There's nothing erotic about errata...

The title of this post really has nothing to do with the content, but Bill and I had a funny little exchange about errata and erotica, since the two terms sound so very similar. He was complaining about a little work screw-up he was kicking himself over, and I was sympathizing by telling him I had many sleepless nights fretting about my errata. He said, "your erotica?" To which I responded "I wish! There's nothing erotic about errata." Those may be the truest words I've ever spoken...

But I digress. What I want to talk about is the fabulous weekend I spent in my booth at OFFF! I love this little festival more and more each year. I didn't bring my camera and neglected to snap any shots with my Blackberry (I am the worst photographer EVER), but you can see a nice shot of my booth over at Lavender Sheep. Yvonne and her hubby were our booth neighbors and we all had a great time out on the lawn, listening to the sheep and goat chatter drifting over from the barns behind us and being tortured by the wonderful smells of the barbeque and kettle corn booths that were our neighbors on the other side.

The show was CROWDED this year and people were in the mood to buy yarn and patterns! I guess when the economy starts to go, knitting looks like a better and better hobby - compare a scarf knit with a $30 skein of Sea Silk, providing hours of entertainment and then hours of practical use to a movie for a family of four, at $9 a pop for the tickets plus the ridiculous cost of concessions...the scarf looks like a pretty good deal! Socks are even better, since you can get a damn nice skein of sock yarn for around $20 and keep yourself entertained for a good long time knitting them up.

It was a nice break from the endless coverage of the current financial crisis. Since Bill works in the financial sector, he's waiting very impatiently for the bail-out package to be hammered out. He gets very frustrated with the news coverage, particularly people who comment on the situation who really don't know what they're talking about. It's such a complicated problem, and people rely so heavily on sound-bites and form their opinions based on others' opinions rather than taking the time to sort out the actual facts of the situation. Of course, without knowing exactly what's in the bill, we're all in that same boat. Bill's opinion is that we'll all be better off if there's more liquidity in the market, and that the bail-out could turn out well for both people who are in foreclosure and for the taxpayers, if it's structured well.

It's easy to see the bail-out as a parachute for wealthy executives who screwed things up, but it's so much more complicated than that - the plan needs to be structured to help people on the verge of foreclosure restructure their loans. Our current economy is based on the principle that the rich should get richer on the backs of the working class. While I think that it's ridiculous that CEOs get huge salaries and bonuses even when they fail, I find it more ridiculous that CEOs and executives are rewarded for short-term gains as opposed to working to make companies viable and strong over the long term. This short-term profit obsession is incredibly damaging, I think, and it encourages companies to continually come up with ways to increase profitability without any regard for their employees or even the quality of their products. Sometimes government regulation and controls are a good thing, even though free-market purists scream at that idea at the top of their lungs. Without any kind of controls, the pirates of high-finance reign (anyone seen Wall Street lately?).

Wal-Mart, aka the evil empire, is continually profitable because they're very aggressive in seeking out the best possible deals on their merchandise, abusing their suppliers and relying on foreign sweat-shop workers rather than quality goods made by Americans who are paid fair wages and get good benefits. I remember when Wal-Mart was all about "Made in the USA". How far they've fallen from that worthy goal. They also make their record profits on the backs of their employees, who aren't paid fair wages and are continually discouraged from unionizing in order to lobby for fair treatment. Instead of providing health benefits for their workers, Wal-Mart encourages them to go on Medicaid so that taxpayers provide their benefits and Wal-Mart gets off scot-free. Their employees, who continue to get paid poverty-level wages, have no choice but to shop at places like Wal-Mart because they offer such low prices (or so they think), completing the vicious cycle. Small businesses who pay their employees good wages, invest in their communities and provide benefits are forced out of business because they can't compete. Their employees than have to go work at Wal-Mart because it's the only game left in town.

Can you tell I don't like Wal-Mart? I just find it to be such a classic example of how the rich are getting richer on the backs of the working class. Why is it that Wal-Mart gets all these tax breaks even though they're rolling in dough already? Why are communities expected to subsidize Wal-Mart in this way, just because Wal-Mart will supposedly bring jobs to town? Never mind that they'll take away better-paying jobs by driving local businesses out of business... This cycle has got to stop if we want our society to become more equitable. Trickle-down economics just don't work, unless you happen to be one of the rich elite and don't care what happens to the rest of society.

SCREECH! All right, back up, I've been listening to too much NPR! I think I need to go knit something. Sheesh!

Bountiful Harvest

I have been so busy all week...in the kitchen, of all places! Every fall, I get the itch to can stuff. My mom canned and froze a ton of stuff every fall when I was a kid, so it's in my blood. This year I finally broke down and got myself a water bath canner at the hardware store and a big bag of beets from a local farm. On Wednesday, I managed to turn them into this!



8 pints of pickled beets! I managed to get all the jars to seal (yay!) but the canning process itself was a bit of a comedy of errors. It didn't help that I got called to Owen's school that morning to pick him up because he was running a 102 degree fever... He was asleep on the couch for most of this process, and let me tell you, it was a process!

First, the beets have to cook for about 35-45 minutes until they're nice and soft. Then, you have to dunk them in cold water and peel them (when they hit the cold water, the peels slide off relatively easily). Then you have to slice them. At this point, between all the beet water, the beet peelings and the juice from the sliced beets, the kitchen was looking a little bit like a crime scene.

Next step is to make the pickling solution, which involved lots of vinegar, sugar and spices in a little cheesecloth sack. I didn't have any cheesecloth so I used an old diaper (one that had never been used for its original purpose, BTW), which seemed to work. The pickling solution cooked for a little while, then the beets were added and cooked with the pickling solution for a few minutes. In the meantime, the jars and lids had to be sterilized and the water bath set to boiling. The sterile jars were filled, lids placed and rings screwed on, and then they were set into the boiling bath.

Everything up to this point went relatively well, but boy did I have issues with the water bath! I'm hoping that none of the little problems added up to botulism-laden beets...if any experienced canners are reading this, let me know if I did anything particularly damaging, please! First problem - the jars I was using and the wire rack from the canner didn't seem to be compatible. The jars kept tipping over as I tried to set them in the rack, and there was a leak somewhere because the water bath water turned pink. I perservered, though, and crammed six jars into the six spaces on the rack - they were a bit tight but I went with it.

Next the jars were lowered into the boiling water where they were to boil for 30 minutes. Of course I managed to fill the pot up too full, so the first few minutes of boiling involved me desperately scooping water out of the bath so that it would stop boiling over and putting the burner flame out. I finally got the water to a reasonable level and things were quiet until the timer went off. I couldn't nicely lift the jars out of the rack because they were so crammed in there (note to self - next time, skip the wide-mouth jars unless you buy a bigger canner), so I took the whole rack over to the counter and got the jars unstuck.

I had two lonely pints still waiting for their stint in the hot tub, so I put them in the rack and lowered them into the water. Of course, with all the water I'd removed to make the batch of 6 fit, the two little jars weren't even covered. I had to make several trips between the sink and the pot, and then wait for the water to reboil. I didn't start the timer again until the water was boiling, although the jars sat in the pot while it was heating up. Again, hopefully not a fatal mistake. I need to do a little research on canning safety before we crack these babies open...

Lessons learned -
1. Don't start heating the lids up until the jars are almost ready for them. My poor lids cooked for a couple hours while waiting for their jars, which I'm sure was not the most efficient use of gas.

2. Make sure your jars actually fit in your canner before the water is boiling and the jars are filled. My canner does not really like the wide-mouth pint jars.

3. Plan for the whole process to take about three times as long as you thought it would. Don't tell yourself that it will be no problem to get to the bus stop in time to pick up your kid because based on total processing/cooking times, this whole scenario should only last a couple hours. If you decide not to heed this advice, make sure there is a responsible adult on-call to fetch kid when process inevitably runs way over estimated time to complete.

4. Beware the urge to immediately order pounds and pounds of produce to can based on your small success. Baby steps, people!

I am really fighting with #4 right now - I want to make applesauce, and pickles, and dilly beans, and tomato sauce... There's something so satisfying about putting up food. While the beets were definitely the most involved thing I've done this fall, we've also managed to make a few pints of strawberry freezer jam and froze some sweet corn.



I also spent an hour yesterday making some great vegetable-and-chicken soup which included beans, carrots and tomatoes from our little garden.





It's not much, but it's way too fun growing our own food! And we live in a great area for fresh produce. I just know I'm not going to be able to resist sending Bill to the farmer's market this weekend to get some more stuff to can. I really should be knitting socks, but with the failing economy and global food shortages, I just can't resist the urge to feather the nest a bit.

Speaking of the economy, I got a shocker yesterday when I went to fill up the VW with gas - biodiesel is now...wait for it...$5.50 a gallon here in Portland. Yowza! It cost $72 to fill our puny little 13-gallon tank, and I was immediately inspired to dust off my bike and hitch up the trailer. I've been thinking about biking Owen to school instead of driving, but I thought it might be a bit too much for me. Yesterday I mapped it out, and it's only 2 miles down there! I can easily bike to my in-laws' and back, and they're 2.5 miles away, so school should be no problem. I might actually be able to lose this pesky baby weight (yeah, I know, Owen's in preschool so he's really not a valid excuse anymore) and get in shape for ski season. Not that we'll be able to afford to go skiing the way things are going, but if we can, I'll be ready!

Now I'm off to get ready for Oregon Flock and Fiber. We'll have a booth on the lawn, so if you'll be there this weekend, please stop by and say hello. I'll have Knitters for Obama stickers and voter registration forms! But of course you're welcome (and I'm happy to register you to vote) no matter what your political affiliation. I'll have Hurricane Socks patterns as well!

It's that time again...

I haven't had a good political rant in awhile, and with election day approaching quickly and scarily, I figure it's that time again. I have several things to ask of you, my readers, and then I'm going to give you some information sources and some of my own opinions and observations. If you think the McCain/Palin ticket is the best thing since sliced bread, you probably won't like this post too much, but if you're at all undecided, I ask you to read it with an open heart and mind. There is lots to discuss.

First, if you are not registered to vote (or have moved since the last election and haven't re-registered), please make sure you do so before the deadline. The registration deadline here in Oregon is Oct 14 but it's different in every state. You can get more info on registration and polling places at Vote 411.

After you register, make sure you vote! Employers must give you time off to vote by law, and it has never been more important. Additionally, many states allow early voting, meaning you don't have to stand in long lines on election day. Even if you disagree with me on every single thing and will be voting against all of my chosen candidates, I still encourage you to vote - it is one of the most powerful things you can do. Representative government only works if people vote, and our representatives won't really reflect the will of the people if only half of the people vote. If you have any trouble voting, this page lists info on how to get help.

Now, for a little more on why I personally think this particular election is so incredibly important. For me, the most critical issues facing our family (and our kids) are these:
1) the war in Iraq
2) the economy
3) healthcare
4) education
If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know I've been diametrically opposed to the war in Iraq. I'm all for going to get Bin Laden, but attacking Iraq and killing thousands of American troops, killing and displacing millions of innocent Iraqis, and spending trillions of dollars that our government has/had no plan or intention of paying back? Not so much.

I don't believe that all Republicans are liars, but unfortunately it seems that many of the Republicans in power (or other positions of influence, like the media) are willing to say whatever they think will get them what they want. The last 8 years has been all about lies, half-truths, manipulations, and I'm so sick of it. From the way McCain's people have been running his campaign, it looks like he's not interested in changing this trend. So much for trying to be a "maverick".

I am astonished by the way the Republican propaganda machine manages to convince its followers that the Democrats are at fault for everything that's happening right now, when the Democrats have not been in power for much of the last 8 years. Yes, the Dems have been in control of Congress for the last couple years, and they haven't gotten too much legislation passed. The reason? Bush has vetoed a ridiculous number of bills. Bills that passed through both houses of Congress, including bills that would provide health insurance for low-income children and prohibit water-boarding. He spent ridiculous amounts of money on a war we didn't need (again, Iraq did not help us nail Bin Laden, did it?) while neglecting our own country. Bridges are falling down, more people are without healthcare than ever, financial institutions are crumbling, and somehow that's the Democrats' fault even though Republicans controlled the entire government for 6 of the past 8 years? Really?

But I also don't want to support my candidate by tearing down the other side. Although there are things about Senator Obama that I don't love, in general I think that he would be a wonderful president. He would be so incredibly different from what we've tolerated for the past eight years. Here, I'd like to take a moment to address many concerns I've heard expressed about Obama since most of them are based on inaccurate information.

1) Obama is a Muslim.
NOT TRUE, for the millionth time, and even if it was, so what? Muslim does not automatically mean terrorist. I find this ironic, since Obama has been a person of very strong Christian faith much of his life. In fact, it was his work with a faith-based group that led him into politics. This is someone who is ambitiously pursuing a political career because he sees that this is where he can do the most good - he wants to work to change the system from within, because he's seen it from the outside and realizes how unfair it is to those in our country who have the very least. No, Obama did not and would not take his oath of office on the Quran. No, Obama was not a Muslim when he lived in Indonesia, any more than he was a Catholic.

2) Obama will raise your taxes.
This is untrue, unless you make more than $250,000 a year. There are mass e-mails going round and round that make a bunch of blatantly false claims about Obama's economic platform. If you get one of these, don't get scared - hit delete. Don't ever trust something that you get in a forwarded e-mail, whether it's telling you you just won the lottery in Britain or there's a guy in Kenya who wants to give you ten million dollars if you just send him your bank account information. I make a habit of going to Snopes.com to check out any e-mail forward, and 99% of them are totally false.

Under McCain's tax plan, everyone's taxes would go down, but those making over half a million dollars a year would get the lion's share of the decrease. For people making $38-$66,000 per year, you get a much bigger tax cut under Obama's plan ($1,042) than you would under McCain's ($319). The people who really ought to worry about Obama's tax plan are those lucky folks making over $2.9 million per year. Under McCain, they'll lower their taxes by about $200,000. Lucky them! They can afford to buy another Ferrari. Under Obama's plan, they'd have to pay an additional $700,000. Poor babies.

Much of this is done by undoing the Bush tax cuts, which were obviously fantastic for the economy (hmm...economy under Clinton, pre-Bush tax cuts = good, economy under Bush, post-Bush tax cuts = bad...I'm notoriously bad at math, but this seems pretty straight-forward to me). A fellow knitter on Ravelry posted this great analysis of stock market performance under all of the presidents back through Coolidge. He encourages you to go see where he got his statistics, and if you're skeptical, I would also. Numbers don't lie, unless they're made up (and if you believe that the Dow/S&P and Nasdaq numbers are made up, well, I can't really help you out there).

I'd like to be able to continue living in our house and send the kids to college someday. I'd also like my nice little retirement nest egg to stay in the black. Therefore, I'd like the economy to recover rather than staying in its current free-fall. No matter what you think on the other issues, think long and hard about your family's financial situation and the fact that who you vote for in November will have a direct impact on it. If you make less than $250,000 a year, you'll be better off under Obama. Personally I'm voting for the person who will help stem the current tide of the rich getting richer on the backs of the working class. As a small business owner, I feel even more strongly this way - why should I have to pay double taxes to be self-employed when corporations get huge tax breaks that I can't take advantage of? Obama will be better for small business, until that business starts making piles of money.

3) Obama is going to socialize health care and we're all going to endure terrible medical services and long waits.
I don't buy this. The rest of the civilized world has some sort of government-funded health care and they're not rushing to emulate our system. As someone whose husband recently became self-employed, I know first-hand the difficulties of our current system. Read what the Wall Street Journal has to say about this (yes, it's an opinion piece, but it's a strong argument for Obama's plan and against McCain's plan). You can also read about Obama's plan in detail on his website.

McCain's plan quite honestly scares the crap out of me. I can't imagine why anyone thinks it's a good idea. All of a sudden, we get taxed on our employee health benefits? And the solution is a $5,000 tax credit? How is that going to help people who have to pay over $1,000 a month for health insurance? The anti-Obama machine has managed to scare the crap out of people by telling them the untruth that he's going to tax them 28% on the sale of their home but somehow this one, which would actually happen, slips by. Never mind how difficult it can be to get private insurance if you have any sort of pre-existing condition. Bill had seen a doctor for his knee, which was bothering him while he was marathon training, and because of this he was turned down by two insurers and had to join a group of high-risk participants that was fortunately available to us here in Oregon. Otherwise he'd be without insurance, even if we were willing to pay out the nose. The insurers who turned him down weren't willing to cover him at any price.

4) But that Obama, he's such a snobby elitist. I want a president I can relate to.
Personally, with the state the world is in right now, I want someone who's ridiculously smart in the White House. I want someone who thinks critically about the issues instead of just jumping up and doing the first thing that pops into his head. Plus, the incredible irony of this statement is that Obama and his wife are such quintessential American up-by-the-bootstraps stories that I can't believe that anyone would think they are out-of-touch. Obama was raised poor, by a single mom (until he was 6), and worked his butt off to get into Columbia and later Harvard Law. He didn't have family connections to get him in despite poor grades. In fact, I'm sure he had to work even harder due to the color of his skin.

Obama has a beautiful family that he obviously adores. He's got a smart, successful wife who speaks her mind and quit a high-paying job to stay home with her kids. Not that she needed to in order to earn my respect, but that's the path I decided to take and so I can relate to it. Both the Obamas have dedicated their life to public service, and I can't quite believe that this smart, accomplished, seemingly-ethical man has agreed to run for president. I hope he's got it in him to take all the slime that's going to be thrown at him over the next few months. He's done just fine so-far, but that must be so incredibly difficult, particularly when people make such personal attacks on your family. I think the Obama family is a wonderful example of American family values - it's very much like my own.

In closing (yes, I know, I have a bit of diarrhea of the fingers tonight), I would ask that everyone try to see past the emotions of this campaign and look at the facts. If you think that the economy will do better if we cut taxes despite the fact that we'll get ourselves further and further into debt with McCain's plan, then vote for him. But don't vote for him because you think he's "a regular guy". I don't want the guy down the street negotiating with North Korea, do you? On the other hand, if you think that asking those who have the most to spare pay more than those who are struggling to survive is how society should operate, Obama's your man.

Snopes.com is a great debunking source (for rumors on both sides - you can check out the truth of McCain/Palin rumors there as well), as is factcheck.org, a non-partisan, non-profit website dedicated to checking out rumors as well as analyzing political ads for content. There is a lot of misinformation out there - don't let the media manipulate you, and don't form your political opinions based on the idiots on talk radio or the so-called news (yes, I'm talking about you, Fox News). That's not journalism - it's pandering, and it really ticks me off.

What's my point here? I guess I'm asking you all to be informed voters and really think about what all of the issues are and what impact they're going to have on you and your family. Even though it's easy to focus on single hot-button issues like abortion and gun control, there are so many important things facing us right now - the war in Iraq (and the fact that McCain/Palin don't seem to see any problem with invading Iran as well), our crumbling highways and bridges, rising gas prices (again, don't tell me this is the Democrats' fault when for the last eight years we've had two guys with very close ties to Big Oil in the White House), the housing crisis, the economy, the healthcare crisis... These are the things that will truly impact our lives and our childrens' lives. Vote based on what you think will fix those things, and fixing those things may make abortion and gun control less of an issue. If the economy is good and people are happy, they're much less likely to have abortions out of desperate circumstance or take their gun out to rob the neighborhood convenience store.

And oh, lordy, I realize I've gone on way past the point of common decency. If you're still reading, thank you! You are very patient to be so tolerant of my lunatic ravings. But don't think I'm kidding when I tell you to go vote. Seriously. And consider the issues seriously. Your country will thank you for it.

This must be a record!

Three posts in one week! What's going on? Well...school, that's what! Even though the days absolutely fly by, it's so lovely to have 6 hours to myself. I've even managed to keep the house clean, which makes it easier to get other stuff done. I know that whenever I start to feel like this, something happens and everything goes to hades - I keep telling Bill to enjoy it while it lasts (he is).



The kids are both loving their schools. They come home full of stories that make varying levels of sense and even said today that they're sad they don't get to go to school tomorrow. Owen seems to have grown up overnight - he's not my little baby anymore. And Sydney, well, she has grown over an inch in the last three months and seems to be all arms and legs and big ideas. It's so much fun watching them turn into little people, even though I wish they weren't both quite so precocious...oh, how they wear me out. I swear Sydney is going to grow up to be a hostage negotiator.

Today Bill got some pictures of some knitting that I've had lying around, waiting to be photographed. A few weeks ago I got my More Big Girl Knits samples back, and I thought I'd show you how they look on a non-model big girl.

Here's the Bountiful Bohus, which I adore (I just wish Cascade 220 didn't make me itch):



And the Twisty-Stitch Socks, which I also adore (fortunately wool on my feet doesn't itch me like wool on my arms):



Finally, here are the Classic Elite socks that I made for myself on our trip to the east cost in July. I made these out of the leftovers I had from the original design, which is in one of their Fall pattern books. It's one of the only times I've ever sent off a sample and then felt compelled to knit the exact same thing again right away. I really, really love these socks. I changed the toes and heel to dark purple (the original design as them light purple) because I was a'feared of running out of light purple.





I was sad to discover that they came out just a little bit too short. I'm still trying to decide if I want to try blocking the heck out of them since alpaca does tend to grow (although the Alpaca Sox is mostly wool), or if I'm going to suck it up, rip out the toes and add another half of a pattern repeat. We shall see! I'm guessing that ripping the toes will end up being the way to go. But first, I've got a book to write!

The glamorous life of a knit designer.

As I resave the gazillionth pdf file with a new group of settings so that it will print more prettily, I decided that I needed to write a post about the glamorous life of this knitwear designer.

7:30 am - hit snooze, then drag out of bed after realizing I have to get the kids' lunches ready, make sure their backpacks are cleaned out, stuff them with breakfast and somehow get them and myself out the door by 8.

7:45 am - yell upstairs and hope that signs of life are soon forthcoming.

8:05 am - drag the kids kicking and screaming out to the car and speed them to their respective schools.

8:45 am - pick up coffee and head back to the nice peaceful house.

9:00 am - try to tidy up a bit and throw a load of laundry in the washer as a nod to my latest FLYlady kick.

9:30 am - surf Ravelry while telling myself I really need to get to work.

9:45 am - have bright idea to offer Hurricane Socks pattern as a fundraiser for the Red Cross. Quickly throw up pattern page on website and post to blog. Format pictures in different sizes for various web purposes. Add a special announcement to front page of website, linking to Hurricane pattern page. Spend half an hour trying to figure out why adding a picture to my index.html page has put a blue line under the newsletter sign-up box. Realize I forgot to add a "< / a >" after displaying the picture. Fix this, and then tinker with the text and display boxes around the AKD banner and Independent Web Designers webring code so that it all matches my stylesheet.

11:00 am - add pattern to Ravelry. Can't leave without perusing the forums.

12:30 pm - realize I'd better get off Ravelry and take a shower. Realize that going for a walk is something that's getting less and less likely with the passage of time. Wonder if I can get to the grocery store, bank and library before I have to pick the kids up.

1:00 pm - pack up patterns to mail out to shops.

1:30 pm - realize that if I'm going to get to the grocery store before I have to pick up Owen, I'd better get moving. Decide to quickly format a Ravelry banner ad for the Hurricane Socks first. This involves removing the background from the original photo in Photoshop and then formatting the text and graphics of the ad in Illustrator. The computer decides to have memory issues, so I have to close one application before I can open another. It is not helpful that I have to flip back-and-forth several times and each program takes forever to load...

2:30 pm - upload finished ad to Ravelry. Grab bank deposits and run upstairs to kids' room to get nearly-overdue library books. Have bright idea that I'll go to the store after picking up Owen since Sydney has an after-school playdate down the street. Grab grocery bags and list.

2:45 pm - dash books into library, dash deposits into bank.

3:05 pm - breathlessly run into Owen's school to pick him up (official pick-up is at 3 - he's waiting for me on a little bench right inside his classroom door). On the drive home, he tells me how he got mad at his teacher because his teacher wouldn't bring him home during the day. I try to explain that that's not the teacher's job, it's mommy or daddy's job. He starts talking about helicopters.

3:25 pm - drive by Sydney's bus stop to confirm playdate with Sydney's friend's mom and arrange pick-up. Owen is just about falling asleep, which means he will wake up in two hours with the personality of a grizzly bear. No store trip for us.

3:30 pm - Owen is livid that he doesn't get to go with Sydney on her playdate. I promise that he'll be able to ride his tricycle when we go to pick her up, and I hear "is it time to go yet?" for the next 45 minutes straight, followed by ear-splitting screams when I tell him that no, it's not quite time yet.

4:15 pm - I convince Bill to take Owen to pick up Sydney while I head to the store.

5:00 pm - kids are watching a movie and Bill is downstairs working, so after putting the groceries away I settle in at my laptop and send out Hurricane Sock patterns to the kind folks who've ordered them while I was away.

5:15 pm - I need to put up pages for all of my new patterns on the website, so I start formatting photos. Each photo has at least two sizes it needs to be cropped to, and there are 2-4 photos per design, so I crop and save a total of about 35 photos.

6:00 pm - dinner, anyone? I'm going to make cajun catfish with boiled red potatoes, so I go to our tiny potato patch to dig up some spuds. I pull up the potato plant and the potatoes are about the size of olives. I decide to pull some beets instead.

6:15 pm - faced with a sink full of dirty beets, I start to seriously fade. I go downstairs and beg Bill to cook dinner. He reluctantly agrees (reluctant because I made him stop working at 4 to go get Sydney, not because he isn't willing to cook dinner) if I'm willing to wait until he's gotten a little more work done. I happily agree.

6:20 pm - I go back to my web pages. I realize that I still need to save front pages of all of my new patterns for the website, which involves opening each one in Illustrator and exporting it to pdf. I start with Amethyst, a new pattern, since it's alphabetically at the top of the list. After I save Amethyst, I realize that I may as well do all of the patterns, not just the new ones. I discovered a new way of saving pdfs that strikes a nice compromise between file size (don't want it too big) and image quality (don't want it too crappy). All of my old pdfs were small but had bad image quality. The new method makes a bigger file but the pictures are much, much better. I've also figured out how to import schematics into my patterns from Illustrator without them getting all bitmapped, but I haven't updated all my downloadable patterns with the new versions. I hope my pdf vendors don't totally hate me for making them switch out all their pdf files YET AGAIN.

7:30 pm - halfway through the list of patterns, resaving all the download files and front page files with the new settings. Bill makes me stop to eat dinner. We watch The Office and the kids complain about having to eat fish.

8:00 pm - after loading the dishwasher (I am REALLY trying to keep up with my FLYlady stuff, really!), I head back to the computer for more fun with pdfs.

9:00 pm - pour myself another glass of wine, and start coding pages for the new patterns. Double-check all of the file names of the front pages and download patterns I just recreated to make sure they're the same as the old ones.

9:30 pm - upload all of the new download patterns to the website where my pdf retailers can grab them. Send them pleading e-mail, begging them not to kill me.

10:00 pm - realize that my original description on the Hurricane Socks pattern, which was written well before the current hurricane season, is a bit too flip (it says "Celebrate the rainy season with these socks...", which may not go over too well with those who've just had their homes demolished and will be without power for the next two months). Fix it and recreate front page pdf and download pdf.

10:15 pm - test the new pattern pages, make some minor tweaks and then ftp them all to my web server. Test them again to make sure I didn't forget to transfer anything over.

10:30 pm - check Ravelry to make sure no big debates have flared up while I'm away. Read my political forums and alternately get hopeful and depressed. Wonder why the guy raised on food stamps by a single mom, who has pulled himself up by his bootstraps in the most American of ways, is considered "elitist" while the guy who has 9 houses and a private jet is considered a regular guy.

11:00 pm - realize I'd better go for bed, but want to watch a little bit of tv first. Finally pick up my knitting (for the first time today). Knit a few rounds, then realize I'm too tired to knit and head up to bed. Set alarm so that the whole thing can be repeated in the morning. Second verse, same as the first!

Doesn't that sound like fun? :)

Help our friends on the Gulf Coast!

As you may have heard, this little hurricane named Ike has just devastated southeastern Texas, pretty much demolishing Galveston and causing extensive damage in Houston and surrouding areas. Serendipitously, I've got a new sock pattern to release that just happens to be named "Hurricane Socks".

Rather than panic at my bad timing, I've decided to offer the Hurricane Socks pattern as a fundraiser for the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which is currently depleted, so that we can help them get supplies and give shelter to all of the people who have been displaced by both Ike and Gustav. I've already donated as much as I can personally, but this allows me to use my talent to help where my wallet can't! I encourage everyone who can to donate as much as they are able as well - you can donate directly here.

Hurricane Socks:



Click on the picture in this post (or on the sidebar) to go to the pattern page on my website and get instructions for purchase. The pattern costs $6, and I will donate all profits from downloads of this pattern through October 15 (minus PayPal fees only) to the Red Cross. Subsequent sales of the pattern after Oct 15 (when I will take my button down and go back to offering it only through my retailers) will continue to raise money for the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, with $2 from each pattern sold being donated.

When purchasing, be sure to include your correct e-mail address so I can get the pattern to you. I will e-mail all patterns out within 48 hours of receiving your order (hopefully a lot sooner, but I'm going to give myself a nice time cushion to avoid over-promising and under-delivering).

Let's raise some money for hurricane victims, knittahs!

Whew!

I survived the weekend! And both the kids are in school today, leaving me footloose and fancy free (well, not really, since I spent the morning doing accounting for the show and making up for a Ravelry-free weekend). I dropped Owen off for his first day of preschool this morning, and he trotted right into the classroom like he owned the place. His teacher called us at noon and told us everything was going fabulously. I'm so proud of my little guy!

I can't believe how quickly the day has passed, however. Here I was thinking I'd have all this free time to get stuff done, but I have less than an hour left of my first kid-free day (and don't really have too much to show for it). It doesn't help that I'm still sick and tired. And sick and tired of being sick and tired!

I didn't manage to get very many show pictures (go to Tiggywinkle Knits for a much better summary, including a pic of our booth), but I did remember to snap a few at the dinner on Saturday night. They were taken with the Blackberry camera, which is not bad but tends towards blurriness, particularly in low light. I apologize for the poor photo quality (both to you, gentle readers, and to the subjects of said photographs - to make it up to said subjects, I will be posting an unflattering picture of myself to try to make it up to you).

We had a very fun table on Saturday night - here's cable zen master Janet Szabo and our new favorite knit-guy Carson:



Boy, that picture's bad! They both looked lovely in person, I swear. We also have Ms. Judy (Becker, that is) having fun with light-up knitting needles:



And my friend Margaret Fisher, master knitter, teacher extraordinaire and all-around ninja knitter (and crocheter) with her brand-spanking new book!



Margaret was at the first Cat Bordhi visionary retreat I attended two years ago. While I've spent the time since diddling around and talking about how I'm going to write a book someday, Margaret went and, by golly, she did it! She's got the second gorgeous book to come out of our visionary class (the first being Janel Laidman's Eclectic Sole, which is also amazing). Time for me to get off my duff! You can get Seven Things that can "Make or Break" a Sweater at your LYS very soon, or at the Gardiner Yarn Works booth at OFFF in two weeks. We may still have one or two signed copies left... We'll also have both of Janet's books as well.

But I digress! As promised, here's the terrible picture of me (and a blurry but not-so-terrible-looking Donna):



To make up for that awfulness, I present you with something pretty - my brand spanking new design, Kiwassa. I will have the website updated with all of my newest designs (another wrap and some new socks) later this week, but for now, this will have to do!

Where am I??!?

If anyone is still reading this poor, sorely neglected blog, here's an update!

I haven't been posting because I've been:

A) Crawling back on the Flylady wagon and getting the house out of "condemned by the Health Department status".

B) Getting the kiddos ready for their first days of school (and surviving Sydney's first week of Kindergarten).

C) Fighting off various physical afflictions...

D) Prepping for our booth at the TKGA fall show! If you're in Portland, come down to the show and see us in booth 303! (I'm posting this from the show floor via my Blackberry, aka my new BFF.)

More when I recover from the weekend including new patterns!