Sad news: Rest in peace, Bev Galeskas

I just heard the sad news that Bev Galeskas, founder of Fiber Trends, died yesterday, about a year after being diagnosed with cancer. Bev was one of the first true "indie" designers; she founded her pattern company before the Internet brought indie designers into the mainstream, at a time when yarn companies and magazines dominated the field of knitting design. I find it hard to imagine that there could be many gung-ho knitters out there who have never made a Fiber Trends pattern, like the baby/toddler fruit & vegetable caps



the adorable stuffed animals, like these felted lllamas


or the many clever felting patterns Bev designed.


Fiber Trends also published many beautiful lace patterns (notably those by Evelyn Clark and Eugen Beuler), bringing those lovely designs to knitters all over the world. All of these and more are available on the Fiber Trends website here, and no doubt at the vest majority of yarn shops in the US.

Bev also wrote one of the best books on felting, Felted Knits:


I only had the pleasure of meeting Bev once, but I enjoyed that meeting greatly. My sympathies to all who knew and loved her. The knitting world will miss you, Bev.

RIP: George Carlin

"I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately." -- George Carlin

I remember my brother somewhere getting a recording of George Carlin's "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television" routine. It was a real Beavis and Butthead moment for him: "he said shit, heh, heh." As I grew older, I came to appreciate George Carlin's wit and sense of absurdity even more than his pottymouth. It saddened me to hear of his sudden death this weekend. He managed to skewer the minor irritations of life as adeptly as the major contradictions of humanity, and that's quite a talent.

Well, if crime fighters fight crime, and firefighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?

The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.

If the police arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?

How is it possible to have a civil war?

Have you ever noticed that their stuff is shit and your shit is stuff?

Religion has convinced people that there's an invisible man...living in the sky, who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of ten specific things he doesn't want you to do. And if you do any of these things, he will send you to a special place, of burning and fire and smoke and torture and anguish for you to live forever, and suffer and burn and scream until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you and he needs money.

If a deaf person swears, does his mother wash his hands with soap?

Why don’t sheep shrink when it rains?