Knitting Epiphanies

"Knitting along...singing a song...." When it suddenly dawned on me just how far I am from finishing the argyle scarf project. Presently, I've knitted approximately 11 pattern blocks or approximately 44.5". Each block is 28 rows long and 66 stitches wide (I doubled the original width); that's 20,328 handknitted stitches. The epiphany part starts when I realized that the ideal length for a scarf is height in inches minus 6-10 inches. On a 6'2 man this means a 66" in scarf give or take for personal preference. 2-4 days per block and another 11 blocks to go and my song changes to "Oh this is the knitted scarf that would not end. It just goes on and on my friends..."

Personal responsibility

I'd like to talk briefly about personal responsibility. Now, I know that as a nation and even as a species, humans are not exactly known for taking responsibility for themselves and their actions. Hence, our history of ostracizing and murdering wise men and women throughout history who have said that we should do so. Hence the reason for the word 'scapegoat'. Or for an example of a lack of personal responsibility that hits closer to my home, Situation Baby. Not withstanding the fact that I've caught the the wannabe Bradys in multiple lies since this one, they tried to tell our employer that "they never intended to get pregnant." This is pure, undiluted bullshit. Let's-Pretend-Mommy told me within weeks of starting her position in the company that they were going to start trying for a baby. When a monogamous (assumed disease-free) couple stops using contraceptives, there's only one way it will end. Pregnant. You can't tell me that they didn't know this so when they stopped taking precautions, they made the decision to get pregnant. Telling our employer that they didn't intend for it happen is a cop-out. It's a way to wriggle out of taking responsibility and the consequences of a very poor decision. Kind of like the Chimp-in-Chief using the weapons of mass destruction as an excuse to invade the 2nd largest oil reserve in the world. I think I might have respected him more if he'd just come out and said, "Well, you see, we have all these cool bombs and not enough oil and I just need to prove that my dick is bigger than Saddam's dick, so I'm going to start my own empire by taking over Iraq."

Ultimately, however, the problem is this: how do you teach, let alone enforce, personal responsibility. I got mine from my parents and extended family first, but my religion was what taught me the most. When you're part of a group of spiritual paths whose basis is, on some level, doing what you want if it doesn't hurt anyone, it becomes more difficult not to think out the consequences of your actions. Now don't you wish everyone did that?"