i love you period

Since Wednesday was National Punctuation Day and I completely missed the opportunity to celebrate it, I felt like a failed English major and wanted to make amends by providing a bit of work without punctuation. Behold! A poem by e.e. cummings.

when god lets my body be
by e e cummings

when god lets my body be

From each brave eye shall sprout a tree
fruit dangles therefrom

the purpled world will dance upon
Between my lips which did sing

a rose shall beget the spring
that maidens whom passions wastes

will lay between their little breasts
My strong fingers beneath the snow

Into strenous birds shall go
my love walking in the grass

their wings will touch with their face
and all the while shall my heart be

With the bulge and nuzzle of the sea

(The Literature geek in me loves e.e. cummings)

I'm not exactly sure when my love for words and art and design took hold, but at some point in my life it did. I can think of few better examples of the combination of these three elements than Italian's subscriptions to Popular Woodworking and Woodworking. When these magazines are delivered, it's usually a bit of a mad dash to see who can get it first. He likes the pictures, I want it for the articles.

These two magazines share an editorial staff and a common style. The writing is eloquent, their designs are timeless, and their approach focuses on quality. These same characteristics used to be present in what was once my favorite knitting magazine, but which, sadly is becoming less and less enjoyable. Interweave Knits has undergone a layout change and although it still has many very nice patterns, I'm not sure I like the new direction. The new layout seems to focus more on fashion and themes without articles to support themes or techniques. There is already a knitting magazine on the market with a focus on fashion and if I wanted that, I would subscribe to the competitor. Instead, when I began knitting again, I chose Interweave Knits because it seemed to focused on the knitting, the techniques, the designs, the craft. It was a smart knitters' magazine which made knitters smarter in their craft. The patterns seemed to support a knitters journey as well through the craft with great articles on technique and history.

This direction and focus on the craft is waning, being replace by what seems to be a focus on clothing. If I wanted a fashion magazine, I'd subscribe to one. What I want is a knitting magazine that will advance me as a knitter and provide me with years of classic timeless well made designs and technical articles that will make me better at what I do.

Today's blog title is the song "I love you period" by Dan Baird