...and it's really starting to tick me off! I tried to use the phone last night but it decided to be difficult. The pictures are not being saved to the flash chip (which makes me wonder where they are being saved to?), and I can't upload them through Virgin's wondersite. And Virgin's help page is not terribly helpful.

I suppose I could e-mail them with my tale of woe, but right now whingeing is a bit more enjoyable. Poor me.

In searching the house last night I discovered that my sister has an ancient camera--the quality will probably be comparable to pictures taken with the phone. All I need is a scandisk and 4 double-A batteries. But, right now, that also seems like more work than I care to deal with. Maybe my mother will let me borrow her camera once a week until I can convince the Beloved that this really is an important thing for us to possess.... Hmm....

So, right now, you'll just have to settle for me telling you about my knitting projects. I know. Not nearly as fun. But, well, life is full of disappointments.

Last night I posted a list of projects currently "On Needles." Looking at that list, you might think that I like to knit blankets. Well, sometimes I do. They make good meeting knitting. All you need to do is pick a straightforward pattern and you're good to go while pretending to listen to your colleagues drone on endlessly about something that is probably important, but could better be expressed in a nice, succinct memo. Unfortunately, they eventually become a little too cumbersome to drag around. Which is the case of the Moss Stitch Baby Blanket. It's maybe a bit more than halfway done, and I still have to make some decisions concerning edging or binding because, well, the blanket looks boring. The yarn is pretty and looks really nice with the moss stitch, but, well, it's a big square of moss stitch. So, it sits in a bag where I poke at it every now and again. In theory, meeting knitting should also make good TV knitting (which, in fact, it does), but I have a very tiny brain and get distracted easily.

Blanket number two (the Blue Lagoon Blanket) was picked out by the Beloved. His mother gave me a gift certificate to AC Moore for Christmas, and so, among other things, I allowed the Beloved to choose yarn and a (free) pattern so that I could make a blanket intended for future progeny. He liked this particular one, I figured it would be easy, and the colors were pretty, so on we went. And the colors are pretty. But it's a blanket done entirely in garter stitch. So I get bored quickly. And, if that wasn't enough, the pretty color changes happen frequently. Like every four to six rows. Which means the knitting is boring and I have 5,000 ends to weave in. I've decided to weave the ends in as I go along--which means every time I finish a set of the color-change pattern, I stop and weave in the bloody ends. In theory, this is a wonderful idea. But I'm now at a point (about halfway through the blanket, I'd guess) where I need to weave in ends and I just don't want to do it! It hurts! So this also sits in a bag, next to the Moss Stitch Blanket, where it whimpers morosely. After all, it hasn't done anything to deserve such treatment from me.

This brings us to blanket number three. The First Cable Afghan. Now, I've done cables before. I don't need to do the First Cable Afghan to bring me up to speed. But. This summer I promised my friend, RA, that I would make him an afghan. And I allowed him to choose the yarn. He chose this in Dark Rose and Forest Shades. Now, because I was crazy-busy with school this fall, I didn't even start on this afghan until after Christmas. But, due to my experiences with Moss Stitch Baby Blanket and Blue Lagoon Blanket, I thought I would pick something a little more...piquant. But it had to work with this soft, nubby yarn. First Cable Afghan is designed for use with Lion Brand Homespun, which is very similar in weight and texture to the yarn RA chose. Unfortunately, I hate how it's coming out. Like, I really, really hate it. Even more unfortunate--I can't decide if it really does look horrible, or if I'm just being difficult. I'll try to get a shot of it this weekend so that you can tell me what you think. I'm thinking I need to frog the foolish thing and try again--I can't decide, though, if I should try it on larger needles (I do tend to knit a little tight), or if I should just give up the ghost and find another pattern.

The last blanket was cast on this weekend. The Beloved was very unhappy that RA was getting a blankie, but HE, the love of my life, was not. As Monday was a holiday and I wasn't doing anything anyway, I cast on for a modified feather-and-fan throw. The pattern comes from Knitting for Peace by Betty Christiansen. The pattern is simple enough that it can travel with me for now while it's small, but complicated enough that I really need to pay attention on the rows that aren't straight knit or purl. It should keep me occupied at least until it's too big to come to work with me any more.

The problem with all of the blankets I'm knitting right now is that, aside from failing to hold my attention till the end of the project, they are all made with cheap yarn. Now, for baby blankets, acrylic really isn't that bad because it's hardy and you can put it in the washer and dryer. The same holds true for afghans. For people who say things like, if you're going to put that much time and effort into something, you want to use a material that will last and be heirloom quality, I have this to say: Beloved and I have an afghan knit by my mother maybe thirty years ago. We have a picture somewhere of me, age three or four, wrapped up in this same afghan. It's cheapy acrylic yarn. And it's not pilling or showing any sign of giving up the ghost.

However. I really like yarn made of natural fiber. I also like expensive yarn. The Beloved neither likes nor understands my desire and need to possess fancy, expensive yarn. (This is why his blankie is being made of the finest Red Heart Acrylic. Shade: Claret.) This brings us to the Airy Scarf. I'm knitting this in the recommended Rowan Kidsilk Haze. It's actually the second one I've done, making it an almost economic project as the Kidsilk Haze is around $13 a ball and I can get two scarves out of it. I'm nearly finished with it (are you noticing a pattern here? I'm not.), but put it aside last week to knit a couple of small things for my sister's birthday (she got a handknit bag, a handknit washcloth, and a bar of all-natural soap from The Mustard Seed). However, we're going to see my Mother-In-Law to celebrate her birthday this weekend, so the plan is to finish Airy Scarf and block her on Friday night, or Saturday at the latest, so that she's good to go on Sunday.

Wow. I'm tired just thinking about all the unfinished knitting I have. So much to do. So, why do I have to leave this all to go to work again? Maybe we'll have a meeting today....