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Well, heck! Thank y’all so much! I really loved making that sweater, loved every moment of the process. I fully plan on doing a little post on How I Done That, but maybe tomorrow? Today, I’m busy setting up my new computer. Lala got to me. Yep, she did. My old old old laptop, which didn’t even support my iShuffle because the USB port was so old and slow, has been a pain in the ass for a while, not typing the M key unless it was punched four or five times, and now it’s not liking the J or U, either. And it’s been freezing and crashing for a while now, and I finally got tired of not being able to run more than two programs at a time. I used to open a program and knit a couple of rows while it went kachunk kachunk kachunk and thought about how much work it was opening a Word document for me. It begrudged every moment of it.

But as of last night, I’m running an Apple PowerBook G4, 12 inch, lots of things in it. I’d tell you, but I’ve already forgotten. 512mb something, and 60 gig something else. I know that the 512 part is like the stuff on top of your desk, useful and immediately to hand, and the 60 gig is like the stuff in your filing cabinets – you can still use it, but it takes longer to go reaching for it. And it’s cute! Did I mention how cute it is? And little? Oh, oh, oh.

I’m actually smarter about computers than that sounds. Not like Lala, who knows everything about Macs (helloooo, built-in tech support), but I can get around. But it takes a while, doesn’t it? I’m moving pics over and cleaning out my old computer, making sure I have the old important stuff carefully archived on my external hard drive, my Yahoo briefcase, AND the new computer.

Is it my imagination, or does iTunes sound better from a Mac? Can that be? They’re the same files played on the same speakers, just moved over (and it was so EASY), but they sound better, I swear they do.

I was going to tell you something else. What was it? Oh, yeah. This’ll kill you. (Thanks to Scamper via Lala.)

Lala has a bandmate who is the best thing ever. Not only has she accomplished more at twenty-six than most of us ever will, but she can play any instrument that crosses her path, she can write songs to rival Nashville’s best, and she is doing a really unselfish thing. She’s pregnant, and because she’s a sailor with realistic dreams of sailing around the world, she knows now is not the time for her to raise a child. So she’s giving the baby to two daddies who can’t wait to meet their new son or daughter, which I think is totally amazing.

But she lives on a boat (a small boat), and it’s going to be winter soon, which means she’ll be pregnant on a boat in winter. I figured she needed something warm, and I figured she deserved it. Also, I just wanted to design an aran, so I did. Forgive all the pictures — I’m pretty proud of it. I hated to give it away, which was a good sign.

Specs:
Pattern: Mine. Wheee! 40 inch chest, raglan shaping until the sleeve cap ran out, then a k2p2 neck rib until I liked the look of it.
Yarn: Peruvian Highland, from Elann in Malt Heather, 14 balls used.
Needles: 4US

Could use a blocking, I suppose, but I rarely block. Why start now? The cables are from the Vogue Bible and the ones framing the main cable are the important ones. They are the traditional horseshoe cable. Or, as I like to call them, the Whoreshoe cable. I ran them up the front, back, and sleeves, all facing up to collect the luck to her heart.

Shown: Both front and back of sleeves. I like the underside of the sleeves — I wasn’t sure how to fill in the space as I increased the sleeve width, and I was too lazy to deal with fudging another cable pattern, so I threw in k1tbl separated by single purls as the space allowed, stopping at a total of 11 k1tbls. Makes for a cushy elbow.

Note how I fill it out. Keep in mind that I am not pregnant.

Digit and I both like the neck.

And on Joni!

See how wee she is? I figured if it fit me on a good day, it would fit her pregnant. I was right. Sigh.

Now I’m vaguely worried about other friends being sad I haven’t made them a sweater, but most of them know I have to be moved to make one. And please, if you’re my friend, and you’re pregnant on a boat in winter, I’ll totally make you one. Promise.

Woot!

I am sorely disappointed. You know when you get that craving for a good bagel, and I mean GOOD bagel, not a Noah’s bready bagel, and you have to have one? I crawled Oakland looking for one this morning, not willing to make the ten-minute trek back to the city where I worked until Sunday, and I now have to admit, there are no good bagels in Oakland. Sigh. I’m chewing dough here, people, and that’s not right.

But I must catch you up on the doings! Such doings lately, most of them to do with music.

Sister Christy had a party! No ordinary party, either, it was the preview performance of the band Deadpan Alley, which will soon be coming to a city near you. I think it will, anyway. They freakin’ rocked the house.

The band is Christy and her best friend Becky, and they’ve been playing together for, oh, maybe fifteen years? I think I last heard them live when we were in high school, and I thought they were fun then. Now, dude. They’re just plain great. And they have a Harry Potter song! Yay! (Also, Christy’s been saying for a while that she’s learning the bass. I believed her. If she tells you the same, don’t listen. She SO KNOWS HOW to play the bass. And she looks good doing it. As does Becky. Man.)

They had the party in a friend’s loft in Oakland, just off Telegraph. It was one of those beautiful last-of-summer nights, and my friend Winter took in the sights:

There was a veritable feast set out for us, and Becky and Christy were delightful hosts.

And then they rocked out:

Gettin’ down:

And the crowd goes wild!

(Yes, that sure is Celia, in one of those weird cross-over thingies. Christy has worked with her for years and told her about my site when she learned that Celia was a knitter. Celia was all blog-what? Huh? And wow! The rest is history.)

So they rocked. I was very, very proud.

And more rocking was had when The Whoreshoes played the Ivy Room in Albany. Man, that’s a cool venue. Still feels like an old cowboy bar, so the girls fit right in. Not that they’re old cowboys or anything. You know what I mean.

And look who was there to hear the gals! More Celia:

There were other knitters in the crowd:

That’s Jane and Becca seated next to the Knitting Katherine, and I met a very nice new-to-the-area knitter named Cordelia (hi, Cordelia!).

I was just happy to hang out with my rockstar.

California readers who like me and believe in civil rights, this is for you (and it really did take less than 30 seconds):

If you support equal civil rights, please read. 
This takes less than 30 seconds of time. 

CA is so close to the passage of a same-sex marriage 
bill. All we need 
now is the Governor's signature. Though he's 
threatened to veto it, he 
HASN'T yet. He's claiming he is going to veto
 it because the voters voiced 
their opinion on the issue already, but that 
was five years ago - and this 
guy just announced that he's running for 
reelection, so he should care what
you think. We need to tell him that the 
people of CA are for legalizing
same sex marriage.

So please call him! It only takes a few seconds.

Call his office at (916) 445-2841 and follow 
these simple steps. (You
don't even have to talk to anyone!)

1. Press "2" to comment on legislation

2. Press "1" to comment on AB 849 (AB 849 is the 
gender neutral bill that 
will allow same-sex couples to marry)

3. Press "1" to support it

That's all there is to it!

Please forward to friends and family who might 
lend their support.

https://rachaelherron.com/california_read/

To all my Bay Area peeps, two chances to catch The Whoreshoes this weekend! Info on their site: Saturday night will be great at the 12 Galaxies, and I’ll be at the Sunday afternoon show at the Ivy Room in Berkeley. I’ll be knitting, of course, so come sit by me and watch the gals kick up their boots! It’s a good show, yo.

Well, I’m much better now. I must say, going home yesterday morning from work, curling up on the couch with a glass of wine, and flipping my TiVo to The Apprentice, Martha-Stewart-style, did wonders for my mood. Oh, my god, that show is so BAD, and therefore, so GOOD. She’s so trying to be the anti-Trump, and she’s almost pulling it off. Her creepy sweetness prevents her from getting away with it, though. I love it. Instead of saying, "You’re FIRED," she says, "You’ll have to go home." She writes a handwritten note of encouragement after the releasing. She smiles a lot.

I’ve never really been a Martha fan, but ever since the scandal I’m way more on her side. She’s interesting to me now, whereas before she was just too tasteful for garage-sale-me. So that was nice.

Also nice was waking up and meeting La for a little yarn therapy. There’s a baby being born soon who will need a cushy warm sweater, and isn’t that a fine excuse to go to the yarn store? After all, I have NO yarn. Nope. None at all. In the tub. Right now. That’s the truth.

So I’m pretty much over the loss of the house that wasn’t ours. It certainly is the right way to go, though, this whole fall-in-love, make offer next day, counter the next, lose it the next. None of those weeks of wondering and hoping. Now we can do it right, the way we’d planned, take our time, sell the condo if possible, and then buy a house with a little teeny cushion underneath us.

Tonight is my last night of work at this job! Hooray! It’s been great, but the climate is changing, and I’m getting out while the getting’s good. I’ve been stationary for a while now, and I’m looking forward to motion and learning. I need a new challenge. Yup.

So sayonara.

    Goodbye!

Oh, well. All the DPNs in the world didn’t quite get it done…. But you all are amazing. And we were told that had it been a question of $20,000 to $30,000 difference, they would have taken the loss and chosen us, because they loved the letters we wrote. We wanted to keep the little wagon-wheel cottage as it was. We didn’t mind that the water wasn’t connected to the bathroom sink or that the electrical needed a complete overhaul or that the disclosures ran to 108 pages.

But the difference in offers was way WAY more than that (I’m guessing that it was at least $75,000 more than ours), so who can compete with that? We do wish the sellers the best, and hope that someone ends up living in the little cottage rather than tearing it down and building condos.

We know that our perfect house is out there. We just haven’t met it yet. Can you imagine how rad that’ll be? Now I’ll show you a picture taken with my camera phone from the car, because I just want to look at it sometimes….

That’s it, just peeking out back there. It was on 10,000 square feet of land, with apple trees and blackberries. There was an old broken wagon in the front yard, and a wishing well to the side. We would have had room for an alpaca or two. Of course, the counter-offer we made was so high that we’d have been so broke that we would have had to steal the alpacas. And then we wouldn’t have been able to afford much food, so we would have had to eat them, and that would have been terrible and sad. What a narrow escape!

I was purdy sad and had a little cry. Lala was very nice to me. But I like to fall in love, even with houses (okay, especially with houses, I’m a Cancer), even if it means heartbreak. It’s worth it.

Just as well, too, since I took a new job, and only have two more nights here at this one. Then I have a week off, and then I move to a fire/medical 911 dispatch job. It’s a slight paycut, but will eventually be quite a bit more money, and it will be 3 12-hour shifts a week with an extra shift every other week. What that translates to is I’ll have a four-day weekend every other week, and a three-day weekend on the other weeks. Benefits are much better and it’ll be less stressful than dispatching cops, which I can use right about now. It’ll be a commute of about 25 miles, and it’s a bad stretch of 580, but I’ll get used to it. I’m excited about the change. (Even though it’s completely self-indulgent and egotistical to point you to this link, my coworker and sweet friend Kelly wrote a love letter nonpareil, which is here. Thank you, honey. I’ll miss the crap out of y’all.)

So I suppose that would have been a lot of stress all at once, new job, new house, not knowing exactly how much I’ll be taking home in pay. It’s all for the best. I’m disappointed, but it’ll be okay.

And I need to get back to writing. I’ve been busy and preoccupied, and I’m looking forward to getting back into it.

I love you all. Have I mentioned that? I swear I’ll show you something knitting related soon. I still knit, I promise. Going to knit right now, as a matter of fact. We all know that works wonders.