Arachne Mittens – Finished at Last!

I designed these mittens last winter, in February. I finally completed the pattern – it’s nice to have some time off to finish things! Also, I admit, sitting in front of the computer to learn photography software is quite a drag, and very frustrating . . . so I pulled out the needles, and have begun to knit again.

I wanted to have solid-colored thumbs on these mittens, and practice carrying long floats at the same time. It took a bit, and I learned, too, the need to randomize the stranding on the thumbs. When I didn’t, the yarn got stacked up in rows, and affected the final design. If you look closely at the picture, I did a boo-boo when I took the picture – you can see the thumb is rather puckered. The second mitten is much nicer.

The pattern is not too hard to follow, and but for beginners, the stranding may be a bit of a challenge. The carried yarn makes for warm mittens, and if you start now, you could have a pair for yourself – or a loved one! – in time for the December holidays. (Shameless plug, huh . . . )

If you are interested in buying the pattern, you can find them under “My Patterns” page, or find them here on Ravelry. Cost is $4.00.

Bad Pun

NaCl

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NaOH

All for Money

Black Friday. It begins on Thursday. At some Walmarts it will be at 8 p.m. At Sears it is 8 p.m. Other major retailers are doing all of this, just to bring in the bucks. To quote a piece from ABC News, “A spokeswoman for Target said that the 9 p.m. opening time was ‘carefully evaluated with out guests, team and the business in mind.’ ”

Ha! That spokeswoman will not be working on Thanksgiving, nor most likely that Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. The CEOs of all these corporations will be sitting back with their families, friends, loved ones, whatever, and thinking about how happy they are. They won’t be thinking about the laborers who provide them with their days off, the minions in the stores.

Me, I don’t work retail, but I have worked in the medical field for years, giving up weekends, nights, and holidays. However, the ER is important, not Black Friday.

I expect that the fat cats at the top are thankful that they don’t have to work on Thanksgiving.

Color Checking

I’ve been busy with technology. Some seems pointless, other seems worthwhile. I got the Color Checker Passport which, if not for this video, would have made me think it was worthless. It’s not. I am glad I got it.

In the meantime, no artwork, just an overwhelming learning curve to move my photography skills to something a bit better than they are. However, I am getting “oot and a-boot” and am quite the happier for it.

Consistency & Coordination

Consistency is not something that just happens. In sports, in the arts, being able to produce consistently requires practice. Coordination helps, too.

Sometimes it comes about from coordinating outside things – for me, it began with setting up all my photography equipment to default to AdobeRGB. My camera and my software is now all using it. I also got a i1 display calibrator, by XRite, which has also made a difference in what I see, and what is produced.

These are things which have nothing to do with my ability to shoot a picture, but more with my ability to produce one with decent color. It is making a significant difference, and although what I see is subtle in its differences, it is very much there.

With that done, I have since picked up the brush and the needles again, and that feels very good.