The Inferno

(Originally posted on Tumblr, but I liked it so much I wanted it here, too.)


It’s been twelve years since I read Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, and even then I didn’t make it all the way through. It was for class, though, and we had a lot of discussions, so I picked up some key points.

And I definitely don’t agree with everything Alighieri thought, just to be totally up front about that. Some of the lustful people, those violent against themselves or against nature, just for a few examples, I really don’t think need to be condemned to hell for eternity. But there are a few things I think are absolutely on track:

First, that separation of church and state is vital.

Second, that compound fraud - that is, fraud that has an element of violence - is among the worst of all sins (crimes), especially when committed against people who are supposed to be under your care.

Finally, that there are some people in the world who are so evil that their souls are swept away to hell to start suffering early, while a demon takes over their body and continues their work.

Honestly, it gives me some small measure of comfort to know that, whenever I think that the Trump administration should to go straight to hell, at least one school of thought posits that they are already there.

Current crochet project:

This, but with extra super thick yarn and some slight adjustments so it's a blanket rather than a pillow.

(I am serious about that yarn thickness, I'm using a crochet hook that's at least twice my usual size for chunky yarn, and three times my usual size for worsted weight yarn (worsted weight probably being the size most people associate with yarn).)

I added an extra fifteen rows each to the top and bottom of the chart, but I don't actually have enough green for much beyond the original pattern, so the majority of that is going to be gold instead. The yarn I'm using was all on clearance at Michael's, so there's probably no getting more green. After doing the math, I should need eight skeins of green and three of gold for the main/original pattern, and then I can use the rest at my discretion. I have nine skeins of green total, and picked up eleven of the gold. The additional top and bottom rows come out to about three-and-a-half skeins each, and while I got all of the green I could find, there were at least five more skeins of the gold that I didn't buy (and I might pick up an extra just in case).

I got through the first nineteen rows at Crafting tonight, and only just started the first "real" row of the pattern (that is, the one with actual color changes in it). So it's going reasonably fast, and I can't say I'm complaining about that. I should definitely have it done by AnimeIowa, and maybe even by the end of the month, depending on distractions.

Unfortunately, the easiest place to rest the weight of the blanket as I'm working on it is on my lap, and it's starting to warm up around here. It's been in the sixties (Fahrenheit) for a few days now, and working on a heavy blanket while under a heavy blanket is not the most pleasant activity :P Makes me wish I'd save it for winter, but knowing me, I'm sure I'd forget about the yarn by then. So now it is. At least my basement is nice and cool.