No, said Aziraphale, it's ineffable.

alittlemothboy

that is some next level knot magic.

elodieunderglass

it isn’t though!!! it’s because most relationships aren’t worth the effort. The “sweater curse” is actually most commonly called the “BOYFRIEND sweater curse.” Which=heteronormative, but the curse most often falls on a woman knitting a sweater for a boyfriend. Before she finishes the sweater, they break up - pop culture would have you believe it’s because the boyfriend freaks out do to the weirdness/clinginess of having a sweater made for you, but I think knitters are wiser than that.

It’s because after spending serious £££ on materials, and then HUNDREDS OF HOURS OF LABOR on the creation of the item, with every stitch a prayer of totally focused intent, creating a large display of technical skill - it is then gifted to a non-knitter who does NOT APPRECIATE the work/effort/skill/cost/TIME it took to make it, and in fact thinks you’re a bit weird and making a big deal out of a piece of clothing, and after they go “oh thanks” and shove your creation in the cupboard next to a sweater they got for £15 at an M&S sale, then they never wear your sweater because it’s too tight because when you asked them how their favorite sweaters usually fit they said “I ‘unno” and when you measured them for the fifth time and asked, rather tersely, if they had enough room in the chest, they said “I guess,” and then if pressed they say they don’t really like the sweater design, but then you point out that they were supposed to participate in helping you design it and they say they don’t really care about how things look, and when you say that you tried to match it to their other clothes so how can they hate it, then they say that honestly their mother still buys all their clothes because they hate going shopping, and that they hate all their other clothes too, well. That’s when a sensible knitter goes “Fuck this shit. And you know what? Fuck this man.”

This is what happens when someone posts in a knitting forum “Attack of the sweater curse!” - this is the usual story. It has a rigid plot. It is as old as myth.

That’s when you look at the time you spent and realize, “I could LITERALLY have written the first draft of a novel instead of doing this.” That’s when you go “I could have taken that £200 and bought myself a new wardrobe.” That’s when you go “I could have taken all that intent, all that willpower, all that creative force, and laid down some fucking witchcraft, all right?” That’s when you go “I basically spent 100 hours straight thinking about this bastard while making something amazing for him, and I have no evidence that he ever spent 10 hours of his life thinking about me.”

And “I could spend this time and energy and money in making myself an enormous, intricate heirloom silk shawl with just a touch of cashmere, in elvish twists and leafy lace in all the colors of the night, shot through with subtly glittering stars, warm in winter and cool and summer and light as a lover’s kiss on the shoulders, suitable for draping over my arms at weddings or wrapping myself in to watch the sea, a lace-knotted promise to myself that I will keep for my entire life and gift to my favorite granddaughter when I die, and she will wear it to keep alive my memory - but instead I have this sweater, and this fuckboy.”

The sweater curse is a lesson that the universe gives to a knitter at an important point in their life. It is a gift.

Knitting a sweater for a husband or wife generally doesn’t call down the curse, because the relationship is meant to be stronger than 4-ply.

(Although I say this, but I’ve taken over 5 years to finish a pair of mittens for my husband, because he casually asked me to do something customized with the cables, and I still can’t get the math to work on the right hand.)

eartheld

this post is so much better with that commentary

Cardassian Memory and Truth

milatheregnar

I’M FINALLY WRITING THIS SHIT DOWN

This line is all very cute and witty and everything but I think Garak does believe it. I wouldn’t be surprised if most Cardassians believe.

Heres why:

In A Stitch in Time, Garak describes Cardassians experiencing all memories at all times. All of a Cardassians memories are experienced as the present. If this is true than one may presume that memories do not fade and distort to the same extent as human ones.

NOW here’s the thing about that.

The issue of perception and truth (in something less than a philosophical sense) is presented by scenarios such as those in the show Brain Games.

In this particular example its possible a Cardassian would notice the switch due to the memory of the previous clerk being present. However there are other instances that I can’t seem to find clips of things such as clowns on unicycles going largely unseen on a college campus.

Suppose two Cardassians were walking down a street and they were passed by a unicycle. Both saw it but only in their peripheral vision.

One noticed and got a good look at it and one did not. A good look can be nothing more than a slight movement of the eye, presuming that only a small part of the Cardassian feild of vision is finely focused, as it is in humans.

The first remarks about it to the other but when he turns to look it has already rounded a corner out of sight.

Both have a memory existing in their mind with the rest of their life’s memories in that moment. One features a unicycle. One does not.

The second Cardassian that did not see is left with only a few possibilities

his friend is lying to him

his memory is fake (unlikely to be accepted as a memory that is always experienced as the present would likely be clear as bell)

he and his friends had two distinct experiences of reality that are both experienced as Truth but are incompatible

It gets a lot more messy when you move to more complicated things.

You don’t remember shouting at your mom. She definitely does. Your memories are contradictory.

Now imagine EVERYTHING YOU HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED is subject to this.

You would have to assume everyone no matter how trusted is lying to you.

Or you have to face the fact every person you encounter experiences reality in a way that they perceive as truth and may not be compatible with your own.

Its the “is the blue you see the blue I see?” quandary expanded to all of reality.

If this is the case, its hardly surprising that Cardassians would not believe in an ultimate Truth the way the average Star Fleet officer does.

Groups collect nearly 10,000 names supporting use of $1 billion for coal regions

A citizens group is making a push this week for a proposal to free up $1 billion for reclamation work in struggling coal communities like Eastern Kentucky. Members of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth delivered petitions with almost 10,000 names to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s offce Monday.

Warcraft II - Peasants and Mazes

nowrongwaytoplay

Via user supermoon10:

Me and my sister, occasionally my brother, used to play WII multiplayer religiously. Except we never fought each other.
We’d set up as enemies, enable walls, and then each pick our favourite peon and peasant. We’d stick them together (being the only class that doesn’t actively start attacking each other when together), build a wall around them, and name them (almost always Tom and Bob, or Tom and Joe). Then we’d build elaborate mazes and circuses around that box, usually with a gladiator ring to occasionally send enemies into to fight. Anything was game, the only rules being Never Kill Tom and Bob. The box around them, of course, was to stop enemy troops from auto-attacking when they got near.
We’d pretty much just cover the entire map in wall-mazes and designs. Sometimes cut mazes into trees.

See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Cardassian Memory and Truth

Groups collect nearly 10,000 names supporting use of $1 billion for coal regions

Warcraft II - Peasants and Mazes