I finished the back of the Landlord cardigan last night. I still have the right front (buttonholes) and the sleeves to go. I might cast on for the right front this evening.

I also cast on another pair of socks - some Regia mini-ringels in color 5217, called "Rio". It's a very bright combination of "hot" colors - reds and pinks and yellows. Not what I usually wear, but I saw it in my stash and it appealed to me last night.

I'm doing a spiral rib on the top (Nancy Bush used it on her Finnish socks in Folk Socks, basically it is a k3, p2 rib that you move over one st every row). I like to use unusual ribbings or top treatments with the self-patterning yarns. I used the spiral rib on another pair of socks, earlier, and liked how it came out.

It is a bit looser than standard ribbing. I'm doing these on size 1 needles with 70 sts for the ribbing, I will go up to 72 for the body of the sock (I've decided that 64 sts is just a little skimpy for me; the socks fit a bit tighter than what I like).

I finished the rewrite of the first paper Saturday. I've read through the second one this morning and you know, it's not bad - maybe it will be accepted this time. I do have to make sure the literature cited section is formatted just so to the journal's requirements (this is always a drag to do). Then I just have to go through the critiques again (ouch) and write a letter describing how I addressed the criticisms.

Then I e-mail it to my co-author and see what she thinks.

***

This weekend, there was a mini-flamewar on the big knitting list about Cast On. And again, I see the disturbing trend of people thinking "if I don't like it or don't think it's good enough, it's not good enough for anyone."

I'm sure Helene Rush has "broad shoulders" for this sort of thing. If I were me, after reading some of the criticisms, I'd want to throw in the towel. (I know, I'm way to sensitive, but I know how it hurts after lots of hard work to hear "well, it's just not good enough for ME".)

I have to say I like Cast On much better in its current (Rush-edited) incarnation. I liked the older version OK, but I felt like the designs were aimed at a single segment of the population (to which I do not belong). The "new" Cast-On is trying to be more general.

I've also heard people complain pretty bitterly about the fall issue of Vogue Knits - which, ironically, is the only issue recently that had things to my taste in it. The complaints centered on "but they're just recycled designs!" Yes, but I've only been knitting "seriously" since 1997, so I hadn't seen any of them before.

And to be quite frank, I would rather see republications of "old favorites" that still look good than trendy designs that will look dated shortly after I have knit them.

I like designs that are classic, with the occasional ethnic or arty design thrown it. I prefer clothing to be things that I can keep for a decade or more, and wear continually, until they wear out. If I'm making a sweater, I want it to be one that I can wear and wear with pride until it's worn out (or until I need to pass it on to someone else).

I think this is why I like Interweave Knits - most of the designs are classic, but with a twist that makes them look arty or special.

The upshot of all the complaining: there are always going to be things particular people dislike. You can imagine my disappointment when I got summer 2001 Vogue Knits and found it was all kids' patterns! I have no children, my brother and sister in law have no children (yet), and all the other children I know, well, they are not special enough to me for me to spend 100 hours knitting an intarsia sweater for them.

Still, I know there are people out there who ate that one up - I even offered it to someone who said on list that the post office "ate" her copy and she was sad because she had grandkids to knit for (but VK sent her a fresh copy)

But then I get this fall's issue and I think "wow, I like that cardigan...that cabled sweater is nice...hey, socks!"

I'm thinking of asking for 12 balls of Classic Elite La Gran for Christmas so I can knit the mohair cabled cardigan in there.

Or I might ask for the Donegal Tweed to make the Tuscan Hills sweater in this fall's Interweave.

I like the "plainer" designs. I like texture patterns and darkish, rich colors. I'm not a fan of colorwork, because I know from experience that colorwork projects wind up sitting in the WIP basket while I whiz through things that are faster or more "neato" to me (textures and cables are "neato"; they look so much more complex than they actually are to do).

So it bugs me to hear someone say "I hate X" and complain about X, and ask why the magazines "have" to publish X, and insinuate that they're just doing X to avoid doing REAL work and presenting the kind of designs that that particular person likes...

Heck, I'm just happy to get a new issue of a knitting magazine to look at, even if there is nothing in there I immediately want to knit.

I think there are some people out there who think the world revolves around them, and if they are displeased with something, everyone else should be.

I know, grumpy again.