The baby blanket knitting continues apace, but it looks the same as last time, only longer. I'll wait till I get a bit further along before I post another picture. I've got to get it out of the way, though, because I'll be having another lace project (shop sample) coming along shortly. More on that later.
Today was "I can't wait any longer, I've GOT to get my hair cut" day. When I walked into the hair cuttery, there was a lady sitting there crocheting away. We had a nice chat while we were waiting to get our respective hair done. She crochets afghans and vests, and her parents sell them at craft shows. We both agreed that crochet is set up to be The Next Big Thing. When she retires, she wants to open a yarn shop with rocking chairs and sofas where people can sit and work together and have fun. Sounds good to me!
A non-knitting, link-heavy, slightly philosophical aside:
Dear Robert should be bringing me home some books tonight or tomorrow. Two of the books are by Charles Stross. The sale of these books is directly due to Mr. Stross having placed his novel Accelerando onlie for download. For free.
This isn't the first time this has happened. A few years ago, Jim Monroe put his book Angry Young Spacemen online for free download. I read that book and promptly bought his next book Flyboy Action Figure, Comes with Gas Mask. Cory Doctorow has the text of his books online for free download. They're also available in brick-and-mortar stores. I bought Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and enjoyed it. I've downloaded and read his book Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town, and I have Eastern Standard Tribe in my reading queue. I've also started watching BoingBoing. And I've started thinking about DRM (Digital Rights Management) and copyright issues and started pointing people to these kinds of discussions too.
I'm slowly coming around to the idea that the current "copyright is sacred" idea may not be in the best long-term interests of artists. Relax, I'm not going to start copying and distributing the works of current designers! But if I ever get to the point where I'm designing and creating my own patterns, I don't think I'm going to hold on so hard to my ideas. There's some neat collaborative stuff that can happen if you don't. In effect, that's what lots of people are doing with patterns anyway. Some folks knit the Flower Basket Shawl in Misti Alpaca. Some folks experiment with other yarns, or with adding a different edging , or increasing the number of repeats, or changing the gauge. We're all collaborating with the designer in doing things like this. It's a good thing.
And it all started with a free ebook. Who'da thunk it??
And before I leave, here are a couple of dog pictures:
Jasper being silly behind the lawn chair.
Bad counter-surfing dog! (He's trying to get the bacon dish.)
He thinks being cute will let him get away with this stuff.
Sometimes it works.
Elvis and Pearl know how irresistable those bacon dishes smell!
Many layers to the copyright issue. A sticky one for sure. Good for you for having such a progressive opinion.
Posted by: Beth | July 10, 2005 at 09:53 AM
I agree on the copyright issue. Following today's rules is right, but changing them for the electronic era deserves a good look, too. BTW, how many repeats did you do on your FBS?
Posted by: Jane | July 10, 2005 at 12:27 PM
One of the really neat things about the net is that writers can easily distribute documents; self publishing, which used to be a dirty word, now actually can have the effect of introducing unknown writers to publishers who are unhappy they've missed out on a potential moneymaker.
I don't know that it would work for music, though; we prefer reading books, I think, but listening doesn't have the same tactile requirements...
Posted by: Anita | July 11, 2005 at 11:45 AM