Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
simple is good
After a morning of research my brain is numb. It has occurred to me that I have spent the past 6 months cramming by brain full of new knowledge. Colleges, International Study, Non-Dairy Cooking, Computers, Blogs, Writing...no wonder all I want to do is knit simple things.
The latest simple thing
Sock Pixie, #1 DP’s. One sock all done, the second at the heel.
We in our household are not good consumers. The living room chairs and sofa are hand me downs. The dining room furniture too. Come to think of it, everything but the mattress’ are probably second hand. We do not replace things, we fix them. We are conscious of the resources used to make things and we usually decide we can do without.
So how did it happen that we are about to have 5 laptops in a 6 person household? The last holdout being only 9 years old. And how crazy is it that we all need to work on computers just to get our stuff done? The kids for school, Husband for work, me for writing.
I know not everyone reading this blog is of my age, but the fact that I am sitting in bed, typing to a world connected by the internet is amazing. I remember the first time I saw a computer. It was housed in a 10’ by 20’ climate controlled room and it did not do squat. 30 years later and everyone has a computer that slips into a backpack. Wow.
The latest simple thing
Sock Pixie, #1 DP’s. One sock all done, the second at the heel.
We in our household are not good consumers. The living room chairs and sofa are hand me downs. The dining room furniture too. Come to think of it, everything but the mattress’ are probably second hand. We do not replace things, we fix them. We are conscious of the resources used to make things and we usually decide we can do without.
So how did it happen that we are about to have 5 laptops in a 6 person household? The last holdout being only 9 years old. And how crazy is it that we all need to work on computers just to get our stuff done? The kids for school, Husband for work, me for writing.
I know not everyone reading this blog is of my age, but the fact that I am sitting in bed, typing to a world connected by the internet is amazing. I remember the first time I saw a computer. It was housed in a 10’ by 20’ climate controlled room and it did not do squat. 30 years later and everyone has a computer that slips into a backpack. Wow.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
alpaca and silk
This is what the best mailman in the whole world brought to me Thursday.
Dragon fibers March Fiber O The Month Club.
2oz 70/30 Fawn Alpaca/Tussah Silk. You can not imagine the softness of this fiber. It makes butter feel grainy.
2oz Tussah Silk. Shiny, subtle, amazing.
I think both of these fibers will be spun and knit into a Kata scarf. I am saving them. They will be the first project I spin on my wheel. I do not know when the wheel will arrive, or when I will feel confident enough to spin for a project, but this stuff will happily wait for that day.
My little friend says, "yes".
Dragon fibers March Fiber O The Month Club.
2oz 70/30 Fawn Alpaca/Tussah Silk. You can not imagine the softness of this fiber. It makes butter feel grainy.
2oz Tussah Silk. Shiny, subtle, amazing.
I think both of these fibers will be spun and knit into a Kata scarf. I am saving them. They will be the first project I spin on my wheel. I do not know when the wheel will arrive, or when I will feel confident enough to spin for a project, but this stuff will happily wait for that day.
My little friend says, "yes".
Friday, March 28, 2008
oh canada
When Husband left for work this morning it was not snowing. 30 minutes later when I rolled out of bed, it was not snowing. 2 hours later when Oldest Daughter came upstairs, it was not snowing. We decided to go for it.
First stop, the grocery store for road trip supplies. You know the ones I am talking about, chips and red vines and the like. Second stop, the gas station. As we are leaving the gas station is begins to rain, there is a bit of snow mixed in, but just a bit. We make a decision to get on the freeway and see what happens. If it starts snowing we can always turn around.
There is a lot of rain/snow mix, this does not worry me. Once we get north of Everett the rain stops and it is just snow. It snows lightly for a few miles then stops. I am fine. 15 minutes later it snows again for a few miles and then stops. I am OK with all of this.
We drive right through Bellingham, all is well. 2 miles out of Bellingham the snow starts. Real snow. After a few miles it does not stop, in fact it gets heavier. I can hardly see. At some point we realize we are driving along side the ocean, but can not see it. This is bad. We find a diner and have some lunch.
Lunch is spent looking out the window and wondering what the hell is going on. It is the end of March and we are right next to the water, how can it still be snowing. It is too late to turn around, we are practically at the border. We eat our lunch very slowly and hope for the best.
The best happens! The snow lets up, we travel on to the UBC. We take a walking tour of the campus and remain dry! Cold, but dry.
It snowed again on the way home. At some point I thought about stopping and grabbing a hotel for the night. Talked myself right out of that. I was going home, no matter what.
While in Canada I realized that I am an American Idiot. I used to think only the Hummer driving, bomb dropping, Bush lovers were American Idiots. I am afraid I had more than my share of head shaking moments today.
First, we are waiting to cross the border and I see a construction sign for the Douglas Crossing. Douglas Crossing? That sign must have been erected by mistake. Turn the corner and there is another sign for the Douglas Crossing construction. What is the Douglas Crossing? This is the Blaine Crossing? Duh! It is only the Blaine crossing if you are from America. I felt so stupid.
We cross the border and see a sign that says Vancouver 50 km. This means nothing to me. 50 km could be around the next corner or 2 hours away. I felt so stupid.
About 10 miles later I realize that I have entered a foreign country, with a cell phone that may not work, with only a vague idea of where I am going, and it did not even occur to me to bring map. Oh yeah, I am that kind of idiot.
First stop, the grocery store for road trip supplies. You know the ones I am talking about, chips and red vines and the like. Second stop, the gas station. As we are leaving the gas station is begins to rain, there is a bit of snow mixed in, but just a bit. We make a decision to get on the freeway and see what happens. If it starts snowing we can always turn around.
There is a lot of rain/snow mix, this does not worry me. Once we get north of Everett the rain stops and it is just snow. It snows lightly for a few miles then stops. I am fine. 15 minutes later it snows again for a few miles and then stops. I am OK with all of this.
We drive right through Bellingham, all is well. 2 miles out of Bellingham the snow starts. Real snow. After a few miles it does not stop, in fact it gets heavier. I can hardly see. At some point we realize we are driving along side the ocean, but can not see it. This is bad. We find a diner and have some lunch.
Lunch is spent looking out the window and wondering what the hell is going on. It is the end of March and we are right next to the water, how can it still be snowing. It is too late to turn around, we are practically at the border. We eat our lunch very slowly and hope for the best.
The best happens! The snow lets up, we travel on to the UBC. We take a walking tour of the campus and remain dry! Cold, but dry.
It snowed again on the way home. At some point I thought about stopping and grabbing a hotel for the night. Talked myself right out of that. I was going home, no matter what.
While in Canada I realized that I am an American Idiot. I used to think only the Hummer driving, bomb dropping, Bush lovers were American Idiots. I am afraid I had more than my share of head shaking moments today.
First, we are waiting to cross the border and I see a construction sign for the Douglas Crossing. Douglas Crossing? That sign must have been erected by mistake. Turn the corner and there is another sign for the Douglas Crossing construction. What is the Douglas Crossing? This is the Blaine Crossing? Duh! It is only the Blaine crossing if you are from America. I felt so stupid.
We cross the border and see a sign that says Vancouver 50 km. This means nothing to me. 50 km could be around the next corner or 2 hours away. I felt so stupid.
About 10 miles later I realize that I have entered a foreign country, with a cell phone that may not work, with only a vague idea of where I am going, and it did not even occur to me to bring map. Oh yeah, I am that kind of idiot.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
not yet
Earlier I tried a post at Typepad. I was happy up until the final spell check. The spell check made my pictues and typing all wonky. More work needs to be done.
I moved over to Wordpress to try the same post and was immediatley stymied by the photo link. I guess I need to use Flickr with Wordpress, not a bad thing, just an unexpected thing. More work needs to be done.
Tomorrow - Friday - Oldest Daughter, Youngest Son and I have planned to drive up to UBC. We made these plans before the weather decided to snow, in Seattle, at the end of March. In case you skimmed right over that last sentence. Snow, Seattle, March. If it is snowing when I wake up, I am not driving anywhere! Which really is a shame because I authorized Oldest Son and Youngest Daughter to host a Rock Band party while I was scheduled to be gone. If I am here, I have to listen. OY!
Today Youngest Daughter informed me that Passover begins April 19th. I had not even thought about Passover. Considering that we have a dinner for 18+ to plan, I had better get busy.
Blogger's spell check seems to be down, again. I will not swear, OK, I did swear, but I will not share my swear with you. Please be kind with my spelling.
I moved over to Wordpress to try the same post and was immediatley stymied by the photo link. I guess I need to use Flickr with Wordpress, not a bad thing, just an unexpected thing. More work needs to be done.
Tomorrow - Friday - Oldest Daughter, Youngest Son and I have planned to drive up to UBC. We made these plans before the weather decided to snow, in Seattle, at the end of March. In case you skimmed right over that last sentence. Snow, Seattle, March. If it is snowing when I wake up, I am not driving anywhere! Which really is a shame because I authorized Oldest Son and Youngest Daughter to host a Rock Band party while I was scheduled to be gone. If I am here, I have to listen. OY!
Today Youngest Daughter informed me that Passover begins April 19th. I had not even thought about Passover. Considering that we have a dinner for 18+ to plan, I had better get busy.
Blogger's spell check seems to be down, again. I will not swear, OK, I did swear, but I will not share my swear with you. Please be kind with my spelling.
einy meenie miny mo
Thank you for your advice. I have registered Knit & Nosh with both Wordpress and Typepad. I will play with them both and see what happens. Whichever is easier and has the best Help section will probably win out.
edit to add
I spent about half an hour setting up Typepad. Pretty painless. The hardest part was learning the lingo. Lingo I should already know, but have managed to avoid.
I then moved over to Wordpress, but did not spend too much time clicking around. I am having issues with the word Blogroll. Yea, its stupid, but the word bugs me. I will head back over later in the day.
Meanwhile there is work to be done. So pesky.
edit to add
I spent about half an hour setting up Typepad. Pretty painless. The hardest part was learning the lingo. Lingo I should already know, but have managed to avoid.
I then moved over to Wordpress, but did not spend too much time clicking around. I am having issues with the word Blogroll. Yea, its stupid, but the word bugs me. I will head back over later in the day.
Meanwhile there is work to be done. So pesky.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
wordpress
About a month ago I had reached the boiling over point with Blogger. If you were up late reading blogs you may have been subjected to my rant. I deleted the post the next day, it was SO not in keeping with the "not too much swearing" part of my blog title.
Right now my biggest issue is being able to respond to comments. Blogger does not give me an email address for people leaving comments. I would like to acknowledge them and answer questions. It may be time to leave Blogger and move to Wordpress.
I have registered Knit & Nosh over there, but am wondering if it will be a wise move. What do y'all think? Your personal dealings, anecdotes and advice about Wordpress is much appreciated.
Right now my biggest issue is being able to respond to comments. Blogger does not give me an email address for people leaving comments. I would like to acknowledge them and answer questions. It may be time to leave Blogger and move to Wordpress.
I have registered Knit & Nosh over there, but am wondering if it will be a wise move. What do y'all think? Your personal dealings, anecdotes and advice about Wordpress is much appreciated.
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