For the people who claim Martha Stewart Isn't Sexist...

I present exhibit A.  Notice her reaction to the backhoe design and its intended recipient at 1:35 in.  Rather insulting, huh?  Notice at about 3:25, the way she emphasizes the pink T-shirt is for a "cute little girl".  Contrast the two.

I rest my case. :P

Things That Bug Me (Knitting Edition)

Well, not all knitting, but they're knitting triggered.

1. DOC is a lousy file format for sharing. People who use it, please go look up the word 'proprietary' in the dictionary, kthnx. Microsoft Word, you have to pay for. And it's an expensive SOB, too. Yes, there are other programs out there that will open that format, but Microsoft doesn't like to admit it for starters, and depending on the respective versions, sometimes it doesn't work well. PDF is also a proprietary format, but the viewer is free. (And you can make them for free, too, with CutePDF. Not even any ads. It's easy; you'll like it.) RTF and HTML are both non-proprietary formats.
   OK, funny story. One of my coworkers needed something that would print to PDF, so I told him to call up the corporate help desk and ask for it to be installed under one of our corporate licenses. He thought for sure I was putting him on. "You're setting me up, aren't you? They're going to laugh and ask what I'm talking about when I ask for a program called CutePDF, right?"
2. People who have their head up their ass about intellectual property, please at least learn what is copyrightable and what is patentable, and what each entails.
3. Enough with the five bagillion patterns for fingerless gloves! I'll allow a few exceptions for actual design-element driven patterns, but most of y'all aren't fooling anyone. You're just doing "sleeve with thumbhole" fingerless gloves because you're scared of fingers. Don't be! They're easy! And frankly, 99% of fingerless gloves are more effective with little finger cuffs just a little short of the first knuckle. Maximum warmth, much better fit, and still leaves your fingertips with maximum dexterity.
4. With rare exceptions, Snap.com previews are not cool; they're terribly terribly annoying. Look, if I wanted them, I could install the end-user add-on. If your blog provider turns them on automatically (LiveJournal, I'm snarling at you), turn them off. If you put them on yourself, don't!
5. Elizabeth Zimmerman was not a deity. If you like her, that's cool. But she is not the end-all and be-all of knitting, she's not infallibly correct, and are some of y'all actually reading what she wrote, or are you skimming over what you wanted her to write? Because I don't think she said what you think she said.
   
6. The current knitting fashion of strongly shaped sweaters. It seems every time I find a sweater pattern I like, especially tanks and tees, the designer is bragging about how they "aggressively decrease at the waist." Um... My body does not aggressively decrease at the waist. And I'm so short-waisted that even if it did, their waist shaping would probably be at the point of my hip.
7. When I hit the "Publish Post" instead of "Save As Draft" button. Oops. Um, post away!
   

I hate the nonword "unvent"

"Unvent" is an amazingly annoying knitting thing started by Elizabeth Zimmerman.

Now, I personally despise Elizabeth Zimmerman's writings. I find her unforgivably arrogant, and amazingly ignorant on some topics. The "grandmother of knitting" didn't know why wool felts, OK? (And the math on the Pi shawl is wrong, and I hate to break it to people, but laymen think the Baby Surprise Jacket is UGLY. I did a poll; only knitters think it's cool. And I don't care what gift recipients say to your face; there is a little thing called 'politeness' still in effect in most areas.)

One of Ms. Zimmerman's false modesties was the word "unvent". You see, she never invented anything, because surely someone somewhere in history had done it before. But she'd never seen it, so she "unvented" it.

I hate this pseudo-word, and I especially hate that I'm seeing it so commonly used on so many innovative knitting blogs, like TECHknitting. Why do I hate it? Because it robs women of self-respect, and appreciation (not to mention credit) for their innovations. It doesn't matter even if someone 600 years ago in the backwaters of Germany figured this out and never shared it. You figured it out now, on your own, in a vacuum, when no one else in recorded history has. Take credit. Have a little respect for yourself. Put the modesty aside, and have some pride in what you've shared with the world.