By John Maruskin
Clark County Library
Last week the library hosted the Gateway Paranormal Society for a program about ghost hunting or how to spot spirits who had not passed over to the other side. This Thursday, Oct. 25, the library’s Reference and Local History Department will host the prequel to that ghost hunting program. Sue Lynn McDaniel, a Kentucky Humanities Council speaker, will discuss “Dying Proper: A Century of Kentucky Funerals,” a program about Kentucky traditions for the last stop on the way to the other side.
The Kentucky Humanities Speakers Bureau describes her program this way: “Since 1870, Kentuckians have increasingly employed undertakers to perform many of the last duties for their deceased loved ones, yet core elements of the process and ceremony remain constant. As the services provided have changed, communities have changed their expectations for showing respect and the elements of a proper burial. From her knowledge of Kentuckians’ use of Victorian customs, McDaniel now explores what has been customary, what appears unique, and how location impacts our citizens’ understanding of death, burial, and mourning practices.”
This will be one of the library’s popular potluck dinner programs, so bring a dish and join your friends and neighbors for this interesting discussion of grave matters. The potluck dinner begins at 6:15 p.m.; the program begins at 7 p.m. This program is free and open to the public. To ensure you have a seat, call for a reservation. Dial 744-5661 and then select 1 from the phone menu to talk to the circulation desk. For more information, call the library and then push 2 for the reference desk.
Better call quick — people have been dying to get into this program. Sorry, couldn’t help myself. Almost Halloween, you know.
Moving right along, the autumn chill in the air gets lots of people thinking about knitting nice warm scarves and socks for themselves or for Christmas gifts. If you’re looking for some unique, contemporary ideas for knitting projects, the library has a slew of new knitting books to provide inspiration and instruction. Here are just a few.
One such book is “Sock Yarn: One Skein Wonders,” by Judith Durant. Sock yarn is the type most commonly used for all kinds of projects. This book shows you how to knit more than 100 different projects with just one skein of yarn, and not just the usual mittens and scarves.
Have a girlfriend with a Harley? Directions are here for a “motorcycle mama neck warmer.: Got a Barbie doll that needs new duds for the New Year? This book contains projects for doll clothes. Or, how about a knitted umbrella lamp shade?
Then there’s Antje Gillingham’s new knitting guide, “Knitting Circles Around Socks: Knit Two at a Time on Circular Needles.” With this book, you can learn how to make two basic, chunky, shaped-toes or ruffled-top socks at one time with a circular needle. Two socks at one time on a circular needle? Amazing.
Finally, for you radical knittists, there’s my fave: “Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti,” by Madi Moore and Leanne Prain. This swell book is for knitters who want to “take it to the streets” with things like Treesweaters (a nice cable knit muffler for your favorite sapling) or Monster Feet booties for those special signposts or parking meters in your life. Actually, even if you don’t knit you should take a look at Yarn Bombing just to be charmed by the possibilities of the human imagination.
Wordsworth said imagination was the finest quality of human reason. I wonder if Wordsworth could knit?
