Public Service Announcement

Two words: back up. Back up your computer files. Back up your photos. Back up everything on your computer that is difficult or impossible to replace. Especially back up pictures of your young children when they were babies. Failure to do so could result in long lectures from your husband with suggestions on ways to save photos, all of which are obvious and easy to implement. All of which are also all that and more of what you have already been lecturing yourself.

Back up your computer. Your sanity, and marriage, may depend on it. This has been a public service announcement.

As me how i know.

As you may guess, our home computer has crashed. A .exe file is missing or corrupted. An apparently invaluable file, that is essential for Windows. Our only hope is to take the whole tower to geek squad and see if they can pry our pictures out of the hard drive with the virtual equivelent of a screwdriver.

Today, it is all about the system32\ntoskrnl.exe file.

Bam! Zoom!

I have exited the knitting black hole with a bang. This past weekend, the kids were playing happily together, the laundry was spinning, and I was a hunting widow. So I picked up my still-unnamed red sock, and before I knew it, I was decreasing the toe. I finished on sock (and immediately cast on the second sock as an immunization against the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome.) How did that happen? Not that I am upset, mind you. I just want to be able to repeat the event.

The fruits (so to speak) of my sweetie's hunting efforts have started coming home. We are now the proud possessors of over 100 pounds of venison. My first thought was "We are going to need a bigger freezer." To my surprise, all of it fit, except for about 20 pounds that is vacationing in the in-law's freezer. Ground deer, deer chops, deet steaks, deer loin, summer sausage, deer sticks, breakfast sausage. You name it, we got it. we celebrated by making two big pots of venison chili, and I am thinking of beef recipes that I can substitute with venison. At least the meat is useful. I am not looking forward to the day when the giant deer head comes home to be hung on the living room wall. That just seems like a very expensive decoration that I don't want, but i am trying to be understanding that this is my sweetie's first (and God willing, only) trophy.

Today, it is all about the warp speed progress.

HP 7-1

I had an unexpected surprise on Friday night. Bugaboo begged to stay the night with Grandma and Grandpa, and I talked my husband into watching Doodlebug (after he was fed, diapered, changed, and tucked into his crib for the night.) So Mom and I were able to sneak out and catch the 9:30 show for the new Harry Potter movie. (My sweetie isn't as big of a fan as me and Mom, so he didn't care about missing it. He will catch it on DVD.)

It was a relaxing and enjoyable evening. The only way it would have been better, is if it had been a little lighter to knit. Then again, I don't think I even blinked, much less took my eyes off the screen.

Today, it is all about the surprises.

That's my boy!

I am a hunting widow today. My sweetie has already bagged one doe this morning, so we will have some venison in the freezer this winter.

Meanwhile, I am home with the kids. I was skimming a newl;y discovered knitting blog, when Bugaboo showed off a new word. He pointed at the sock on the computer screen, and said "knit".

That's my boy!

Today, it is all about the vocabulary.

The Return of Knit Night

A couple months ago, my sweeties asked when I was going to finish his hoodie. I told him that I would work on it every time that I went to Knit Night. By the way, I haven't been to Knit Night since before Bugaboo was mobile. He is over 2 now, so needless to say, it has been a while.

To my shock, he agreed. He told me to remind him of when it was every month (apparently putting it on the calendar isn't enough), and he would watch the boys. October was the first month. When I got home, I wasn't sure what I was going to find, but it wasn't what I did find: all was quiet on the home front, with both boys tucked into bed and sleeping. Monday was month 2. When I got home, little boys weren't quite ready for bed, but there was not chaos, and I will take what I can get.

What I got in return was two hours uninterrupted knitting time with knit-minded ladies, both months. The first month I worked entirely on his hoodie. Last time, it occurred to me that I said I would work on it at Knit Night, but I didn't say how long I would work on it. So I also worked on my still unnamed red sock. And I have worked on Twisted Tweed the past couple weeks too.

And if I took pictures of any other them, no one would be able to tell a difference. I hate the middle of projects. It feels like a knitting black hole. I enjoy the knitting process as much as the next girl, but I still want to see progress for my time.

But I am looking forward to next month.

Today, it is all about the monthly treats.

Cast Your Vote

Today is Election Day. No matter who you vote for, be sure to vote. Every two years, we have an opportunity to overthrow the government. Don't squander it.

Meanwhile, I am seeking votes myself. I have been working on theunnamed red socks. The pattern is two purls, a knit, the staggered yarn overed pattern, one more knit. Looks great. But as I work my way down the foot, working the pattern on only half the stitches, it occurs to me that though the pattern looks like it is framed in purls, one side is, and the other side ends on the staggered yarn overs. I have considered dropping two stitches to add the purls, but that will make the stitch pattern slightly off-centered. Not that my foot is perfectly centered, so it is significantly possible that I would be the only person to notice. Though when I look at the sock on my foot, the lack of purls on one side doesn't jump out at me, especially the further down the sock I go.

So feel free to cast your vote. Drop down and add the purls, or leave as is? Sorry I missed the onslought of last minute 30-second media slots telling you which way to vote.

Today, it is all about the opinions.

The Lost Notes

Today, I was tidying a little around the bedroom, and I found underneath my jewelry box some yarn notes. I had forgotten all about that yarn trip.

Well, that is what I call the day. I went out to to the "big city" for a wedding shower in September, and while out and about there, we passed by a yarn store. My sweetie was willing to indulge me in stopping.

Whew! I have never seen such a store. The yarns were so exquisite and exotic, I was afraid to even pet the yarn. And expensive! Quivit, cashmere, crystals, oh my! I just can't imagine paying over $ 100 for a single skein of yarn, no matter what I would knit with it. Even the clearnance racks were well beyond my yarn budget. I had an eye out for some interesting sock yarn to purchase, and I still walked out empty handed.

My sweetie wanted to stop at some sporting goods store (probably why he was so agreeable to the yarn store stop), and right next door was a Joann fabric. A huge Joann fabric store. What a smart store combination. Men to the left, women to the right, and we will meet in the parking lot between them.

I found more interesting, affordable and droolworthy yarns at JoAnns than I did at the pricey yarn store. I jotted down a few notes, figuring maybe we could go back to the big city again in a few months. Those are the notes that I found this morning.

I just have one more problem. I still have more yarn than time to knit it. But that is getting a little better.

Today, it is all about the dream yarns, both affordable and expensive.