In Which The Knitter Actually Talks About Knitting

iPod Sock
Originally uploaded by cawthraven

So I just got a new 80 gig iPod, because my Video iPod died. I always had a lot of trouble with the Video--Apple replaced it at least twice, maybe three times. I was really tempted by the iTouch, but I really should not have access to the Internet all the time.

The iPod came last night, and I wanted to preserve it's smooth, unscratched silver exterior. And I had a lot of Malabrigo leftover from making Foliage. What's a gal to do but knit her iPod a sock?

I cast on 20 stitches onto size 7 double pointed needles. Not enough. I cast on 25, thought it was enough. Decided after a couple of rounds that it was too small, so I increased to 30. Decided after a couple of more rounds that I was wrong, and decreased back down to 25, and then knit in stockinette until it looked long enough to cover the iPod. Then I bound-off 11 stitches and knit the flap flat until it looked long enough to reach the button. The "button" is actually a bead from the fringe on a suede jacket I have--the beads are always coming off, so I figured this would be a good use for it. The "buttonhole" I made up, too, because I don't actually know how to knit them. So I bound off 5 stitches, did a two stitch i-cord until it looked long enough to make a loop that the button-bead would go through, and reconnected it to the rest of the live stitches to bind them off. Then I had some ends to weave in and the bottom to sew-up.

I've already got ideas for more, since it's such a quick knit. I have one of the Nicki Epstein books, so I think one of her fun loops would make a good button-hole, and then maybe a cable. And I might try different things to avoid needing to seam up the bottom. (Not that I did a good job.)

iPod Sock II
Originally uploaded by cawthraven

"You come swimming into view."

Tonight my friend hosted a Passover seder. It was my first, and I enjoyed it a lot. (This has nothing to do with the four glasses of wine. Or, you know, everything.) But it's amazing how holidays, even when they aren't from a familiar tradition, make me introspective. But for once, I feel like my introspection is resulting in progress, rather than wallowing.

Some of the progress is stuff I've known, but now I feel it. And so here are the things that tonight, I would raise my four glasses of wine to:

~I'm not going to care about that anymore. I shouldn't have anyway, and now I don't. (Thank you for reminding me of that.)

~There is so much beautiful out there, and so many interesting things to see and learn and observe. And I don't mean to be disrespectful when those things are religious beliefs, but I find them fascinating and I hope to have lots of opportunities to move past my white-bread background.

~I only watched about 2/3 of Ratatouille tonight, but I called most of the plot. And you can't do that in real life--there isn't going to be a high point, then a low point, then a come back in real relationships. And that's a good thing. Ratatouille is cute, but I don't want my life to follow a formulaic plot. I'm OK with things being messy. And I don't believe in second chances.

~Good food, good wine, and better friends.

This may not entirely make sense to anyone else (See: four glasses of wine) and I'm OK with that.

Operation: Rescue Herman, Day 28

I have been remiss in blogging, and in updating you on Herman's status. I'm sure you have been on tenterhooks. You needn't have worried; there has been no change.



I forgot to introduce you to Fred.



Fred is a Plant Gnome, hailing from Canadia. He crossed the continent and braved the border to keep Herman company.

Part of my lack of updating is because spring has arrived in Boston.



Yesterday was spent playing Frisbee and learning to play Backgammon in the park. Today is the Boston Marathon, which would have wreaked havoc on my commute and work-day. So I'm relaxing at home today, instead.

Operation: Rescue Herman, Day 14

Day 14.



Not looking so hot. He's browner by the day. I've read you should trim the brown away...I may try cutting down so that all the brown is gone, but that would leave about an inch of green. We'll see how Herman is looking on day 21...drastic measures may be needed. Or fertilizer.

To prove I'm not a terrible plant-mommy, here's a picture of Ethel.



She and Hermie could teach Herman a thing or two about thriving. (Hermie is 7 years old, and has been almost exclusively in my care that entire time.)

I am 1 year old today

Today is my one year Blogger anniversary. By odd coincidence, it is also my 5 year LiveJournal anniversary.

I wanted to do something more in this entry, but I've still got a lot of work to do and tonight is the last regular games night, so I most likely won't have time to do it.

So this is my short, commemorative post. Perhaps I'll expand on it later.

Operation: Rescue Herman, Day 7

Herman has seen decidedly better days. My theory is that he is a type of dracaena, which are supposed to be very hardy plants, and hard to kill.

Unproductivity Software

If you know me at all, you probably know that I am something of a Google whore. I mean, this blog is hosted on Blogger, if I'm in front of a computer, Gmail is open, I use Google Docs & Spreadsheets (and have you seen their presentations? That's what the internet is supposed to be doing for us. Collaborative work over a distance. It's not there yet, but oh man.) I use Reader and have converted many friends to it. Etc.

But this was not always the case. When I got my Gmail account, way back in 2004, I was distressed by the inability to make folders. How would I possibly organize my emails? I wasn't familiar with tagging, or "labels" as Google calls them. Once I'd figured out what tagging was, and that I could tag emails in Gmail, I still resisted. As a result, I have severely under-utilized tagging my email for ease of finding things. But that's OK, because I can always search my email and find what I'm looking for. That recipe for fried peach pies from the Times? (OK, this is actually under my "recipes" tag, but bear with me) Searched and found.

It is stuff like this that makes me so frustrated when I come into work and have to use Microsoft products, particularly Outlook. There are things about Outlook that I like--it's easy to change the sorting of email, and once I've sorted by Sender, I can collapse all the emails from my boss so that I can find the one from that guy whose last name I can't remember.

But I really, really wish that Outlook had a good search engine. It has one, and it plods along and sometimes you can find what you want. If you are lucky. And my desire for a good search engine is dwarfed by my desire for tagging. I have a lot of emails that could be sorted into different folders--it is associated with a particular book, it is about a particular media supplement, and it discusses specific guidelines. I wish, rather than trying to figure out if this should go in a folder for the book, or the supplement, or an "Important" catch-all folder for guidelines, that I could tag it with the information I needed. I don't need hundreds of nesting folders--I need precise tags and good search capabilities.

Microsoft, you're supposed to be the leader in productivity software. Stop making me fight with your software to do simple stuff, and start making changes that actually, you know, enhance my productivity.

CAVEAT: I have no seen Office 2007. It is entirely possible that the changes they have made to Outlook for Office 2007 will render some or all of my complaints moot. But I doubt it.