http://desiknitter.com Knitting keeps an Indian academic sane in the States (and, during 2008-09, in India as well). Almost. Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:26:47 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Last week I went on my first trip to a couple of new archives in south India, in Chennai and Thanjavur to be precise, for my new research project. (More about both these places later, when I visit again). A friend who knows them well and had to do some ... http://desiknitter.com/archives/students-work-etc/train-to-thanjavur-and-tenure Remember when this was a knitting blog? I actually have some updates to post, of new WIPs. I have been knitting a bit on and off, mostly on the sampler shawl from Victorian Lace Today. Surprisingly quick progress for the amount of time I have been able to devote to ... http://desiknitter.com/archives/lace-work/joint-effort Last week, a friend and I decided to escape the city and visit the Konkan, the coastal strip that stretches all the way from Bombay down to northern Kerala for a few days. One aim was to travel everywhere by the available public transport, so we picked a few small ... http://desiknitter.com/archives/travel/down-the-konkan-coast (Thanks so much for the comments on the gunpowder, friends - in the next few months, rather than reply individually to comments, I'm going to respond here on the blog, so do check back in the comments; if you asked a question to the last one, the answer is here.) ... http://desiknitter.com/archives/travel/stone-and-flesh If you've eaten a south Indian meal, you have probably come across a variant of what is often called 'gunpowder' in Indian English - spicy roasted lentil powders that go as accompaniments to various dishes. The Tamil name is molagaapoDii (literally spice powder, I think), but in Marathi and Kannada ... http://desiknitter.com/archives/food-and-drink/gunpowder Hey, all! Thanks so much for all your good wishes for my trip - here I am, on the other side of the world, recovered from jet lag already. Plane travel is exhausting, disorienting, annoying and many other things. It also infantalises travellers like none other mode of travel. It's not ... http://desiknitter.com/archives/lace-work/strapped-in Thanks, everyone, for the comments on the Ribby Cardi! I have been wearing it everywhere, even though it has been quite warm here during the day. The Eco+ is unfortunately already showing a tendency towards pilling with all this wear, and I hope that will not be a continued problem. ... http://desiknitter.com/archives/students-work-etc/long-haul I am wearing possibly the best handknit design ever. If you haven't knit a Ribby Cardi, buy the pattern right now and cast on, because this is not only an easy pattern, it is clever and simple and results in a most satisfying garment. This one has quickly raced to ... http://desiknitter.com/archives/sweaters/ribby-cardi Teaching for this Spring is over, thank God. This has been the longest and most painful semester ever due to some heavy duty personal and professional stress, and now that it is nearly over, I want to dance like these guys in this song, jaate the japan, pahunch gaye chiin, ... http://desiknitter.com/archives/music/relief This post is for my friend Aparna in Bangalore, who I thought of a lot on a last-minute trip to Los Angeles this weekend. I went down for a special event and to hear a dear friend and colleague speak (some of you might recognize who all that hair in ... http://desiknitter.com/archives/travel/impromptu