The itch to stitch

 


[Image credit: totally stolen from an ebay listing for Zippy Pins]

Normally, I bring knitting with me on the bus as I commute to and from work, but the past few days, I've been just reading on my Kindle app, since I got a loaned copy of the Hunger Games.  This means I've been knitting a lot less (I have made some progress on the socks for the boyfriend, but not as much as I'd like) and my hands are mostly still during my commute.  I realized today that my hands are totally antsy and just want to knit up a storm again.  Must knit... must knit! Knit and purl!  Ahem...

Worst of all, I just learned about a yard sale at an apartment building about a mile from mine... and both fabric and yarn were specifically mentioned in the advertizement.  This could be a very bad...

I have to admit, however, that reading the Hunger Games is getting to be a bit of a stressful experience.  I find it a pretty disturbing reading on a lot of levels.  First, how does a society get to a point that it's willing to pit kids against each other in blood sports?  What kind of desensitization to violence and pain and distorted social categories could lead to that suddenly being OK?  The author tries to provide some of the background on the "games" to give it some context and start to cover that particular gulf, but it's simply hard to believe that human beings could get to such a point, regardless of the context.  I have to wonder how much  was the author's intent to connect the skewed economic divisions in our current climate with this truly extreme example between the wealthy, powerful, decadent Capitol and the various districts which range in their experiences of deprivation and oppression.  How much is the allegory, and how much is dystopian ad absurdum?

Then, it's simply disturbing how the character flips between being a hunter of prey animals to provide food to being both hunter and hunted in this blood sport.  The hardest is the fact that the character is one I find so identifiable that I can understand the rationale for certain decisions and strategies--I'm rooting for her despite the horrible things she has to bear and the horrible things that she must do.  It's a gripping book, I have to say, and I'm enjoying reading it (aside from the pervasive unease I feel), and it's the kind of book where I just HAVE to know what is coming next.  How does it end? How does she get there? What will she find?

Anyway, so that's the current standing.  I'm hoping to share some recent knitting projects over the weekend, including my skull and crossbones cardigan (the anti-granny cardigan).

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