Laissez les bons temps rouler (WIP it out Wednesday!)

Dude, I can't believe I'm managing to post twice in one month! But I am!



I'm calling these Laissez les bons temps rouler because the yarn is Mardi Gras colors. I hope to finish them before the season is over - Fat Tuesday is not until March 8, so I think I have a good chance.

The yarn is Dorchester Farms Handpainted Sock Yarn. Dorchester Farms is local to me and sets up at many of the Sheep and Wool Festivals in New England. I'm not sure at which one I purchased this, but I do know it was in 2010.

The sock is going to be plain, toe up (obviously!), because I want the yarn to speak for itself. I have two skeins of it, each about 190-200 yards (label says 200; Ravelry database says 192), so I'll dedicate one skein per foot.

Nothing else to share here except for gratuitous cat shots:

A WIP and some FOs for the Head

Well, I had some good intentions, right? Now it's been three weeks since my last blog post, and although I HAVE things to post, I haven't gotten off my ass and done so.

I guess I'll WIP it out before I flash some FOs:



Okay, so this is a crappy cell phone photo but it's better than nothing, right? The pattern is called Cross Stitch Cable Beanie and it' a free Ravelry download. I'm almost done with it, so I'll take some good detailed photos of it when I am.

It's for Mike. The yarn is Interlacement Toasty Toes and it's been in my stash since December of 2006. It's about time I use it, right?

I also have some FOs to show. These ones go back to October of 2010, so you can see how lazy I have been.

I have a stack of hats:



I also do not have a good detailed photo of this hat:



It's the Horseshoe Cap from the Summer 2010 Spin-Off. I appear to be the only person on Rav who made it, or, at least when I uploaded it the pattern wasn't in Rav's database yet. The yarn is from a local vendor, Hamden Hills Alpacas, who sets up at the Farmer's Market outside of my building. She also sets up at the Connecticut Sheep and Wool, and at Rhinebeck.

I also made another Foliage hat, this time in chunky yarn (Valley Yarns Northampton Bulky, from WEBS). It's fun for a girl



or a boy!



I also have something else that garnered me quite a bit of attention in late October: BOOB HATS.



Can you tell which one is meant to be the Lotus Boob hat? (Note: if you have never seen the Lotus Boob, you may want to think twice about doing a search for it. The first time I saw it, I had no clue what it was. My first impression was a boob with road rash, and I think I screamed and closed the window. My second impression -- yes, I looked again -- was a boob with beebees shot in it, which is as bad as a boob with road rash. It's neither. It's a photoshop job of a boob with a lotus pod - complete with seeds -- cropped over it. Even after knowing what it is, I don't need to see it again.

The funniest part about these hats is that I made them specifically for Rhinebeck. Mike and I presented them at the Rubberneckers meetup, and minkeswim's baby took the bait when presented with the Lotus Boob, as you can see on my Ravelry projects page. (I made that page public-access, so you don't need a Rav account to see it. I should do that with all of my projects, unless they are SOOPER SEKRIT).

Oh, and I made those with some Red Heart Super Saver that I got at a yard sale a few years ago, and I could only get black Pony Beads in packs of 1,000. I may give both to charity, because the RHSS killed my hands. That's never happened before; I think it's because it's older yarn and thus not as soft as the acrylics of today (I very charitably say).

I decided to cut this short RIGHT HERE, because I realized that I have two more FOs for 2010, and three FOs for 2011 - wait, four!!! FOUR FOs! Can you tell it's been a harsh winter so far? I need to get my bearings, and not write a teal deer post, so I'll do a different post for my 2010 FOs for the feet, and then my 2011 FOs.

Four? Really? And here I was, being an underachiever and only joining the 1 for 2011 group rather than the 11 for 2011 group on Ravelry. . .

A WIP, a FO, and something extra

Early this month, ZMrK and I went to a meetup for the New England LSGers at WEBS. WEBS itself was a bit of a whirlwind, which is a good thing, considering that I did put myself on a yarn diet this year. I went in, got what I wanted (I was allowed to break said yarn diet considering this trek was right before my birthday, or at least that is how I justified it), paid, and went off to lunch at the Northampton Brewery. It took a while to get there because I stupidly didn't do any sort of mapping to the Brewery, and the folks we followed (who had used MapQuest) weren't familiar with the area, so we were a bit late getting there. It turns out that we knew exactly where it was - duh - if only we had been told that it's near the parking garage! Once there, it was the typical LSG fun:





(You should have seen this by the time we were ALL done with it!)



I'm wearing my Sinful Dickinson Pullover (more on THAT later!)

I'm telling you about this trip to set up that fact that I got the yarn and pattern for the Aurora Shawl Collar Cardigan there (designed by WEBS' own Kristen Hipsky). Something about this pattern called out to me -- it may have to do with it being the middle of winter, and the pattern being for a warm, soft, sweater done with a warm, soft yarn.

Anyway, the damnedest thing has happened. Every time I take a progress shot of it, I'm too lazy to do a blog post. So I'll give both progress shots here:



I took this photo on February 17, in the morning. I had called in sick that day, with an awful head cold (my nose was so stuffed up that taking a drink was a struggle. I've since recovered from it, but passed it along to ZMrK, who has been sick all week and is now recovering, although still coughing).

I was completely finished with the body by the end of that day (knitting while watching zombie movies = WIN), and had a good start on the sleeve by the weekend:



Now, I am completely done with the left sleeve, and have about 25 rounds on the right sleeve done, but I'm too lazy right now to take a photo and upload it.

You may have noticed that it is in the same color as the pattern image, and the sample knit in WEBS. Some may call me unoriginal for that (I have, believe it or not, seen threads on Ravelry where people have deemed those that use the suggested yarn in the color the designer knit in "unoriginal". Seriously. But, any of us who have spent time on Ravelry know that there are some dipshits on there who feel the need to judge what others are doing. Oh, more on that later.). I originally went there to get the yarn in the "gold heather" colorway of Northampton Bulky, but I found the color to be more of a golden tan than the mustardy gold that I prefer. Since the light green heather is a perfect color on me, I decided to go with that (although I have to say, the ocean heather is also gorgeous in person!).

So that's where I stand with that. The pattern is easy -- super, super easy -- but at this point it's not transportable so I only work on it at home. I also need to keep it hidden in the back room, because a small black cat who shall remain nameless really likes that yarn and likes the DPNs even more -- so much that one day he chewed on one and pulled it off the stitches (which I was luckily able to get back onto the needles without trauma).

I did a bit of sewing last weekend. I have some low-nap zebra upholstery type fabric that I got at a yard sale a few years back, as well as some purse handles that I had purchased for an ill-fated project. Put them together and I've got this:



TA DA!! It hasn't left the house yet, of course, because I usually carry one of those big ol' purses that I seem to keep my life in. I plan to use it some night I'm out for fun. I didn't line it -- I fully intended to, but then the fabric I was using for lining was being a $$^&*@$# (seriously, a word that I won't even say!), so I decided not to line it. The zebra fabric doesn't shred at all, so I'm safe with it.

Okay, now I'm at the "something extra" part. I was the center of a bit of controversy on Ravelry this week. Yes, me. Now, I know that I blogged well over a year ago when I finished my Dickinson Pullover. There was no controversy there. Well, at the beginning of this year, ZMrK and I had a fun photoshoot involving me wearing said pullover with nothing else. I was too chicken to post the photos to Flickr at the time, but uploaded them straight to Ravelry just so I can have a cheeky little thread on Rubberneckers not Rubbernecking about them. They're cute photos, and were within the Ravelry Terms of Service, and the only one that may have been a little questionable was put down at the bottom (ahem!) of my project page. I forgot about them, and didn't see a thing wrong about it.

Earlier this week, there was a thread in LSG asking which if your projects were favorited the most. I posted that project, as well as my Weird hat, both of which had been favorited 13 times. I went on with my day, la la la. That night, I go to see what's what on Ravelry, and I have a comment on that project. It reads "You are gross!". I thank the person for commenting, and point it out to a couple of people I'm friends with, thinking it's funny. I get a few positive comments from my friends to negate the person who thinks I'm gross. I later get another comment (which has since been deleted by the author) that reads "Congratulation. [sic] You got the attention you wanted." I'm like, Um, okay. . . maybe the earlier commenter clutched her pearls and sent it to her friend, much like I sent the earlier comment to my friends.

Then, a couple of people give me the "heads up" that my pullover has become a topic of discussion in another group, where the photos are called "obscene" "very inappropriate" and of "private parts". For reals? By the time I saw the thread, other people had found it and had come to my defense. I was willing to just let it roll off my back until I saw a post that read, "Actually the cellulose on those thighs is what I didn’t want to look at". OH NO SHE DI'NT! Putting aside the hilarity of the thought of me growing plant fibers on my thighs (does that make then spinnable?), I had to go and defend myself. Here's my response to the thread (Rav Users names have been redacted so as to not cause further drama):

Hello! Since I’m the person being talked about here, I figured I would chime in.

As far as I can tell, my photos do not violate the Ravelry Terms of Use any more than the projects of thongs and pasties that [redacted] linked to do. Just to cover my own butt (heh, heh), I did use the drop-down menu when uploading said photos that tags them as “Mature Content”. I’m not sure how the Mature Content filter works, but I would suggest that people do utilize that feature.

That being said, I think that calling the photos “obscene” is a little over the line. I personally do not find the human body in its natural state obscene at all, and further, I’m not naked in the photos. A Victoria’s Secret ad shown on television during prime time shows more.

As far as the “cellulose” (sic) on my thighs goes that [redacted] so kindly pointed out, well, I do what I can with diet and exercise, but the reality is that all women get it at some point. I’d rather that than have to live with a mean-spirited soul festering inside me that has nothing better to do than snark at someone else’s physical shape.

The moderator of that thread chose to lock and archive the thread, since there were some pretty inappropriate things said there. I'm really glad that I was able to defend myself before she did, though. I was fucking shaking like a leaf as I wrote it! I'm not terribly good at confrontation, even when it's not in person, but I was so glad to have friends to back me up on this. Very glad.

What I find VERY curious is that the thread, as well as the comments, started within an hour of me posting a link to the project in an LSG thread (all by people who are not members of LSG). There is talk that people read LSG just looking for things to be offended by (LSG means "Lazy, Stupid, and Godless", and the group was started after a thread called "Is swearing allowed on Ravelry?" went kablooey, so that those of us with potty-mouths can hang out together and not offend others). I do believe that the whole controversy started because someone was looking for things to get offended by in LSG. It's too much of a coincidence otherwise.

I did have a conversation with TPTB of Ravelry (which I initiated) about whether my photos violated the Terms of Service or not. One of the photos did show a bit of my buttcheek, and was considered "borderline", but TPTB never deemed it inappropriate but recommended that I might want to take it down. I thought about it, because if it causes drama once it may cause drama again, but decided to reach a compromise that should please everybody except for those who are offended by a bit of cellulite (and those people can bite me):



For those who aren't on Ravelry, who may want to see the rest of the photos, here they are in all their obscene inappropriateness:











So. . . what's the verdict? Am I a filthy slattern? Should I be ashamed and hide my cottage cheese? I "get" that the one that showed my buttcheek was a little more risque than the others, but I don't think that's the only one that people objected to! From what people were saying, you'd think I was flashing some beaver or nipple in the pics.

Good things came out of it: I got a good story to tell, I discovered that I have many people on Ravelry willing to come to my defense, and I made a few new friends, as some of those people who defended me were folks I hadn't had contact with before. It also gave me some good ideas for Flash Your Stash day (Muahahaahahaha!) that may offend a few pearl-clutchers yet not violate any rules.

So, let me know -- AM I a filthy slattern or just a girl who is not ashamed of her body? Don't make me write this big ol' post for nothing (I know I haven't been the best blogger lately, so I want to get the lurkers to come out and comment).

WIP it!

I bet nobody in the history of knit blogging has used the title "WIP it!" while showing pics of their works-in-progress. Nope, nobody. Not even the Yarn Harlot.

Feel free to kick me for that one.

I've been working on a few projects lately. Let's check them out, oldest first:

Boring Socks.



I call them Boring Socks because that's what they are. Knit 2, purl 2 ribbing for the cuff, heel flap, heel shaping, gusset shaping, the k2p2 for the top of the foot and knit the bottom until you do the toe shaping. I started them when I needed a project to work on on the train or at a knitting group.

SweaterLacy Waves Top from Lace Style:



Um, do I remember the name of this? No, I don't. Okay, I just went and checked my Ravelry projects page and its the Lacy Waves Top by Norah Gaughan.

I took the above photo on March 21, and the next day I went to my lovely Sunday knitting group and got a bit more progress done on it:



It's grown!!

It's about as exciting a knit at this point as the Boring Socks are, but I can knit it while watching TV, which is more than I can say for that Swallowtail Shawl.

Speaking of the Swallowtail Shawl. . . I ended up frogging it. Again. I couldn't tink back one stinking row, so I frogged, and ended up having to sacrifice a couple of yards because it tangled so much. I started it again, and have a ridiculously early lifeline in. That'll teach me!

I also practiced some crochet:



I know it's not great but it's a start. I think I want to move on to some granny squares. I'd love to make a blanket with some of the scraps of yarn I have laying around.

Has Ellie lost weight?



I don't think she has, yet, but we are trying to get her to reduce a little bit. Speaking of that, I need to reduce a bit as well. The pants I wore today are a wee bit snug around my bottom. I'm now on my 2nd day of making sure I get some exercise -- yesterday was a 40 min. workout at the gym, following by a 20 min. walk home. Today was a 30 min. walk through the hilly part of town home. I've been trying to get my eating habits back to normal and not eat so many damn sweets. I haven't made a goal yet, because I don't know how much I weigh.

The next question is, should I publish my weight on my blog and continue to publish my progress? Will that give me some accountability, or just set me up for failure? I'll tell you my size, right now, is a 10 or a 12, depending on the store. My size, when I started this blog is 2005, was a 4. My size in late 2003, when I started weight watchers, was too big for a 14 in the "regular" stores and too small for a 14/16 in the "big girl" stores.

Where do I want to be? Not a 4 again. I was so neurotic about my food intake that I must have been lots of fun to be around. I certainly don't want to be bigger. I'd guess around a size 8 or so would suit me.

Now, I'm hungry.

Need a witty title about updates.

Ken had his ultrasound with a heart specialist today. He does have restrictive cardiomyopathy (enlarged heart), and a clot outside one of his valves. The news isn't the best we could have hoped for (that would have been, "oops, our bad, your cat has no health problems!"), but I'm hoping we'll be able to treat it with medication. He needs to go back for a blood test in a week, and another ultrasound in 3 months.

Now, about that sweater I've been knitting. . .

This isn't going to get it done, is it?



Ellie was all over me when I was trying to knit the other day, the little bugger.

Oooh, but I wuvs my widdle bebeh kitteh.



I was trying to pick up and knit approximately 172 stitches for the neckline, and I had strategically placed markers everywhere. It's one of those "it makes sense to only me" moments.

This is what the sweater looked like before it grew its Ellie appendage:



Damn, that's a lot of cables.

I did finish knitting the collar last night -- in fact, I'm done with ALL knitting on this thing, and just have to seam it. I "tried" it on last night, and went to check it out in the full-length mirror (in the bathroom). I stopped by the bedroom to pat Ken on the head, and when I went to go into the bathroom, I discovered I had a "shadow" following me. Ken was going after the long tails hanging down! He followed me all over the apartment like that, and then Ellie discovered he had discovered something fun. I wish I had the camera fired up for that one.

So, if I have seaming to do, what the heck am I doing sitting at the computer?

Hopefully I'll have a new sweater to show you in a day or two!

Marathon Knitting

I'm usually not one to do "marathon knitting". I try hard to not give myself deadlines, and try to not knit nonstop for hours. Today was different though.



See, I had decided that I wanted my Dickenson Pullover done by Thanksgiving. That's all well and good, but not when some nights I only knit one or two rows, and most nights less than ten. That will not do at all.

Today I knit the entire sleeve cap, and bound it off. I feel a little stiff now, in my back and my hands especially. My body doesn't want me to cast on for the other sleeve right now, but considering how long it took me to knit the first one, I should get cracking. Finishing the second sleeve isn't the end, and I'm not at a week and a half until Thanksgiving.



I kinda hate when I give myself what sounds like a reasonable deadline and then don't make it. I started this sweater around September 2. Sure, my sweater knitting time does average around 2.5 months, and this is a cabled sweater and thus a first for me, but I don't think that deadline was unreasonable. Either the second sleeve will fly, my fingers will fall off, or I'll finish right before I fall asleep after my Thanksgiving dinner.

I caught Ken in the act of violating my pajama pants the other night:



He tends to move around in a circle when he does this, twisting the object of his lust in the process. When he was finished, my pants looked like a spotted loaf of Challah bread:



I like how he sits there looking sheepish while the evidence lays behind him (and Ellie looks disgusted with the whole thing):



Speaking of Miss Ellie, she's been looking really photogenic lately:





This photo really tugged on my heartstrings because she reminds me of Solvie in it:



Ken, of course, knows he is handsome:



I really should not spend every Saturday indoors, all day. Granted, I didn't do that last weekend, but I did that often last winter. I did that today, in fact, but at least I got dressed. It was really shitty and rainy out today, and I think we even had some hail. It sure sounded like it. It's not a habit I should get into, you know: sitting on the couch all Saturday, drinking tea and eating banana bread, especially when one considers how tight the corduroys I wore today feel. Maybe once this sweater is done, I won't have any more deadlines and can take my time knitting something.

Before I publish, I want to thank everyone for the comments and compliments on my hair. Nobody at work has noticed yet -- can you believe that? The color I use (and this is for Bezzie) is Loreal Couleur Experte in 6.4 "Ginger Twist". It has all over color and "harmonizing highlights" that you can apply afterwards. I tried to make a really dramatic highlight in the front but it didn't come out so dramatic. Damn subtle highlights. Oh, and Bezzie -- my natural haircolor isn't as dark you think it is. It's rather a medium brown. The dark hair I was sportin' for a couple of years was also hair dye. I was using a deposit-only color that was supposed to be close to my own color, but came out really dark. The last time I used it, it was damn near black.

See, this:



Not natural. And really, not too attractive at that point. Ugh. Way too dark for my complexion.

I can't even find a picture of me in between hair colors. Shit, I know I was trying to grow out my natural color about a year ago, so you could totally see my roots and my greys, but damned if I can find the photo. My photostream on Flickr contains almost 4,000 photos, and I have tried to keep them organized. In a few spots, I've failed.

Okay, I've got to flounce off to dinner and a viewing of "Mother of Tears". Ta ta!

On the edge of a Flounce

What a sad little blog I have. I give my readers an open mike -- the opportunity to say ANYTHING at all -- and I get three comments. *sigh*.

So, what do I do now? Do I just flounce and close the blog altogether? Do I go completely batshit crazy with the blog and post the most random shit ever, to the point where anyone who stumbles upon it might think the blog has been taken over by a spambot? Or do I just start posting more often, with stuff that is of interest to potential readers, hoping to gain some readers back?

I think I'll take door number three for now.

I'll introduce to you some Knitting Content:



This is the progress on my Dickinson [Dickenson? Dickinsen?] Pullover. I think I spell it differently every time I type it. Oh, well, if anyone still uses Google and not Ravelry to look at projects made from popular patterns, with all the spelling variations I've used, it should turn up. I have both the front and back done, and am about 5 inches from being done with one sleeve. My goal is to have this done by Thanksgiving. I still have a ways to go (another whole sleeve, seaming, collar, and blocking). It's for me -- I'm a selfish knitter -- but I have a feeling my mom is going to want one too.

Here's the part of the photo that should be of interest to ZMrK:



It's mah butt. He noticed it after he took the photo. This is in case y'all didn't believe me when I said I have a shelf butt.

I also plied some of my handspun this past weekend:



It's only about 70 yards, and I have another bobbin and 1/8 of a bobbin to go. I had spun the singles back at the end of June. I plied it with some gold thread from the craft store, and I will get a better photo over the weekend, when I have time to photograph stuff when there is light outside.

Okay, plying. Plying is a pain in my shelf. See, I spun the singles clockwise, so I have to ply them counterclockwise. Getting the wheel to turn counterclockwise while making sure both plies are being fed in nicely can make me cry. It takes FOR-FREAKING-EVER. Plus, I just can't get it going cold. I have to spin some singles counterclockwise to get a rhythm going, and then I have almost NO BOBBINS to use. Well, I still have a spinning disaster on a bobbin, shoved into a drawer. I suppose I had better get that crap off. It's the worst stuff I ever spun, and I lost the end somewhere in there. Twice. I started the process of just cutting a new end, and unwinding it, and then lost the end again. It's some superwash stuff that I dyed myself, and I don't really like how it spun up. It's so bad I contemplated tossing it, but decided maybe I can use the bits and pieces for some arty yarn later. I just need that damn bobbin to be clean.

The above photo is part of my project 365. I need to take a photo every day for 365 days. It's supposed to be a self-portrait, with at least part of your body in it. I decided that I really need some good lighting, and to get a little creative with it (hence, the handspun on my head -- oooh, I'm so artsy!).

A couple of my other self-portraits:



I call this one, "Fuck you! I'm dyeing my hair."

Here's the end result of that dyeing session:



Yup, the bitch is back! I'm a redhead again. Last night I added highlights, but they're fairly subtle. I'll have to take some photos in the sunlight this weekend. I really would love a blonde streak in front, but I think I'll wait until it's a bit longer to do that. I've been feeling like having more glamorous hair lately.

Okay, so y'all convinced me not to flounce. Or did I convince myself? I'll try to post more often, and if I find something that I can part with, maybe I'll run a contest. Contests are a good way to get readers, right? Bribery, you know. Then I can tell another really inappropriate story and have all my readers flounce again.

WIPs and Swap Loot

I've got a couple of WIPs for you!

First off, the progress on my Dickinson Pullover:



This is the back. This is what is left from the 800+ yard "egg" of yarn:



I didn't want to start the front with what is left, and have to weave in more ends when that runs out, so I started the front with a new skein of yarn. It's slower going. I need to start working more on that, since I'm hoping to be done by Thanksgiving. It seemed like a reasonable goal when I announced it to ZMrK a week ago, but now that another week has passed and I've done two whole rows since then, I'm beginning to wonder. I should be able to get some work done on it this week.

I also finished a sock for ZMrK, which is a "subway knitting" project.



The yarn is from Spirit Trail Fiberworks, and I purchased it at my first Sheep and Wool Festival ever, the NH Sheep and Wool in 2006. The yarn is amazing. It's superwash merino, so it's very soft, and should be warm on my honey's feet. I did these toe-up, because I wasn't sure how long I should have made the cuff without running out of yarn. It turns out that I didn't have much to worry about. I should have plenty of yarn left over for when I have to mend these. Admit it, it happens to you, too. Socks get holes in them.

I took part in a swap on the Rubberneckers forum on Ravelry. Have you seen that forum? If not, I'll explain: have you ever come across a thread on Ravelry that just turns into ugly drama, really fast? And you read it, bottom jaw on the keyboard, and you feel kinda dirty afterwards but kinda want to read another ugly drama thread? The Rubberneckers board brings the drama to you! The threads about the drama threads always end up 3-5x longer than the drama threads themselves, because they get threadjacked by things like sharks, boobs, bats, kids, etc. Sometimes threads just get filled with pictures of LOLCats. This one today in particular made me gaffaw:


more animals

Alright then. So, here is the loot I got in a swap I did with a Ravelry Rubbernecker named Cajunbatchick:



Noro Silk Garden Sock Yarn, which I have been wanting to try. Enchanted Knoll Farm fiber, which is gorgeous. Local (La.) food and coffee. A hand-knit "tragically cherry" crawfish that the cats had best keep their claws out of. The stuff is all awesome. I've had some of the gum (pomengranate flavored! It's quite tart at first but then tastes really good), but was too full to sample any of the food yet. I may have a cup of tea in a little while though.

I am also taking part in a Halloween-themed Secret Pal swap on the Knittyboard. I'm hoping some of the stuff I ordered for my pal comes quickly, because she is out of the U.S. and I'll need to ship this week. Oddly enough, I believe my upstream pal (the person spoiling me) is in the same country as she. I love doing swaps and secret pals, but I always get performance anxiety and worry that my downstream won't like the stuff I give. I wonder if anyone else feels that way? It's usually not someone you know in real life, so you're not sure of her tastes, or what she already has, but you do your best to ask questions and get a clue. Then hope you give a good gift. It's fun when they get their stuff and love it, though.

This morning, I stepped on Ellie's tail and she screamed! Then she hid under the couch. I felt so bad. We went out for a few hours, and when we came home both kitties were looking for food. I gave them a treat and I think I'm forgiven. I have to be careful of that, though. I usually don't wear shoes in the house so it doesn't happen too often -- this was the first time, in fact. ZMrK stepped on Ken's tail, once, but he didn't scream so loudly. Of course, the cats are still underfoot.

Maybe this time, when I say I'll blog more often, I will. I have bloggable moments, and write posts in my head, but they never get up on the blog before I forget them. Pshaw. I need to carry a notebook with me.