Name or Weather Forecast?

  If you read Happy in Hainesport, you know I am a Randy Rainbow fan.  One of the first things I googled when I discovered Randy's parodies was, "Is Randy Rainbow his real name?"  Turns out it is.  Yesterday, I read that Caroline Sunshine is joining Donald Trump's press team.  So, I had to google, "Caroline Sunshine + real name."  Darned if that isn't the name on her birth certificate.
     My work was cut out for me.  I had to know how many people had meteorological names.  I discovered that, while there are a lot of surnames that describe atmospheric conditions, the origin of those names might not be related to the elements.
   
     For example:

     Air - This is an Anglo-Saxon name given to a person who inherits an estate, title, or fortune.  It is also a name given to a Norman knight who cleared the airway of William of Normandy when he was in danger of suffocation during the battle of Normandy  Some variations of the name are Eyre, Eayres, Ayer, Hayer, and Hoyer.

     Breeze - Breeze was originally a nickname for an annoying person.  The nickname comes from the Old English word "breosa," a gadfly.  This name might also have developed from the Welsh name Rhys.

     Cloud - Cloud is a Scottish name that is derived from the given name or first name Leod,  Mac Leod would be the son of Leod.  Eventually, Mac Leod became Cloud.

     Snow - Snow was a nickname for a person with white hair or a very pale complextion.

     Ice - This surname might have been derived from the first name Aigo.  Aigo is derived from the German word ecke which means "sharp sword blade."  Then again, the surname Ice could have come from the first name Ico, a name popular in northern Germany and the Netherlands.

     Thunder - This name was first recorded in England and Ireland.  There are two possible origins of the name.  It could have come from the French word tundeur which means a person who shears or manufactures shears.  Another possible origin is from the Old English word tunder, a worker who poured wine into tuns, the large barrels used for transporting alcoholic beverages. 

     Surnames developed during the Middle Ages when  populations grew and people needed a way to distinguish one Alfred from another Alfred.  I don't know if we have all the surnames we will ever need or if new ones are still popping up.  In keeping with the climate theme I would like to suggest  Suzy Lake Effect, Patsy Prevailing Wind, or maybe Virginia Gustnado. 

     
   

Enough

     Come on people.  Give up that carte blanche freedom to bear arms.  Times have changed since the founding fathers wrote the constitution. These days weapons are too deadly, and some people who get their hands on them are too damaged.  Realize that some wings have to be clipped so that others might be able to survive, thrive, and fly.  Nobody, nobody, NOBODY should die during the last period of the school day.  You are not sacrificing liberty.  You are ensuring a safer future for so many.  Gun control is a no brainer. 

     Parkland, Florida has to be the last time. 





   

Reading the Classics

     Any English major worth her sheep skin has to have read "the classics."  When I looked through the list of classic literature for Kindle available from the county library, I felt like I had an incomplete education.  I set about trying to correcting that situation.

Vanity Fair by William M. Thackery - This is a satire of 19th century British society published as a nineteen part serial in 1847 and 1848.  There have been several Vanity Fair movies and, of course, there is the magazine with the same name.   

Watership Down by Richard Adams - Richard Adams told his children stories on long car trips.  The result was Watership Down, a fantasy story about bunny rabbit society.  Mr. Adams mixes facts about rabbit behavior and physiology into the fantasy.  Children are sure to giggle and make yucky faces upon learning that rabbits make two kinds of poop: one that humans find useful for fertilizer and one that is full of undigested material that rabbits re-eat as soon as it leaves the body.  The real story is about survival, heroism, leadership, and the individual in the community.  Add to that rabbit religion and lapine language. 

Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon - This is a sensation novel, a type of literature popular in Britain in the 1860s and 1870s.  The novel's heroine is a bigamist who tries (unsuccessfully) to kill her first husband by pushing him down a well.  She abandons her child, toys with the idea of poisoning her second husband, and sets fire to a hotel where some of her male aquaintances reside.  Evidently, people have always enjoyed reading about sociopaths.

Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë - The three Brontë sisters wrote about governesses based on their own experiences.  This novel by Anne is semi-autobiographical.  For the most part, governesses are unappreciated or even mistreated.  Fortunately Agnes Grey (and Anne) find love, marry, and have children.  There is a secondary theme concerning the humane treatment of animals.

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell - Molly Gibson is happy living her life with her widowed doctor daddy, but dad thinks he should remarry so that Molly can have a mother and step sister.  The stepmom turns out to be a pretentious social climber and the step sister is a fast mover.  Molly grows up and ...  Elizabeth Gaskell died before she could finish the book. 

The Lost Girl by D. H. Lawrence - Alvinia Houghton's father is a failure at business.  He buys a theater, hoping that his daughter will have a proper upbringing and secure future if this business venture is a success.  The theater is no more successful than his other endeavors.  Alvinia ends up running off to Italy with Ciccio, one of the traveling performers her father hired.  But does she have a happy ending with Ciccio?   

My Ántonia by Willa Cather - This is an interesting story about the pioneers who settled Nebraska.  However, Cather's depictions of Afro-Americans are cringeworthy by today's standards.

Villette by Chalotte Brontë - Lucy Snowe is all alone in the world, so like so many women who are all alone, she ends up being a governess at a school in the fictional city of Villette.  Lots of adventure and romance ensues.  Lucy finds her soulmate (who sets her up with her own boarding school before going on a three year sabbatical to the West Indies), but he dies during the return voyage to Villette.  Some say the ending of the book is ambiguous, and Brontë said her ending was a "little puzzle."  I don't see it that way.  If you ask me, Lucy died an old maid.   

The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells - No plot summary needed here.  We all know this one.

Yarning - Over and Over

     My obsession with yarn continues.  I started making hats, both crocheted and knitted.  All of these hats take less than 4 ounces (about one skein) of yarn.  If you want to make any of these hats after admiring my photos, check out the links and videos. 

I love this girl's beanie.  The flower is very easy to make and it's placement covers the joins where the yarn changes color.  The designer, Kristi Simpson, offers several tutorials on YouTube.  All of her projects are quick and easier to make than you would think from first  glance.  Video follows pictures.     

 

This unisex adult beanie is also easy to make.  The front and back post crochet stitches produce a thick, warm ribbing.  The tutorial I followed for making this hat produced a child's sized beanie.  I  used a J hooked as recommended by the designer, Yolanda Soto-Lopez, but I  increased from 48 to 60 stitches for the ribbed body of the hat.  I also continued crocheting for 17 rounds, a few rounds more than Yolanda's hat.
      

This shell stitch cloche is fast and easy.
https://www.interweave.com/article/crochet/belliveau-cove-gulf-shores-crochet-hats/

I switched to knitting and produced this hat.  The designer used size 5 double pointed needles.  I have only size 4 and size 9 sets of double pointed needles for knitting in the round, so I had to adjust the pattern.  Still, it turned out nicely.  If any reader wants to make this hat on size 9 needles, feel free to contact me for the information.  Here's a link to the original pattern:
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6155511341520862278#editor/target=post;postID=1266428234577098972 

Slouchy-cute!

    

      Here are the tutorials that guided me in my hat making:

                                       

One Hour Slippers

     Three sofas ago, I thought I would knit a complicated, Aran looking, cabled afghan for snuggling when watching TV.  I bought a black trash bag full of peach colored yarn (yeah, I know Aran knits are beige shades), and promptly lost interest in the project.  What to do with 40 skeins of yarn?
     I found a tutorial for slippers on YouTube.  Supposedly, you can crochet a pair in one hour.  I made a change which probably slowed me down.  My peach yarn is 4 ply, worsted weight, not the bulky yarn recommended in the tutorial, so I used two stands of yarn.  It took a little care to manage both strands on my hook.  I finished a pair of slippers in two hours.  I probably could have finished faster if I hadn't also been watching television as I worked.

You get slippers, you get slippers, you get slippers!
I probably have enough yarn to outfit every Hainesport resident in peach colored slippers.

     Besides working two strands of yarn together, I made two more changes to the pattern.  I started with a magic ring so that I could pull the first round closed.  Working 10 double crochet stitches into a chained ring often results in a hole in the project.  The magic ring is a technique that lets you pull a strand of yarn to cinch up that opening.  I also made the slippers a little shorter/smaller.  Follow the video for rounds 1, 2, and 3.  Instead of continuing and making 8 more rounds (total of 11 rounds), I made only 6 more rounds (total of 9 rounds).  Then I worked the rest of the slipper according to the directions in the tutorial.  Reducing the length by 2 rounds resulted in slippers that fit the size 9½ to 10 foot nicely.  That's if you insert bare feet.  I would add back a round if you wear slippers plus socks.  You can adjust the size for any foot by reducing or increasing after round 3 and before you begin shaping where your foot goes in the slippers. 


Here's the tutorial if you would like to make your own cozy footwear:






Here's how to make a magic ring:

Ruffled Crochet Scarf

     This is the latest:

     I found a free pattern on  Mama in a Stitch.

https://www.mamainastitch.com/merino-crocheted-ruffle-scarf-pattern/

     Mama'a pattern uses an H (#8 or 5 mm) hook and Lion Brand Yarn Superwash Merino Wool.  Her scarf is long, nice and drape-y, and has a nice hippy vibe.  My wool stash is mostly Caron One Pounders and Red Heart Super Saver 100% acrylic.  You use what you have on hand.
     I worked up Mama'a pattern, following it to the letter, using the H hook and my 4 ply, worsted weight yarn.  By the time I was half way done, my scarf was bulky and a little stiff, and it had grown in length as I worked on the 198 original chains to about eight feet in length.  This was going to be too much scarf. 
     I pulled out all my work and started over, making two changes to Mama's pattern.  My scarf doesn't have that bohemian look, but it is warm, and it used up one 8 ounce skein of surplus yarn. 
     If you want to make a scarf like mine with 4 ply, worsted weight yarn, use the link above and follow Mama's pattern making these two changes:

     1. Use a J (#10 or 6 mm) hook.  The bigger stitches are more open, and the scarf is softer.
     2. Chain 156 to begin.  If I made this scarf again, I might make the starting chain a little longer, maybe 160 chains.

     Thank you, Mama!     

V Stitch Ripple Crochet Scarf

     I'm on a tear trying to use surplus yarn.  I have some brown and green yarn which made me think of pine cones and moss.  I thought I would make a scarf to represent the piney woods.  Here's how the project evolved:

     I discovered the V stitch ripple pattern.  I made my scarf in this pattern.  Here's a tutorial:




     I also found a tutorial demonstrating how to make a crochet spiral with picots.  I thought this spiral looked like a pine cone, the perfect embellishment for a piney woods scarf.

                                                                             
   

     I think it turned out nicely.

I used 4 ply yarn and a 4mm (G or # 6) hook.  The scarf measures 8 3/4" wide by 60" long.  There are 77 rows.  There sure are lots of ends to weave in. 

I slip stitched the top and bottom edges to make them neater and give them a little structure.  I did not finish the side edges.  I wanted to be able to drape them easily.

I attached four spirals to one bottom edge.  I think the spirals should be worn in the front.  I decided to leave the other bottom edge unadorned.  Let's hear it for asymmetry.

Here's my scarf.