france thinks i'm a tory

or, to be more precise, the french minister pierre lellouche thinks that the tories are "autistic". in an interview published this morning in the guardian, he says of the party's approach to the EU; "they have one line & they just repeat that one line - it is a very bizarre sense of autism". later on today, he clarified: "In French, the term autistic has been totally trivialised through overuse. President Sarkozy is called autistic every day. I understand that in English that this word could shock. That was a glitch. It was a misunderstanding." oh, ok then.
now, i don't normally get into the political (or the deeply personal) on this blog - it's usually chats about knitting & other topics of the light & fluffy variety.

(look, a puppy!!)

however, as an autistic person (i have asperger's, an autistic spectrum disorder), this language usage has made me pretty uncomfortable (& i'm fairly certain it isn't just due to an extreme aversion to having any association, however slight, with the tories!). i've been thinking about it all day, and i'm still not 100% sure how to articulate what bothers me about it.
i suppose the major problem is the use of "autistic" as an insult. some of us have moved on from using terms associated with other disabilities as insults - "lame" & "retarded" spring immediately to mind. i'm not sure if these are mainly north-americanisms, but wherever you are, i'm sure you can think of more/others - i was horrified, when i first moved to the uk 10 years ago, to hear someone use the term "mong" in casual conversation (short for mongoloid, a word of truly sketchy origin & usage). there was also an accompanying face. luckily i haven't heard that one in years, so maybe it's fallen out of use as well (fingers crossed...).
but is that just because they're being replaced with new insults, taken from words used for other, newer minority/disenfranchised groups? things like autism, ADHD, OCD and other neurological disorders are relatively new discoveries (previously, it's probably likely that someone like me would have simply fallen under the now-defunct umbrella of "retarded", "mentally handicapped", or simply "crazy"). apparently, the word "autistic" has become popular in recent years in colloquial french to refer to anyone who is stubborn/doesn't listen, & is used every day in the political world and media (according to the times online article linked to above). nice. so, is "autistic" the new "retarded"? i'm not sure what to think about that.

reassurances

please take reassurance in this fact:

the test knitting is being properly supervised at all stages.

preparations

sometimes, i think i like the preparations for a new project even more than i like knitting it. printing out the pattern, choosing the yarn, carefully selecting needle sizes, and winding all the yarn into sturdy, squat yarn cakes.

but then, seeing the project taking shape is pretty fun too - especially when it's as beautiful as this one is (check out the amazing cabled section!).

i've been chosen to be a test knitter for the gorgeous adeline coat (ravelry project page link, but lucy has a beautiful photo of hers on flickr), a new design from lucy sweetland designs (a black pepper). i'm pretty excited about this project - it's a stunning design, and i'm quite honoured to be trusted with the test knitting, and to be among the first to make it. it's a great combination of the simple & the intricate, and despite some initial gauge issues, i'm almost done the first sleeve already, even though i only cast on for it on saturday.
i've got a "deadline" (not officially demanded, but politely requested) of 3-4 weeks, which seems manageable, so expect to see a lot more about this project over the next while, as everything else will be taking a back seat! it's no hardship, though - this project is making me very happy.

o'keeffe cardigan

the seasons are changing here, and fall/winter is definitely edging in. the skies are shifting to gray, and it's getting dark quite early here now. one of the things i found difficult in my first year in scotland (and still find difficult now) is how dark & gray the winters are here. it never really gets that cold here in the winter, but the lack of light & colour is something i struggle with year after year - so it's important to find things to combat that grayness that starts to settle in this time of year.

merino aran in "limes" from fyberspates

something bright & vivid, in a soft & cozy merino, is perfect for chasing away the grays. this yarn was my one & only yarn purchase from this summer's ravelry day in coventry (i ended up being far too busy to browse the other vendor's stalls, and just snatched this up on my way back from the loos - the colour shouted out to me!) i've been knitting with fine-gauge yarns so much lately that i'd forgotten how quickly an aran weight knits up, and it's rapidly becoming the tilted duster cardigan from the interweave knits fall 2007 magazine.

interweave fall 2007 cover shot

the only problem with this project? i can't get georgia o'keeffe out of my head. & here's why - before i cast on for the cardigan, i had this conversation with the RSA.

me: (holding the interweave magazine so the RSA can see the cover shot of the cardigan) what do you think about this cardigan? i think i'm going to make it.
the RSA: hm... are you going to change it, or knit it just like that?
me: well, i'm probably going to knit the bottom "skirt" section plain, instead of having the ribbing at the fronts, and make it a little wider so there's more overlap.
the RSA: oh, ok!
me: why do you ask?...
the RSA: well..... knitted like that, it kind of looks like..... ah..... well, it looks like a..... vagina.
me: oh.

(scroll on back up & take another look at the magazine cover shot - you know you want to.)

well, what can you say after that? i'd already planned to change the ribbing at the bottom, because it draws a lot of attention to the belly area, & i don't really need any extra attention there! (weirdly enough, lots of folk on ravelry have knitted this as a pregnancy cardi, so i'm clearly not alone in thinking it's a style that draws focus to the belly). but now, all i can think of is georgia o'keeffe's flower paintings:

"well, I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my flower you hung all your own associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my flower as if I think and see what you think and see of the flower - and I don't."
(georgia o'keeffe)

yarn club - october!

the first yarn club mailing is all packed up & ready to go! unfortunately, i'm still waiting to receive a couple of the little things i'd planned to include as "extras" in this mailing. but since the postal service is going on strike for 48 hours at the end of this week (thursday/friday), i decided it was better to get these parcels out as soon as possible - even though i don't have everything that i wanted to include - in the hopes that the UK ones would be delivered well before thursday, and the non-UK ones would at least have cleared the UK before any strike action! the missing few little things will just have to go out with the november mailing instead, so everyone will get extra "extras" next month. i went back & forth on this a lot, and in the end, decided that it was better for everyone to get their yarn on time and include the treats in next month's mailing than to have this month's mailing be delayed.
it will all go in the post first thing tomorrow morning, & i'm really nervous - it's the first time i've done a yarn club, and it still boggles my mind that so many people have been willing to hand over their hard-earned yarn money to me, without knowing anything about what they'll be getting, and just trust me to send them something good. so fingers crossed - it's all heading out to you tomorrow, and i hope you like it!!