Get it right!

It's taken so long to finish this rug. Lots of other things to do since I started it. I can't believe it's taken me since the end of July to get this far. I thought I was done over a week ago. Then I put it down on the floor to just look at it for a while. I usually do this so that I can figure out how it should be bound. But the more I looked at the rug above, the more I wanted to do something about the color balance. There was too much pink and purple on the left. So, I pulled those two diamonds out and tried again. Version 2 is below. I used a leaf green on the left side hoping it would kind of disappear. I put pink on the right to give some color to a dark patch in the 'garden'.


Then I took a picture. I didn't like how the green disappeared into the gray. That was more invisibility than I wanted and the balance was out again. Oh, rats! After looking and looking, I couldn't see how to keep it clear but unobtrusive. Then Anne said it had to be as bright as the pink diamond. I was not convinced but not having a better idea, hooked in a dull aqua piece. Here's the result:

She was right! It looks so much better than before. And it gives even more depth to the frame around the window. Of course, I could have spared myself all this by being more careful with the flower placement. I think I got bored with making them and decided it was OK. I still like this, though.

Done!

I've been laboring with a new computer most of today. It's faster! And has lots of gadgets that I probably will never use but they're fun to have...you never know when you're going to have to add footnotes or type up a bibliography. Well, I'm pretty sure I won't have to do that very soon.

Lots of panic when a password seems to be beyond my brain to find. So, then, I'm guessing and that's not working. But you really don't know whether you've messed up the password or the user ID because it's just a blanket invalid notice. So, one was right (maybe) but which one?
Keeping the old hard drive plugged in helped with these silly questions. And some errors are downright picky. If I hadn't found the answer, I'd never have hit on it in a million years.

Vista has a language that I can not understand. I think I'm happier with Mandarin! So something that I was completely familiar with on the old 'puter now has a new way of describing/explaining itself. So, hours of mucking about and clicking right, then left in the hopes of producing something that looks right. I'm getting the hang of it now and I'm actually pretty happy. Except for the 'permission' boxes whenever I do something a little off the regular path.

Oh, and I deleted a whole file of pictures before I caught myself. Yes, really deleted. But, with multiple photo storage sites in use, I'm sure I'll be getting almost all of them back from somewhere. I'm not too stressed about them.

Email was the hardest and that's all set up now. The printer is another issue but we'll get that sorted with the help of our guru, my ds. It seems that USB ports are all we get now. Our printer is so old (at least 10 years) and needs a parallel port. Tried to patch it with an adaptor cord - didn't work. So, now we'll probably create a printer server with the less old computer. But, I'm back, talkin' and playin' games. What else could I want?

Lotsa socks

Just took some time to look at the patterns in the new knitty . Wow! What a lot of very neat sock patterns. I especially like the architectural designs with cables and ribs. But the colorwork socks are interesting, too. I'm just not sure I would ever make them. But I'm sure gonna try at least one of these wonderful new designs. Worth a look.

More dreams

It's a great feeling to be able to realise dreams of such long standing. I've had this dream of doing a walking tour of Ireland for a long time. Not as long as the piano but, still, a long time. And, the dream is closer to reality now. We've actually done some research and could be be in Ireland sometime next year. We hope.
So, to this end, we've decided that fitness will be the key. We're trying to get out and walk at least 6km at least three times a week. I still walk instead of driving as much as I can and practice tai chi so this is extra. Anne has joined a walking group once a week. It's hard to commit to the time but we've set a goal. Wish us luck!

Here's some of the scenery we're looking forward to...

Rude awakening

Talk about crashing the party! Here's what woke up the neighborhood about 3 am. Apparently, I slept through the huge crash - but I quickly woke up to someone quietly asking if I'm awake. Go figure.

A pickup truck somehow managed to crash through the huge rhododendron (one of my faves) in the neighbor's yard, taking along a vine maple and some big log things which were lying under the trees. Then he crashed through our shared fence and came to rest in our garden. No one was hurt - the driver was able - and highly motivated - to try to escape. If only the truck could have backed up through all the debris.

The neighbor's camper had some minor damage. Of course, it only looks minor as it'll probably be a write-off the way insurance works. The truck is gone but we still have yellow tape all around so I guess it's a 'crime scene' now. The garden will recover and all we really lost were a few plants and a couple of hours of sleep.

Wasn't that a party?

Connections

See this little ball of yarn? I bought it at Michael's a couple of weeks ago. I love pink - I know, very Barbie - but never wear it. And when I saw this yarn, I pretended it was the stretch factor that made me buy it. But I think it really was the color.

I cast on a sock the other day and have been happily knitting. As I knit, there are so many thoughts running through my mind all inspired by the yarn. The pink/white /gray blend has me humming "A White Sports Coat" as I knit. This was a song that was played a lot at dances when I was in junior high. Probably because it had the proper timing for the fox-trot (I think). So, there I am singing along with Marty Robbins in my head and running the video from those long-ago dances.

But the memories don't stop there. In fact, they go back even farther. When I was in Grade 5, the boy who sat next to me, Barry, was a sartorial inspiration. I thought it amazing that he actually had a job - remember, we were 9 or 10 at the time. He was a pinsetter at the local bowling alley which seemed a pretty exotic life to me. But, even, more wonderful were the clothes that he bought. With his own money!

My favorite outfit was a pair of charcoal pants with a white shirt and a pale pink V-neck pullover. To this day, that is the only picture of Barry that I can conjure up in my mind. I'm pretty sure it was the pink sweater that made the outfit so memorable. Maybe it was because I'd never seen pink on a boy before?