semantic: adjective relating to meaning in language or logic. From French sémantique, from Greek semantikos ‘significant’.
semantics: plural noun [usually treated as singular]. 1) The branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning. 2) The meaning of a word, phrase, sentence, or text.
Late last night, slumped against a pile of pillows knitting, I had a realization. I realized that the world would be a better place if the names of things were actually descriptive of what they do. To what am I referring? I am referring, of course, to “point protectors.” I realized that they were misnamed only after I had invented the silly things again.
You see, I am working on a new hat, and have decreased to do the band, so I’m back on to double-pointed needles instead of working on a circular. This means that I’m juggling four or five needles, a ball of yarn, an almost-fully-knit hat, and the television remotes. So, scrambling to find the remote while not losing my knitting, I began to think. I thought all through the commercial, and well through the next segment of the show (something about volcanoes or global warming or Mars or something).
At the next commercial, I carefully set aside the knitting and went out onto the back deck, to retrieve the left, pinkish-purplish flip-flop which resides there. I retrieved the left one because my left foot’s smaller than the right (one of yours is, too, you know), so I figured it could lose a half-inch or so and not have any effect. I proceeded to pare away 1/2 an inch and to cut it into cubes, each of which I skewered so that I’d have a place into which to place my points, and voila! I no longer ran the risk of my work slipping off of the needles!
At which point I realized that the things called “point protectors” are probably not designed to protect the points of your needles. No. They’re probably designed to keep your work from slipping off of the needles. So WHY are they named “point protectors?” I had passed the things up many times, simply because I thought to myself, seeing them, “why do I care about protecting the points of my needles? And I’m perfectly safe from the points, so why do I need to protect myself from the points? After reading Isobel’s blog, I’ll be careful, so I don’t need those.”
Bah, I say. Semantics! Name the things “yarn keepers” or something!
And then, this morning, I find that I’ve been holding my knitting incorrectly and am knitting everything (well, everything round, anyway) backwards.
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How very spring-like and festive the yellow hat appears! How silly the grown woman will look in it when you add the ruffles! Still – great stitches, and I like the swirl on top. Are you sure you’re knitting backwards?!
Your flip-flop… will never be the same. That’s all I’m sayin.’
Unfortunately, I’m certain that I’m knitting backwards. Not only that, because I was fiddling with the hat & trying to imagine knitting in any other way, I’ve now changed direction and knitted back over most of a row … so there’s a wee little gap I’ll have to either plug or work into the design.
And yes: the woman will look strange in this hat. That’s kind of the point. She’s a total stranger … well, okay, not total stranger, but I’ve never met her even if she is your stylist’s auntie. But even so, she asked me for a hat! Even after I told her how much work it’d take! So! She gets something which will make her look like a ginormous yellow puff-head.
And I get pictures.
To post on the interweb.
SNH. SNH. SNH.
once again, the hat you knitted is beautiful. great color and lovely stitches.
i, too, will continue to knit inside out. so it goes.
I also have to chuckle: semantics is important!? How long did it take me to catch that!?
It took me a whole day of turning it over and over in my head. Even though OED says that “semantics” is usually treated as singular … well, it was bothersome.
Same deal with semiotics:
semiotics: plural noun [treated as singular] the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation. From Greek semeiotikos ‘of signs’.
Semantics aside…it sounds like a job for Magic Loop! You’ll not go back to dpns I’ll wager!