And She Knits Too!

Awareness and Super Models and a funny feeling I can't describe...

I have psoriasis.  I've had it since I was about 15, and it is a big pain in the ass.

Actually, it's not painful at all, it's itchy, unsightly and inconvenient.  The first two are self-explanatory; having big red scaly flaky patches of skin due to a believes -to -be -screw -up in one's immune system leading to the overproduction of skin cells isn't so great.  It's also inconvenient because in my desire to rid myself of itchiness and unsightliness I have to undergo treatments of varying levels of effectiveness that take up my time--applying creams twice a day over most of my body, and right now, undergoing phototherapy 3 times a week (it takes about 10 minutes, but I have to get there etc).  Inconvenience also arises whenever I need to buy clothes for the skin-baring months--I'm very happy 3/4 sleeves are big this year, they hide my elbows.  Or when your kids want to go to the local pool and you're not up for being all spotty.  We won't speak about those fancy occasions when I might need to wear a dress or bare my arms.  Inconvenient.

Those complaints aside, it's not so bad in the spectrum of immune-system diseases or other chronic conditions.  It doesn't cause pain, disability, mental illness or general unwellness.  It won't debilitate or kill me.  I do have a higher risk of developing a form of rheumatiod arthitis, and my kids might develop it (which would suck), but that's about it.  It's itchy and ugly and I've learned to live with it.

So, when I discovered that America's Next Top Model Winner CariDee English has become the spokesperson for the National Psoriasis foundation, I had mixed feelings.

I *get* all the talk about awareness that we hear whenever any celebrity is associated with a cause or disease.  I *get* that awareness may lead to more research money, less stigmatization, a greater understanding of why that person might be wearing long pants and a long sleeved shirt in the summer, and all that the promise of awareness might bring.

But I dislike platitudes like these: "Psoriasis awareness is very important to me.  I want other with the disease to know they are not alone.  I want to inspire them to live their dreams."

Bleh.

Live my dreams?  Inspire me?  Huh?  Bleh.

My dreams haven't been tied to how I look. It may be inconvenient, but psoriasis doesn't slow me down.

Or "She spent years gathering information and trying various treatments.  Her psoriasis persisted but so did CariDee.  She maintained an optimistic outlook and a vision of becoming a model.  After a hard-won acceptance of the disease, and visits to three different dermatologists to find a treatment that works for her, she is living her dream."

Hard work, persistence, struggle, determination.  The usual triumph over tragedy story.  She changed from ugly duckling to beautiful swan or rather Top Model swan.

Does CariDee as the "face" of psoriasis, send a message of hope to sufferers of this condition or raise the bar a whole hell of a lot?

While I don't want to dismiss the emotional toll of psoriasis, I do want to state that having a beautiful face attached to this cause again privileges beauty as the most important thing.  The new (super expensive) biologics that CariDee English uses to control her psoriasis have both mild and nasty side effects. 

Is this another case of suffering to be beautiful?  What happens to her if the drugs stop working?  Does the Psoriasis foundation still want her as a spokesperson? 

And for those of us who choose not to do "everything that we can" to control our psoriasis?  Will we be slackers?  The ugly and unfortunate? (the drugs she is taking cost about $2000 a month and will only be paid for by insurance after you've tried everything else).  More stigmatized for not using the options available?  A quick surf on CariDee shows that a lot of people want to know what she's using and how they can get it so they can look as good as her.  But maybe that's the point.  I bet Raptiva is mighty happy that she's around.

Me?  I'm not sure I want to trade the good health I have now with clear skin. 

Or feel like I need to "look good to feel better".

The thing about a disease that affects your physical appearance is that it's only a problem if the person who has it thinks its a problem.  Most of the time, I don't really think much about it.  However, in the world we live in, how one looks is pretty important, especially for women.  As someone who tries to fight against the norms of physical beauty attached to women (even when I feel like I fail miserably)  having a spokesperson who is beautiful as her profession just doesn't sit right with me. 

I'm not sure I've articulated this fully.  But I've been mulling it over for about a week now and wanted to write about it. 

Any thoughts?

It all started like this...

Thursday, March 20, 2003

So I decided to add one more thing to my crazy schedule and try my hand at blogging. I'm not even sure what I will put on my blog. But for now it's a good place to talk about my dissertation (but not today) and my knitting. Tonight, now that the kiddies are asleep I'm going to work on the Einstein coat I'm making for my son. It's a nice easy, no thinking, sit in front of the tv project. Just what I need today after hurting my brain trying to start writing my method chapter.

8:14 PM

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Here I am five years later (on a Thursday no less), still blogging. I started on Blogger and moved here to Typepad about 6 months later. In five years I've composed 9041 posts, had 966 956 visitors, received two silver Canadian Blog awards, and have read more than 900 comments. I really appreciate those comments; I love hearing from my readers and love being part of the knitblog community.

I certainly didn't realize what I got myself into when I started five years ago, but I'm very happy that I took the plunge and started to write. This has been the only journal that I've ever kept consistently and I don't cringe when I read the old posts (unlike the stuff I wrote when I was 13--wince). Though maybe my kids will be horrified when they realize their mother has been documenting their lives on the internet with her geeky knitting habit and feminist rantings.

I'll let you know in another five years.

Obay Revealed

The Torontoist was right, Obay is an ad campaign launched by Colleges Ontario which represents what are generally known as "community colleges" in the province.  We Canadians do not call universities college like American's do and while the differences between the two are blurring for a whole bunch of reasons, they remain distinct entities.  The Obay campaign is designed to tell kids to dis-Obay their parents and examine colleges more fully when considering post-secondary education.

I must admit I was hoping for something more satirical (maybe a Stepford Teens movie), but that's just me.

I'm pleased to see my "alma-mater" twisting the message for their campaign on fees. 

I have nothing against college education, it serves a useful role in society, training people in a range of fields.  That's a good thing.  It is different from university which may train people for particular jobs, but which really teaches a range of critical thinking skills that would be useful in a range of professions i.e. it's less applied in it's focus.  The reason why these options exist is because university isn't for everyone (and having been in university in some way or another for 20 years I strongly believe this).

But it does seem like an odd message: "Rebel against your parents: Go to college." 

And it's telling parents that they might not know what's best for their kids--that's never a good sell. 

Lastly, as a university person, there's an interesting undercurrent to the press-release that colleges are the better place to go.  I don't recall seeing such a direct message in the past.  Will a new ad campaign by universities follow?

Viral marketing is an interesting tactic.  The success of this one will depend on the follow-through.  Their next message will need to be as compelling as the Obay ads.  Time will tell.

Two Tales from the TTC

It's still winter.  Seventy (70!) cm of snow have fallen on me and my city since the beginning of February and my whole rant about how I wanted the weather to decide between Spring and Winter and not switch rapidly between the two has given me what I wanted.  Damned fates.

(This is before the snow we got on Monday, that snow bank would be  higher than the van's license plate now).

I will say that it is very pretty (even though it's hard to walk) and the kids love it and are playing outside every night (even though someone "accidentally" took home Emma's snowpants from daycare and have not returned them and it is IMPOSSIBLE to find snowpants in Canada in February) and it is still sweater weather (though I never have time to knit).

Prettiness at U of T (Brainy and I had lunch on those benches this summer)

The bad part about Winter is that I don't ride my bike to work (I don't care what you tell me, I'm not riding on snowy roads with cars) and I have to suffer my commute on the Toronto Transit Commission subways. 

I'm a huge advocate for public transit.  It keeps some of the cars off the roads and out of the way when I ride my bike, it's good for the environment and it is economical compared to car ownership and parking.  However, in the last year I've noticed that either ridership has gone up and/or service frequency has gone down and the subway cars (and buses and streetcars) are always jammed packed with people.  Packed with annoying people who think they deserve personal space or who don't actually move into the middle of the car, but clog up the doors and don't take kindly to me forcing my way in by using my training as a rugby player and generally pushy broad. 

Forgive me, but I NEED to say this.

Walk into the middle of the fucking car for fuck's sake so those of use who get on after you have some fucking room to get in.  Don't hang out in the door.  Don't tell me I'm a bitch for pushing you in further or pushing past you to get into the middle.  Don't think you can do a sudoko or your mascara and that your fare provides you with a meter wide perimeter around your body.  Shove in and suck it up and share the fucking car with the rest of us on the platform.

Now that I have that off my chest, I should start with tale two: a funny thing I saw on this morning's commute to work.  It looked like a run of the mill subway ad, until I read the copy.

When Amy started thinking for herself, we had to nip it in the bud with Obay

From the makers of WhyBecauseISaidYouShould

There was no website, no company name, nothing.  Funny.

With my curiousity in all things popular culture piqued, I did some googling when I got to work and found very little.  Here's another ad:

From the few things I found, it appears that these ads are on public transit spaces only in Canada and there is no web presence for the campaign.

Curiouser.

~

For background/context, in Canada it is illegal to advertise prescription drugs in any way including media ads, free mugs and pencils and prescription pads, inducements for physicians etc.  This is VERY different from the US where it seems like every second there is a new drug ad in your face.  There is a collection of academic research which shows that advertising does change both patient requests and doctors' behaviours in the prescribing of drugs so the ban on advertising makes some sense (I should also note that Canada and the US have different perspectives on the notions of "free speech" within which this advertising ban, while challenged by big pharma, is not a violation of Canadian laws). 

However, there have been a number of ads popping up which mention a drug but do not make any reference to what the drug is for or make any health claims.  They say things like: "Ask your doctor about Celebrex" or "This girl is Flalesse" and bank on consumer awareness that you'll know the first is for arthritis and the second is the Pill.  They are trying to work around the ban and my understanding is that they're succeeding.   And people are complaining.

This Canadian context makes "Obay" much more interesting.  Is it a comment on the "pill for every ill" society we live in?  The idea that we feel that certain social behaviours require a medical behaviour (social anxiety disorder anyone?)  Or is it a test of the advertising laws?  Or a flashy way for an ad company to show off its talents?

I'm not sure, but I decided to add to the very small web discussion and essentially play the game I think the ad is asking me to join. They want to create some sort of buzz (and since transit ads aren't cheap, this is not a minor investment) and I want to see where it goes. 

If you're out and about and see any of these ads, feel free to pass them along.  I probably wouldn't have played if they weren't so clever.  They remind me of this "campaign" (be warned there is music on the site) which is part satire and part "give me money", but is also a great culture jam.

Looking Ahead to Spring

The convergence of two things have led me to think of Spring knitting. 

1. I started blocking the pieces of Roam (I have the raglan shaping on the last piece to go, but everything else will be dry by then so I can start seaming!).  When it's done I can start a Spring sweater. 

2. It was -30C with the windchill this morning and I need something to make me feel like winter will end at some point.

Last year I bought a bag of Rowan Calmer in Refresh (a turquoise blue) with every intention of making Maris from Rowan 41.  My first Spring sweater will use this yarn, but for what?

A trip through Ravelry provided some ideas.

1. Loll

2. Maris, it looks heavier than I want due to the rib pattern and I'm not so sure about the neck line, so it's down the list all the sudden.

3. Granite (the gauge is the same and I think it would be a good bamboo substitute)

4. Cece

5. A run of the mill but very useful top down raglan cardi.

6. Erin

Not sure about the peplum though.

7. Clover (or my version of it because I don't want to buy a Kim Hargreaves kit).  Shoot, now that I'm looking around the site, maybe I do want a kit. 

Really, this is exactly what I want--round neck, raglan, work-appropriate.  I wonder if she'll sub Calmer because I don't want to knit it in 100% cotton.  It isn't an exact sub though.  I could just make it up right?

I really like this one too--wool cotton is a nice  yarn:

Votes and suggestions are welcome.  A worsted weight cardi-jacket is what I want for my Calmer..

Granite and Bamboo

Michelle brought her copy of Rowan 43 to the Bohus class (it was so new I swear I could smell the ink) and I affirmed my love of this sweater:

I see myself in some dressy wide legged khaki pants and that sweater looking fresh and breezy (run with this okay?  I like thinking of Spring and me as "breezy") (Craig: tread lightly in the comments).  It's also an easy knit.

BUT.

I hear that bamboo yarn isn't so great.  That it grows until that slit in the front is something like the opening to a tent where you walk in and out of your sweater if you're not careful (or worse, a camisoled boob pops out while your talking with your boss' boss who has letters like V and P in his title). 

So, any comments on Rowan Bamboo Tape or other Bamboo yarns are welcome  I like the idea of bamboo--drape, coolness, anti-bacterial properties and sustainable fibre production, but I don't want to buy 16 balls of knitting disaster.  I also think even a big swatch will not give me the answers I need.  Substitution suggestions are also welcome.

Just a little rant about shopping

The Canadian dollar is at a record high.  Right now it is trading at $1.07687 USD.  This is the inverse of what it has been for most of my life.  It means our economy is booming.  It also means that goods which sell in both markets should be approximately the same price.  No let me say that again, they should be the same price.

I'm taking your advice and going for something down.  I plead temporary insanity for my last few coat posts likely caused by watching too much What Not to Wear.  I loved my last down coat and see no reason to go back.  (I may keep one of the wool ones for right now, but come January I'll be walking in some sort of duvet).  What clinched it was seeing a woman looking tres warm and chic in a North Face down parka like this.

(It's a bit eerie without a body in it).

I thought it a tad warm to be wearing this already.  But it was pouring rain and windy and really damp and she clearly didn't own handknits, so she can be forgiven.  She looked cozy and I'm all for that. 

I did a bit of online browsing (since actual in person shopping time is tough for me).  The above jacket (Metropolis parka)  is about $279 USD and $400 CDN.  Taking my trusty currency converter it should actually be about $259 CDN--that $140 difference is a lot of yarn money.

I also really like this one--the Arctic parka.  I like those furry hoods.

$299 USD, $450 CDN.  Should be about $277.

Now I know that retailers probably bought the coats for more since they probably bought stock last year and shouldn't completely bear the brunt of this rant.  But really--everyone is making a bundle here.  I know that wholesale is 50 to 75%  less than retail so they're not losing out.  Usually, the more upmarket something is, the more the prices are marked up from wholesale.  I know they're a higher end coat, but I also know that my Gap puffy coat lasted only 3 years before the down fell to the bottom (I was cold for the last half of last winter) so I'm also a proponent of "you get what you pay for" and frankly, I can afford it so why not?

So I'm going to try some on here and figure out how to get one from the US.  (This place in Florida(?!) has them on sale.) 

Interestingly, most of the big places like Altrec say they can't ship them outside of the US.  If I was Fox Mulder, I would say it's a conspiracy to keep me cold.

Rant over.  I won't even get into the price difference for TVs or books.

Monkey-Talk

This low-impact living thing is complicated.  There are some great comments in the last post about the true efficiency of Blackle (I have been chastened) and the routes to sustainability.  I found the fact that modern life is bad for the environment particularly interesting.  But I'm not sure where to go with that.  Sure we could use a whole lot less Happy Meal-toys and other crap (I love this satire on it) but I also like living in a centrally heated home with a fridge and stove, so I also want to balance progress (ie not living in a cave or sod hut) and comfort within this whole process, so keep those comments coming--I like when this blog has dialogue (especially since I've been a bit light on the blogging this month).

I do have a sock to show:

I love the fit and it was fun to knit.  The yarn behaved very nicely with no pooling and overall I'm very pleased. 

Tonight I'll start the second one.  I'm still in barefoot mode, but I know Fall is approaching...

That's because I'm off to Rhinebeck again!  I was dithering a bit about it because I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with life and work and everything, but my very sweet husband kicked my ass and I asked for the time off and me and my pal Keri are goin' on a road trip to Rhinebeck!

Fade to Black, Back in Black, Back to Black...

Black is where it's at. 

 

Apparently, a Black google would save a lot of energy.  At least that's what the folks at Blackle are saying.  I think it's neat so it's now my new home page.  It's a Google powered search engine, so what's not to like?  I use Google Mail, Calendar, Scholar and Maps a whole bunch so I do miss having a direct link from the Google page. 

Does doing this really make a difference?  I figure it can't hurt.  I don't mind taking the ton of feathers approach as long as there are some big changes happening too.  Not that my Prime Minister is aiding that. 

ADDED LATER: A quick search shows that the savings may not be all that considerable (and that white on black is hard on the eyes). This article provides some great ways to save lots of energy.  I should really do more of these.  I tend to leave my laptop on all the time (with the lid closed) which I'm sure hogs power.  Even pulling the power cord out would be better.  And I didn't even consider the DSL modem and router.  Though I confess I like having a house where I can just be on the internet wherever. 

Guess I have some work to do.

Speaking of the little things--anyone know of an alternative to North American GU10 halogen bulbs?  My house is almost exclusively lit with these and my hydro bill is crazy and I know they're energy hogs.  I assume something will change once the provincial ban on incandescents goes through in 2012, but I'm willing to make the switch now. 

WIP Roundup

I used to be a 3 projects + socks kinda knitter, but I drifted.

Thing is, I don't like the idea of having too many projects on the needles at one time--it just messes with my type-A, keep things organized, have control personality.  The other thing is, I have the urge to knit a whole bunch of new things on top of what I'm knitting now, so I need to just make a list and see where I come out at the end.

I suppose I could do all this in Ravelry, but I'm still getting thing organized over there, and while I love the whole idea of the place, I still like the blog medium better.

Current WIPs and their ontological status (from oldest to newest):

1. Colourwork classic.  I actually picked this up and started working on the sleeve again this week.  So I guess I'm not ready to let this one go, despite the fact that it's 2.5 years old and reflects my emerging skills in stranded knitting.

2. Collette.  Lace and Intarsia and craziness.  I think I want to own this one more than I want to wear it since I haven't touched it since about February.  I'm also too lazy to unravel it right now so it's in knitting limbo--fate to be determined.

3. Grey Mist.  Bohus beauty.  This will get made.  I don't like the fuzziness of angora when the weather is hot, so it might just be a while.  I already see myself wearing it this winter.  Yum.

4. Sherbie.  Simple mindless knitting that go put away for summer.  I'll finish this in the Fall and return Anmiryam's book.

5. Honey.  Soccer Knitting.  I think the sweater is going to be too short for me, but I don't want to rip back.  If it doesn't fit me, it'll look great on Mom.  I really should make this my Summer priority so I can wear it a few times before it's too cold.

And I started a sock because at the time sock knitting was what I could handle.  The Vesper Yarn was a trade with Anmiryam and I love it.  So do all the kids at the soccer games, who are amazed that socks are made, not bought at the store.

Okay, now that makes me feel a bit focused.  But only a bit.  I already have some Zephyr lace yarn on the way from Red Bird Knits (in onyx) and beads from Earthfaire to make another shawl. 

And I really really want this Hip in Hemp skirt from the new Knitty (I get to see the patterns months before you do and I've been wanting this one for a while).  Thankfully I'm stuck on colour choice.  I need to find this yarn in Toronto so I can make a decision.  I'm thinking Brown, Turquoise, Orange and Sand. 

   

And then Michelle, spotter of all the good new knits, alerted me to a new Hanne Falkenberg that I will buy as soon as I figure out what colour I want (though I'm leaning toward that green because it's so gorgeous).

Do you ever feel like there is just *too* much great knitting out there that you will never get to do? 

Now back to editing manuscripts...I tend to organize for procrastination, it makes me feel productive when I'm avoiding other tasks.  But now deadlines loom, I'll treat myself to a few rows once the first article is sent back to the journal.