Sunday, April 12, 2009

StarKnits is holding a Sock Wars 4 contest!

I love people who give stuff away. I've never won anything, but just the possibility that I *could* win fills me with glee.

Until the inevitable disappointment. But by then, there's a new contest somewhere, so it's all good.

StarKnits is giving away Sock Wars bags! Here's a link to her blog and the contest!

If your knitterly inclined, you should also check out her Etsy store. Aren't those socks darling??

Did I mention Sock Wars 4 is starting again soon? I'm so excited. I've signed up, got my yarn, knitted up the practice pair, and have taken a week off work so I'll be able to knit my brains out. Whee!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

But what's her Ravelry name?

The earthquake in Italy was a terrible tragedy in which hundreds of people lost their lives and homes. There will be other places on the net to detail that.

My interest is in Maria D’Antuono, who, at 98, spent the 30 hours she was trapped under her bed... knitting. (Or possibly crocheting. It's not clear.)

This from Timesonline.co.uk:"I worked, I knitted," said Mrs D'Antuono, from the village of Tempera, close to L'Aquila. The redoubtable nonagenarian told rescuers that she was in good health when she was found this morning, according to Sky TG24.

From www.gaurdian.co.uk:

The 98-year-old villager, from Tempera, near L'Aquila, yesterday became one of the latest survivors to be dragged from the rubble left by Monday's devastating earthquake in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. For 30 interminable hours, she lay below the ruins of her house, a few miles from the epicentre.

So what did she do to while away the time, not knowing whether she would live or die as rescue workers dug towards her? The answer, it seems, was "crochet".

According to the Ansa news agency, D'Antuono was pulled from the rubble to cheers from the crowd and briefly answered questions from a reporter for Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset television network before she was taken to hospital. Asked how she had passed the time since her house had collapsed on her, she reportedly said she had been busy with her hook and wool.

She was given a packet of biscuits, but had a request that left onlookers even more astonished than before - and gave an entire new dimension to the concept of bella figura (which roughly translates as keeping up appearances). Before leaving for hospital, she said, she wanted a comb.


This is heartwarming. It's amusement amidst horror. It's a human-interest story showing the unbelievable pluck of an elderly lady. But knitters, crocheters, and fiber-fanatics around the world are noticing some glaring omissions in the story:

What was she working on, how much did she get done, and will somebody please post pictures of her project?