Hairball! No, wait. Worse!

I received a LOT of yarn from a friend who's spouse had recently died.  He had no use for it, and said he'd just chuck it in the burn pile if I didn't want it.  Avoiding such sacrilege, I came home with something like 6 or so boxes of yarn.

This is good.  Quite good.  Except they were stored... Not so well.  They were dusty, and some were covered with grit, among other things.  (We jokingly say it's back of the barn fresh...)  I really didn't want to have the stuff be in the craft room with all the dust. Huh.  So, wonder if I can wash them?  I start looking online, in a couple knitting forums, and find out, yep, they can be washed.  I figure, okay, I have a batch I will put into a couple pillow covers, and Voila, clean yarn.

Ahem.

Now begins the tale of one woman's decent into madness...

On the forum, there was a definite agreement that it COULD be done.  Several different methods were mentioned.  I decided that putting the skeins in a pillow case, and using safety pins, lock them in, and wash, and dry.  (There was some debate about whether they should be dried, some thought it would damage the yarn.  I don't happen to have the faintest idea about what you are supposed to do with the yarn once it's washed if you DON'T dry it!!)

So, I get my pillowcases, place several yarn skeins in, and close with pins.  Big pins.  Pins that could cause severe pain and puncture.  Of which I did at least twice, on two fingers.  With prodigious and creative epithets following.  Fortune would have it, I was alone in the house, except for Ding.  She did look a little oddly at me, and decided it was probably a good time to go in the other room...

I put the bags in the wash, along with a pillow, to balance the load out.  Wash.

Then I pull out the bags.  White puffs? Huh?  Oh, urk.  There was a hole in the pillow, and the washer quite literally beat the stuffing out of it.  So, remove stuffings that are all over the washer, the outside of the pillow, outside of the pillowcases...  And then note, one of the yarn skeins has come partway out of the pillowcase.  Stuff back in. 

Well, that wasn't great, but not as bad as I had feared.  Dry.

Then I take out the nice, clean, fresh smelling, OH MY GOODNESS WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED???!?!!!???

Where I had several nice skeins in the bags, I now had a large, colorful, amorphous mass.  A highly TANGLED amorphous mass. 

So, the next two days were carefully (for the most part, patience won out with one, and I just pulled it until it broke so I could finish) untangling, and rewinding or rolling up skeins.  I was not a happy camper.  Husband tried to tell me about a way that might prevent it happening again.  I have decided that I will indeed wash more yarn. (See, nutty as a fruitcake.)  The next one will be ONE skein per bag, and perhaps a victim loving Husband will pin the darn things shut...

5 more boxes to go...

 Whimper...

Phone service. Or not.

We have a relatively new phone system I am using at work.  It was presented as being much easier to contact people in other buildings (including the ones in the main office, which is in another city!), and that we could do nearly everything but make coffee with it.

Uh, I don't like coffee that well, and don't really think the IT guys remembered they were talking to people who are NOT techs...

For example.  I have to transfer calls to dispatch.  Now this should be easy.  You just ask the tech guys, and they give me a several step process. 

Uh, huh...

And when I need to do that, if you don't do it in a very short time, it will hang up on you, and more urgently, the one you were transferring.  NOT good.  I started telling them the phone number for dispatch (non emergency), if I was transferring them, or telling them to hang up and call 911 if it WAS an emergency, so I wouldn't keep dropping them.  Very poor way of getting the job done.

I finally sat down and read the booklet (paper, even) we had for the phone.

Well, it wasn't MUCH of an improvement, but I found out, from that, and one of the gents who is in the office, that if you know the extension, you type that in, then wait for it to ring, then hang up the phone.

That's all.  Not several steps.  Just 2, basically.  And I've only lost one since, and that was because of a power blink.  Much improvement there. 

So, now, I need to learn how to transfer calls IN THE BUILDING.  This shouldn't be hard, right?  Dial the number of the phone the person is near, they pick it up, all is rainbows and unicorns. 

Well, except, no one seems to know what the extension numbers are for the six phones in here, except for the main phone, i.e., mine.  That would be great if I call myself for some goofball reason, but doesn't do me a bit of good if I have to call one of the guys up to my phone.  I have needed to do this very thing more than once, which leads to me handing them paper and pen, and leaving my desk, so they can get the info...

So, I need to go get one of the tech guys, and a tech to confused person translator, and see if we can straighten this out. 

On the bright side, I do know how to 'park' calls, and can send them wither and when they need to go, now... If I know the extension.

It's SPRING BREAK!! (also known as one week of rain...)

In seriousness, it is closer to half a week of rain.  Today, for example, is very nice, and few clouds.  So, the kids will get some pleasant weather to go create havoc and chaos... Heh.  This is from someone who's idea of spring break was to go home, do laundry, and sleep for about 2 days... Then see what things I needed to get ready for, for the next school session. 

Not really a party animal, no. 

Meh...

Well.  Hmm.  Found out our doctor is retiring.  I am not pleased much about that, but, on the bright side, we don't have to hunt for a new doctor, there is one taking his patient load.  And, looking him up, he seems to be freshly minted from our doctor school nearby.  I think this might be a good thing.  I just hope I don't seem old, broken down, and decrepit.

Oh, wait...    (Hee hee!!!) 😃

Well, we need to trim another wing.  Mon Ami, that lovable stinker, has figured out how to get over the fence.  We have trimmed one wing, thinking this would stop him.

Ahem.

I watched, as he got waaaaaay back from the fence, took a fast run, then jumped and flapped right near the gate, managed to get his feet on to the gate, then jumped down, into the wide world of  Not In The Henyard.  This is not going swimmingly for Husband, as there are little land mines about.  And Mon Ami, he just wants to follow me about like a puppy, can't understand why I put him back in the pen.  Someone must have spoiled him.  Can't imagine who. Cough...

I have been working on knitting a vest for myself.  I think it will be quite nice, especially in cold weather, as it is a good, thick wool.  It's red, (Think Cola Can red), and the pattern is really nice...

Except.

I have a problem with one little part.  It's called a fleck stitch (it looks something like this...)  This should NOT be a problem.  But it is.  And it's about 1/3 of the patterns, alternating, on the vest.  I have the back finished, and so far, haven't found any major boo-boos, so I really need to make it match on the front.  I started, and found I was continually making a mistake of putting two rows of knit and purl in, when you only need one.  I think this was because the pattern calls for this fleck stitch, and then moss stitch, which is ALL knit and purl.  So I frog*.  And knit. And frog.  THEN there was my bright idea to knit both of the front panels at the same time.  Until I realized I had managed to knit both fronts, as both LEFT fronts.  And, I had made the same blasted mistake on them, so they had a couple nasty squares that were screwed up.  So, frog again...

So, I started knitting alllllllll over again on the LEFT one.  SLOWLY knitting on that one.  Husband noticed that I had started another project...  I told him I needed to put that away for a day or two, and do some mindless knitting, so I don't go seeing if anyone wants it for target shooting.  So, I will get it out, and with severe trepidation, measure to see if it is coming out equal with the back, and then finish, and start on the Right half. 

And do I want to do this vest again? Yes.  Do I want to do fleck stitch, oh, **** no!  In fact, I was thinking of doing no pattern at all, just using blocks of color, or textured yarn for the accent.  But I do need to finish this one first.  Dang.

As far as the blanket, I am doing something with a stitch that I just came up with, and have later found out it is an actual stitch that has a name.  (Yep, right here, if you want to see...)  I just made it up, when I found out a stitch I used didn't show up well on my sock, so I did this instead. 

The funny thing, most knitters see it, and comment on how odd the stitch is, the way I use it.  One or two even said that it doesn't look good.  But, I have come to the opinion, it's my socks, I will knit little bumps, or not, or colors that are different on each sock, or whatever, as I am not doing for anyone but me.  So dere.  I guess I have been a bit irked by some of the folks telling me how "off" some of my knitting is, I know it's not everyone's cup of  Camellia sinensis.  I have things I could comment on other's knitting, but I figure, they enjoy it, and you know, life is too darn short to worry about a funky color, or oddball combination of stitches.  If they like, go forth and knit, dang it!  Considering I have even been told I was a witch one time, because of what I was knitting**, I tend to be a bit shy of showing off my stuff anymore... 

Woo!! So, off the soap box.  Anyway, the blanket is another co-creation with Ding kitty and my knitting.  She keeps pulling yarn balls out at night, and then wants attention.  I give it to her, and the cycle repeats.  So, I had to do something with it.  I have made a simple garter stitch blanket for the trailer. Also, a lap warmer, my Mom likes to have something in my car, as an electric car tends to use up electrons very quickly when the heat is on... 

So, this will be the Linen Stitch Flow blanket.  Flow, because when you change colors, the first color alternates with the second, then goes to the second, so it isn't quite as jarring.  (Especially since she picks out some color combinations that are... unique, to say the least.  But it's fun to see what she comes up with.)  I was worried when she first started doing that, but she has never eaten the yarn, or done anything but pull it out, carry it into the hall or front room, then sing for me to come see.  Kinda wish she'd do that at times other than 2 am, but hey, it's a cat thing...

* frog, based on the sound a frog makes, you rip-it, rip-it... Also known as throwing something in the frog pond.

** I was knitting with yarn I'd spun, and she'd noticed that I'd spun it counterclockwise.  In front of a large circle of ladies, she pipes up, LOUDLY, "Oh, you're a witch, then?!??"  You could have heard a pin drop.  She then continues, "Only witches spin backwards!"  Um.  Oh.  I had no response, and she finally left.  I don't think the red left my face for a half hour.  None of the other women said a thing.  I don't know if they did think me a witch, didn't know what to say, or just were as dumbfounded as I was.  It still didn't do too much for me...

Craptastic rides again...

AIIIIGH!!! 

Ahem.  So, as you may have noticed, I haven’t blogged.  I haven’t written much on other folks blogs, either.  Husband and I were noticing that we were having problems with the internet… Again.

Turns out, we didn’t take into account the fact that when school is out, we aren’t going to have much in the way of internet.  To wit:  We get up- well, of late, HUSBAND gets up between 4-5 a.m., and gets online.  It is shaky, but okay at that point.  I have been ‘sleeping in’ to about Zero Cat:30… Er, 6 am, and it’s getting a little shakier at that point.  7 a.m., it nearly stops. 

We can’t get emails without a loooong wait, articles on line are iffy, at best, and videos.  Well, we just don’t get them.  Uploading a picture doesn’t work, it times out.  Heck, just looking at my morning comics online is dicey, it might work, if it’s a small, black and white comic, but I am pressing my luck for anything with color, and do not bother, if it’s anything large or multi-frame. 

Even that sacred bastion of insanity, Face Book, isn’t doable right now.  I had asked a friend about some music he made, I want to hear it, but can’t download it right now, conversely, I haven’t been able to get ON Face Book, to tell him there is a problem! 

I am trying to get this blog up, just to let folks know I haven’t gone AWOL, just can’t do much at the moment.  I am so aggravated… 

We tried to do a speed test, to see how (not) fast it was going.  It was so slow the test wouldn’t start!  When we finally did get the test to take, it was .05 to .08 bits per second.  We, as I remember, are supposed to be getting 1 to 3 MEGS… I would love to take this out on Green Asterisk internet, but they probably wouldn’t do anything.  We are rural, and until Rural Electrification type legislation gets teeth in the government, (http://www.broadband.gov/recovery_act.html , aka Rural Broadband), we are going to continue to have this problem.

How, you ask, am I getting this online?  I wrote it on Word, then copied and pasted, hoping desperately that the ‘net would hold long enough to get it printed there.

Before this all started, I’d downloaded Windows latest and greatest update.  Now I am afraid to implement it, I don’t need to deal with two disasters! 

So, I will try and put updates on my blog, but will have to work around the marauding hordes of kids…  Guess I need to get up when I am having my insomnia bit about 1 or 2 a.m. and THEN try and do something… PBBBBBBBBBBBBT!!!! 

Sorry for the downer blog, but that’s the way it goes. Will blog about nicer stuff later, but probably no pics…