Red Sox Sock update

Whoo hooo finished them!!! Saturday I went to the Yarn Harlot Book signing at Webs, and took the sock there - it was finished while I was laughing my arse off listening to Stephanie talk. OMG is that woman funny.

So that meant that Sunday before the Red Sox game, I drove to visit my sister to give her the socks (or is that sox?). So, no pictures, sorry.

Broadband update

Well Covad came over this past Monday to fix my DSL connection. After "reburning the pair" (whatever that means) the connection is back up and running. Let's see how long this lasts...

Can't wait for Verizon to roll out FiOS here. Here's hoping.

Los Lobe Hose Socks

Los Lobe Hose Socks
Originally uploaded by eirual.

Very cool - very quick - very tiny. These are little sock earrings - with a turned heel and everything. I do like the fraternal nature of the socks - but you could just as easily made them all match by lining up the start of the variegated yarn.

Tank cosy

Tank cosy
Originally uploaded by mms.

I saw this over on Boing Boing (Yes they do have the best stuff there). Fantastic! I really love the pom-pom.

"Jack's Aran Cardigan" Update

"Jack's Aran Cardigan" Update
Originally uploaded by eirual.

Current progress on the Aran Cardigan, the back panel is just over half completed - only about 12 more inches to go.

Airport

I saw this on Boing Boing, it is a flash animation using animated airport infographics. Airport.

Broadband update

Well - it wasn't the modem. I have the same problem with the connection using the replacement as with the original... Ugh.

Baby blanket - completed

Baby blanket - completed
Originally uploaded by eirual.

Finished the final edging to the blanket. The pattern was from "Weekend Knits" published by Vogue Knittng. Since I didn't use the Mission Falls 1824 cotton as the pattern called for, I started to run out of yarn towards the end - so the endging is a plain three row pattern of single crochet. Simple but nice.

Red Sox

Red Sox
Originally uploaded by eirual.

'Tis the season! I had this really nice red yarn and couldn't resist making a pair of socks in commemoration of baseball season starting this year. One down - one to go!

Tree sweater

This is the best: Tree Sweater

Outside our building is a sorry little sidewalk tree. At the height of summer, it had about five leaves. A dead glowstick has been dangling from its branches for three months.

Tonight while I was out on a smoke break, I looked at the tree and thought, “Man, that is one sad tree. It looks cold and wet and pathetic. It needs a sweater!”

I went home and whipped one up, it only took an hour and a half to knit. Then another fifteen minutes or so, standing outside in the cold at half past midnight, stitching it up.

Go to the site and see the picture - it is very cute.

Broadband

speed
Originally uploaded by eirual.

Over the last week I have noticed that my broadband speed is really starting to match that of a dialup modem. Apparently the problem is that my DSL modem, a Broadxent Briteport Modem, is dieing.

Hopefully the replacement shows up soon - I am starting to go through broadband withdrawels.

The IT Crowd

Yes I do know that this is old news. But I have *just* started blogging again so - cut me some slack.

BBC Channel 4 came up with a fantastic sitcom called The IT Crowd. You can download all six episodes from Filecloud. Personally I find episode 2 my favorite - the screensaver scene was classic.

Can't wait until next season, rumor has it that they have signed up for another 8 episodes starting January 2007.

Baby Blanket

Baby Blanket
Originally uploaded by eirual.

This is a surprise gift for a friend of mine who's wife is expecting - *shush* don't tell... :)

Jack's Aran Cardigan from "Men in Knits"

Jack's Aran Cardigan from "Men in Knits"
Originally uploaded by eirual.

Current work in progress - This is the center back of the sweater.

Here is what it should look like when done: KnitPicks

Looks great - bad picture but the knitting looks good - eh? So here is a lesson that I just don't seem to learn. If I knit a project from a published pattern, I will usually try to make a copy of that pattern thereby keep the original "nice". The problem is that 10 times out of 10 I will mis-type something (yes I usually type the directions again, don't ask) and inevitably it happened with the sweater. I typed out the cable pattern so that I could annotate it and keep a small copy in my knitting bag. After checking it 3 times, it was printed and I started to use it. On the second pattern repeat things started to look - well - wrong. See the right angled diagonal lines? Well in my pattern copy I messed it up and they didn't weave under the left angled lines as you see in the picture.

Needless to say, with the amount of ripping I have done - I could have half the back completed already. Hrmph.

Finished plum rag wool socks

Finished plum rag wool socks
Originally uploaded by eirual.

Socks are now complete. I think I may have missed one row in the toe of one of the socks - hard to tell though...

Apple history

In preparation of Apple's 30th anniversary, Macworld posted the following:

Apple history: 15 billion years and counting

One of the best entries is:

1970: Jobs meets Steve Wozniak for the first time. Wozniak is somewhat put off when Jobs asks him if he wouldn’t mind standing in Jobs’ shadow for the rest of his life.

Purple rag socks

Purple rag socks
Originally uploaded by eirual.

These are in exchange for a set of double pointed bronze needles from Celtic Swan.

Domain names

Saw this on Boing Boing:

A study about domain names - lengths etc: Interesting Facts About Domain Names. Thought it was oddly appropriate as I just registered a new one myself: http://www.eclecticramblings.com, a bit over the 11 letter average clocking in at 17.

A 2600 wannabe?

Yesterday I was in Barnes and Noble checking out the current magazines. I also wanted to see if the recent 2600 was out, and if I won a contest in it but ... nevermind. Anywho, right next to 2600 a small 5.5"x8.5" magazine, is another hacker magazine called Blacklisted 411 in the exact same small 5.5"x8.5" format as 2600, with almost the exact same layout within the magazine, same type of articles etc. If you swapped covers on the magazines you would be hard pressed to see the difference.

Very odd a wannabe 2600 that claims to predate 2600 by one year - 2600 started in 1984, Blacklisted 411 claims to have started in 1983 as a disk based magazine that existed through 1988, resurrected in 1994 through 1999, died again and is back in 2003.

West Bend THE POPPERY

West Bend THE POPPERY
Originally uploaded by eirual.

I found this yesterday at a Thrift Store in central NH. Just had to try it out today. Oh my, is this sweet! I have had 3 different Cafe Rosto's (ALL have gone to that coffee roaster graveyard in the sky), and currently am using a Hearthware iRoast 2, and this one is by far the best of the lot. Mucho power, and very quiet.

Yeah me!

Purple purple everywhere - except in my camera

Now this may sound naive BUT I did not know that you couldn't take a picture of something purple and have it come out, well, purple. So, during my normal Sunday morning web surfing I found this:

Tribeca Imaging Laboratories, Inc.

So, big deal you say, right? There homepage is in purple and they ask that you take a picture of it using your digital camera to see that you get blue instead. Which I did. With both my Canon A510 and Pentax *ist DL cameras. Guess what? It was blue, my eyes see purple, but the camera showed blue.

Anyway, I downloaded the Photoshop plugin, and tried it out on some pictures I took in Delft, Netherlands. Used the "Vivid" setting and it made a difference... Check it out:

This is the only Yarn store I found in Holland:

Without processing:

With processing:

Notice the left hand sweater in the photo, in the second image you really see the true color, the first picture shows this a bit washed out.

Here is a picture of the New Church:

Without processing:

With processing:

I think the processed photo shows a bit of punch and depth that is missing in the unprocessed picture.