Casting off forever and ever and ever and ever...

...and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever.

I've finally arrived at the end of my Aeolian shawl. All that stands between me and bright blue totally out of season shawl-y bliss is 439 (note: I'm about halfway through. All said and done, the shawl had 877 stitches at the end) stitches of stretchy purl bind-off. I guess it goes without saying that the dull repetitiveness of the bind-off is causing me to lose my ever-loving mind, and I'm therefore having to force myself to work on it, lest it sit in a drawer forever. Not that it really matters at this point. It'll be months before I'm able to wear it.

Book Review: Superfreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

I read the first Freaknomics back in 2007 and really liked it, but it's taken me a while to get to this one. I guess it's probably a good thing I waited; had I read it too soon after the first one, I would have been pretty disappointed.

For the most part, Superfreakonomics amuses and delights in the same way that the original did: discussing the law of unintended consequences in seemingly unrelated fields, often exposing flaws in conventional wisdom. For the most part, I found the discussions in Superfreakonomics quite thought-provoking, particularly the ones about the economics of prostitution (and the circumstances under which it can be a valid career move) as well as identifying criminals and terrorists based on their bank activities. Similarly thought-provoking was the possible upside of the exportation of American values through television: eating disorders and Big Macs on one hand, but better educational opportunities for women and less wife-beating on the other.

I do, however, have a gigantic rant about one line: advocating circumcision as prophylactic against sexually transmitted diseases, especially HIV, is not only moronic, it's irresponsible and dangerous (it's also not applicable to American sexual behavior: studies that demonstrate that were conducted in Africa). Given the rates at which HIV transmission via heterosexual contact is climbing in the United States these days, the very last thing we need right now is to give people cause to say, "Oh, don't worry, baby, I'm cut," and avoid condom use and routine screenings because they don't think they need them anymore. GAH.

Sorry, giant public health-related pet peeve there. I have this thing about us not needlessly giving each other crotch rot over stupidity. Moving along...

Overall, I didn't like this as much as the previous one. A lot of the content was re-printed from the Freakonomics! blog and other articles the authors had published. It was also less coherent and far less organized than the original, and I also felt that the research on some subjects was pretty lacking. So while it was fairly entertaining, I'm only going to give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Things I've Learned About Buying a House in Asheville

It's looking like Matt's hunt for a shiny new house is drawing to a close. He found one he really liked yesterday, and has a list of ten promising ones to view today. Before he left, he told me that he intends for today to be the last day he spends looking at houses. He's very, very tired of running internet search after internet search and trudging through house after house and is ready to just be done with it. I agree completely: I'm definitely tired of spending hours and hours looking at computer screens, scrutinizing details, and climbing stairs after stairs after stairs of potential (usually  un-air conditioned) houses. Yes, I've discovered something new about myself: house hunting makes me hot, tired, and incredibly crabby. It seems to have that effect on most people.

Anyway, we're entering the third months of looking for houses, and I've come up with a few observations concerning the state of home buying in the greater Asheville area:

1. Bubble? What Bubble? Despite a steep decline in prices, houses are still pretty expensive here. Apparently, the bubble bursting led to housing prices going from exorbitant to merely absurd, particularly for a town this size in the South. Houses here cost almost as much as similar ones in Nashville, and that's a major city. Houses in Knoxville (which is larger than Asheville, but not by as much) cost substantially less. Matt bought his current house at the same time my mom sold her previous one, and they went for the same price despite the fact that my mother's house had over twice the square footage, garage, and lot that Matt's does. 
2. No, seriously, it's nuts. Basically, it's impossible to find a house for under $100,000 that's in a decent neighborhood and/or not broken. Pretty much all the cheap houses we looked at were in varying state of disrepair, or were in pretty unfortunate locations (right next to the interstate, in a bad neighborhood, etc). If you want a three bedroom house, expect to pay at least $150,000 for it. If you find a house with that much (or more) space for under $150-200,000, you should be suspicious, because...
3. Holy Foundation Issues, Batman! I would say that close to half of the houses we looked at had visible foundation or retaining wall problems. One of the realities of living in the mountains: lots of houses get built on uneven lots or into the sides of hills, and if the foundation's not done properly, it will start to crack and slide out of place. Interestingly, it was the newer houses that had the most obvious problems. After the first few trips, we started bringing a flashlight to examine crawlspaces and basements, and it really helped to narrow the list down. It's worth mentioning that every last one of the Too-Good-To-Be-True priced houses had obvious foundation issues of some kind.
4. Speaking of Foundations, Will My Basement Become a Lake the Next Time it Rains? Asheville backs up to a temperate rainforest. We get a lot of rain here, and with lots of rain comes lots of flooding, even if you don't live near a body of water. Proper drainage is therefore very important. We had to give up on an awesome house because a detached garage previous owners had build uphill from it's gutter system poured directly at one of the foundation walls which, you guessed it, meant that that wall in the basement had water intrusion. It wasn't hitting the floor (yet), but the wall was seriously damp and had black mold on it. We're very lucky we visited the day after a big storm, or we might have missed it. Water intrusion can be a big issue with lots of houses, so checking for damage is a good idea.
5. While We're on the Subject of Environmental Toxins... I don't want to say that black mold is a huge problem here because we only ran into it once; however, it's something you really don't want to have to deal with, so don't purchase a house with a dampness-prone basement unless you have the cash to spend on fixing any drainage issues and drying it out. A bigger problem in this area is radon gas. Most basements, especially in older houses, are going to have some kind of radon issue. It's probably unrealistic to hope for one that has no radon at all, but it is a good idea to get the levels tested ASAP (preferably before you sign the final contracts) and determine whether or not you'll need a mitigation system. Some houses already have them, but most don't, and if you plan on finishing or spending lots of time in the basement, it may become a necessary investment.
6. Air Conditioning? We Don't Need No Stinking A/C! A lot of houses down here do not have air conditioning. It didn't used to be hot enough to where having it was necessary, but if the last two summers are indicative of anything...yeah. It's kind of important now. Depending on how old and big the house is (along with the extent of any existing ductwork), installing a new air conditioning system can set you back as much as $20,000. It's something to keep in mind when looking at airy old farmhouses.
7. Buying Foreclosures is a Pain in the Ass. Fortunately, there aren't a lot of foreclosures around here. North Carolina has had laws against predatory lending since the nineties, so the housing crisis and credit crunch didn't do quite as much damage here as it did elsewhere. We've still looked at a few, though, and have found that buying one can be pretty fraught. There are about a million extra hoops to jump through when you're obtaining financing, which is a pain. They're also often sold as-is, meaning that if there's something that needs to be fixed, you have to arrange it because the bank's not going to do it. While you may be able to get them to knock off a few grand to compensate, you're still stuck dealing with most of the trouble associated with fixing existing problems. When looked at closely, the work a lot of the foreclosures required either eclipsed or came close to eclipsing the low price. 

Needless to say, this adventure has really been eating into my headspace and free time. Hopefully, it'll be over within the next few weeks.

How to Make Fitted Fingerless Gloves/Armwarmers, Part 3

You can reach parts one and two here and here, respectively.

We have now arrived at Part 3: Converting the Numbers into a Pattern. 

I know that it sounds intimidating, but translating numbers into a pattern is surprisingly easy. All you have to do is plug the numbers on your hand turkey into a series of simple formulas. First, though, you have to make a couple of decisions: whether to have individual fingers or a ribbed cuff at the top, and whether to start from the top (at the fingers) or the bottom (at the wrists). Each option has its pluses and minuses. Individual fingers are fiddly, but warmer than a cuffed top. They can also be made longer without sacrificing dexterity. Most knitters find it easier to work mittens from the wrist to the fingers, as it's easier to visualize and try on the mittens as one goes, but knitting fingers to wrist ensures that less yarn will go to waste (some of us really dislike having thousands of tiny balls of sock yarn floating about the house). At the end of the day, it's a matter of personal preference.

For the purposes of this exercise, I elected to do a ribbed cuff at the top, working from fingers to wrist. Numbers in (parentheses) are ones that I pulled from my hand turkey. You should make sure to use your own!:

1. Cast on the number of palm stitches (52) with a needle one or two sizes down from the one you intend on using for the main part of the glove, and work 5 rows of 2 x 2 (knit 2, purl 2) ribbing. 
2. Switch to larger needles and work (15) rounds of palm stitches to obtain the desired length of mitten between fingers and thumb opening.  
3. Using waste yarn, cast on the (13) stitches needed to bring the stitch count up to (65), in order to accommodate the wider part of the palm/thumb.
4. Take a break to calculate the gusset. I'm starting with (65) stitches, I need to get down to (48) stitches for my wrist, and I have (2.5) inches, or (25) rows, in which to do it. (65-48 = 19) stitches to decrease. Since I'll be working one decrease on each side of the gusset, and losing 2 stitches each decrease row, I'll need a total of (9) decrease rows (plus an extra at the end). Rounding up to (27) rows to make the math easier, I'll need to decrease every (third) row. 
5. Once my calculations were finished, it was time to place the gusset. The (13) cast-on stitches would form the center of it, but a few of the palm stitches would need to be incorporated in order to get to (48) at the end. Starting at the midpoint of the palm stitches (in between 26 and 27), count (23) stitches on each side, placing a marker at each spot. 
6. Work the gusset by knitting (2) rows, then a decrease row, until you have reached the number of wrist stitches you need (48). I prefer to use mirrored decreases (ssk on one side, k2tog on the other) for reasons of symmetry, but that's a personal preference. Either way, the decreases are placed on the first two stitches inside the stitch markers. You won't need to move the markers at all. 
7. Once the gusset has been completed, it's time to calculate wrist increases using the same method as the gusset decreases. Since I'm going from (48) to (56) stitches over (3) inches and my increase rows increase two stitches at a time, I'll need (4) increase rows over (30) rows, so every (seventh) row (and I'll work a few extras at the end to make up the difference to (3) inches. As far as placement goes, I divide the number of stitches in eighths, and place the increases in the 7/8ths spot. For a (48) stitch wrist, I place the increases around stitch (40). I use mirrored M1 increases, but it's not necessary as the decreases will be on the underside of the wrist.
8. Once the wrist increases are complete, switch back to the smaller needles, work 10 rounds of k2, p2 ribbing, and cast-of using a stretchy bind-off. Personally, I like Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn cast-off.
9. Now it's time to go back and finish the thumb. Unravel the provisional cast-on, placing the (13) stitches on two DPNs. Using a third DPN, cast on (7) stitches to get to the number of stitches (20) you'll need for the thumb, amking sure to leave a fairly long (4-5") tail. Work (5) rows in stockinette, then switch to smaller needles and work 5 rows in k2, p2 ribbing. Cast off loosely.
10. After that, it's all finishing! Weave in ends and sew up the gap between the cast-on edge of the thumb and the palm stitches using the tail of the cast-on edge. 
11. Make another, making sure to place thumb gussets and wrist increases on the opposite sides of the glove to achieve symmetry. 

To do the same pattern from the other direction (wrist to cuff), do the same thing in reverse, doing increases instead of decreases, and placing thumb stitches on a stitch holder instead of using a provisional cast-on.

When knitting gloves with individual fingers, it's a lot easier to knit them wrist-to-cuff, simply because the only way I've been able to do fingers-to-wrist gloves with individual fingers is as follows:

1. Before casting on, set aside ~20-30 yards of yarn, depending on gauge and finger and palm length.
2. Provisionally cast on upper palm stitches.
3. Work half of the number of rows needed. 
4. Place live stitches on waste yarn or stitch holders (or else use a second set of double-pointed needles for the next step).
5. Unravel provisional cast on, placing stitches on DPNs. 
6. Using second ball of yarn, knit the second half of the number of rows needed for the palm.
7. Work the fingers, still using second ball of yarn.
8. Pick the stitches on waste yarn/holders/first set of DPN's up and complete pattern as normal.

In short, it's kind of a pain in the ass, and I'd rather have yarn scraps. 

So, cast on from the bottom and work as you would for a normal wrist-to-fingers glove. Once the palm stitches are finished (they should be flush with where your fingers separate), you're ready to start.

First, though, a bit of math. You already know how many stitches each finger requires from Part 2. Now, you need to incorporate those numbers into the live stitches. You can't simply divide them evenly, as fingers are different sizes and the ones on the ends of your hands (pinky and index) will require more of the palm stitches.  Figuring this out sounds complicated, but it's quite simple once you think about it. 

While fingers are circular, for the purposes of this exercise, it's useful to think of them as a series of rounded squares (individual stitches) within a larger rectangle (the palm stitches). I start with the index finger and the pinky finger and work my way to the middle as follows:

1. The index finger is a square that has a perimeter of 19 stitches. As three-quarters of the sides of this square are part of the larger rectangle (palm stitches), I will need to use 14 palm stitches (7 on one side of the beginning of the row, and 7 on the other) and cast on 5 stitches of my own. 
2. The pinky is a square that has a perimeter of 16 stitches. Three-quarters. of sides of this square are part of the larger rectangle. I will need to use 12 palm stitches (6 on one side of the halfway point of the row, and 6 on the other) and cast on 4 stitches of my own. 
3. At this point, I have used 26 of the 52 palm stitches. 26 remain. 
4. Both the middle and ring fingers are squares that have two sides that are part of the larger rectangle. Since my middle finger is slightly larger than my left finger, I will use 14 of the edge stitches, 7 on one side, 7 on the other, and will cast on two stitches in between each side to connect them. 
5. This means there are twelve stitches left for the ring finger, so I'll need to cast on two stitches in between them as well. 

If that sounds a bit confusing, here's a simple MS paint diagram I threw together:

I knit the fingers one at the time, keeping the unused edge stitches on waste yarn or a stitch holder. When finishing, it helps to use a less stretchy bind-off, as these help to reduce curling. Just don't cast off too tightly; I don't want to be responsible for any blue fingertips! As for the seams created by the cast-on edges, simply sew them together like you did with the thumb. Weave in the multitude of ends, and you're done!

Here endeth the lesson.

Coming soon: Part 4: Knitting!

Book Review: Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men by Lundy Bancroft

I'll admit it: I feel woefully unprepared for grad school. There are a variety of reasons for this, and I'll go ahead and list a few:

• I didn't major in the social sciences in undergrad. My degree is in literature, and while I have a minor in women's studies that involved taking several sociology courses, the sum total of my knowledge of psychology and human behavior comes from having dated a therapist who specialized in treating personality disorders. Useful, but far from comprehensive. 
• I haven't been in school for four years. I feel out of practice.
• I'm Type A and will feel unprepared pretty much no matter what.

Most of my insecurities are reflected in the first bullet point, though. I'm sort of worried there's going to be a gigantic knowledge gap in between my classmates, who may have actually studied things germane to social work, and myself, who is haphazardly-read in the social sciences at best. I never took classes in psychology or anthropology, and have read very little in those fields. I'm more at home in sociology, particularly the branches that focus on women's rights, racial issues, healthcare, and public policy as it relates to those three things. In short, lots of depth, not a lot of breadth.

I've decided to read some psychology/behavioral science-oriented books during the summer to make myself feel slightly less neurotic about my educational prospects come this fall. Why Does He Do That? is the first book in the docket. From what I've seen in court as part of my volunteering duties, domestic abuse (sadly) plays a big role in family court cases. In the state of North Carolina, exposing one's children to spousal abuse or other forms of domestic violence constitutes neglect, and can result in the children being removed from the parents' custody if they do not take appropriate steps to ameliorate the abusive situation. I therefore thought gaining some insight into domestic violence and those who perpetrate it would be a worthwhile endeavor.

I enjoyed Why Does He Do That? for a variety of reasons. Foremost among them is that Bancroft doesn't fall prey to political correctness* in his descriptions of abuse or his analysis of it. He doesn't shy away from the fact that men comprise the vast majority of abusers, nor does he fall prey to the notion that homosexual relationships are inherently ideal and violence-free in the way that so many progressive activists tend to. More importantly, Bancroft doesn't fall into the trap of allowing abusers to shirk responsibility for their destructive behaviors by blaming their actions on others. He carefully elucidates what many anti-DV advocates have known for a long time: abusive men are assholes, and they behave that way because they benefit from it. They're not crazy and they're not victims themselves: they're master manipulators who will do or say anything to justify the way they treat women. 

Bancroft reiterates time and again that it's the attitudes and belief structures of abusive men that need changing. They don't require therapy (at least, not the conventional type), love, care, or someone to listen; they need to be compelled to un-learn their beliefs about women (and, sometimes children). The root of the problem, Bancroft argues, is entitlement. Abusive men feel entitled to absolute control over the people they consider to be "theirs." Until they stop regarding women/their children as their property, they won't change. Conventional therapy can't fix that kind of entrenched misogyny, in fact, even the special therapy that Bancroft has pioneered doesn't have a high success rate because men are offered so few incentives to make meaningful change. The best thing that women in that kind of a relationship can do, therefore, is to get out as soon as they can safely do it. 

Why Does He Do That? is an invaluable resource for several reasons. Apart from explaining the motivations of abusive men, Bancroft also details different types of abusers and delineates the different methods they use to terrorize their targets. He also does an excellent job revealing the long-term effects of psychological (and physical) abuse on women and children, along with providing resources for women in abusive relationships and those who know a woman who may be in one. I found it both easy to read an highly informative. 5 out of 5 stars, though I still feel pretty unprepared.

*I hate using that term, but it's the only way I can think of describing the gendered white-washing of domestic abuse.