Hi Everybody!

Well, everybody that comes by here occasionally.  Here's the brief catch-up:  Still knitting furiously over here and I still have lots of knitting that I've finished to share here.  I have these little "rules" that I set up for myself, I suppose you do as well, for how and when I post things here and to ravelry.  First, if you look at my ravelry projects page (which you have to join ravelry to do) you'll see a lot of projects that are marked 95% complete.  The truth is they are 100% complete and may have been worn and given as gifts or whatever, but I try to update each project as finished at the same time I post the project to the blog.  The reasons I haven't updated projects are various, I may not have photographed it yet or I may have, but the photos are still sitting on my camera or I'm waiting for Cheryl to come by on the right day and take my picture in something or in some cases I gift something away before I get the photo and am waiting for a photo from the recipient.  In most cases it is really photo related, and in others, I just haven't gotten around to editing the photos and posting.  I guess that is still photo related.  It's all about the photos.  Possibly it's a little about laziness as well.  Actually, it can't really be labeled as laziness because I am dong something, just not editing and posting.  I guess it's procrastination or something like that.

Here is an example of finishing the gift on the way out the door and forgetting the photo.  This is my grand-nephew(what!?) Cam modeling the sweater I made for him.  His mom was sweet and sent a photo pretty quickly after I asked her.  He looks quite serious in this picture and I'm hoping she didn't have to wrangle him too much if he was just not in the mood.  Still, isn't he super-cute?  And the sweater is fitting him perfectly, so I'm glad she got it on him that day or he may have outgrown it by the next.

Look at that little manly man!

• Pattern:  Iceling Set by Carol Feller
• Yarn:  Mission Falls 1824 Wool in color 008
• Needles:  size 8
• Cast On:  January 11, 2011
• Bound Off:  Both cardi and hat were blocking on January 14, 2011.

This is such a cute and easy pattern in a wide range of sizes for children from 3 months to 10 years, although that is the 3 month size that I made on a baby that is about 10 weeks old, so it may run a little small.  The construction is top down, so no seaming if you dislike that kind of thing, I'm okay with it.  As you can see it knit up in a jiffy!

It's been crazy around here.  Last month Pete was temporarily unemployed and I had no work coming in, so it was tight.  And because of that (oh, and a lot of other things I suppose), it is still pretty tight around here.  The upside is that Pete is working now and I have been inundated with different work from the different jobs I do.  At least three days a week look like this for me:  up early, knit (contract knitting, i.e. work), shower, head to work (my mom has some work for me, a lot.) and then I go to teach my knitting classes at night.  Then I come home and knit more.  Deadline knitting sometimes takes the joy of knitting right out of my soul, and it really doesn't pay much, but there are other benefits that help make it worth it, so I trudge on.  Truth be told, I may not have taken so many knitting jobs if my mom had called me a couple of days earlier.  Whatever.  When you are hungry food looks really good on the table.  There is also a little list of "wants" that I am saving for and my blog fee is due this month.  Heh, It seems like I should post to this thing occasionally if I'm paying for it.

"What are your wants?" you ask.  Well, I want a blender.  I've been replacing some meals with smoothies, which is supposed to be healthy and good for you and I imagine it is, but that benefit is negated by the stress I am under when trying to get my blender to actually mash the food into a smoothie.   Some days are better than others and I did figure out that it works better with more liquid, but I prefer my smoothies on the thicker side.  I almost need a spoon to consume them.  Okay, sometimes I do need a spoon.  I'm hoping to take advantage of this deal by the end of the month.  (Knit faster, knit FASTER!)  At the beginning of the month there were four colors, but I see that they are now down to only red and blue.  I probably would have gotten the black, but may settle for the blue.  Or spend $20 more and get the other refurbished model, the warranty being two years longer.  I won't get a red one.  Unless it is a lot cheaper than that.

I've also needed an external, portable hard drive to store things off my laptop.  Last week my poor little macbook was complaining and alerting me that my start up disk was full and that my hard drive was too full to copy files onto and that I needed to do something quick.  It was showing its contempt for me by pouting slowly around everything I asked it to do like a petulant child.  I have a lot of books saved on my computer, so I figure if I can store them someplace else, and the photos, and have the added benefit of backing up my contacts and music I should be in good shape.  Add to that all of my Christmas music and my hard drive will empty by at least half.  There are also tons of files that I could delete, but am unsure which ones they are, so I think a date with a Genius Bar Geek is in order.  I broke down and purchased this last night.  It was an excellent deal (it was on sale until yesterday for $70 and I used a $10 off purchase coupon code and got free shipping, suh-weet!) and this one has the capability to move back and forth between Macs and PCs, so Pete and I can finally share things.  Yay!  (As if we don't share enough.) (heh)  My brother convinced me that the USB 3.0 cable should work with my computer, it just won't have the 3.0 speed.  He'd better be right or I'll be adding to my investment by purchasing another cable.  Or wait, maybe the cable I have for another external hd we have will work...... 

Another want:  Spinning videos from Interweave Press.  I've wanted those for a while and until the end of today if you enter the coupon code SAVE10 at the Interweave store you can save $10 on a $40 purchase.  I'd have to order two dvds for that, but I might just do it.  It doesn't seem those things ever go on sale.  I try to get everything on sale.  I'm a bit New England that way.   

So, I have lots more to say, but should be doing other things.  I'll finish with a rant.  Those of us who blog tend to fall into habits or preferences for the way we do things or want things to look.  It is like setting a up room in your home for your own personal style and comfort.  Items of furniture are arranged in a manner that is pleasing and comfortable to you and give a sense of your personality and style.  I, for instance, prefer my text aligned to the left, photos centered and to center the details of a project under a photo of said project as shown in this post.  It used to be that if I wanted to do that with a bullet-ed list I had to manipulate the html myself, because in typepad's wysiwyg compose model the bullets would all be over to the left and my list centered.  It worked for me.  It does not anymore.  I will do it and it will look correct on the compose page and it gets re-written when I save the post, aligning everything to the left.  Ef-ers!  I have tried setting the compose page to center and entering the text as a bullet-ed list, same deal.  Looks centered, hit save, moves left.  If I enter the text aligned to the left, highlight it, click on the centering tab it will move to the center only to move back when I save the post.  EF-FERS!!!!!! (All that means I am angry!  really, really angry!)  Time for a help-ticket, but right now I have to knit.

2011.  Four.  My list of "wants" goes on and on, I'll keep sharing because maybe some of you know where I can get the great deals.  How did I find the deal on the external hard-drive?  My brother found it.  He said he always checks slickdeals for anything he is looking for (not only electronics).  You might have to sift through, and sometimes the deals include purchasing a coupon on ebay and then getting some other things to boost the amount you are spending so you can use the coupon, but doing it with items that have nearly 100% rebates available so that you get all of that stuff for less than the original item and WHEW!  That makes me tired, but if you are inclined to do all that stuff you can get some pretty good deals. 

Comments

[claudia]

Its great to hear from you. I'm glad things are looking better on the $$ front.

[Martha]

You are much too young to have a grand-nephew!

[Vicki]

I'm happy to hear from you, too! Love that little sweater -- he looks more tired than serious, to me.
; )

[margene]

Such a handsome boy especially in his beautifully knit sweater/jacket. Nice work!

[julia fc]

I find a lot of little things on typepad have shifted without my having been aware of when they changed it. It's a little frustrating, a'int it? I'm on a kale smoothie kick at the moment, btw. Miss you!

[Cookie]

What a serious looking little man! Money-making busy is always good.

xo

[diane]

Hi!, Nice seeing you again...

[Kim]

So good to hear your voice again!! What a precious little sweater!