Still Going Strong

...AND THEY TURNED OUT TO BE A FINE MEASURE OF COMMON SENSE...AS SOME PEOPLE HAVEN'T A THIMBLE FULL

Thanks Mr. P, I learned something new today...digatabulist...wasn't familiar with the word...though I spelled it digitabulist as that made more sense to me... until I checked your spelling again.

It's funny, once or twice I've thought that maybe at least one or two of my thimbles might be worth something more than just my appreciation, but until this topic was brought up on the Eye, I hadn't really thought too much about valuing my thimbles...Maybe the time is right for getting an evaluation. Hey, maybe I can retire!

I voted "Corkscrew" up above, because it isn't really clear what kind of, Button ... Peterman is referring to ....... There have been, in times past, 'Buttons' that certainly, Got Me Going ... as it says ... especially after I learned to disengage them gingerly, with my Teeth .......  A little more Data could really have changed the outcome of the Vote !!! 
 
I inherited a rather substantial Thimble Collection, made pf all kinds of different materials (a lot of Leather) including some used b Sail Makers ... from a distant Cousin's Grandmother, who thought I was a pleasant fellow, and knew of my appreciation for Antiquities ... the Ceramic ones are all Hand Painted, and the Metal ones, most of them, are Enameled and Hand Painted too ... I also got the Guns and complete Shot Glass Collections of a fellow named, Jack O'Niel when he left us ... One of the finest Men that God ever put on the earth ... I divided the Thimbles among my Daughters, about sixty apiece, and am still using the other two Collections to ths very day ....... Some things one just does not get rid of, no matter how many he might have .......

Safety pins, Wonder Web, double sided sticky tape, staple gun ...... I am no needlewoman. My skills start and stop at sewiing on a button, even that being a challenge, as I need new specs and cannot see well enough to  thread a needle. In school, they had all the girls sewing cross-stich samplers while the boys did woodwork. My effort, which was never completed, resembled an old floorcloth by the end of term. The splendid embroidered robes of kings, queens, bishops and such are most impressive, as are the lovely folksy bed-quilts made of patchwork.

Well, Mr Peterman, today's poll is one of those questions. Somebody told me that sewing thimbles are some magic charm against getting a little prick.
My favourite small tool is my Swiss Army Kinife. Does everything and then some.

My  favorite  tool  that  fixes  small  problems  (as  opposed  to  being  small  itself)  is  a  plyers  that  has  the  capacity  to  get  into  tiny  places,  and  do  delicate  work,  or   retrieve  delicate  items.  Like  a  giraffe,  it  must  have  a  long  skinny  neck.  This  device  even  helps  me  untie  shoe  knots  that  have  gotten  wet  and  entrenched,   the  kind  that  threaten  to  make  you  cut  the  laces  just  to  get  out  of  the  boots.  I  have  clients,  "stoners,"  that  use  special  sewing  scissors  to  hold  joints,  but  that's  merely  an  example  of  how  tools  are  neutral  as  to  legitimacy  of  purpose.   Both  policemen  and  robbers  use  firearms..... >>>>>Enjoying  the  day  away  from  the office,  I  hope  all  had  a  good  extended  weekend!<<<< 

In my line of work, my knives are most important tools. Choosing just one would be disloyal...my Dad taught me some good tricks in other areas using a dime (or ten cent piece as my friend from Amsterdam would call it)...a thimble strikes me as a good 1 teaspoon measure but when it comes to sewing, like Hazel, I am afraid I am in the duct tape and staples group. Great week everyone!

Haahaahaa, Chef Deb ~ I have resorted to duct tape to turn up trousers! Concering knives - that's very Cheffy, but I have knives I will not allow other people to use. It comes upon a par with child abuse or something. I know other people who feel the same, so we are not entirely mad.

Good morning all! Oh Jane, when I saw the article, I thought of you immediately. What wonderful collections you have! Are the antique buttons too rare and precious to be displayed around your home, like in a bottle? I imagine they would make great conversation topics!  I can work the needle in the most basic way, so don't use the thimble at all, but here's my contribution to the topic...a timeline of the history of thimbles.
http://www.google.com.au/search?sourceid=ie7&q=thimbles+chinese&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7ASUT_en___AU383&redir_esc=&ei=hoK1TfmjDYLKrAeP99TIDQ#sclient=psy&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us%3AIE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7ASUT_en___AU383&tbs=tl:1&source=hp&q=history+of+thimbles+timeline&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&fp=adc75c724235a1a0
 
 
My personal tool of trade is probably the Golden mean calipers. It automatically breaks up a whole into 0.382 and 0.618. I use it for technical analysis of price charts
http://holyholo.com/caliper.htm
 

CD ~
I bet more people are cut with dull knives than sharp ones. Yes?
Passing through a professional kitchen just in time to see the chef alienate the last of his assistants, five had walked out and several had taken their knives, a pretty good sign that they weren't planning on coming back.
All that remained for him to accomplish three settings of sixty fat, thick and juicy-looking lamb chops each, was to trim the fat for his senior diners and bung them (the chops) on a huge grill top.
He hacked away at a few and then stood at the back door to cajole, threaten and curse the departed staff.
I rolled up my sleeves, washed my hands and peeled the fat off ten chops in two minutes. Then, just to show off, did that little connective tissue membrane as well.
"How," he wondered in amazement, "did you know to do that?"
"How," I wondered back, "did you not?"

We usually cook lamb outside to avoid the heavy, pervasive smell in the house but with the fat removed, it isn't too bad.

Stoney..you are correct Sir with regard to the dull knives...as for the lamb, I will bring the mint sauce and inhale the smell! Thats a perfect "chef" story!

HAZEL & CHEFDEB:  My Knives are kept in a seperate drawer from all the other implements ... and the One Knife that I use most often, which will split a hair, has its own place and Box within that Drawer, which os always Locked unless I am in the Kitchen ... My Prize is a Pre-WWII, High-Carbon Steel Chefs' Knife made by Von Henkles Twinworks in Solingen , Germany ... She is kept Razor Sharp, and has only lost about an inch since 1934, and is only Honed with the finest Bone China, to an edge so fine, so thin ... that it is impossible to see it ... a Surgical Scapel should be so fine .......

Jane, am sorry, the google link breaks up, you'll have to copy and paste the whole thing into the address bar to make it work :(

Thimble reminds me of a saying that the entire government of the country does not have a "thimbleful of common sense among the lot of them" intoned by a radio pundit recently. Sometimes when they are about to raise the national debt by trillions, I have to agree.
 
Like Hazel reminded us, my jr. high school required that girls produce an apron by sewing, and the boys produce a wooden birdhouse.  I well recall my yellow and blue plaid apron with its bib and ric-rack trim. I believe I earned a 95 on my aprong. (In 1986 the schools here still required this gender specific skill set, but my daughter was let down when her skirt rated only an 88 or so. )  Now, I think sewing has been removed from the high school curriculum in GA, and either sex may take the woodshop classes. The emphasis is on life skills for careers, and their decision was based on society needing more chefs than tailors.

Obviously, I would not get a 95 on my typing, as "aprong" is not a word that I know of!!"
 
Oh, Stoney, are you cooking lamb? I do love lamb!! Tell me how to cook it so tender that the knife (a sharp one of course) just glides through the chop! When I eat out, I usually look for the lamb on the menu. Is it hard to cook a leg of lamb? With mint jelly and garlic potatoes! A little sprig of rosemary on top.....divine!

On tools, I selected the wine opener, as that opens up a whole world of good taste and fine aroma that complements whatever you are having with it. I also like my kitchen scissors for various cutting jobs, and keep screwdrivers and pliers in the junk drawer of the kitchen as well. Yes, tools must be close at hand for whatever tweaking may arise! The thimble, not so much. Even when I darn or sew by hand, I seldom use one, except whent he fabric is thick and requires pushing the needle through.
 
 I like the various designs on the thimbles shown in the links above.....Spring, the Chinese ones have owls, bird, flowers, and look delicate....Thanks for the link. However, I'd be lost finding a use for the caliper. Kudos to you for such mathmatical delicacy.

Mooseloop! A leg of lamb practically cooks itself! And a boned out leg of lamb on the barbeque is a treat as well..

Ivan spoken like the true Chef that you are....I too have a special drawer. Oh yes blocks with knives on the counter but the drawer..personal and precious.

I remember the infamous skirt in HomeEc, but I believe my grade kept me off the Honor Roll that semester!

Bert~ The stoners in our part of the country used something called a hemostat, or arterial forceps, to hold their funny cigarettes.  I should think they'd be quite useful for undoing soggy shoelaces, also. ; )
 
 

Oh, yes, leg of lamb that cooks itself! I'm in...!! My dear roommate keeps our knives sharp, and has one that looks like a machete that scares me. If a baddie ever broke into the house, I'd run for that sucker before any other weapon! It stays sharp and he uses it to whack up the whole chicken into bits, or an edible animal part that needs separating...!
 
 
Jane  - The thimble collector's spelling seems to vary with the source. The articles at the sidebars spell it like you did...digitabulist, with the I, not the A.....see the link that uses the I.....and it is about thimble collectors. Maybe Mr. P types like we do sometimes (?)
 
 http://jmpsthoughts.typepad.com/musings/2008/02/digitabulist.html

Concerning common sense in thimbles and otherwise, Moose, I presume you're speaking of America. The thing about the "entire government of the country" is that it's an elected, representative government (see "of the people, by the people"), so that to say that such a government lacks sense is ultimately to suggest a citizenry that lacks sense. For instance, some Georgia citizens elected a represenative who would criminalize miscarriage in cases where it cannot be proven that there was "no human involvement whatsoever in causation," a horrifying notion for several reasons not leastly of which is the plain medical fact that doctors don't know (and therefore can't "prove" or "disprove") what causes the majority of miscarriages. The idea that a woman who has just miscarried should be immediately put on the defensive and presumed a felon unless and until she can prove otherwise is indeed chilling, especially considering how common spontaneous miscarriage is. So I sure wouldn't disagree that some representatives in government sure *seem* to lack common sense (or worse), but I do keep firmly in mind that key word "representative."  

Did someone say LAMB? With a side of Asparagus Timbales?

Perhaps a little music with dinner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjVysGQkO10

Stoney and ChefDeb,

 Yes a whole different critter with the "silver" removed. I wouldn't think of cooking lamb with that still intact.

Rack of lamb is the favorite here. I do make a mean lamb stew with cannellini, roasted tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, shallots, well you get the idea; served with "morethanathimblefull" of good red wine.

I have two of my Grandmother handmade quilts, totally hand stitched and quilted. As a child, I loved to go through her sewing box and would wear 3 or 4 thimbles on my hand, rapping them in rhythm on her kitchen table, as percussion to her gospel singing. I also can play the spoons, LOL.

Ivan, I'm sure you steamed past Thimble Shoals on your passages through Hampton Roads.

My favorite small tool? My brain....

Greetings: My favorite tool without a doubt is a Leatherman. It's like a Swiss army knife on steroids.

 
 
Ahoy, Capt. Neptune.
We keep one on the boat. We used it last to remove a ghost pot from the prop.

I'm very good at starting collections........and then petering out.  I tried teapots for awhile..too hard to store and display...I had a wonderful collection of buttons from my grandma, but gave them to a cousin who was very crafty (in a good way) and could put them to good use...for some insane reason when I was young, I liked to collect the hanging tags off of clothes!  (I would look at them and remember the article of clothing they came from---and then I cleaned that drawer and o-u-t they went!)  I guess my finest collection is my memories which I can/do share lavishly with others. I have and cherish handmade quilts from my grandma, as well, but I don't really call them a collection........My favorite small tool is a tie between the corkscrew and a tweezer.

MISS BLUE:  I certainly have, fleeing the D & S Piers at the Base for a weekend of Dining and Dancing, and Genuine Texas Barbecue'd Brisket .......  And, Gingerly shaving that Silver off a Room Temperature piece of Meat is one of the things I used my Favorite Knife for ....... Hampton Roads will never be the same, nor the Dormitories of Old Dominion College ... Beat the Hell out of being in some Dive back on the Strip, dicing with a bunch of ditzy, Dime-a-Dance Dipsomaniacs, and sloppy drunken Ground Pounders .......
 
Good On You, ChefDeb ... always keep your Best Stuff in your Drawers ....... Where did you take Home Economics ???

oh my, Home Economics. Wilton Junior High School in Wilton, Connecticut. I have recently been having a hilarious Email correspondence with a classmate from that school in spite of not having seen each other for decades, and it is like no time has passed. and you are quite right about keeping one's best Stuff in one's drawers!!

Carol you are so right about teapots. I have been collecting them for years and hve never solved the display thing. Now if someone admires one I give it to them.
I don't want either of my children to have to deal with them when I'm gone--imagine having to deal with cartons of over 100 teapots that you don't care about. So we decided they we will each keep a couple that they like and the rest they can make a big OOOPA pile out of at my Going Away Party. I have put a card in each one saying where I got it etc, I expect they'll look at those first. Well they have quite a wait til that party! And talk about going off topic...I think I get that prize today.

Now I know:  "I'll just have a thimble full" -- oh those wiley ladies of long ago.  Crafty chicks.  Smart gals.  A thimble full.  That made my day.  Pretty much, yes it did.
 
I have some small victorian piece that's to be worn on a necklace around the neck, low low low into the gown.  It's silver, about 2 inches in height and shaped like an urn with a pearl stopper -- it would contain what I think might be about a thimble full of...whatever the lady chose to put into it.  I was told it was for perfume, and it might very well be for perfume.
 
Or, it might be the ultimate lady's flask, too:  hidden in the decollete of her dress, it's ever so handy for a sniff or a whiff or a comforting albeit tiny tipple when the nerves fray...
 
The more I know of Victorian ladies the more I appreciate their...sneakiness.

Ivan, you are naughty.
Lamb ~ What's wrong with your farming and meat processing? Right now, there are more lambs than people around here, very cute and soon very tasty. The mint is sprouting happily in my garden and I think the new potatos in my polytunnel are just about ready. Our lamb is not fatty. I bung it into a very hot oven for the first few minutes, then slow down the heat to cook the meat through, leaving the center pink. Rosemary shrub outside my kitchen door. Gravy from the pan juices. Easy, delicious.
 

Park4

I have an old pendant of faruze and gold; a poison pendant. (Talk about sneaky.)

Another to add to our collection, Foxglove is known as Dead Man's Thimbles.

I buy New Zealand and sometimes Australian lamb. I recently found a good source for lean ground American lamb. I season with a little North African style seasonings and grill and serve with homemade (dill) Tzatziki.

I don't care for mint with my lamb racks or boneless leg roast. I'll save the mint for the juleps. I prefer to coat with a little coarse Dijon and crushed garlic and apply a rub of freshly crushed thyme, salt and coarse pepper. Roast or grill until rare.

Thimbles. Was a bit disappointed to discover that like kniting needles, I was using them wrong. Ah well, I still knit in a strange combination of European and American styles. VERY simple things like squares and rectangles. I still use a thimble on whatever digit helps push the needle through.

I love that handcrafts have been experiencing a renaissance. I've been avidly watching it grow over the past 20 years. I have a special category in my library just for the fascinating books on the permutations the new generations have wrought. They stimulate my own creativity with theirs.

Current favorite: Buying every cashmere sweater I come across at Goodwill and Salvation Army (usually about $2-$4), which I then shrink repeatedly in the washer & dryer until it's felted. Then they get cut up and either pieced into picture quilts or new garments. Ok, I confess to a very large amount of bits waiting to be completed but my cats sure love sleeping in my to-do pile.

The thimble reminds me of my childhood.  When I was in third grade - we had to attend a sewing class. - I was a tomboy and hated sewing - beside that I was lefhanded which was not tolerated when I was a child in our Dutch Culture.  In this class they forced a thimble on my left finger and I had to sew a piece of clothes.  It was an impossible task and I failed my class. I did not wish to sew anything that was not my desire -  I rather played soccer and climbed mountains.
 
At the end of the class - I falied my grade and was compared to my older sisters who did beautiful work - they even said I would not succeed in life.  I left school at age 12 and had to teach myself to survive in this world.  How I survived without an education -are  adventure stories to come. I will keep telling a little bit whenever it connects to our discussions. 
 
After all these years - I still keep a thimble in my sewing box and even learned to make a skirt. The world has changed their ways, I am glad to say that the majority of us do embrace  people who are not the norm - they have understood that differences among us enriches our lives and gives us hope that the world will become more tolerant to ways they do not recognize - but are willing to embrace and lean to comprehend. Bibi Fay

A thimbleful is how I would envisage the spinster Baldwin sisters on "The Waltons" to take servings of "the recipe."

SF:

Jim Cramer on CNBC's "Mad Money" is always fond of saying that technical analysis works wonderfully....except when it doesn't.

How does phi help analyze the price of a stock?

Does the MACD concept get used much by professionals such as yourself?

Jax:  so you knit "funny" too, do you?  So do I.  I don't/cannot hold the needles properly like proper knitting ladies do, with the tips so close together and moving so fast you can almost feel and little breeze stirred up...I have tried and tried.  I have been embarrassed by an ill meaning relative who used to point out to anyone in the room, "Look at how she holds those needles!  It's a wonder she gets so much knitted."  Because, there was the rub:  I'm proficient at knitting in my odd way.  Years later she doesn't point out that I hold my needles "wrong" (define "wrong" I say), and if she did I might find another use for the pointed end -- but I enjoy knitting - for stuffed animals who need a vest or a sweater or a blanket and they always do (granddaughter's stuffed JellyCats).
 
I've come to learn that one ought to hold needles as one holds a pen or pencil.  I guess that's where the problem lies for me, because that's what I do.  Thing is, I don't hold a pen or pencil correctly either...but I still manage to get along just fine when I use them.
 
The "new generation" of knitters is, as you said, inventive and open-minded about their knitting, and there are few rules as to what's right or wrong.  Bless their hearts.  Again I find  I was born into the wrong generation --
 
 

Oh, yes, "ofpossibleuse," -- I am aware that our government is elected by the majority of the people, and that there is no literacy or IQ test for voter registration. More than a thimbleful of education should be requisite, but isn't.
 
 In GA recently, our state even had a representative who warned that too many people on an island might cause it to tilt over! Various elected representatives have posited questionable and ridiculous (JMO) bills, and probably will do so in the future.
 
I am all for representative government, but sometimes in certain districts, the deck is stacked by the ignorance or prejudices of the electorate.  (There once was a time that men spoke up and said that females should not have the vote, and other misguided opinions.)   I am sure Bert could tell us of a long list of legal foolishness that may be "on the books" somewhere. As for the ones who would repeal Roe vs Wade rights, I have to go with a woman's right to her own choice, but recommend that she use early prevention if she has no desire to be a mom. Obviously, the accidental losses are not in the same category.

ofpossibleuse  ~
If, and it seems that it might be, your assertion is that worst idea of one wing-nut politician in Georgia is representative of that citizenry as a whole, I hope you packed a lunch... JohnLennon!
Enjoyed your use of the word 'leastly' if it is one. If not, it should be.

Miss Blue~  Is your source of lean, ground lamb local or might the company distribute in SC?  I'd love to have make some of those lamb burgers on my grill....

Well, my lovelies, I just about survived a weekend of house-guest while feeling like death warmed over. I'm off under my duvet. Not that I don't care about the interesting issues raised. Nos da.

Off topic, but I wonder if anyone else has noticed?

Wal-Mart has saturated the cable channels with Easter-related advertisements that show a group of Easter-attired children running toward the camera with empty Easter baskets.

Why does this bother me?

Because the music to which it is set, unbelievably, is the "Carmina Burana" by Carl Orff, a horrifying choral work that was essentially Nazi kitsch. I think it's difficult for anyone living and breathing NOT to feel demonic overtones, and in fact very similar music is always used in films such as "The Omen."

I despise Wal-Mart for many reasons, not least of which is that it has become the greatest monopsony in world history. [A very rough analogy: If you owe the bank $200,000, the bank owns you; if you owe the bank $200 million, you own the bank.] Monopoly is when an entity is far and away the major seller of a commodity. Monopsony is when you are far and away the major buyer of a commodity; it allow you to squeeze your supplying merchants to death on price.

Hating Wal-Mart is very much like liking Beethoven. (Everyone "kinda" does, so it's not very original).

Maybe I am crotchety and just think too much, but I thought it was equally in poor taste when the MSNBC a.m. talk show "Morning Joe" aired, on Good Friday morning, a live interview with attorney Vincent Bugliosi making a petulant case for atheism/agnosticism and hawking his new book on the subject. It was just highly contextually inappropriate....

When I was doing my PhD, I had a British, Cambridge-trained mentor. One year when St. Patrick's Day came around, I invited him to go pubbing with a group of us. He immediately shot back "That's like asking a Russian to celebrate the Fourth of July." (And perhaps on further thought like asking a Brit to celebrate the Fourth of July).

Mooseloop:

I agree with your concerns about elected government.

On the Roe Vs. Wade issue, MSNBC anchorwoman Savannah Guthrie (who is attorney) recent nailed Donald Trump and I think exposed him for what he really is, in a recent interview.

She baited him with a question about whether he see an elemental right to privacy conferred by the US Constitution.

He said, in effect, well obviously and of course I do!

Her next question: So, it would be reasonable to assume, Mr. Trump, that you would be AGAINST overturning Roe vs. Wade?

Trump is strongly against a woman's right to choose, and POP! went the Trump campaign.

Sorry for all my typos in the above posts.

I can't find anything at all on MSNBC that I can stomach, literally.  I tell myself 'watch at your own peril paula and keep the antacids nearby." 
 
Morning Joe kicks the day off with the wrong foot every day I've watched it, and it goes downhill after that.  My humble op. As usual.
 
I didn't notice the Walmart commercials, although I have a recollection of seeing Walmart commercials.  That is disturbing, but I'll bet anything the kids who put together the ad have no idea what kind of music they chose.  I dislike Walmart as well.  It's the one place I can say "It smells" and nobody has ever argued with me.  It's that off gassing or whatever it's called of plastic and its derivatives sold in all of its forms.  Can me one sick to the stomach, the smell and those ever flickering horrid lights up on the ceiling.
 
Now I've done it.  I'm going for the Tums.  I have a suggestible stomach.  A thought can make it turn and churn.
 
 

Miss Blue,
 
Here you've been and I didn't see you. 
 
How was the riding, the show, and the wine?
 
;)

KSS:  what say you about Rubicon being cancelled after one season?
 
I couldn't believe it.
 
Was it really to difficult for most to understand?  So I've heard, but I hope not.
 
Maybe it was too close to the truth?
 
I was very sad to see it gone.
 
Very.

Nos da Haze! Sweet, sound, well-deserved slumber to you!

Park that's exactly right! I always wanted that clickity-clack speed-of-heat kind of knitting style that my Oma had. ;) No awkward hand-looping the yarn over, just a lightning needle flick. Like Ma in the Little House books.

But unlike you, I did not bravely put in the time it took to become proficient, I dropped it in frustration until my grown daughter became interested. Then we learned/re-learned together. My respect-o-meter went up even more notches because you produce actual garments! I do scarves (rectangles), baby blankets (squares) and slight variations thereof. It is very zen though, as mentioned above and I especially enjoy it in winter with a lapful of warm wool. I can somewhat make up in color what I lack in technique.

Say, I remember that thump on the head with a thimble being referred to as a "thimble pie". Does anyone else remember their granny using a term like that?

 
 Hey there Park4
   ; )
 
 
Rachel and the 'horse' were not in very good form. I may grind and grill him!!!I really needed the wine after that show, LOL.
 
She had a nasty fall a couple of weeks ago( bruised liver) and this was her first show since. It's been a looooong winter and he needs to be ridden alot. She if off school today and has spent the day riding.

 
 
 
Shandonista,
I emailed you a lamb link .

Thanks so for all the lamb recipes and advice! I shall surely try to make them work out, as I do love the taste of that tender lamb dinner!
 
Miss Blue - So sorry that the horsey thing did not turn out well. There is always next time!
 
KSS - Your point about the Nazi-esque musical background for the WallyWorld ads was news to many of us, and I, for one, am glad that you are here to be our more-educated ears! We had no idea! Of course that is wrong. Like giving a vegan a coupon for Longhorn's, or Playboy to the kindergarten crowd, or....well, we got the idea! Totally inappropriate. We may not believe the same things, but we can be considerate of each others' holidays or beliefs. (No atheistic interviews on Good Friday, no documentaries on Hitler or Herod on Passover,  no Robert E. Lee biographies on MLK Day, etc.....) We can and do agree to disagree here in the Eye, but we do not directly insult or criticize each other!! And we are a diverse village here, I believe!

Hazel - Sympathies about your long weekend while feeling terrible! When you have a cold and feel bad, you surely do not need lots of visitors....Get well, slurp up the chicken soup, and hot tea, and snuggle under that duvet.

Thimbles..... I need full body chain mail.

Knitting needles.... They are just an 'eye poking out' waiting to happen.

We have a local group of semi-eccentric ladies known as the knitwts. They are always part and parcel of of our county fairs.

How many angels can go swimming in thimble?

Not much, but theahtheahtheah..that's all folks....

 
 
FYI, a thinblefull is approx. 1/2 teaspoon.

PL, as my Doc says "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye; then it's just fun."

JaxZ, I like your Doc ... but wouldn't let him stand in front of me with knitting needles. My favorite doctor would be the one who could laugh me well...

I agree Peter Lake. ;)

JANE...............as soon as I saw this this morning I thought of you............you super sewer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have an old ivory thimble of my grandmother's. It's beautiful & all I can sew is a button; it probably laughs at me....................
 
JAX & PARK.................I haven't knitted since jr. high & your posts make me want to start again. A very cool yarn & knitting shop just opened on our square & the owner is very nice..................maybe soon I will be clacking away! JAX..............my mother belongs to a group called "The Happy Hookers"..........I know, yuck, yuck, yuck.........she also goes to goodwill & buys woolen things & washes them, unravels them & then hooks w/ the yarn..............
 
MISS BLUE.........sorry about the horse weekend..............your dijon, garlic & rosemary rubbed lamb sounds to die for......................
 
MOOSE.................I remember the wakanut who made the statement about the island.............he seemed seriously dumb.................
 
PARK....................are you getting your appetizers together for the big day? I am seriously considering getting "sick"late Thursday..............so sick that I have to stay home on Friday................What are you making?
 
I guess this is a chick post........................peep,peep,peep.............

bebe!!!!❤ We have a local group called Stitch-n-Bitch which is I think, a universal concept. We get together weekly and some actually DO knit, sew, and generally produce things in addition to conversation while partaking of wine and nibbles. The guys got jealous of our fun and adjourned to the host's extensive woodshop for their version called Screw-n-Glue until one thumb tip and two fingers were nearly amputated. Now they play Scrabble in the adjoining room and we mix and match activities whenever so inclined.

JAX..............heart back to you sweetie! I love your group's name.................I belonged to a bookclub some time back that would talk about the book for a short time, but our main goal was eating at a good restaurant & then walking around the square shopping & talking.................I feel sorry for women who don't have women friends..............my sister does not.................

Jane, can we all come play in your sewing wonderland? I think I've asked this before but now there's more of us! ;)

Moose: I must have a look at that link again - I've never actually seen a thimble used in Chinese homes 
ChefDeb  Guess not only do I not work a needle well, I sliced two fingers neatly this Easter while trying to prepare salmon sashimi. I didn't even feel it as fortunately, the knife was so sharp the wounds were clean.  I guess I better stick to my calipers... 

Karma, my favourite indicator for trend analysis is the MACD; I especially like it used as a histogram as it then also acts as a momentum indicator. One of the best uses for the MACD is its ability to show when a trend is decreasing in strength through divergences. Phi appears and again in price charts. Unless prices are contained artificially (for eg in the past with some commodities, subject to floors and caps), a stock, used loosely here to define any traded financial instrument, moves in a series of waves, a graphical picture of Man's collective emotions. One of the best ways to use these calipers is to project where a possible move could end (series of 1.618 or 2.618 etc of the previous move) or to project where a possible correction could end (0.38, 05 or 0.618).. Re Jim Cramer's comment, technical analysis is not an "oracle". I use it more like a "probability" tool - the most likely outcome so to speak. As an example, let's say we have established a move is corrective - you have a possible scenario of 38%, 50% or 62% - as prices continue to unfold you get a better and better picture. I confess I am really surprised to be asked this here! Incidentally, we don't get CNBC unless you are subscribed to cable. The feed comes out of the main regional station in Singapore as I understand it.  

I like Walmart .....for the funniest photos of people. Whenever any of us in the office gets sent an email of such, we crowd round and share in collective mirth.....seriously, are they for real? Has anyone actually seen them? My favourite all time must be one of this more-than-fair sized (most of them are) genderless person with a purple tail dragged on the floor....some kind of Barney-wannabe?         

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/?page_id=9798

Park4:

Hey, thanks for bring up the series "Rubicon" on AMC. I also am very disappointed that the network decided not to renew the series. It was tricky to follow as regards the first two episodes, which were meant as pilots. I kept hoping that the Miranda Richardson character (she is a fabulous actress, and really doesn't seem to have aged since "The Crying Game") would get more interwoven into the mainstream.

I felt "attached" to the Lauren Hodges character (wielder of two PhDs in the show) but wondered if they were trying to write her out of the show what with her alcohol addiction.

I liked the Arliss Howard character quite a lot also.

As you probably know, "Mad Men" has had its fifth season pushed to 2012.

I REALLY LIKE "Breaking Bad," an see it as maybe the blackest comedy ever. It is gory and violent in places, but has attributes of a comic book brought to life.

And speaking of violence, I didn't care much for "The Walking Dead." As Anthony Burgess would have said, that show is really about ultraviolence.

I wonder, have you been watching "The Killing"? I suspect you are or have been. I wonder what you think about it? Any guesses as to whom the killer is? The episode yesterday tried to finger Bennet, Rosie Larsen's schoolteacher who was writing her love letters.

My money is on the Billy Campbell character (the guy running against Mayor Adams) as the murderer. He acts guilty as sin, and his gaze diverts to the left every time he denies involvement in the case.

The show has many teases but remember---- the cell phone video of Rosie with Jasper and the other guy in "the cage".....that actually wasn't Rosie: it was Stirling borrowing Rosie's Halloween costume.

Miss Blue:  you say a half teaspoonful. Wouldn't have much effect on moi I don't think.
 
How many thimblefuls in a shot? 
 
;)

hey bebe:  nowadays I think the coolest part of knitting is the hand dyed yarn that's available.  There's one I love (uses a #3 needle tho) is by Koigu, and it's hand dyed and just plain gorgeous.  Pricey but worth the satisfaction of knitting with it.  Like Jax mentioned, those rectangles and squares can turn into amazing things with beautiful yarn.  A wrap sweater based on squares is easy to do, a pretty short kimono sweater...lover-ly.
 
As for tid-bits for the Event?  I have no idea.  I'm just having a good laugh at my husband who can't figure out how to NOT watch this wedding because I said I'm watching it in bed given it's unfortunate time for us in the US...and he'll be in bed as well, so he'll be caught deciding between comfortable sleep and having to hear/see the Wedding.  I don't know what he'll do.  I could watch it in another room, I know that's what you're thinking, but we drew straws and guess who won.
 
:)
 
Yes, little old me. ;)
 
As for food, at Charles and Diana's wedding, the company my husband worked for put on an afternoon "tea" withe wedding cake and those itty bitty sandwiches, savory and sweet, and I think there was tea but back then I drank scotch.
 
How about you Miz Bebe?  What are you cooking up for the coming Nuptuals?
 
(not watercress sandwiches, please not that)

The sleep angels missed me - or maybe I was too busy sneezing and blowing my nose. Enjoyed reading the recent posts.
Heads up, It's Spring's birthday!
A thimbleful is a homoeopathic dose. In the hope of it having a soporific effect, I lift a decent size glass in her honour.

My very favorite online yarn and needlework shop is the following:
http://www.purlsoho.com/purl
 
I thought there'd be knitting shops around here in small town Wisconsin, but no.  Women quilt, but they don't knit.  And they quilt at church which leave me out.  And if they do knit, they buy that acrylic stuff from Walmart.  Which also leaves me cold.
 
PurlSoho is a dangerous place to peruse, it's hard not to order just one of this color and one of that, and buttons, and fabric - and maybe even a thimble who knows? 
 
Take a look ye knitters.
It's such a pretty shop with so many pretties in store.

Park, bebe, this place is at the end of my street. She ships all over the world. I go in there on a dreary day just to touch things and feast my eyes. And she does carry several types of thimbles. :) http://halcyonyarn.com/

Good Grief Park, I didn't hit "refresh before I posted. Color me "gone" cause I'll be rabbitholing into this site for hours! ❤ This is the type of place I like to go when I've had more "dark" than I can stand.

Eeeew, PARK4~ It's nice to see you enthuse, but I can't get my head around buying such tactile and sensual stuff online. I'd have to see it for real and feel it and .... be like a kid in a sweetie shop.

...or like a ckicken voting for Colonel Sanders...other than that, Spring took the words right out of my mouth...oh, yeah!

But Hazel:  if there's no sweet shop within 100 miles other than the Walmart aisle of acrylic junk -- this is how to get the yarn.  We learn to make do without the tactile thrill until it arrives.  I've not been disappointed, luckily.  I won't knit with Walmart, that's just not worth the time ;)
 
Jax:  I know Halcyon yarns...oh lucky you!  Down the street?  Oh lucky lucky you.  She sent catalogs once upon a time, if they're the ones I'm thinking of, they were just lovely.  I'll check out your link tomorrow.
 
I love country life.
Except every now and then.
This is one of them.
;)
 
 

Park~ There is a lady just up the road from me who keeps a strange breed of sheep, spins the wool, dyes it with natural dyes ... most people think she is crazy, but she is one happy lady. The wool, which is breathtakingly expensive, is unobtainable as she can sell more than she produces.
I have to try again at getting to sleep. Goodnight, lovely people. Nos da.

What gets me going is a corkscrew because I open a bottle of my favorite wine with it - which makes me so happy - and gets me going for the rest of the night - i might even dance on the table for while and fall flat on my face and that is the end of getting me going until the next day when I use the corkscrew once again.  A Corkscrew is my favorite tool.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, SPRING FRAGRANCE!! Guess it is tomorrow in your location now, but the thought was there...Thanks Hazel for reminding us. Good night or good morning all.
 
On the royal wedding....I hear it will be rebroadcast in the USA later in the day for those who want to sleep til their regular getting up time....Just an option....I choose sleep.

Ivan, I'm the same with my best scissors. I keep them in their box in a drawer. No one else gets to use them....ever. My other scissors are always on my work table, but everyone knows never to use them without asking and then it would depend on what they wanted to cut. I keep plenty of craft scissors around for cutting paper and doing odd cutting jobs for the grandkids to use..  
 
Jax and P4, I learned to knit the hand-looping the yarn over method when a child, but while living in Copenhagen I learned the quick flick of the finger method...I've knitted socks, though a long time ago. My mother used to knit cable sweaters and coats...something I've never tried. I like to crochet and recently had to reteach myself after a 20 year hiatus.  
 
KSS, I think I saw that interview and what I remember being so embarrassing for Trump was that he didn't see the connection between her question on right to privacy and Roe v Wade...he wondered what it had to do with it.  
 
 Bebe, what a treasure to have your grandmother's thimble...sounds lovely. I wish I had my grandmother's sewing supplies. I learned to knit from her, and she gave me my first sewing machine which is long, long gone. She made all our clothes when we were toddlers.
 
Jax, I wish you'd all come on over. I'd love to have some sharing of ideas about how to use all the fabric I have! I was recently asked if I would be willing to hold a couple of classes for a friend's daughter. Not too sure what kind of teacher I'll be. I'm completely self taught.  
 
SF...I've seen many of those Walmart photos and they are hard to believe. I was just saying to my husband the other day, that even at Costco, where one can see some odd attire now and then...we've never seen anyone who comes even close to any of the Walmart shoppers in those photos. We don't have a Walmart here, so I can't go check it out.

Good On You, Miss Jane !!!  Scissors are another Precision Instrument that most people never really give any thought to, and treat them badly, throwing them into drawers and Tool Boxes with a bunch of other stuff, with no regard for the Harmonic Changes that occur according to Humidity, which is not only the cause of Rust, but can quickly affect the Cutting Edges of the Blades, making them Dull, and more apt to tear than to incise ... and ElectroMagnetic Fields Changes, because of other Metal Implements in proximity, also have a dulling effect, and can make the edge such that it CANNOT cut a straight line ... Only Professionals would know such things ... or Physics Professors ... or even Dentists ... All Dentists have had at least one Patient that complained of receiving Radio Shows in his Head after having an Amalgam Filling put into a Tooth ... Radio Waves are forever, and create a mesh of 360 DegreesX360X360X369 to the nth. Degree, and any kind of Metal becomes an Antenna, even if it doesn't Look like an Antenna ... harmonic vibrations caused by the Radio Waves agitate the Molecules of the Blades and cause them to seek closer proximity to the next closest Molecules and in the process, the arrangement of their positions changes their Shape/Alignment to a Denser and Broader configuration, which effectively takes the Edge off the Blade (Scissors are simply opposing Blades) Comes from the Latin, Incissors (Incisors) Changes appearance when spelled, Tijeras, but the function remains the same; To make Incisions ...

Nobody touches my Gingher sissors but me. ;)

Jane, I'D love to have sewing lessons from you! The best things to know are the techniques developed from experience not theory. Plus it'd be FUN.

Park, she still does catalogs and they're still droolworthy. Both she and her husband are wonderful. I photographed her in a huge pile of bright wool roving once for a newspaper story.