Back on the horse that threw me

My fickle heart. No more than 48 hours after the untimely death of the ibook (from which much information was retrieved, many thanks for all of the useful help yesterday) I am bonding with a brand spanking new MacBook. We are getting along ok. (That said, I am using new software to edit pictures for the blog. If anything looks funny, let me know. I have no idea if it’s working, but It looks ok to me.) I am a creature of habit, and new things frequently cause me to throw fits. I do not like being upgraded, and even if the new laptop does things faster (which it does) better (which it does) and more easily (which it does), I end up angry that it does not do things the same. I sit here, incensed with fury that the delete key is now three millimetres to the left of where it was before, ready to completely loose it all over the technology, and then notice a cool feature of the computer, forget I was angry and play with the new toy. Best feature so far? An isight is built into the frame above the lid. This mini camera lets me take pictures of anything in front of my computer, lets me video chat and has a cool little thingie called “Photobooth” where you push a button and the computer goes 3, 2, 1….and then snaps a pic. Tons of fun. and a great way to avoid writing a book that’s due in two weeks. (Ack.)

Here’s me.. with my usual post-tour exhaustion and coffee at my desk.

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Here’s the shropshire shawl (bigger, isn’t it?)

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Here’s a pop-art option of the shawl (the photobooth options are really endless)…

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Here’s Joe kissing me goodbye….

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(I am really in love with him this week. While I was gone he repainted the living room, then he put everything back in an organized fashion, and then he stepped in while I was coming completely unglued over all of the computer crap and he just made it all go. He’s the only reason I can post right now (If indeed I am posting) and it’s a wonder, considering how badly I’ve taken this whole thing, that he loves me at all.)

I may have to disable the isight, or cover it with gum or something. (Besides the continuous intrigue, the isight also gives you the disconcerting impression that your computer is watching you all the time. It probably is.)

All said, I think I’m back on track. I have my inbox mostly restored, many of my applications are back up and running, I have a stable connection to the internet, and…where was I? Right.

Utah.

I flew from Oregon to Salt Lake City, where I was met by the local knit-blogger welcoming delgate, Susan. Susan whisked me briefly around the downtown where I saw The Temple

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(added later: WHOO freaking HOO! Is this one working?)

And the Brides. See the Brides?

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How about in this picture?

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(They may be sort of implied in that one) They are everywhere. Apparently so many people come to be married at the Temple that you can see a plethora of weddings any day of the week. The place is like a bride factory. Every so often the doors open and another on spits out. It’s incredible. The grounds of Temple Square are really something too. The gardens and fountains are breathtaking. (Or that could have been the altitude. Salt Lake City is a beautiful city…but there’s just NO AIR.)

After our quick tour, Susan and I headed out and picked up Miram and Margene and we headed to one of Margene’s loveliest picture spots way up in the mountains. (Sincerely. LESS AIR.) The ladies trouped around, hiking all over the place and I gasped along behind them, mumbling things about dizziness and mountains and how there was only one thing that could possibly make this place any better than it was. Oxygen.

We found the perfect spot to photograph my Icarus Shawl with it’s designer, Miriam.

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The shawl reclined on the rocks,

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and a pack of wild roaming knit-bloggers were caught in the act. (Any of you non-bloggers ever wonder how we look in public? Here you go.)

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A detail of the shawl.

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It’s so beautiful that I can’t stop taking pictures of it and admiring it. The specs: Icarus, designed by the very talented Miram Felton, pattern found in Interweave Knits: Summer 2006. Yarn Alchemy Haiku, colourway: Chickasaw Ground, used: very nearly three skeins.

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The sock did a little rock climbing, (There’s a really attractive picture of my arse that Margene took while I snapped this one.)

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and as we descended from 10 000 to 4 000 feet (and I learned to appreciate what little air there was in Salt Lake City) I took photos out the windshield like any enthusiastic tourist.

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(Maybe more so. I get excited.) It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and I couldn’t have asked for more charming escorts. A wonderful afternoon. (I am particularly beholden to Susan, who was gracious enough to tuck a Utah peach into her bag for me in case I was starving. I was. It’s the little things that reallly make a difference when you travel this fast.)

Back down in the city I gathered myself and headed over to the spot for the event, and lo an behold. Utah knitters.

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A wild bunch they are too. I’d show you more of them, but things are falling apart in MacBook land. (How do you save as a jpeg? Is this even working? What is Image Ready and why does it keep calling things funny names?) There was Marlene,

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and Kate, and Judy.

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(Have you seen Judy’s yarn?) and Bobbie from Wyoming Montana (I have no idea. Sorry Bobbie), and a beautiful baby. (Where the H. E. Double Hockeysticks are these images going?) and Teri and Spinderella and Suzette and Alison (who just wrote a knitting book,) and Jacquie and Gwen and Laura and Judy and Shelly and Jan who came all the way from Wyoming MONTANA (holy cow. Get it together Steph) ….

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Did that one work? ( For the love of Crap. What’s a psd file? Post Screwed-up Disorder? That can’t bode well. ) I’ve had enough. It was lovely. It was wonderful, Salt Lake City is beautiful, and I owe a debt to Vonnie at The Black Sheep Wool Co. for doing such a wonderful job and I’ve got to go bash my head off a keyboard now. Hard enough to leave imprints of the letters on my forehead. (Wait. Maybe my desk. I wouldn’t want to hurt the computer.) I’ll add pictures later when the new MacBook transition isn’t quite as painful. I’ve got to figure out what my output options are. First I have to figure out what my output is. Then input it. Did I mention that I hate change?

(Added later: I think I got the pictures up. Big thanks to Su for converting the files for me. I think I’ve got it figured now.)