It's Time to Flex Your Imagination Muscles

You guessed it, still no computer, which means still no pictures. The tale is too long and woeful to recount fully, so here are the main points:

• no computer
• no pictures
• no Adobe
• no Microsoft (I do NOT consider Works to be a real computer program)
• no good

I have lost faith in the Geek Squad. Mostly because the said they could do it and instead of owning the problem, continued to give us the "just a couple more days" speech until, finally, I got the Super Geek who said they were having the same problem since day one. But the saga isn't over yet, so we'll see...

In the meantime I continue to reacclimate. I am enjoying my Sunday morning knit group. I have learned that if I use the popcorn setting plus 30 seconds the microwave will pop perfect popcorn, every time. I fluctuate between empathy and amusement when my mom has an "I can't see the back of my head" hair day. (Today, BTW, was not one. Her hair looked great - and she didn't even try to see the back of her head when she did it!) I continue to struggle when Mom transforms into Uber Tidier, tidying away things so well neither neither of us can find them. This trait she inherited from her mother, the Grand Pu Bah of tidying. Fortunately, for now this gene remains dormant in me. Phew. Now don't get me wrong, I am not dissing on my mom, in fact I am eternally grateful for all she's doing and continues to do! All those little and very BIG things are beyond adding up and one day, once I have conquered the world, I look forward to spoiling her. Note to self: "Next step - conquer the world." And on that note...

My timetable has moved up and it looks like the final phase of "Project Relocation" will happen sooner than thought. Plans are being made to make a move for the East Coast in the next couple of weeks! Nothing concrete yet, but as I look outside at the grey overcast skies I am thinking, "only a couple more weeks of California sunshine."

I made another visit to the library. Reserving books from the comfort of my home really fills the on-line shopping need and only costs 50 cents a pop! (We'll talk about the on-line yarn purchase I made in just a moment.) So far I am enjoying:

• Mason Dixon Knitting, where I finally found good (and easy) directions of how to Log Cabin. I am planning on making a version of Joseph's Blankie of Many Colors.
• Wrap Style, where I was intrigued by a few projects and will probably be purchasing a copy soon. Especially as I have seen it going at around $13.
• No Sheep For You, where I am already in LOVE with Barbara Gregory's (of Arietta fame)Bacardi (it will probably be my next project) and Cables and Os and am even considering Morrigan. Have I gone over the edge?
• Knitting Nature, where I continue to drool over many of the pictures but am a bit concerned with early reports of many errors in the patterns. Perhaps it is best to wait a while and see what happens.
• Elizabeth Zimmerman's, The Opinionated Knitter, a collection of her newsletters which are meant to change my life and the way I approach knitting. I'll let you know.
• and on it's way to the library nearest me, Big Girl Knits.

Then there are the non-knitting books (gasp!). After making a great start on The Boleyn Inheritance, I had to put it down. Harry had arrived and who was I to keep him waiting. Oh, Harry. I tried to take my time, to make it last, since this was the last time we would meet, but alas it was not to be. I was only able to stretch out the experience to a 1.5 days. Sigh. At least Becky Bloomwood will be coming over soon to (hopefully) keep me laughing out loud.

And of course there is the knitting. No, I haven't forgotten. I am a knitter damn it! Arietta progresses. I am about half way done with the back, after having to rip (gasp) 20 ROWS because I screwed up my count and the pattern was off. So with that and most of a sleeve finished I'd say I am almost at the 40% mark. Still need the fronts, sleeve 2, bands and all the sewing. As for Capecho, I am thinking that maybe it's time to let her go. I have found few people who are happy with the way it actually looks after all the knitting; even my Capecho hero Amy has "weird plans for that capecho." So while I'm dying to see what she'll do with it, I think, after all that, I will give it a miss and find something worthier for that yarn. And finally, I bought 20 balls of Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Aran. The wool has been discontinued and I got a great price of 10 balls for $39, including the shipping. Any ideas on what to do with it?