the quacking fiber addict

“The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.”
Oscar Wilde

Just another one of those days.

A Costco run was made (we have food again!) and Dad made the spur-of-the-moment decision to buy Emm that mp3 player he's been wanting. Because our father is a cheap bastard*, he edged away from getting Emm an iPod Nano. Emm was opposed to the iPod on principle, he claimed that they were only popular because of their name. I tried to convince him otherwise, but to no avail.

As soon as we were in the parking lot, Emm tore into the box and started fiddling with it (it's worth mentioning here that he didn't read the directions). When we got home, we all went our separate ways - me to photograph the lovely yarn and goodies Amanda at Bulldog Knits sent me as my Mystery Sock KAL prize:


Emm went, of course, to plug his mp3 player into his 'puter. Dad went to... well, I have no idea. I sat down on the bare floor, surrounded by my knitting bits and bobs. As I was working on the chart for a lace stole pattern I'm working on, I heard a banesidhe-worthy wail. I paused, pen hovering above the grid-paper. Another wail and Emm came rushing out of his room.

"It won't work!! You have to fix it!!" He demanded, looking rather on edge. I sighed, put my pen down and got up.

"Alright, you go and get me a gluestick from Dad and I'll fix it."

Well, I tried, anyway. After an hour of wailing and hair-pulling and mild hysterics on Emm's part, I finally figured out (after I sent him to bother Dad, the racket was driving me insane) that the mp3 player could not work with Emm's puter - he didn't have a High Speed 2.0 USB port.

Right.

Whatever that is**. In the duration, I got Rhapsody working (despite Emm's claims that you had to pay to subscribe, which you don't) and iTunes installed (just in case).

So, after several long arguments with both the males - Emm declared that he never wanted to see another mp3 player ever again, whilst Dad argued with everything I said (likely on principle). Could I really be certain that an iPod would work with Emm's computer? Well, even if my iPod did, there're no assurances that a new one would, are there? And on and on and on...

Finally, the mp3 player was put away when Dad and Emm agreed that Emm could use Dad's new(er) 'puter (which does, indeed, have these new-fangled "High Speed" USB ports) tomorrow to transfer his mp3 files to the player.

All's well that ends well, I suppose - except I had just spent over an hour arguing about mp3 players with two people who've never even used one. By that time, I was a bit twitchy and realised that I needed to start dinner.

St M arrived as I threw the rice in to simmer. We were planning on going to the Monday Night Knitters (after dinner) - until we found out that the truck's battery was dead (moral: never leave the lights on all damn day). So, we went back to watching Ninja Warrior and then Jon Stewart and Colbert. I want some of that ice cream, y'all.

St M went home at around 10. I finished the left spock - buttons and all, and have rewritten the pattern to also suit people who have larger ankles and insteps. People like me. Crazy thought, eh?

And, a knitting meme! Stolen from Tamara's blog:

Mark with bold the things you have ever done, with italics, the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest.

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn (I've got some to spin up!)
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffitti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)(I sooooo want to do this!)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting (??)
Dyeing with plant colours
Knitting items for a wedding (TheBon's wedding is coming up...)
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Spinning
Knitting with someone else's handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles (but don’t like them)
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dyeing yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine (I'm working on it)
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets (uh, no. never.)
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair (ew)
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

I'm surprised because I've done nearly everything on the list, or plan to. Crazy kudos to me, I guess. And this post has gone on waaay too long. Night night.

*and I say that in the most loving way possible, but he really does make things difficult because of his skinflint tendencies.

** One would guess that it's a hopped up USB port; but I've never used one, that I know of.

Labels: family, meme, yarn p0rn