Liz Denys

I've been increasingly seeing an item for Route Package Protection automatically added to my cart when I purchase things online:

If you haven't encountered Route, it's a company that offers package tracking and protection for lost, stolen, and damaged products for online merchants. Route offers plugins that integrate directly into common online store software platforms, and since Route is set up so the customer pays, it's free for the merchant. They have a mobile app that allows users to track packages, and companies can advertise within the app.

Later in the checkout flow, I have the option to remove Route Package Protection, but if I do so, it would be at my own risk:

It surprised me a little to see basic shipping insurance, something that's long been built into the costs of online shopping and shipping options, has suddenly shifted to a separate, explicit upcharge for shoppers. Part of the surprise is certainly because paying for it directly as a shopper feels like I'm being charged more for something that should be a core part of online shopping. It's a little unclear what value Route provides since insurance is available through most shipping companies: perhaps, it's difficult and time consuming to make claims with shipping companies, or maybe, it's just a belief that the customer paying for Route saves the company money.

The other part of my surprise lies in this third-party service automatically getting all of the information about my purchase, whether or not my package arrives safely. In an alternate universe, Route would have designed package protection to be an insurance service that companies buy into and request assistance when something goes awry with a package. Companies might increase costs slightly to cover Route's service fees, but they might not need to due to insurance pooling. Companies would get to save time dealing with lost and stolen packages, but most importantly, this model would significantly reduce the amount of customer data shared with Route.

Unfortunately, that's not the route Route chose (sorry not sorry), and instead, Route is gathering customer purchase data across a wide swath of online vendors. Purchase history data has a direct value propostion for retailers and advertisers, especially when it's tied to your actual personal information including your address and phone number - the latter being a common key for advertising databases.

Route seems to realize this is a likely customer concern, and their Privacy and Data Security Statement (July 26, 2021) implies they won't sell your data:

When do we share it? We share personal information when needed to fulfill our legal obligations and when our vendors, business partners, and affiliates need it to perform the contracts we have with them. We provide further detail about our sharing of personal information here. We do not sell or rent any personal information from any data subjects to third party data brokers or marketing companies.

However, the extended Privacy and Cookie Statement (July 26, 2021, linked at "here") clarifies that your personal information is not actually protected in the event that the company itself is sold:

Business Sale/Purchase
If we or any of our affiliates sell or transfer all or substantially all of our assets, equity interests, or securities, or are acquired by one or more third parties as a result of an acquisition, merger, sale, reorganization, divestiture, consolidation, or liquidation, personal information may be one of the transferred assets.

Of course, this issue around personal information privacy and company acquisition isn't unique to Route, but Route is a relatively young VC-funded company, the exact sort of company I expect to be eyeing acquisition. VC firms specifically want companies to grow fast and make large exits, and one common strategy to do that is to get acquired for a lot of money. In fact, it's plausible that an entity might even want to acquire Route solely for the vast amounts of customer data it has amassed from the various online stores that use it to save a little money dealing with lost packages. Sure, it's possible that Route's investors are simply happy for it to turn into a consistent business and have no aspirations of monetizing customer data, but I'm not willing to bet that VC firms are happy to leave potential money behind.

Purl Soho added some new colors and discontinued some old colors of the yarns called for in Joelle Hoverson's Library Blanket. I've added the eight new colors to the Library Blanket color palette preview tool I made last April, and I also labeled the discontinued colors as such. Hopefully knitters haven't already fallen in love with color combinations featuring discontinued colors unless they already had those colors in their stashes!

I also alphabetized the Linen Quill and Line Weight colors within the dropdown menus so they're easier to find.

Finally, I made a new color palette that used all three of the new Linen Quill colors and all five of the new Line Weight colors called "Featuring September 2021 new colors." Here's the new combination:

Yarn colors:

1. Line Weight Clear Sky (new)
2. Line Weight Clover Green (new)
3. Line Weight Hydrangea Blossom (new)
4. Line Weight Lilac Fog (new)
5. Line Weight Mountain Blue (new)
6. Linen Quill Heirloom White
7. Linen Quill Clover Green (new)
8. Linen Quill Blue Pansy (new)
9. Linen Quill Green Turqouise
10. Linen Quill Blue Blue (new)

Color combo list:

• A: Linen Quill Blue Blue + Line Weight Hydrangea Blossom
• B: Linen Quill Clover Green + Line Weight Clear Sky
• C: Linen Quill Blue Blue + Line Weight Lilac Fog
• D: Linen Quill Blue Blue + Line Weight Mountain Blue
• E: Linen Quill Heirloom White + Line Weight Clear Sky
• F: Linen Quill Blue Pansy + Line Weight Hydrangea Blossom
• G: Linen Quill Heirloom White + Line Weight Clover Green
• H: Linen Quill Blue Blue + Line Weight Clover Green
• I: Linen Quill Green Turquoise + Line Weight Lilac Fog
• J: Linen Quill Blue Pansy + Line Weight Mountain Blue
• K: Linen Quill Blue Blue + Line Weight Clear Sky
• L: Linen Quill Clover Green + Line Weight Clover Green
• M: Linen Quill Blue Pansy + Line Weight Lilac Fog
• N: Linen Quill Heirloom White + Line Weight Lilac Fog
• O: Linen Quill Blue Pansy + Line Weight Clear Sky
• P: Linen Quill Green Turquoise + Line Weight Clover Green
• Q: Linen Quill Heirloom White + Line Weight Mountain Blue
• R: Linen Quill Heirloom White + Line Weight Hydrangea Blossom
• S: Linen Quill Clover Green + Line Weight Lilac Fog
• T: Linen Quill Blue Pansy + Line Weight Clover Green

My partner and I don't always decorate for Christmas, but when we do, we love to hang stockings to fill with little notes, candies, chapsticks, stickers, or other small snacks and trinkets we pick up over the course of December. His family has a tradition of handmade stockings, most of which are gorgeously cross stitched, but since neither of us enjoys cross stitching enough to do entire stockings, we settled on my knitting them instead. I chose the Snow Day Stocking by Purl Soho pattern because it knits up quickly and the marled pattern felt perfectly cozy.

I chose to use Red Gingham for the contast color alongside Heirloom White because it is a classic bright red. (The Red Poppy in Purl Soho's blog post is a lot more orange in real life than it looks on most computer screens.)

Pattern modifications

Using yarn over (YO) increases in the toe strikes me as a weird choice because YO's create holes, and if you "knit all yarn overs from previous round through the back loop" as instructed to twist the hole, you just get a smaller hole. Holes seem like exactly the wrong sort of thing for an object that traditionally holds small objects, particularly with such a large gauge that the holes are large. I gave the YO holes the benefit of the doubt and knitted a few rows, but decided that it was both as impractical as I expected and somewhat ugly. I simply could make a Christmas stocking that a pen might fall through!

My replacements for the YO toe rows:

Round 1: *kfb, k1, mirrored kfb (place marker between stitches) repeat from * to end of round. 4 stitches increased
Round 2: *k1, m1l, knit to next marker, m1r, slip marker, k1, repeat from * to end of round. 4 stitches increased

mirrored kfb: video instructions here
m1l: pick up bar between stitches from front, knit into the back
m1r: pick up bar between stitches from back, knit into the front

I've also documented these modifications and my other project notes for these stockings on Ravelry, but I'm attempting to document projects in a location where viewers don't need to create an account to see them and on a platform I have full control over, too, in case Ravelry ever disappears. Plus, as always, I'm just not very good at keeping external sites updated and am always trying to blog more.

Additional project notes

• Needle: US 17 - 12.0 mm
• Gauge: 8 stitches and 11 rows = 4 inches in Stockinette Stitch, with yarn doubled
• Yarn used per stocking: 1 skein (87 yards) of Purl Soho Super Soft Merino in Heirloom White (dye lot 456936), 1 skein (87 yards) of Super Soft Merino in Red Gingham (dye lot 272965)
• I didn't bother making pom poms since I'm not really a pom pom person, but if I ever do, I'll likely use both colors of yarn to do so.
• Someday, I will likely embroider little tags with names on them to attach to the hanging loops, but for now, Matt's just hangs higher because he's taller.
• I've found working double knit i-cord is my preferred way to set up a provisional cast on in the round over a small number of stitches, like this pattern calls for. This helps me avoid ending up with uneven stitches wherever I switch needles. I cast on the right number of stitches with scrap yarn using the long tail cast on, work double knit i-cord twice (4 rows, as each run around takes 2), and then distribute the stitches over 2 circular needles or DPNs. To distribute the double knit i-cord stitches, you want to alternate needles as you slip them off as every other stitch is the "back" part of the round.
• I prefer knitting small number of stitches in the round over two small circular needles instead of on DPNs. With a pattern like this with a repeat halfway through, it's mentally easiest for me to split the stitches such that the first half is on one circ and the second on the other, but you can't easily use a traditional stitch marker when it's between needles. Instead, I tie a small bit of yarn to the cord of the circular needle that I have to switch to between rounds.
• I knit 13 rows to get the 5-inch length in the foot, 22 rows to get the 8-inch length in the leg (not counting the specified "round 1"), and 9 rows to get the 4-inch length in the hanging loop (not counting the bind off knit row).

I wanted curtain tiebacks that were functional for my curtains hung inside window frames, but unfortuantely, the current trends are designed around curtains mounted outside window frames with large, bulky metal tiebacks - not so great for my craftsman framed windows in tiny NYC rooms!

Knitting curtain tiebacks ended up being the perfect solution:

Here's what they look like lying flat instead of holding the curtain back:

Pattern

I used a worsted yarn that's on the thinner side of worsted and US 2 - 2.75 mm needles, but this project is flexible and can be made with a variety of yarns with a needle that makes a stitch size you like. I usually recommend swatching for projects, but it's not necessary in this one since you're just knitting until you reach your desired length and the width is flexible.

Make a provisional cast on of 8 stitches with scrap yarn. I prefer to create this provisional cast on by casting on 8 stitches on a straight or circular needle and then working them in double knit i-cord (directions in the next step) for a few rows.

The bulk of the curtain ties are made up of double knit i-cord worked over 8 stitches:

1. K1, slip purl wise wyif, to end of row, repeat
2. Repeat step 1 until you reach your desired length.

Finish each end as follows:

1. Pull yarn through the stitches twice.
2. Make a small loop from current end to other side and pull back to start of loop through half the stitches.
3. Repeat, but twist the yarn through the previous loop to make a single 2-ply loop and pull back through the other half of the stitches.
4. Pull yarn through last row of stitches again.
5. Knot off and weave in the end.

I screwed in a very small cup hook inside the window frame to loop the curtain tie to when it was wrapped around the curtain.

Additional project notes

• Needle: US 2 - 2.75 mm
• Gauge: While I usually make gauge swatches, I didn't bother making one for this project.
• Yarn used: 0.2 skeins (~32 yards) of Purl Soho Lantern in Platinum Gray, a worsted white cotton wrapped in a thin silvery grey linen

I've also documented these modifications and my other project notes for these curtain ties on Ravelry, but I'm attempting to document projects in a location where viewers don't need to create an account to see them and on a platform I have full control over, too, in case Ravelry ever disappears. Plus, as always, I'm just not very good at keeping external sites updated and am always trying to blog more.

I became vegetarian in February. It was a really, really long time coming, and becoming vegetarian before the start of a pandemic was really convenient. Few things beat having a bunch of dried beans, lentils, and veggies plus a bunch of rice on in my pantry while you're figuring out grocery delivery in NYC that doesn't exploit gig labor.

In March, April, and May, I made a lot of granola and ate it primarily with homemade almond milk. I have never been more grateful to have a powerful Vitamix blender than when we were making almond milk at least twice a week, and I can't believe I waited months before buying a nut milk bag to strain it instead of using a fine mesh sieve. I really cannot overstate how much time using a nut milk bag saves. Mexican Horchata also entered our regular drink rotation.

Toast slathered in butter that's topped with thinly sliced radishes and finished sea salt has become my favorite savory breakfast/afternoon snack. Toast slathered in one of Ayako & Family's many varieties of plum jam has become my favorite sweet breakfast/afternoon snack.

Soy eggs are a regular snack when we realize we have accumulated too many eggs through our weekly farm share delivery. I use a regular sodium soy sauce and leave them overnight, and despite the warning in the ingredient list, they have never been excessively salty.

When I'm feeling uninspired regarding a veggie in my farm share, I decide whether it would rather be roasted or salad and just do that. Roasted veggies are always a welcome side or addition to a dish in my home. Salad tossed in any quickly homemade dressing is still an incredible and simple to prepare treat, and yes, I admit I will forever be a stock photo cliché.

Laura Wright's ginger, sweet potato, and coconut milk stew with lentils and kale is forever going to be in our regular meal rotation. We add about triple the chilli stated in the recipe. Also, her creamy corn and lemon pasta with thyme is a favorite summer treat.

It's decorative gourd season, so I made a vegan squash soup. Cooking red lentils in the spices I would usually add to a soup and adding those to the blender helped make this a full meal, alongside some crusty bread, of course.

I've been craving mapo tofu for months. (I'm not aware of a good vegetarian version available in my part of the city.) My friends Alex and Erin sent me this very detailed recipe from Chinese Cooking Demystified, which made me feel confident I could make it if I gathered the right ingredients - though I wanted to have a minced protein instead of just omitting it to make it vegetarian. I use food processor minced fresh mushrooms instead of beef, which take longer to cook down and require more oil as mushrooms absorb it instead of releasing fat, and I replace the broth with shiitake dashi. (If you don't have another plan for the rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, they can be minced and added to the fresh ones to replace the beef.)

Tali sauce is still a fun way to transform a simple bowl of rice and beans, and it freezes beautifully. That said, a humble bowl of rice and beans is always a pleasure on its own.

Speaking of beans, I never throw out bean cooking liquid. If I don't want it as part of the beans, I save it to reheat and mix with miso paste, as a treat.

Soy curls are a delightful shelf-stable protein. I often use them in Japanese or Thai curries.

Eggplant parmigiana is a lot more delicious to me when the eggplant is roasted instead of fried. I use parm instead of the romano listed and my own tomato sauce recipe, which also has onions and uses Diaspora Co.'s incredible ground chilli instead of crushed red pepper. (Diaspora Co.'s chillies are brimming with flavor. I can't be anyone's barometer for spiciness because I don't notice it until it hits my digestive system, but I hear they're somewhat milder in heat than expected. P.S. All their other spices are incredible, too.)

Lekka Burger's vegan chocolate chip cookie is made entirely of shelf-stable pantry staples and is absolutely incredible. I highly recommend microwaving any cookies you don't eat the first day for 15 seconds before eating.