much closer to the truth than those who follow a faith which may have become quite distorted over two millennia ! Which may have adopted other agendas than the agenda of the heart !
But we are working to explain a wider sense of oneness. In our Facts Behind Faith website we take a rational look at all things spiritual, in all religions.
We try to explain the spiritual facts of life in a rational and engaging way. It’s a pretty glorious story with some lovely illustrations. We are especially keen to show all religions really present the same spiritual facts of life.
This leads to discovering a common origin for all the world’s religions, including Islam and is perhaps something we need to recognise in these times of religious conflict.
We explain how the Tree of Life (which has its origins in the Judaic Tradition of the Kabbalah, and is also at the heart of the Bible from Genesis to the Book of Revelation) is an ancient astrological map of the solar system, and how our major world religions have all shared this knowledge. Translated into the faiths of Egypt, Greece, Babylon and Rome as well as in Buddhist, Islamic, Hindu and Christian traditions, this wisdom eloquently testifies a profound brotherhood around the globe and a common foundation for all our ancient faiths.
Spiritual wisdom has rainbow colours… One World, One God, many names, many faces, and it’s ‘different strokes for different folks’.