I'm not Catholic, so I don't know all the details, but I think it's similar to "Angels & Demons" by Dan Brown. The College of Cardinals gather at the Vatican and they get locked in a room and keep voting until one is named. No access to the outside world is allowed until a new pope is elected by 2/3 majority.

There is a Pope Watch as unsuccessful votes (no one gets a 2/3 majority) are burned with a substance to cause the smoke to be black. Once the smoke burns white, you know a new pope has been elected.

I'm sure I'm missing things, but that's it in a nutshell.
shannin | Homepage | 02.25.05 - 12:05 pm | #

Ohh you're right, that was explained in Angels and Demons, not Davinci Code. My bad.

Thanks for the info!
Garnet | Homepage | 02.25.05 - 12:11 pm | #

Not knowing much about knitting, I can explain the difference only in terms of what I *think* I see...

Crocheting seems easier to learn than knitting (although knitters might disagree with me). I learned only the chain stitch from my cousin as a kid. The rest I taught myself from various books. I have tried learning knitting from books, and still have no clue. But if you know how to chain stitch in crochet, then you can learn any other kind of stitch, cuz they're all based on that concept.

Crocheting seems to be more versatile than knitting. I have not seen anything knitted with anything other than yarn (again, this could be my own lack of experience with knitting). I've crocheted with yarn, and with various weights of threads. So I've made warm and bulky things, and small and delicate things.

I've only seen clothing items, blankets and dishcloths made with knitting (again, could be my lack of experience). I've made blankets, winter hats, doilies, bookmarks, victorian x-m
DM @>--}-- | 02.25.05 - 1:07 pm | #

I can't really explain the differences because I don't know how to knit. However, by looking at instructions, crochet seems A LOT easier to me. And I can make anything that someone could knit - from sweaters to hats to doilies to afghans and my favorite, TEDDY BEARS!

( Check out http://geocities.com/dawns_crochet/ to see my a lot of the stuff I make.)
Dawn (webmiztris) | Homepage | 02.25.05 - 1:41 pm | #

I'm not Catholic, either - and I don't know anything. But I heard a while back that when the Pontiff dies, it will be really weird because it'll be the first time that there wasn't already a successor named or in line or whatever. But then, what do I know?
maggie | Homepage | 02.25.05 - 3:30 pm | #

I look at my partner who knits and think "I'll never knit." She looks at me while I'm crocheting and thinks: "I'll never crochet."

So ... I'm such a beginner that's about all the input I have on your choice between the two.
Sage | Homepage | 02.27.05 - 9:33 am | #

Wow, I just learned to knit AND crochet AND I'm Catholic...do I win some sort of prize?!?!?!

Here is my take on Knitting vs. Crocheting for anyone who is interested. The theory is that whichever one you learn first is the one you will find easier. I honestly think both are fairly easy once you get the hang of them (unless you knit the English way bc I think that's a pain in the ass!) It's just like anything else--practice makes perfect. If you don't like the thought of using a needle in both hands and would prefer to just hold something in one hand, then I would say crocheting is for you!

Also, to crochet, you do not need to know how to knit at all; but to knit, you need to know a little bit of crochet to do certain edging stitches.

Crocheting also uses up more yarn much more quickly than knitting does, so that may be something to keep in mind.

You can knit or crochet with more than just yarn though just as an FYI to someone's earlier post.

I think they a
EJ | 02.27.05 - 2:21 pm | #