Diabetic Dog

So, Leo has had diabetes since the beginning of June, and for the most part it has been uneventful. We decided to take a day trip to LBI and left the dog in the care of #1 son. We were on our way home and got a phone call from said child letting us know that he was about to give dog insulin shot. I told the boy to be careful not to stab himself with the needle - to which my husband replied - the boy is not an idiot - he will not stab himself. SO out of instinct I guess, I told him to NOT give the dog the shot, that I would give it to him when we got home and hung up the phone. About 5 minutes later we got another phone call from child who said that he had, in fact, stabbed himself with the needle because the dog moved when he was being injected. The boy complained of terrible pain in the index finger and said that he was feeling weird. I gave him instructions to eat and have some candy even though he insisted that he did not inject insulin into himself. The man-child was fine, although he has flu-like symptoms today. I don't think the 2 are related. We had a good hearty laugh at the expense of our firstborn, and after blaming each other for the faulty gene that lead to the incident, I have concluded that it is another example of the inherent problems associated with the Y chromosome.

Kindle: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

The Good:

Love, Love, Love the screen saver. It's my favorite thing. New author's portraits every day.



I can send an attachment to my kindle email and read my pattern on the kindle; very cool and convenient.

It certainly beats carrying around books. It is great to read with in bed. I haven't tried reading and knitting at the same time, which is one of the appeals of the thing.

Definitely has a WOW factor, everyone wants to try it.

It reads g-mail.

I can read blogs and newspapers without subscribing.

It has a few very convenient links in the pre-set browser bookmarks.

It acts like a GPS - but I can't figure that out yet.

There are lots of free classics - which is great, because who wants to spring for poor-quality paperbacks and than have to find a place for them to live in my already book-saturated household.

The Wispernet syncing and book downloading is quick.


The Bad:

It is like reading on an etch-a-sketch.

The gray-scale of the print is not so great on the eyes. I'm reading slower on the Kindle than I read a book. I'm sure it is because of the contrast.

NO PAGE NUMBERS!!!!! There is a % scale on the bottom of the page.

The browser is slow, and it freaks out on occasion. I do not get a great signal.

It is not comfortable to hold, it is kinda slippery, and too thin. I did not buy the Amazon cover, I bought the Octovo sleeve - which I love, but the cover probably gives it more of a "book" feel.

I have charged it 4 times in 1 week and most of the time the browser is OFF. It takes a VERY long time to charge - 3 hours.

Cannot read Mac mail on it.

The Ugly:

The Browser - very ugly - not easy to manipulate at all. I know that this is not its primary use - but still, in this day and age it should fly. It is probably a limitation of the e-ink, and how it refreshes itself.

Also hate that the browser doesn't go to a fresh search page when you wake the computer and turn on the browser. It goes back to the last page that you were on, kind of annoying.

Strongly dislike the fact that I cannot use Stanza on my computer to read Kindle content, even though the e-books are Mobi files and I should be able to do what I like with content that I paid for.




Myrtle progress, nice, huh?

Knitting Progress

The last two months have been productive. I've finished Randy's Birthday scarf and the Cozy sweater. I started the Myrtle leaf shawl from Victorian Lace today using 100% Mongolian Cashmere from Sarah's Yarns in Brooklyn. The yarn is lovely and has lots of yardage for a very reasonable price. I splurged on some Cascade 220 Superwash to make the Tulip and Rocketry sweaters for my nieces and nephews.

Noro Striped Scarf II

Noro Silk Garden #'s 267 and 47



Noro Silk Garden Chunky #4

I love, love, love the Chunky #4. It has a really black black, and a really pretty steel blue to break up the browns. I thought just starting two balls at different places would work but I had to re-break and restart at points because the same colors met up at the same points and became mucky. This was a bit of a pain. I also didn't realize that I'd bought the chunky because I was so focused on the color. But it worked out, the scarf took 4 balls and is not long. My son is 6'2 and the scarf comes to his waist which is the length he wanted.

The second scarf was a pleasure to make. I originally bought three colors, but stuck with the two neutrals and made it for my husband. I just started another using the same colors but with a third color, #252 which is blies and an acid green. We'll see what that looks like soon!

February FO's BSJ, BS Cap, Blankie

This blanket was made using Patons Classic Merino, and Filatura Baby Bon Bon. I used the knit three, purl three prayer shawl pattern, and alternated it with rows of Bon Bon, also knitted in K3P3. After I finished the body of the blanket, I did a single crochet border. It blocked beautifully, and the Bon Bon cooperated nicely.



This project is the Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann made in Sheep Shop Three, wool and silk. I love this yarn. It is soft and has a beautiful polish. I made a cap to match using my own pattern with a four point raglan decrease.

Val's Best Buy Commercials

May...December, or why I quit blogging.

Well it all started with a vow to only work on one project at a time. That project happened to be the Tangled Yoke in Finnean's Rainbow. Well it was all going well enough, I even went for private lessons with Kathleen, but then I decided that I really didn't like all of the rayon slubs in the yarn - there were so many of them and I decided that I couldn't stand looking at them anymore. I didn't knit anything for a long time because of the RULE. Then in August I decided to ignore the rule and knit a BSJ. So I did. But the pressure of the unfinished and despised cardi was too much so I frogged almost 900 yds. of wool and started knitting again.

BSJ in Lorna's Laces Shepherd's Worsted Bittersweet.



Then I completed 2 caps using Brooklyntweed's Turn a Square Pattern. The pattern as written is HUGE. We're talking Frankenstein head sized. So that one went to my husband, and it is big on his big head, we're hoping for a bit of felting with wear. So I went down a needle size and did not increase after the ribbing and that hat went to Anthony.






The last FO is a BSJ in Sheep Shop 3 wool and silk, which I am crazy about. Beautiful drape lots of yardage, great colors. Shown here with BSJ 1 to show size difference. Also I omitted the back fullness in the blue sweater - new diapers are so thin that I didn't think it necessary.