Side to Side

Someone glanced at my knitting and exclaimed, "Don't you ever knit a sweater side to side, the normal way?"

"Why would I want to do that, when so many others do it so well?"

(15 of 30 motifs so far.)

I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill

I've finished 13 of 30 apple core units so far. This is the back, without one last row of units on the bottom.
The units are very stretchy and I can block them to make the sweater longer than it is wide. After blocking, I see that I could have knitted the smallest size, with 28 stitches per unit. I am going to plow ahead with the 33 stitch units and make it large enough for layering.

There is no avoiding the twisted K or P through back loops. See how they make the knit column of stitches stand out in bas relief?
Doesn't it make you want to sing?

I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill
On Blueberry Hill when I found you
The moon stood still on Blueberry Hill
And lingered until my dreams came true

Sing the rest.

Prior post:
Blueberry Strawberry Hill

LACMA Sunday

The palm tree is on the scrim, the cloudy sky is real.
Mark and Iris went to a book reading while I visited the Vanity Fair Portraits exhibit. Then Iris and I relaxed in the LACMA bookstore while Mark saw it. I learned much more from the show than the mediocre reviews led me to expect. The first part of the exhibit showed the BACKS of photos, bearing stamps and signatures. They were a window in how the photography and magazine worlds operated. Don't miss the letter from Conde Nast to Cecil Beaton, urging him to agree to a large pay cut, but continue to honor the magazine exclusivity part of the agreement. I was also surprised to learn that, in 1934, $12,000/year would be a large pay cut for Cecil Beaton. I only wish that the placards gave more technical information like the type of print process, or how the photographers achieved some of the effects.
The La Brea Tarpits adjacent to the LACMA complex.
There is much civic boosterism about a "Subway to the Sea" running down Wilshire Boulevard (beyond the fence in the picture) from downtwon LA to Santa Monica Beach. That works well in theory, when you are staring at a map of transportation patterns. But, think about it geologically.

The subway would need to run through underground fields of tar. Can you see the bubbling methane in the photograph? How can you tunnel through that and ventilate the tunnel so that the methane doesn't build up to dangerous levels? Scientists in the USC geology department have strongly cautioned that a subway under Wilshire would be too costly and too dangerous.