Hampered

Well, I received the new modem Friday and was hoping that by now I would be up and running back online. But it wasn't to be. The problem is not with the modem but with my old laptop's ethernet card. Reloading the driver and testing it didn't produce any results, so now until I can scrounge up another computer I'll be restricted on email responses for now. Your best bet to contact me is through Ravelry.com if you're a member or calling me.

OFFF was a lot of fun. The herd dog demos were held on the main lawn this year, so we had a fair number of folks by the booths for the PDX Knitbloggers and Portland Spinnerati. It appeared there were many more vendors this year with lots of good stuff available. The weather was perfect for it. When I get back online I'll be able to share the pictures I took of the event. We did have some notables swing by. It was great to get a chance to meet folks in the flesh.

Tonight is Franklin Habit's talk at Knit/Purl. I couldn't find my g-string for meeting up with Dolores later, but I did find something fancy.

I swear I will never touch my computer to fix it again.

Moving on

My weekend ahead is full of activity punctuated with moments of general calm and peaceful fiber production. Oregon Flock and Fiber is this weekend in Canby. I'm spending the majority of my time camped at the PDX Knitbloggers booth on the main lawn. I do have a couple of missions ahead that I must accomplish. One: get another 4 oz of Eowyn merino silk from Dicentra so that Judy can finish her shawl. Two: get the Celtic Bunny scarf pattern from Toots LeBlanc for Zarah so she doesn't give me dirty looks in the lunchroom at break. If things work out well and I'm able to sell a few orifice hooks I'll get some dinero to play with.

Today, I'm packing to move to another office while they remodel the current office. I'm hoping when I make a quick stop at the house my modem will be waiting for me. Later in the evening I'll be meeting up with buddies for dinner and visiting Bobbie while ToolMan's in the hospital for his surgery. Monday will be recovery day but will end with seeing Franklin at Knit/Purl. Word has it that Dolores insists that we do something special later on. Now where did I put that g-string?

Worldwide Spin In Public Day

I love September. I most likely have mentioned that in previous years. I'll say it again. I really love September. It means that there will be cooler days coming. The rain will be coming back. The trees will be changing into those gorgeous colors. I look forward to it every summer and treasure it when it arrives.

Today started with a morning washed with Oregon rain. It wasn't going to be one of those steady downpours that we get during the late fall and winter. This was the drizzly soft break in type of rain that warns Oregonians that fall is here and you better start making plans for the coming months. It was a good day for wearing sweaters and I saw my friends adorned with them (February Lady was a popular one amongst the PDX Knitbloggers) when I joined them in Hillsboro for Worldwide Spin In Public Day.**

The event was held at the Hillsboro Civic Center where they have their Farmers Market on Saturdays. The market organizers graciously set up canopies for us so we had lots of covered space for our group. Tami had put together goody bags for the event, which were full of samples from local dyers and breeders. A real treat. Overall we had over 20 folks show up for the event, which attracted a lot of attention from the market goers. Folks with kids were very interested and a few kids got to learn how to spin from Bobbie's CD spindles and "clown barf" roving. Eventually the rain settled down and the sun came out to dry everything off. A very nice way to end the event.

Next weekend is the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. I'll be there both days at the PDX Knitbloggers/Portland Spinnerati tent. If you don't find me there, wait an hour and come back as I plan to be there a good part of the weekend.

**Pictures will be forthcoming as soon as the modem arrives.

The little things

In our lives we pretty much go on autopilot. Then things happen and we have to shift gears and try to handle things as best we can. Crises occur and we hope things go right, but sometimes they go wrong. Case in point is a lady who was going to visit her mother, who has been in the hospital for some time. She's traveled from out of state. Just as she's about to get to the hospital her car breaks down. Someone helps her push the car to the side, but the parking in the area is restricted to only a couple of hours. Will she be able to get help before she gets a parking ticket?

We don't know the end of the story, but we do know that in one way the outcome will be good. This happened in front of the office building I work in and houses the administration of the company I work for. While I was having breakfast, one of the cooks of the cafe told the CEO of this situation. She was going to write a note and post it on the car to ask the parking patrol to not give the lady a ticket. The CEO took out his wallet and gave the cook his business card and told her to attach the card to the note. The parking patrol makes frequent passes in our neighborhood so the chances of the lady getting a ticket are pretty high. I have a feeling that if she does get one it will be taken care of.

This is one of the reasons I love the company I work for. This is not an unusual event. The people of this company do this all the time for each other, for others, and for the community. I don't talk about the company here because we deal with a lot of confidential information, but I'm glad to be able to share this with you.

I have a busy weekend ahead and expect to get a bunch more spinning completed. The modem will be purchased and winging its way to me. I've joined the Spin Your Stash group on Ravelry -- we'll see how much of my stash I'll have spun up by the spring equinox. Onward and upward!

Oh and I forgot...

I've been spending my down time reading a wonderful travelogue by Dervla Murphy, "On a Shoestring to Coorg". Murphy's an Irishwoman who takes much lower tech methods to travel to various parts of the world. This one's about a trek she undertook with her 5 year old daughter to southern India that has been quite delightful to read, even the harrowing parts with her daughter running amok. Much braver than I when it comes to traveling but the rewards for her are innumerous. Portlanders, it's at the Multnomah County Library for loan. It was one of my excursion finds when I decided to do some research on India's culture in preparation for NaNoWriMo.

PNWBookGirl who is organizing Worldwide Spin In Public Day sent me a correction. The event's being held here, not at the Walters center. Thanks!

Closer to connection

I'm closer to getting connected. I found the modem I want at a decent price. Unfortunately it will have to be shipped from out of state as it's not available locally. But I figure if I'm going to fork out for a decent modem I might as well upgrade to adding wireless and network capability. So Friday I'll put in my order and continue going without computer access at home. So far the contingency plan I have in place is working out and I'm not entirely out in the vacuum of weblessness.

News is though that the co op booth that was being planned for OFFF fell through (no room) so the orifice hooks that I made up will be for sale at the upcoming WorldWide Spin In Public Day being held at the Walker Cultural Arts Center this Saturday between 10 and 3. I will have them with me at OFFF as well. They're going for $20 and $25 apiece (price dependent on bead content). Proceeds will help fund my upcoming SOAR trip.

Internetless day 3

Well I talked with my ISP after half an hour of phone mayhem (their phones cut us off; try to call back and be told lines are busy; call back and get same nice guy at Easy Street; my phone cut us off; search for a replacement phone; fail and dig out the cellphone with drippings of power remaining; manage to hang on to get a solution and thank nice guy at Easy Street for helping out). What it boils down to is I need a new modem, which I can't purchase until Friday.

So until I can get a new modem, I'm sort of out of commission until Friday. I do have a resource for at least checking my email once a day (thanks Ruth!).

In the meantime, I'm dreaming of when I can put needles to yarn for these followed by drawing up a pattern for a matching hat. Yum!

Broken

One of the hazards of being a neophyte geek is doing things to your computer that are unintentional while attempting to do things to improve your computer's efficiency. In the process of doing such things I managed to kill my internet connection, so I will be in some ways out of internet contact for a while until I can get my connection re-established. I can be PM'd in Facebook or Ravelry and do have access to my Yahoogroups.

Ugh.

Finished spinning

Hydrangea Abstract Fibers BFL 7.5 oz 702 yds estimated wpi 18-20 Also, from earlier in the summer I completed this:Magic Judy Dicentra Designs Merino/Silk Colorway "Eowyn" 715 yards, 6.5 oz completed June 2009 (for Judy Becker, cast on inventor and all around great knitter)

Because of all the spinning I have been doing this week, I've managed to bung up my right knee again, so I'm laying off the wheel spinning for the rest of the Summer of Spinning weekend. However, I do have some spinning on a spindle at the office I will be fetching later today to complete. I did a preliminary tally of my spinning and I've completed over 3700 yards. That's over 2 miles. Whoo doggies!