Keep the hope
Hope is a word that’s taken on political overtones during this marathon election cycle. This isn’t a political blog; I happen to have strong feelings about politics, but I choose not to print them here. Besides being a banner and a rallying cry in 2008, hope is a plain human sentiment we all need in anxious times like these. My work and affiliations are such that I know non-profits and charitable groups are experiencing the anxiety acutely: people tend to clamp their pocketbooks shut when the economy goes into the flusher. I realize that youth, employment, and native optimism are advantages, even luxuries, that many don’t have. But I do believe that things are going to get better, and that they’ll get better faster for more people if those of us who can afford to keep an even keel and continue to support worthy causes in any way we can do so. Personally, I felt there was a choice: either I could fret about the obliteration of our 401Ks, or I could count our many blessings and take extra pride in making my annual contributions.
That’s one of the reasons I didn’t hesitate to make a donation to Ramona Carmelly’s fundraising walk against breast cancer. I zipped over to her website upon seeing La Harlot’s interpretation of her gorgeous Hibiscus for Hope socks, and in the seconds this hop through cyberspace took, I was already thinking this was a heck of a good model: tantalize knitters, whom we know to be among the most generous folk on the planet, with a tasty new pattern, then ask them to make a donation to your cause in return for it. No amount suggested. But I’ll bet most people gave more than the five bucks you’d expect to plonk down for a sock pattern. And what a sock pattern it is:
These pictures don’t do them justice. My feet are too big to model them, alas. But the pretty yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in Petal Shower (the perfect un-twee pink), and look at this clever Bordhiesque heel:
Can you see the wee baby gusset under the sole that sets it up? And the way the lace pattern gradually wraps all around the leg? Actually, I veered far off the path with the heel itself. I may have unvented a whole new short row heel by accident. The thing is, I’m a top-down sock knitter. I see the advantages of toe-up, namely the assurance that whenever you run out of yarn you’ll at least have a sock-shaped garment that covers all the essential parts, but I never know where I am with the heel. Ramona directs you to Wendy Johnson’s short row heel instructions, but wouldn’t you know I managed to reach the heel point on both socks when I wasn’t near the internet? I can work a short row in my sleep when it’s for a heel-flap sock or some extra bust shaping, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember how to begin in the toe-up situation. And because I’d rather make things up and be wrong than cease knitting, I conjured a short row heel that involved working outward from a small group of central heel stitches, wrapping the stitches and then knitting them up and wrapping their neighbors on the next pass.
I suspect this isn’t really the greatest way to do a heel. I think I got away with it because of the lace pattern being stretchy; if you had a rigid fabric and a high instep you’d definitely want the deeper, cuppier heel you get from Wendy’s (or anyone else’s) instructions. And actually, I don’t know that I DID get away with it – the recipient is in New York and I haven’t heard whether or not she can put them on her feet comfortably. I need to experiment on a pair for myself. But the socks almost certainly would have been too long in the foot if I’d done the heel the right way: I eliminated about an inch of sole length by inadvertently chopping out that nice little trapezoid you get under the heel in normal conditions, and since the socks were on track to fit me, this was a good thing.
Anyway, they’re sock-shaped socks, and I’m not a Socktoberfest loser, and they’re a little drop for the fire hose in the fight against cancer, and they’re for someone I love who lost her mama to the disease, and I even survived some dramatic moments when I dropped the package in the mail last Saturday AFTER HOURS and then realized I’d forgotten to print a return address on it. (I made a panicky dash home for a bright yellow sheet of paper on which to scrawl a desperate plea for clemency from the postal workers. The post-anthrax rules say they must callously discard packages without return addresses, and I was in something of a lather to think my handknits might meet their end in the rubbish. So I mashed my sad little note with my return address through the slot after my package and prayed. Then I decided that direct action was probably a safer bet in such a critical case as this, so I went around the back of the building and clung to the chainlink fence and hallooed a woman who looked like she was on her way home. She answered. She pitied me. She went back inside and found my sorry yellow note. She wrote the return address in the proper spot for me. Marika’s Hibiscus for Hope socks were saved.)
And speaking of hope: I don’t often feel driven to hug four-star generals, but my opinion of Colin Powell went way up this weekend when he took the national stage and pointed out that whether Barack Obama is a Christian or a Muslim ought to be irrelevant, and that we should mind the message we’re sending to Muslim-American children who dream of growing up to be president.
Posted: October 21st, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Three cheers for beautiful sock patterns, for pink yarn, for postal service employees who take pity (and time), for Gen. Powell and for you.
I saw Powell speak recently and was impressed. I would’ve felt way worse for the awful guy who followed him except that that guy stank regardless of who he had to follow.
Posted: October 21st, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Mmph, go Colin. Nice socks!
Posted: October 22nd, 2008 at 3:25 am
the colin powell thing is amazing. i love when people get topsy turvy like this. it happens here too. and the crisis has certainly stricken here as well. how odd. one moment it is all economical bliss and the next the banks crack. people go to iceland to get their christmas shopping done since everything is half price there. gluttony…
i love the socks and i find it a great idea to make a contribution like this that makes everyone happy.
i cannot begin to say how much i learn about other countries from reading knitting blogs. i never knew about the return address and i am certainly one to forget writing it one things. a few days ago i even forgot to put stamps on a letter.
the knitting community is indeed an interesting ground for learning.
Posted: October 22nd, 2008 at 5:48 am
you really have some of the greatest knitting stories…this one takes the cake though. so glad the postal woman took pity on your pair, they are lovely. and that last sentence says it all…it is a great time to be hoping.
Posted: October 22nd, 2008 at 6:27 am
What a great pattern! And quite an adventure 🙂
Posted: October 22nd, 2008 at 6:56 am
Loved to hear your postal story – it’s nice to know there are humans who can occasionally be appealed to.
Here’s a funny story that show how times have changed: When we were in university, my boy friend had a little trip to Bermuda, during which he sent me a post card. Unfortunately, since the weather was so drunk out, he had only put my name & city, not even a stamp, nothing else other than the message. It arrived in my mail box, and in good time. Everyone amazed, -it made great eating out chatter. Doubt however whether this could happen today–what no postal code, and a penny short postage – sorry,can’t deliver that!!
Cheers All.
Posted: October 22nd, 2008 at 7:00 am
I don’t think I realized that the postal service was requiring the return address now. I always put one on, so it isn’t a hardship.
I have the same problem with the short row heels (well, with toe up socks). I just am never sure if the sock is the right length to start the heel. I’m sure I just need more practice and I will find the perfect length for my feet!
Posted: October 22nd, 2008 at 12:34 pm
I’m so glad that you were able to rescue your package from it’s possible fate of the garbage heap! Is it just me, or does the pattern look a little like the Obama logo, where the O looks like a sun rising? Maybe I’m reading too much into it that the patter is called Hibiscus for Hope and I’m a full-on political junkie lately. My opinion of Powell went through the roof after his endorsement–yay!
Posted: October 22nd, 2008 at 3:40 pm
As a volunteer in several places lately, I can’t second enough your encouragement for people to keep supporting charities. If money is in short supply, another thing always appreciated is *time*. A couple of hours here or there can make a great difference to some people or animals.
I also second your thoughts on hope, though we have to remember that no matter who gets elected, it is going to take plain old time to undo the mess the financial institutions have made. I’m no economist, but I do think things run in cycles, and perhaps they are headed in the upward direction now. We’re just going to have to be patient, which is so hard! 🙂
Posted: October 22nd, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Thanks for sharing the pattern, the yarn, and your thoughts. Hope and faith are so important!
Posted: October 23rd, 2008 at 4:30 am
Gorgeous socks! And I’m glad that the return address thing was resolved…how nervewracking! I didn’t even know it was a requirement, as I’ve always just put one on out of habit.
I had the same feelings about Powell’s speech. I had been waiting for so long for someone (who was, you know, in a position to actually be listened to) to say those things.
Posted: October 23rd, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Great sentiments on hope, and I share them with you. And, Colin Powell definitely won back some of the respect he lost from me years ago with this endorsement.
Posted: November 8th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Hi again!
I’m so glad you discovered my yarn so that I could discover your blog!
On our little farm we are breathing a huge sign of relief- and pride- about the elections.
We have also just finished shearing all the Wensleydale sheep and the alpacas.
It’s very humorous to see all the naked bodies hanging out in the barn looking embarrassed.
But don’t worry, these sheep grow about an inch of fiber a month, so in about that time I’ll move them out to a different field and they will be so happy with the new grass that’s coming on.
On a different note, my husband has a heritage apple orchard here on the farm and actually has Sheep Nose apples ready now. Would you like some? He says they are interesting for their name and shape, but not the best tasting apple in the orchard, but he’d be glad to send you some.
I actually was searching your blog to see if you’d made a sweater out of your Wensleydale yarn yet.