Leaving Light Up Night

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Originally uploaded by mensabuttercup

I took this photo of the Transportation Center with my cell phone last weekend leaving downtown. It was a lovely crisp late fall evening and people were streaming into downtown Pittsburgh while I was streaming out.

I'm happy to report one of the three skeins of sock yarn has been dispensed with, the second is well-started, and I have a plan for the cousin and the father in law who need gifts. All is well. I have almost a month, after all!

Daunting

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Originally uploaded by mensabuttercup

Three big cakes of sock yarn. Three pair of socks that need to be done by December 24th. I have chosen the patterns, wound up the yarn, cracked my knuckles, put "eye of the tiger" on the stereo, and am staring down a large glass of raw eggs, all in an effort to procrastinate further.

Stay tuned!

A week's work

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Originally uploaded by mensabuttercup

1282 yards of sportweight three ply and 189 yards of laceweight two ply. This is the Bluefaced Leicester wool I dyed a few weeks ago. I've been shirking my holiday knitting and spinning it up in the evenings. It took me about a week, and for a pound of fine yarn, that's not too bad. I have enough to make myself a sweater or tee. And it's soft and beautiful. I could not be more pleased with it!

You make the best of what's still around

So I had a severe computer crash last weekend. There was some sort of power problem that caused the surge protector to kick off, and when I turned the computer back on, there was a BSOF. (Black Screen of Futility) I attempted to start in regular, safe, last known, etc but no dice. Nothing would work. Fortunately we have a very dear friend who enjoys (he claims!) fixing computers and figuring out weird problems like this. I am proud to say that Dave said he's heard of crashes like this, but he's never seen one in the wild. It's not often that you get to show something completely new to someone who has been working with computers since personal computing began.
At any rate, buying that online backup program from Comcast ended up being a very good idea because I did not lose the thousands of photographs, knitting patterns, musical files, and so on that I had when my hard drive got wiped out. All is restored now, except my email which has shuffled off this mortal coil for good. Still no idea what happened to the computer or why, only that there was no hardware failure.

So anyway. This week is our "Moveiniversary". Veterans' Day 2002 is when Bob took a huge chance and loaded up his Accord with all his belongings and moved to a new city and a new home to be with someone he'd only met two months previously. I took a huge chance having a strange man with no job move into my home with my daughters and me. Over the years, I'd learned not to trust my instincts where men were concerned, and with reason. After talking to the aforementioned Dave, who knew Bob from Mensa, I decided to give my instincts one more go. It was probably the best decision I ever made.

Here's Bob and Dave together at our wedding. Dave served as best man since he was partially responsible for us getting together in the first place.





My best friend Melissa was our matron (though she insisted on Maid) of honor because she was my best friend, and because she saw a picture of Bob before he moved in and said he had the kindest eyes she ever saw. She was given to hyperbole, but in this case I don't think she was exaggerating.

So I'm knitting and spinning and getting busy being one of santa's elves in my fibery workshop and enjoying it for the most part. I have three and a half pair of socks to knit and three scarves to finish in the next six weeks or so. And I still haven't decided on anything for my father in law. No pressure though, right? The hard parts are over.



















We're going to see Omara Portuondo tonight to celebrate. And we're having dinner in the restaurant that is in the first floor of the building where I work. There are good reasons for this.