lolajl: April 2005 Archives

The Sour Grapes Award goes to TigerDirect (hi, TigerDirect Google reasearcher!!!) (see here, and here). Why? Well . . . you see, they've had the better of 364 days to file a lawsuit. I mean, Apple's not been shy about OS X 10.4, nicknamed Tiger (their current trend is to go with animals for names of system releases). Yet they choose yesterday to file the lawsuit, on the eve of Tiger's release. And the injunction isn't going to be heard till May 3rd, I believe.

Now, tell me, who's dumb enough to think that Apple would not send out their lawyers to squash them flat, and that anyone could ever confuse this company (which I've barely heard of till just now) that sells computer hardware, with software specifically designed to be used on a Macintosh computer running on G4 and higher???

If I decide to buy more hardware, or my friends and relatives ask me for advice on which company they should be using to make their purchases, you betcha there's one company that will not be on my radar screen for a very, very long time.

Finally got the pictures taken and imported.

This was knit from the cuff down and I had a great time working with the yarn. Its twin is somewhere out there in the house and I need to do a thorough cleaning.

Right now I'm working with the East-West hybrid pattern from Priscilla Gibson-Robert's Ethnic Socks & Stockings and here's where I've gotten so far.

If you look closely, you'll see that line of red yarn. This is waste yarn and where I'll be putting in the heel, which I'm working on right now.

As for the toes, I'm making it so it matches the slope of my toes. I don't often do this, but I like a change from routine every so often.

In addition to the orangey-brown sock that I'm knitting from the toe up, I've started another pair, using Brown Sheep Wildfoote Luxury, Brown Sugar. this is really nice to work with and I've already finished the toe shaping. I'm curious to see how much progress I'll make before end of the weekend.

While reading the blogs, I came across blogdogblog's post about Queen Kahuna's Crazy Toes & Heels. Of course, I just had to get it and am I ever so glad i did! It's chock full of useful tips and ideas. Well worth the money, compared to beginner's books with approximately the same number of pages (100 pages) where you have a picture, a pattern, and lots of white space and precious few encouragements to expand one's horizon beyond big-knit sweaters. I've been reading it every chance I can get, looking at the pictures and having “ah-ha” moments.

Genia has tagged me for an interview and here's the requisite five questions. Below each question, you'll find my responses.

1. If you could turn back time and spend an afternoon with a family member now passed, who would it be and what would you talk about?

Let's see . . . I guess it would have to be my great-grand mother, my father's father's mother. I would love to sit down with her and get all those recipes from her as father says she loved to cook. And, I'd like to find out from her what it was like to live in segregated Virginia as a woman who could have passed as a white person.

2. East Coast or West Coast? Why?

East Coast. I'm used to the fast pace of life. Plus, there's not as many earthquakes or volcanoes out here.

3. Given the opportunity to travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? What would you look for there?

My first choice would be Russia. I'd want to visit the churches and monasteries, and visit the palaces where Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Tsaritsa Alexandra lived.

4. (This one is from G1 for me, it's a great question!) Write the opening paragraph to your autobiography. (5 line minimum. Be creative.)

“I cannot be pigeonholed because during the course of my life, I have opened myself to new experiences, and took what I liked and made it a part of my own culture. Growing up in Maryland as a deaf woman, of Black, White and Indian descent, I learned how to function in a hearing world. Because my parents wanted me to learn to survive on my own, I acquired a love of reading and consider written English as my first language. I love history and am a very curious person, so I read all I could about different religions, and this led me to the Orthodox Faith, in part through falling in love with the Russian culture, thus awakening my desire to learn the Russian language so I can read Pushkin, Dostoyevsky, and Turgenev in the original language. Someday I want to live in Europe for six months and travel all over, visiting the places that I have only read about and paying respect at the graves of my favorite historical figures.”

Now, was that creative, or what?

5. What is your favorite item to knit?

That's a hard question to answer, because I like to knit just about anything. I'll venture to say, though, that Fair Isle vests and sweaters are my favorite items, because I like watching the colors change and pattern emerge and knitting at a fine gauge prolongs the experience.

6. Bonus Question: As a child what was your favorite Saturday morning program?

I remember watching that cartoon of Coyote and the Roadrunner. It was really amusing to watch the Roadrunner constantly outwit the Coyote. Tom and Jerry also falls into this catalog. Sorry . . . I couldn't pick just one.

Now, I gotta think up a few questions for my interview target(s). Heh, heh . . .

Well, it's taken longer than I thought, thanks to a lovely cold that has paid a visit to the Beno Household once again. But in between stuffy nose and coughs, I'm finally getting ready to sew up the second sock. As usual, I'm feeling a little bereft and I'm already thinking about what I want to make next. I think I'm ready to get out of favorite sock pattern mode and try a different one. Gotta decide which one, though.

And I'm ready for a larger project, I think. I got the latest Woolgathering issue, and I think I may finally be able to use my handspun for this one. Got to take another look at the swatch that I worked up for Latvian Mitten cardigan . . .

Here's what is now peeking up from my garden: