So I finished the tea-cozy hat and am now working on my first pair of socks that might actually fit me. I’m using the Universal Toe-Up Sock Pattern from Knitty. Mom’s Stole has not yet been blocked, so I’m holding off on pictures for that, but I do have pics of the hat, and the beginning of my new pretty sock…

However.

Just a couple days ago (hell, yesterday, even?) Adept pops up with a notification of updates to the OS. I look them over, and click ‘accept’. All goes well. Then, today, I plug in the camera, and poof… “An unknown error has occured.” I plug it in again. Same thing. I take the card out of the camera and put it into my photo printer to see if I can connect from there. Same error. I take my usb thumb drive and put it in… same error. HAL, my beloved HAL, is broken.

What is HAL? It’s the hardware abstraction layer for linux. It is, in other words, what makes things you plug into your computer /work/. In a nutshell. To be honest, I don’t understand it a whole lot more deeply than that, and that explanation will do. The hal was updated in the update, I know that. And everything worked fine first. And now it doesn’t. So now, I’m working on downgrading it back to its previous version, so I can hopefully get some friggin pictures up. Otherwise, I’ll have to head over to the other computer and do it that way.

On a related geekery note… Windoze is broketh, too. Explorer won’t load, so I can’t do a shittin’ thing, unless I ctrl-alt-del and click ‘run’ and then find me programs. How bloody annoying. I’m hunting up my windows disc to do a rescue or reinstall (oh dread, oh dread), but that seems to have been misplaced in the move. Can you say I’m having some bad luck? Is Mercury in retrograde or something?

Anyway. Photos coming when I can fix one of my bloody computers to do their jobs properly.

The sock. Let’s talk about the sock. I’m using Knitpicks’ Gloss, which is soooo sooo soft. Wool and silk, baby, wool and silk. Merino, at that. It’s in Cocoa, a… well, cocoa-y brown. I’m using size 1 Clover Bamboo needles, which feel terribly fragile in my hands, and I am terrified of breakage. But so far, they’ve held up through some dreaded “purl three together through the back loops” so hopefully they’ll be okay.

Either that or I’ll be hunting for some metal 1s. Brrr. Metal in this weather, not fun. Did I mention it’s been below zero?? With wind chill last night and the night before, it was in the -50s. Once, I saw it drop down to -63. Crapola, that’s cold. Tonight, ti’s somehow warmed up to friggin 22 degrees! Weird. But we’re supposed to get fierce winds, so… I don’t expect it to last. Poo.

Reminds me… must knit mittens. Soon.

There’s a full moon coming up on Monday, December 4th. The moon has always fascinated me, even as a little kid. Have you ever felt a truly pressing desire to just go out and howl at it? I have. As my friends will reluctantly attest to. As a witch, the full moon takes on new meaning - full bodied feminie power. The moon is most often viewed (in Western/European magic, at least) as a symbol of the feminine divine. In modern Wicca and other traditions, the full moon is a time of celebration of the goddess (or goddesses), or of the feminine side of the divine, and it’s said to be a time where magical workings are more potent. Many traditions hold Esbat celebrations on each full moon - which is really just a time of gathering (if one practices with a group), celebration, prayer, magic, and honor. As a solitary practitioner, I tend to use the time to remember my own spirituality, and to work magic when desired - and, of course, howl at the moon.

This week, I’ll be exploring the various names the full moons of the year have - there are probably dozens of variations, but I’ll touch upon a couple - popular Colonial names, and Native American names. This info was taken from The Witches’ Almanac, a handy little book full of interesting tidbits. If anything’s wrong, it’s either a typo, or they’re lying. ;-)

Thirteen Names of the Full Moons

1. January Full Moon ~ The January moon is often called even in modern day times, the Wolf Moon. Another name for it is the After Yule Moon (imagine that!). Some Native people called it the Snow Moon.
2. February Full Moon ~ The Snow Moon, or the Hunger moon, according to old Colonial records. I’ve heard both used, though Hunger tends to be more popular where I live! Hunger also is the name certain Native people gave it - appropriate, as February tends to be one of the coldest months of the year, and a time where food was often scarce.
3. March Full Moon ~ The Sap Moon, aka, the Worm moon (egh) or the Crow moon. Many names for this moon, as the Natives also had the Crow moon, and the Sore Eye moon. This is my birthday month, and on a personal note, I do prefer the Sap Moon.
4. April Full Moon ~ Ever heard of the Grass Moon? Now you have! other names include the Pink moon, and the Egg moon, or in Native American style, the Green Grass Moon.
5. May Full Moon ~ The May Moon is unsurprisingly called the Flower moon or the Planting moon. An intriguing name, however, by the Natives, is the Shed Moon. Wonder why…
6. June Full Moon ~ June. Ahh, the Strawberry Moon. Reminds me of this song by the Dixie Chicks, I think, called Strawberry Wine. But I’m getting off track. Also called the Rose moon, or the “Make Fat” moon. Rose is shared between Colonial and Native cultures - Make Fat, however, is all Native American. Appropriate, perhaps, for cultures living off the land and agriculture - however, the last thing I need is a moon dedicated to fat. Nosiree. Maybe a Make Fat Go Away Moon…
7. The July Moon ~ July is the Thunder Moon, or the Buck Moon - take your pick. Both seem to be equally appropriate, though I’m partial to Thunder.
8. The August Moon ~ August is the Sturgeon Moon (sturgeon, for those who don’t know, is a sort of really huge and ugly fish), or the Grain Moon. Or, perhaps you like the delightful sounding Cherries Ripen Moon, courtesy of the Native Americans?
9. The September Moon ~ The Harvest Moon. Who hasn’t heard of that? Or perhaps the Fruit Moon, though that certainly doesn’t apply to this part of the country. The Natives called it the Hunting Moon.
10. The October Moon ~ Almost everyone around here knows this one - It’s the Hunter’s Moon, and it tends to be huge and orange and brilliant at this time of year. Alternately, you could call it the Falling Leaf Moon.
11. The November Moon ~ Try the Beaver Moon. Or the Frosty Moon. Or even the Mad Moon (Native). Hehe. The last is amusing, and perhaps appropriate. I’m going mad this month, that’s for sure….
12. The December Moon ~ The Cold Moon, or the Long Night Moon - both seem to be fairly pervasive. The last is both a Native and Colonial name - unsurprising, since December is indeed the month heralding the longest night in the year.
13. The 13th Moon ~ Every once in a while, we have a second full moon in a single calendar month. We call it a Blue Moon, and it happens… well, every once in a blue moon, of course! It’s said that this moon holds extra power when working magic that night. Intriguing, but I can’t say I’ve had the opportunity to test the theory yet.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

So tonight I wound up a skein of thick and thin bulky handpainted yarn from (where else?) handpaintedyarn.com. And boy was I mad - that skein was all tangled up from the start, and it took me ages to wind. By hand, mind you - I am not so lucky to have a ball winder or a swift (would rather have the latter, since I tend not to have any chairs, lampshades, or anything else that any skein I get fits around, and annoying as it is, my hands do work just fine). But, once it was all wound up in a not-so neat little ball (we’ll call it ‘unique’, okay?) I started in on the Tea-Cozy Hat (pattern available at handpaintedyarn.com for free). It’s really quite cute - it’s knitted like a tea cozy, with a drawstring on top that closes it together, and is actually meant to be worn with a ponytail! Or without. Doesn’t matter. *laugh*

Anyway, it’s coming along so nice - because goshdarnit, after months and MONTHS of lace, it’s nothing but heaven to be knitting with bulky yarn on size 8 needles, doing nothing but stockinette, round and round and round. Knitknitknit. Ahhh…

I’m already 6.5 inches into it, and in another 2-3 rounds, I can start the decreases before I set the eyelets and finish off a couple inches later. So I’m close to halfway done, but not quite. Then I get to knit i-cord, which I hate hate hate, but I’ll survive. Hopefully. I may not have enough yarn, come to think of it, and then… I guess I’ll, uh, I dunno, go buy something solid but matchy to go with? Sure. Why not?

But hopefully, I’ll have enough yarn, and it won’t be a problem.

Speaking of, I got the needles I needed for this project - and, I believe, the next! Size 8 circs and dpns, and I /think/ I have both size 9 circs and dpns… I’m sure on the dpns, but not so positive on the circ. Must doublecheck before I head off to the city again this weekend.

Also, my crosstitch project for X-mas is coming along nicely, too! Photos soon, of everything, I swear.

Since this is a late Thursday Thirteen (and Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!), I’ve decided to buck what’s probably this Thursday’s usual line (what I’m thankful for) and do something else, instead. Something that’s been on my mind ever since I started holiday shopping online, hunting for the perfect yarn for a new-knitter friend.

(Okay, so I ended up with 14. Sue me…)

Thirteen Yarns I Just Love

1. Linus, by Elann ~ Okay, I haven’t touched it (like most of these yarns) but it /sounds/ lovely. Especially for the price.
2. Peruvian Baby Silk, by Elann ~ Another I haven’t touched, but come on - alpaca AND silk? Oh yes, oh yes. Bring it on.
3. Shepherd Sock, by Lorna’s Laces ~ Have 2 skeins of this in a solid color (from the Yarn Aboard! swap!) Love it, though I have not yet knitted anything with it. *lol* But look at the colors! Oh look… River, Purple Iris, Shadow, Mineshaft, Black Purl, Daffodil, Glenwood… I could go on and on forever.
4. Silk Rhapsody, by Artyarns ~ I am in love. But not with the price. Hoobaby, this is expensive! But oh how I want some… RH101, RH 139, RH143, RH144 being my favorites… so far.
5. Kureyon, by Noro ~ It’s yarn. It’s colorful. It’s JAPANESE! Gimme! I especially love 55, 40, 149, 150, 148, 170, 164… *runs out of air*
6. Baby Cashmerino, by Debbie Bliss ~ Who wouldn’t want some of this soft squishy stuff?
7. Haiku, by Alchemy Yarns ~ Silk + Mohair = Luxury! I want some of this. Maybe to go along with some Silk Purse by the same company? Yes!
8. KPM & KPPPM, by Koigu ~ Yay, lovely fingering weight yarn good for all sorts of things! And billions of colors.
9. Rare Comfort Kid Mohair, by Jo Sharp ~ Beautiful. Kid mohair + polyamide + wool. Would make a terrific scarf, as seen in Interweave’s Holiday Gifts 2006! I LOVE the tea/herb names of the yarns! Gimme some Iced Tea, Zinger, Earl Grey, and Darjeeling, please!
10. Silky Tweed, by Elsebeth Lavold ~ Soft and sweet yarn. Felt some up last week at the yarn store, and liked it! This was the yarn my original branching out scarf was supposed to have been made out of.
11. Heaven, by Fiesta ~ Love most of what Fiesta does (I posted a while back on La Boheme, which I still drool over to this day). Heaven is a rather bulky mohair. The skeins look like rabbits!
12. Colonia 140, by Handpaintedyarn.com ~ Love their yarn! Cheap, beautiful, unique. Loro Barranquero bc is an intriguing colorway…
13. Rock Star, by Tilli Thomas ~ 100% Silk, with beads! Pricey, but it’d make an incredible scarf, don’t you think?
14. Karaoke, by South West Trading ~ Soysilk and wool - color changes sort of like Kureyon, though slightly more gradual - and oh so goreous!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

It’s done! It. is. Done. The last stitches have been stitched. The Mystery Stole II is finished. All that remains is finishing work - weaving in ends and washing/blocking it, and my mother can at last lay claim to this gorgeous, soft, squishy, heavenly piece of art. What she’ll do with it, neither of us can say.

She’s had a look at it, nearly finished, and she does like it, but being as it’s 100% wool, and lacey, she won’t be wearing it often. Dogs who love to jump on people could create a nightmare. And having to hand wash and block it every time strikes terror in her heart. But… it was worth the time, for sure. Worth the accomplishment, even if she only wears it once. :)

I loved knitting it, even when I hated knitting it. I’m happy. I’m even more happy it’s done with. Now I can move onto something with bulkier yarn, bigger needles, and a much smaller knitting-time-frame.

Pictures coming soon…

Been busy crafting and wishing the wind would die down! It has today, so far, anyway! The other day I went shopping in the ‘big city’, and got a load of good stuff (including these oh so yummy sounding Country Crock flavored butters - one’s honey butter, the other is cinnamon butter!)

Anyway, I’ve made my first ever pomader. Or rather, I’m in the process of making it. It was quite easy, though a bit tiring, to do - take an orange, and a whole lot of cloves, and something sharp like a big needle. Actually, I used a nail, but a yarn needle would probably be perfect too. Then puncture the orange with the needle/nail, and push a clove into the hole you just made. Repeat, about ten billion times, keeping the cloves very close together (less than 1/4″). Take breaks often. Thumb gets very sore! After that, roll the ball into some spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, and set it someplace dark and warm to dry for a few weeks, turning it over daily. (1-6 weeks, average being… 3, surprise!)

So here’s my ball, which is now currently sitting in the cupboard to dry.

After I made that, I was still feeling all crafty, but not enough to make another (maybe another day on that one), so I did a real easy peasy craft - I made “snowballs”!

These are real cute. And real easy. Styrofoam balls covered in funky white/creamy colored yarn. I used Paton’s Divine for this, since it’s a big, fairly inexpensive ball of very fuzzy stuff that covered all six of my 2.5-3″ styrofoam balls with some left over. 4″ balls would’ve been sweet, but the 4″ styrofoam balls were insanely expensive (2.99 per *ball*?! The size I got were that price for SIX!) I wish I’d gotten a few in different sizes, though. Maybe another day, eh?

Here’s another pic. If you’ve got an LCD monitor, it’ll look fine, but on regular monitors, the can’s a bit dark. I thought it’d be cute to put them in a paint can.

Got just a couple more pictures to show off. These aren’t finished-craft pictures, but they are hope-to-finish-soon craft pictures! I stopped a nice little knitting and stitchery shop, and picked up this lovely cross-stitch pattern - and all the trimmings, which, I must say, was pricey.

Remind me to use cheapass DMC thread next time instead of these beautiful but expensive overdyed thread, ok? The threads are from Weeks Dye Works, and Sampler Threads - and the ones from Sampler Threads are especially pretty, since they’re somewhat varigated. Gorgeous.

But again, for a hunk of thread, $2 is quite… excessive, compared to the 29 cents that DMC floss is. But oh well. It’s a splurge, right?

I picked up one more pattern, too, but I won’t disclose it just yet. Hell, might be ages before I get around to it anyway.

As for a knitting update… I got almost 2 repeats of the stole’s border done last night, leaving 4 left. I’ll finish it in 4 days or less… if it kills me. Well, I’ll finish the /knitting/ part. Then there’s the awfulness of weaving in ends (in lace! Gugh! The torture!) and blocking the bloody thing. Which should be fascinating, since it’s so huge. Anyway, Mom saw it last night, or night before… I can’t remember which. She really likes it, I think, but she’s wondering the same thing I am… What is she gonna wear with it?!

Ah, the hard questions in life…

The puppy is one week old. It’s been a long, long week, and I’ve had no energy to do anything remotely resembling knitting, sewing, or anything else I need to do, including vacuuming my cat-hair-covered carpet.

But here’s some pictures!

We have to bottle feed the puppy every 3 hours. Kilo, the mama, really has no milk, or not near enough. Today, the puppy weighed exactly 1lb! She’s gained 3 -4 ounces in the last two days! Wow.

(These pictures are actually from yesterday, on the puppy’s week-old anniversary. But they /are/ super cute.)

Finally! Got some pictures to post to you all! First up, a photo of what kept me up for 38 hours with only a couple small naps to keep me going:

So, long story short… the dog, Kilo, a boxer that belongs to my brother, was bred to a couple other boxers in hopes of getting a wad of puppies, because every freaking patron at our bar wanted one of Kilo’s puppies. Kilo a bit of a ‘rescue’, as her former owner was mistreating her terribly, and she ended up with my family. However, she’s suffered some anxiety issues from constantly being locked up, and thus, couldn’t be trusted to be left alone without massive damage being done to wherever she was at. So, since my parents own a bar, and that’s where they were most of the time, and since in the last year or so, my brother has also /worked/ at the bar, Kilo baby spends a lot of time up there. And the patrons LOVE her. I mean, she’s smart, and friendly, and lovey, and… well, she’s got personality. The customers will put a dollar in her collar, and she runs around to the till to buy herself a piece of jerky. Spoiled puppy. ;-)

Anyway, she’s about six years old, and my brother’s been wanting to breed her for some time. Yes, he’s an irresponsible back yard breeder, yadda yadda yadda about poor puppies dying in shelters, yadda yadda yadda… This isn’t my dog, I didn’t do it, and my brother’s irresponsible about lots of things. The dog’s only one of them. And this is the boonies - “backyard breeder” is not a term used here. Ever. We don’t even HAVE a shelter here, okay? So, while I’m against his “let’s breed the dog to get money and because everyone loves her!” attitude… well, I’m in the TINY minory here, and if he’s gonna breed the dog, I’m gonna be excited about the puppies, dammit.

Political discussion aside, Kilo, who’s been a mama once before, before we ever got her, had a litter of 11 that time. Well… this time, there were complications. It turns out she only had ONE puppy. One. And thus, the puppy “got all the groceries”, so to speak, and was a wee bit too big (twice as big as typical, says the vet) to deliver naturally. So after a 19 hour labor process that produced nothing but stress and distress, Mom and I hauled the dog to the vet - 60 MILES AWAY - at 4:30 in the morning for an emergency bloody c-section.

That’s a $551 dollar puppy there, not counting gas.

*shakes head* Anyway, the pup’s a girl, and after a bit of trouble learning to latch onto mama’s nipple, and after destressing Kilo, who’d gone all anxiety attack after being left alone at the vet for 9 hours, they’re both doing well. The pup doesn’t yet have a name, but I hear that the bar patrons are putting together a list. They don’t get puppies like they wanted, but it seems they will try to play a part in her life. ;-)

Package!

So I mentioned that SP9 package, right? *grin* Here’s a photo! I didn’t get one while it was in the box… too impatient to run to Mom’s to find the camera, so I just tore into things like a kid on Christmas morn.

That’s one lovely book off my Amazon wishlist, two gorgeous skeins of Rowanspun DK wool (color is somewhat lavender - not sure how the color will turn out on your monitor - but trust me, it’s yummy!) and some size 4 bamboo dpns! Muahaha! I envision super yummy socks to warm my toes this winter! Oh, and not shown was an Assam teabag from Two Leaves and a Bud, but I drank it already. Very yummy. Must order tea from there!

Thanks so much Secret! I loved it all, as I told you in my email. ;-)

Anyway, expect ongoing puppy updates in the next few weeks, because yes - I lurves puppies, and it’s really not often at all (try never) that I get to see pups from birth on!

I got a package from my SP9 Secret Pal! But I have no pictures yet, and I’m incredibly tired - dog in labor, gonna have puppies! - since I haven’t slept in 24 hours except for an hour long nap.

Bigger update later!

So I use Linux - Ubuntu (or rather, Kubuntu - the version with KDE as the standard desktop environment) to be exact. It’s been a year and… 3 weeks or so since I switched my main computer over to Linux now. A year of using Kubuntu fulltime, except for a few tasks I still relegate to the windows computer, just to give the thing something to do. Or maybe because I’m too lazy to migrate when it’s already set up and working fine on the other computer. Sure, Linux has its share of problems. But so does Windows - anyone, even a Windows enthusiast, will tell you that. The difference is this - I’m more willing to put up with Linux’s problems than Microsoft’s. Not to mention, Microsoft’s overbearing, threatening, and downright frightening business practices really put me off. And while there’s a place for every Operating system in the market, Linux is the one that belongs on my main terminal. Period. And here’s why.

Thirteen Reasons to Love Linux

1. Free - as in beer! No more shelling out a couple hundred dollars for the latest operating system - or more for a new computer with it already installed. Linux is completely free - download it straight from the internet and burn it to a cd, or, if you like, order one for a minimal cost (from a few dollars for postage and CD costs, up to around $40, if you want a distribution with a manual in it). But honestly? All you need is a broadband connection and a cd, and you’re good to go. No need to spend more - and virtually anything you’d like to know how to do in Linux is online - no need to purchase books, unless you want to!
2. Free - as in speech! Open source software is great. Sure, you may not want to know what goes on under the hood of your car, but they don’t weld it shut, so you can open it up to take a look every now and then - and heck, you can check your oil and add fluids, too. Linux is like that - you may never have the desire to look at the code and make some changes - but if you do, the option is available to you, unlike proprietary systems, which ‘weld it shut’, so to speak.
3. Choice - There’s dozens of distributions of linux available - something for everyone’s taste! Like a lightweight OS that uses minimal resources? Linux can do that. Like something more like Windows - with loads of features and eye candy? We can do that, too. Like simple and easy? Try Ubuntu. Like something you can really dig your hands into and get dirty with? Try Slackware.
4. KDE & Gnome - Two incredible desktop environments with a far broader range of customization options and much better performance than Windows could ever offer. Much prettier, loads of gorgeous themes, and the ability to customize just about everything. Learn more: KDE / GNOME
5. BASH - the command line shell is wondeful. Ever been frustrated by Window’s “command line”? Hate DOS? Try BASH and be delighted. For you windows users, you can experiment with Cygwin, which actually installs the bash shell for windows!
6. Software - Thousands of applications, free and at your fingertips. Many of these programs rival expensive or proprietary Windows counterparts - Gimp, Firefox, OpenOffice, Gaim, gnucash, amarok. While some distributions of linux can indeed make installing software difficult, as you’ve probably heard, Ubuntu and other newbie-friendly distros actually make the process simpler than it is in Windows. You just open up your package manager, select the programs you want to install (and there are thousands in the database - all tested rigorously and compatable with your distribution - and click “install”. And it does all the work for you - downloading the program, installing it where it needs to be, and setting it up to run properly. Uninstallation is just as easy.
7. No Spyware - That’s right, no spyware. So far, there has been absolutely no spyware for linux. While it’s inevitable that some programs may crop up, if you stick with the thousands of tested applications in your repositories, you will NEVER come across spyware again. In open source software, spyware has literally no place to hide, because ANYONE can look at the code - and better, anyone can modify it, too.
8. No Viruses - Same deal. A small handful of prototype viruses have been forged for linux - but none of them went far - when they did anything at all. Linux is a secure OS - and its system of user priviledges tends to limit what a virus would be capable of. For instance, software simply can’t be be installed anywhere outside of a user’s home directory without root (administrator) permissions. Therefore, any virus that a user ran across during normal computing simply wouldn’t be able to do damage to the system as a whole - if it could do much of anything at all. And again, open-source software simply has some built-in protections against viruses, and linux, more so.
9. Stability - Linux is hailed for its stability; crashes are not the daily occurance that they are on some Windows desktops. Many linux boxes are never rebooted, except for important upgrades to the system. Most upgrades to a home user’s system do not require a restart at all. Installing software in Windows almost ALWAYS requires a reboot. Not so in linux - only for major kernal upgrades, and similar services. Also, when programs crash in linux, it does not typically bring down the whole system - just the program that’s failed to respond.
10. Servers - Run your own servers! Yes, you! I run an ssh server that allows me to log into my computer from anywhere in the world and read my files, access other computers on my network, perform system maintenence, check my mail, and more. Free and simple. You can also run a mail server, web server, file server, print server, or anything else you want… without buying expensive software!
11. Installation - Ubuntu, in particular, is a very fast, very easy install. Virtually no technical questions asked, and even when downloading the OS, it’s very quick! Lately, they’ve evolved to a LiveCD dvd install disc - where you boot directly into the OS from the cd, and you can actually surf the web and play games from the CD while it installs!
12. LiveCds - This is great, especially for troubleshooting. LiveCDs are cd boot discs that can boot you straight into a fully graphical operating system - or not, your choice - without installing a thing. Carry a livecd, and pop it into any computer that will boot from a cd (most newish computers in the last several years do this by default, though some may need a bios setting change, first) and instantly be immersed into the environment of your choice. You can even download and “install” software - all without touching the data on the machine’s hard drive!
13. Hardware Support - Better than you’ve heard, especially for fairly standard machines made in the last few years! (Getting cutting-edge hardware is a bit riskier, as it takes time to develop support for them.) My camera, printer, graphics card, sound card, usb key, etc. were all automatically detected and set up for me. The only driver I needed to install was for the graphics card, and it was an incredibly simple process.
14. And a bonus - dual booting. You do not need to throw away windows to use linux! You can run them both from the same machine - easily! :) Learn more at Ubuntu.com - or choose another distribution, such as Debian, Fedora, Mandriva, SuSE, Mepis, or more.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!