When Knitting Was a Manly Art

Just off the phone with ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) Radio and the interview was not what I expected…

Liam and Andrew were my interviewers and mostly it was jokes. No questions about how I got started, no questions about the history of Male knitters, just one funny question after the other. All in good taste, but still… They did finish the interview with a pointer to my Blog, so maybe I’ll be seeing a few new visitors from Perth, Australia in the next few days.

Anyway.. It was fun and even with the jokes, I’m proud to represent Male knitters to the folks of Perth.

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8:30am - Overcast - Current temp. 53.4F(11.9C)

Max 74.7F(23.7C) - Min 49.1F(9.5C) — 0″ precipitation

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A crummy day at the farmer’s market yesterday. A good sized crowd, cool but no rain, but nobody was buying. 5 hours later we had earned $56. Payed for the booth space, but not for the time we put into getting ready, loading and later unloading. Bah.. We’ll take a couple of weeks off and try again when we have more flowering plants. We *really* need to open the nusery to visitors, as all this traveling with plants is rarely worth the effort. I did get to work on the toe up sock though and completed about 15 rounds. Better than twiddling my thumbs.

I just got off the phone with a Producer for Australian Radio in Perth to set up an interview for tomorrow evening. The interview will focus on how I got started and the rise of the visibility of knitting men and will be broadcast in conjunction with an annual knitathon fundraiser in June. Excited and a bit scared. I’m not completely sure why they chose me, but it seems they’ve been visiting my MenWhoKnit webring. More tomorrow evening.

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8:45am - Overcast - Current temp. 55.6F(13.1C)

Max 58.3F(14.6C) - Min 51.3F(10.7C) — trace precipitation

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6:00am - Overcast - Current temp. 51.3F(10.7C)

Max 76.8F(24.9C) - Min 50.2F(10.1C) — 0″ precipitation

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The results of one ball of very thin yarn on US#7 needles. Not a lot of detail and, while still easy to work with, the needles are getting too short to really show it off.

Sometimes Peony blossoms change as they age. And sometimes for the better. This is Joker after two days. I think I like this better.

Predators in the garden. Twice today I encountered this little white spider with it’s fangs in a prey. I’ve seen it around the garden in the past, but never with a meal. No web, so probably one of the jumping spiders. For the more curious, full sized photo is here.

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8:45am - Light clouds - Current temp. 64.2F(17.9C)

Max 91.0F(32.8C) - Min 56.5F(13.6C) — 0″ precipitation

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First.. Thanks for everybody’s comments on the sweater. The last of the sweater was a struggle and more work than enjoyment, but I’m happy with the results and I really can hardly wait until the cold season returns so that I can wear it for real.

Now.. The OF thing…

When I left the US Navy in 1975 I was 28 and my father was 56. He was an old man.

In March I turned 58 and my Dad is 86. He’s still an old man, but I don’t feel that old. Well, most of the time…

The OF started when I joined the my last group with Intel. I had been an employee for 18 years, when the average was 5 years. I was 52 when the average age of the engineers was 30-something. It didn’t take long before I was known as the Old Fart. The nickname stuck over the years (That’s a Joke, Son) and I really don’t take it seriously.

No knitting, but how about a couple of my favorite Irises (actually, they’re all my favorites).

Tennessee Gentleman, a very pretty Bearded Iris - available 2006

Iris chrysographes - The Black Iris - available 2006

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8:00am - Current temp. 80.2F(26.8C)

Max 85.3F(29.6C) - Min 61.0F(16.1C) — 0″ precipiitation

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Finally… Eileen and I went outside this morning to get a pict ure of the Old Fart and the Son of Aran. Now remember it’s nearly 80F and I’m wearing about 2lbs of wool. If I look pained, there’s a good reason.

Don’t you hate it when you lose the tag for one of the flowers in your garden?

I’ve discovered that my carefully drawn map of my peony garden (with about 24 varieties) is wrong. When I dug peonies earlier and placed them in pots, they were numbered as they came out of the ground. Then I discovered that the map was wrong and I no longer am sure of which is which. It’s been a case of of waiting for blossoms, comparing the blossom to my original inventory and try to decide what I’ve got.

This beauty is almost certainly ‘Joker’, a beautiful dark pink double.

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