Good news, bad news

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Good news: My laptop is fixed and will be ready for me to take with me tomorrow. This a big relief and really quite grand.

Bad news: Level one data recovery from the busted hard drive has failed, meaning that the laptop, while it is working and back, is an empty shell of its former self. A shallow husk of electronic dissapointment. Joe and I are discussing level 2 data recovery, which is expensive. The pondering of possibilities will continue, though at the moment I’m quite crushed.

Good news: I reknit the delicato mitt on smaller needles and using fewer repeats and it is indeed a lot smaller and fits like a dream.

Finisheddmsmall0123

Bad news: Right after I finished knitting it I reached for the larger one to frog it and start it in the new smaller size, unravelled the thumb and suddenly thought “Well now. It really does look smaller without its thumb” and had a realization.

I had frogged the wrong one. Yessiree, I ripped out a perfectly good thumb.

Good news: This entertained Amanda to no end.

Amandalaughsatme0123

Bad news: I am apparently still striving for perfection as a mother, since her reaction (pictured above) made me want to ground her for a full month (and possibly make her sit in the naughty corner) despite her being almost 18 years of age.

126 thoughts on “Good news, bad news”

  1. Oh, Stephanie! I hate to take pleasure in your frustration, but it makes me feel so much better to know I’m not the only knitter out there who has frogged the wrong thing. I did it just last week.
    But, on the upside, you still get to use that lovely yarn. Try not to curse too much, or Joe may never try this again!

  2. When you are a teacher, you have 100’s of other people’s kids laughing at you. I wonder which is worse?
    I love the mits!!!!!!!!!!
    I wonder if I’m first?
    Safe travels!

  3. That sucks! We have all been there! Last night I thought I had screwed up one of the Fun Fur hats for Boston Childrens, pulled it off the DPNs started to frog only to figure out that there was nothing wrong. At that point, there was nothing to do but frog- to try to put the fun fur back on the DPN’s was the way to crazy and there wasn’t enought wine in the house for that.

  4. And yet, despite those perfectly understandable feelings, you were still enough in control to get out the camera and capture the moment … I for one am impressed.
    Or did Joe take the picture?
    Sorry about the mis-frogging, anyway. If you frog the wrong item, is that toading? It sounds like a tabloid TV show: Tonight on Fox, Frogging Goes Wrong. When Rip-It turns into Rip-Sh*t!
    Okay, I’ll stop now!

  5. I’ve done the same thing with frogging the wrong item! As far as the laptop goes, it may be less expensive to upgrade and buy a new one (with an external hard drive for data backup). šŸ™‚

  8. Crap, Harlot- your new year is thus far sucky.
    ALMOST 18…. hmmmm in my book thats still “groundable” to which I say:
    Savor the grounding while ye may,
    The days quickly fade away,
    The child, near grown
    Who laughs at your groans
    Reaps what she hath sown….
    Grounding.
    Or indentured servitude-
    Laundry and dishes as you knit-
    Time is short ground her while you can.
    TS in mi— also the mother of a 17 year old;)

  10. Oh, dear. We had frogs here, too. Must be hungry little buggers with no mosquitos around to eat. Fortunately for me, I knit so slowly all they got were two swatches.
    Which animal is the one that snarls the yarn as you frog it? I need to blame someone besides myself.

  11. Oh, dear. We had frogs here, too. Must be hungry little buggers with no mosquitoes around to eat. Fortunately for me, I knit so slowly all they got were two swatches.
    Which animal is the one that snarls the yarn as you frog it? I need to blame someone besides myself.

  12. Stephanie, travel safely — it;s Madrona, right? That’s one I’ve always wanted to go to. For our sakes, I look forward to the next book tour; for yours, I hope it’s the condensed version and you get to spend more time at home this year!
    Hey — if you lost all your email, you will have lost TSF reports, right? After what date should we re-send our numbers?

  13. She’ll think it’s funny until she finds dry crackers and ice water in her lunch bag. Bwa-ha-ha-haaa!
    *waiting for MY crackers, because, it was actually quite amusing – tee hee!*

  16. Crushing to frog perfectly good work. I’m about to frog a lovely bit of knitting — a feather and fan sock knit as far as the heel flap. I was so pleased with how well and how quickly the sock was going and then had the thought to put it on some waste thread and try it on. Turns out that my cavalier attitude towards swatching and gauge has bitten me hard on the rear once again. That sock relates in no way to the actual diameter of my foot. And no, I’m not willing to carry on and give it to a child. Those are MY crimson feather and fan socks.
    Amanda has a lovely smile.

  17. Oh no…that’s really bad news about the data recovery. That’s got to be an author’s worst nightmare. Good luck with whatever it is you decide to do about it.
    And on the mitts? At least you didn’t frog the whole thing by accident. That would have been truly tragic.

  19. probably just another reminder that backing up one’s computer is sage advice that i should really heed. it is however, a great picture of your daughter!

  20. I have frogged by accident. Not fun at all. And as for the computer, glad its working again, but I suggest backing EVERYTHING THAT IS IMPORTANT, on cd-r’s AND an additional hard drive. We bought a 350 gig external hard drive, just for pictures of our kids and family and other important documents. Trust me, its worth its weight in gold!

  22. Sorry to say that my reaction would probably have been close to Amanda’s…I’ve had my Mom threaten to ground me for similar incidents in the past as well…
    At least it was just the thumb!

  23. Oh dearest Harlot – I HEART YOU!
    Sorry for your foux paux, but the laughter it brought me (in an all to “I know what that’s like” sort of way) really really made me a bit less bitter about sitting here in my 3/4 cubicle today.
    I say go ahead and ground her – maybe it will make her laugh harder until milk comes out her nose and you can be entertained by her.

  24. Hello Beloved Yarn Harlot,
    First I would like to Thank you for your support during the Holidays.
    At Knitā€™s End held the Cow in my nativity scene so he could peak in from the back of the manger. Thanks, you were great!!! Plus the weight of the cow has helped return the cover to a more closed positionā€¦
    Second I have to apologizeā€¦ I busted out laughing today at your awful circumstance as I read your blogg through my tears and self pity. I too have just lost every pattern and contract and such for the past year of the beginning of my new knit wear designing careerā€¦. plus the other 4 years of my life that my computer contained.
    ā€œDid ya Back it up?ā€ā€¦. Well no, I thought this was the back upā€¦. Level two data retrieval was not even an option. Hard drive damaged beyond repair. If the data is truly important, like honeymoon pictures, go get itā€¦
    Thanks for sharing your disaster, I can now feel worse for you than me, plus it is nice to know I am not out here in lost data land alone. I will be sending good happy computer thoughts your way hoping for a Giga Bite Miracle with a happier ending. I get a new computer Saturday; I am looking forward to a clean slate.
    Kate Lemmers

  25. I have to admit that sometimes I’ve thought of making my mom sit in the naughty corner for her reaction to my knitting foibles. I’ll bet it wouldn’t work. Well, that and since she’s 77 I’d have to help her back up after the time-out!

  27. My reaction to your mitten plight means that I probably ought to join Amanda on the naughty mat. On the other hand, she’d probably pick up all sorts of bad habits from me in the space of five minutes, so maybe not.

  28. Bad news: It’s no fun when either a) the universe decides you need a lesson in humility or patience, and therefore nothing goes right, or b) the universe decides to have a massive joke at your expense.
    Good news: The universe owes you a really great day later on.
    I hope things improve šŸ™‚

  29. Oh no. The bad news, all of it is bad. However, it is good that someone can laugh (and I admit I smiled at Amanda’s reaction) at the mitt. It’s good to know that the desire to be a mom never dies regardless of their age.

  31. This goes to show you that even the pro’s have knitting problems! Thanks for sharing your warts along with the silky smooth skinned projects.

  32. 1st: Go buy yourself a backup drive. They’re relatively cheap, and this kind of crap happens oftener than you think.
    Second: It might help you to realize that right now, hundreds of other knitters are laughing at you frogging the wrong mitten. This is right up there with the one where you knit the thumb on the wrong side of those fancy Latvian mittens.
    Third: We’re not really laughing AT you, we’re laughing WITH you. ‘Cause we’ve all done equally dumb stuff, we’re just not brave enough to blog it.

  33. Dear Harlot, I am so sorry to hear about your laptop. I have been sending happy computer thoughts your way ever since it became a brick. Here is what my techno-geek husband suggested when I told him of your plight. One: Put the hard drive into a plastic bag and then into the freezer. Yes, the freezer. I’m not sure what exactly this accomplishes, but it has something to do with the tendency of frozen things to shrink. Two: Hit it with a hammer. He was serious about this. He says to take a very small hammer and gently tap the hard drive with it. This, apparantly, has been known to “loosen a failed platter enough for the computer to read it”.
    I hope it all works out for you somehow. Have a nice trip!
    Best,
    Jen in CT
    PS–> the mitts are lovely. šŸ™‚

  35. Having had my school laptop knicked and all my schemes of work, 4 years of school lesson plans, documents blah, blah and not to forget all my knitting downloads that keep me from murdering my students- GO FOR THE FULL RECOVERY!! Otherwise in 2, 6 or 10 months time you will find something you NEED was on it and you have no other copy!!

  36. backup backup backup is my new mantra… i have lost two machines in the last couple of years, the latest one was one my company pays for and they paid for the data recovery – I now have an external hard drive that i back my machine up to. they are pretty inexpensive and i also suggest you bite the bullet and purchase one and start a backup schedule for yourself. it will make life less frustrating if your machine ever decides to become a “brick” again.
    Sharon
    ps- – love the mitt and I have also frogged the wrong thing a time or two… are you coming to SPA this year?

  38. Oy, to be alone when such fun occurs. Ah, well…we live only to entertain the young ‘uns, right? Silly faces and dances when they’re two, and our imperfection, embodied in this case in a knitting blunder, later…well, what we won’t do to get a laugh!

  39. Harlot –
    If she laughs in full view of you it’s a sign of love and trust.
    Now if she laughed behind your back….not good.
    As for the laptop – tell us you had a back up or hard copy of what you’d written.

  40. If you ground her, you will have to ground me as well. I laughed too.
    Be thankful that your kids are comfortable enough to laugh with you, they may be comfortable enough to talk to you if they are in real life trouble.
    Your resized mit looks wonderful. It could be put to good use here in Buffalo today. We are getting lake effect snow.

  42. Well, I suppose it’s not too bad. You only frogged the thumb after all. I however knit a whole sock about 3 shoe sizes too small for me to acutally wear…I must remember to swatch IN THE ROUND! I am not smarter than the pattern designer, I am not smarter than the pattern designer, I am not ect ect

  43. Um … Stephanie? I was 34 the last time my mother grounded me for laughing at her knitting trials and tribulations. (Note that not only was I not living at home at the time, I was married as well!) It seemed perfectly reasonable to both of us at the time … well, after we both stopped laughing. Good luck on your decisions re. data recovery.

  44. Awwww….and awwwww….Best wishes toward the computer; there’s supposed to be redemption in New Beginnings. Regarding Amanda – hey, I once DID put my 18-year-old son in the corner! I don’t recall what he’d done, but he took one look at me, raised his eyebrows slightly, and stood in the corner, for a full hour!! (I’m 4’11” and 100 lbs – he’s not) Doesn’t matter how long you have ’em, they’re your CHILDREN! and most important, YOU are MOM! I actually had to completely unravel 17″ of toque once because I picked up the wrong pair of needles and went backward (and I knit these things all the time!) But your successes so far outweigh the frogs, which cannot be said in this house.

  46. I STILL say the pattern you began working (i.e., your own pattern)for fingerless mitts was extremely pretty and intriguing…please, please finish THAT pattern (pretty please?).

  47. In this weird age of technology making our lives “easier,” it’s strange that our language hasn’t really kept up. We haven’t really created sufficient words to describe the effects on us of said technology failing. “Frustrated” and “sad” and “mad” don’t really get at it. And “F*cking piece of **#&%!” only gets you so far.
    And all of it still doesn’t get your important things back. (See? “Things” — very general. “Data” — very cold. “Items that are meaningful and the result of lots of hard work” — so cumbersome, why even try?) So sorry your computer ate your stuff.

  48. Electronic Woes so suck air. Does that mean the begining of your next book has been lost too?
    Loved the picture of the mitts and laughing daughter. Grounding does seem appropriate under the circumstances. I frogged out the right side of my baby sweater this weekend. Still trying to figure out how two sides knit exactly the same on the same needles can come out vastly differnt in size. Baby shower is Sunday. I am wrapping up the yarn, picture of the sweater and an IOU. My first grandchild will have to be born before she gets the sweater (Due 3/27) First babies can be late though right? I mean just a few days should be enough? Right? Right?

  49. When I was working on my Swallowtail Shawl in the fall, I frogged an entire 6 rows of fine lace including nupps because I had repeated the wrong section.
    So I continued, but frogged 6 rows of fine lace including nupps again because I thought that I had KNIT THE SAME WRONG CHART AGAIN!
    But no. I had frogged 6 rows knitted from the correct chart.
    And then the Paris airport authority took away my needles.
    It was a disaster.

  50. My husband has managed to recover things before and does know quite a bit about data recovery, especially on laptops. He has previously warned people to really, really do their homework when considering the expensive hiring of a company. Most proper ones will look and evaluate your problem, which does cost you too but you are not out the full price. But then they are very good at what they do, and depending on how much you want the data back….
    I hope all goes well!

  51. Very Funny post! I would have been frustrated too! Sorry to hear you have not been able to recover everything on your hard drive. Especially the book! You are good sport!
    Oh and by the way, I am going to be at Madrona and will be taking 1 of your mentor sessions. I will humbly introduce myself on Saturday.
    Have a safe trip:)

  55. I’ve had weeks like that – I’m with you on the grounding – although the thought of an almost-18-yo sitting in the naughty corner does make the mom in me smile.

  56. oh harlot, my heart hurts for you.
    A question about frogging, if you aren’t feeling too fragile, that is. When you’re finished ripping out the ****ing thing, do you have to do anything fancy before you re-knit it, so things look a little smoother? (I’ve read about hand-washing before starting again, but that seems a bit much.) what do you recommend?

  57. What a lovely smile Amanda has! I’ve just reknit the same mitten 3x too… thinking this was a quickie side project, it has now consumed 4 days. Oh well, the yarn is Suri Alpaca and so I cannot complain. But, the computer, that is really, really too bad:~{

  59. Yep, the teen after the eight really does something to a girl’s reaction, eh? I dread the day when my eight year old stops saying “Ohhhhh, la pauvre Maman…” (oh, poor Mommy) and starts saying “T’es trop blonde ou quoi, la…” (are you too blonde or what?)
    Poor Steph šŸ™‚

  61. I had just finished making up my S.O.’s beautiful new sweater, held it up and realized it would only fit some insane Cyclops! I had sewn the side of a sleeve to the side of the chest, and the back was sewn together as if it were a sleeve! I had to disassemble it completely and start over. Sad.

  62. hehe having recently had to go through that with my 2 yr old i understand completely.
    i had answered the phone and was on the other side of the room and my poor defenseless lace shawl lay on the couch looking all sparkly and enticing. How can a 2 yr old say no? She pulled on the needle and I said NO NO NO and was running toward her but it was too late…
    There was no lifeline as it was an easy pattern and no stitches were being dropped.
    But alas the poor shawl it had to be ripped out completely.
    It was sad but my daughter enjoyed every minute of it.

  63. Well, if it’s any consolation, when I laughed an explosion of pain went off in my right ear thanks to the shingles. Consider me grounded.
    Amazing what we’ll do just to get a good laugh out of our loved ones, isn’t it? šŸ™‚
    Sorry about the computer’s memory loss. That is a disaster I never want to experience myself.

  64. Oh dear Steph, we’re laughing with you, you know! The new, smaller mitt looks wonderful. And I totally agree with whomever said that at least you aren’t teaching at school having hundreds of other people’s kids laughing at you – just your own children! šŸ™‚
    Have a safe trip!

  65. Good news: One of my coworkers is giving me money to buy yarn with at Madrona!
    Bad news: I actually have to give the yarn that I buy with the money to her.
    I’m thinking I’ll be there Friday. I have naturally curly hair that is as big as yours, and may be wandering with a sock looking for advice. I’ll say hi if I see you.

  66. Hi Stephanie,
    1. Glad to hear about the laptop. Yea.
    2. Sorry to hear about the non-data in the laptop. Really, really sorry. Hope there is a cure for it.
    3. Great pic of Amanda. How cute, and contagiously happy!
    Rosane.

  67. Don’t think I’ve ever frogged the wrong thing, but I definitely feel better about the mitt I frogged this week because I’d used 2 different size needles. It was absolutely obvious that they were significantly different in size as I bound off. Those addis now have BIG labels, you betcha.

  69. Aw man! You did a level 2 frogging when a level 1 was called for? The things we do to bring a smile to the face of a teen…

  70. Mine is almost 18 too, but she is still of the grounding age – I say as long as they live under your roof, live by your rules šŸ™‚
    But seriously, my daughter laughs at everything, even if I fall and hurt myself, she finds it hysterically funny. Guess that’s her coping mechanism

  73. ROFLCOPTER! Sorry. It’s been finals week and not enough knitting, I’m taking pleasure where and when I can. Good lordy that sounded dirty. ROFLCOPTER!

  74. Oh my, when do we NOT strive for perfection as a mother? But oh man, do I hate doing things twice. I feel for ya.

  75. If it makes you feel any better, I’m on my third rip & reknit of the foot of my second sock. I apparently can’t count & way over-decreased for the gusset not once, but twice. Deja vu all over again twice. Not a fancy pattern either mind you. My default ribbed, knit in my sleep pattern. Doh!

  76. frogging the wrong one is like knitting two left mittens ……..(or was it right)
    what is it that you say when throwing your socks
    away……darn it, darn it, darn it or something like that

  77. You make me feel so much better about my numerous knitting mistakes. Thanks. I’m sure you unconsciously frogged the wrong thumb just to cheer us all up.
    It is actually great your daughter can laugh at your mistakes, it will help her keep a little levity when she makes her own, in knitting or anywhere else in life.
    The mitt is beautiful. They will be worth all the trouble. That yarn is so pretty!

  78. I know the cost hurts… but I say, go for the full recovery (preferably with a reputable company that won’t charge you the full fee unless it’s successful). Your data is, after all, the only electronic thing you own that is absolutely irreplaceable.
    (Then again, only you know just how much you’ve lost and just how much of that you could reconstruct. If you go that route, at least you’re in good company. Think of Carlyle, who had to rewrite the ENTIRE first volume of his “French Revolution” – by hand and from memory – after the original MS was burned….)
    A practical question. If you do decide not to go for Level 2, should we assume that all our mission-critical (i.e. related to TSF donations) e-mails to you from December 24 onward need to be re-sent? If so, should we wait until you get back? Please advise.
    And thank you for making us all feel a little better about our own frogging errors past and future!

  80. Awww, no! Not the good thumb. Very sad. Some projects are just persnickety like that. This post reminds me of Good Idea/Bad Idea from the Animaniacs.
    Good Idea: Making a pair of fingerless gloves
    Bad Idea: Making the same pair of fingerless gloves four times (Which is not so much a bad idea as bad string mojonation).
    Good Idea: Knitting with wool.
    Bad Idea: Knitting with wool while it’s still on the sheep.

  81. Oops, tell Amanda to move over–I’m going to have to sit in the naughty corner too. šŸ˜€ Another reason not to make things that come in twos.

  82. I’m so sorry to hear that so far the data recovery has been unsuccessful. Do they have any idea what caused the failure? (i.e., could it be Apple’s fault?) It’s not likely that it’s a hardware failure (which should be under warranty, since your laptop is still so new), but is it a possibility? From what I understand, Apple is good to their customers, so it might be worth a shot.
    And I second the notion that you go with a place that only charges you if they actually recover your data. Having to pay an incredible charge for no results is lousy. (Kind of like paying doctors to “practice” on you, but that’s another rant! lol)
    As for the mitts: you’ve survived far worse than this. ;o) You are Steph, and we hear you roar. Now go and give Amanda a big hug. She’ll be living too far away for you to do that as often as you like before you know it.

  84. Fortune cookie says, “She who giggles at another’s knitting misfortune, must correct error(s) herself, Laughing Girl.”

  85. Those IT guys really know how to get ya!
    they know you didn’t backup!
    dig a little (alot) deeper into the pockets to recover that precious data.
    I am so sad for you, I know how you feel.
    but at least you can laugh at yourself, and if not Amanda will laugh for you!

  86. You make me laugh! I think if I was there with your daughter (sorry to say) I would have wet my pants by laughing so hard! At least you caught it before you got to the half way point šŸ™‚
    Sorry to hear about your computer. Did they happen to mention what could have caused the problem? Sometimes I think there is a conspiracy out there that makes all electronic devices “blow up” beyond all recognition anywhere from 2 to 5 years of age.
    Case in Point: I recently had a big screen tv blow up exactly 5 years from the day we purchased it. NO JOKE, 5 years TO THE DAY! Talk about frusterating. Had to pay a tv repair man $100 dollars to tell us that it would take roughly another $1200 to fix the old TV or go to Circut City and purchase one just like it only 5 years newer for $700 dollars. HUM…let me think what I should do.
    MarlyKnits
    http://www.knitthing.blogspot.com

  87. Awww come on, Amanda is right, it’s funny as hell. Sorry, but it’s true. Also, it’s exactly something I would do (rip out the wrong one) The new, smaller version does look perfect. Makes that used to be pet skein of yarn proud.
    Condolences to the hard drive, hope a solution comes to light.

  88. You are having quite the start to the year, aren’t you? Laptop, yarn woes, husband-home woes . . . Time to pull out the wine, the chocolate and a nice sock pattern, then go spend time with Mr. Washie the ever-enduring . . .

  89. Chin up, sweetie. Just be glad you aren’t a surgeon. They seem to have tendency these days to take off the wrong limp. Much harder to reknit those!

  90. Chin up, sweetie. Just be glad you aren’t a surgeon. They seem to have tendency these days to take off the wrong limb. Much harder to reknit those!

  93. I’m sorry, but I’m laughing too. Have I told you how much I appreciate your sharing these kinds of things with us? It makes me feel so un-lonely in the cruel, harsh world of knitting. šŸ™‚

  95. Hi Steph,
    bad luck about the mitts:(
    Just a couple of quick q’s – are you still tallying up DSB(TSB-KWB) totals? I sent you an email just after xmas and haven’t got a confirmation… or do I need to resend it because emails are part of your “lost” data?

  96. C’mon now, if we all laughed at you for doing the same thing at snb, would you want to ground all of us? šŸ˜‰

  97. i’m sitting here reading, smiling and totally coveting your mitts. yeah, i’m not much of a mitt kind of gal, but i want them.
    i hope that someday, i’ll be as lucky as you are and have beautiful children. your daughter has such a pretty smile (perfectly captured mid-laugh).

  98. Now you’re going to be mad at me, too, but I read and laughed this morning, and came back just so I could laugh with Amanda again.

  100. Oh, your family provides me with endless delight! Thank you for frogging that damn thing, so that you could get that beautiful picture of your girl and show it to us. How extraordinary to even have progeny who knows WHY she should laugh at such a thing. Take heart: The shoe will be on the other foot, one day. Heh.

  101. Oh I hear ya! I am glad this sort of stuff happens to other people and that you will tell us about it. Here is a good one for you. I was telling my mom about my new knit picks options, and saying how the sizes where not on the points, she says to me “could it be because there is a right and left one?” What? (she is a muggle, but I am trying) Love the mits!

  104. I laughed too. It reminds me of something I would do. Daughter has lovely laugh…one can almost hear it!
    Sorry about the laptop. I once lost 17 chapters of a book that way…no backup…I learned. Sad.
    Still haven’t finished the book…….
    But cheer up, you only frogged the thumb…..!

  105. Stephanie–Please talk to your computer folks about an automatic backup system for your computer. Some people back up online. We use recordable dvd-r. Then, all your stuff will be safe no matter what. It will be so worth it.

  106. Amanda’s glee made my day! My DD laughed at me so hard the other day that she cried. Me too, the couch attacked me; it really was quite funny.

  110. i’ve got a better consequence. make her knit something for charity. with yarn she wants.
    i’m evil that way, ask my kids, lol.

  112. Steph, hon? You are gonna have to enlarge your naughty corner and install some big comfy chairs. I had to laugh too. Does it help that I was laughing with you? Does it help that I was laughing because I knit a pattern into a sock upside down once, and frogged it, and immediately started over, and knitted it upside down AGAIN!?!?
    Sigh.
    I am forty-six and I still have to call my Mom when I get home at night — only now it’s me worried about her.
    Lovely, lovely mitts, m’dear. Show Joe your appreciation one night by turning in for bed wearing nothing but the mitts.

  114. Good news – Hallelujah!
    Bad news – Aaaghhhh. ::sending virtual Screech and chocolate, plus good personal memory vibes:: Not to mention it coulda been the entire *current* book down the tubes, just before deadline or a similar horrible. You know. Hopefully this one wasn’t that far– Um. This isn’t helping, is it? ::sends more chocolate::
    Good news – Beautiful!
    Bad news – At least it was only the thumb…
    Combined news, laughing daughter – Well, hey, but you can still make her laugh, right? This is not an accomplishment to be sneezed at with a teen.
    Have fun at Madrona, safe trip, and if you like crumpets, I just heard that Pike’s Place has The Crumpet Shop, of all things. Now I’m doubly envious. (I’m addicted to crumpets and the only place I’ve ever been able to get any was Canada. Doggone it, you’d think we’d have some ex-pats here in Portland providing them…)

  115. Good news – Hallelujah!
    Bad news – Aaaghhhh. ::sending virtual Screech and chocolate, plus good personal memory vibes:: Not to mention it coulda been the entire *current* book down the tubes, just before deadline or a similar horrible. You know. Hopefully this one wasn’t that far– Um. This isn’t helping, is it? ::sends more chocolate::
    Good news – Beautiful!
    Bad news – At least it was only the thumb…
    Combined news, laughing daughter – Well, hey, but you can still make her laugh, right? This is not an accomplishment to be sneezed at with a teen.
    Have fun at Madrona, safe trip, and if you like crumpets, I just heard that Pike’s Place has The Crumpet Shop, of all things. Now I’m doubly envious. (I’m addicted to crumpets and the only place I’ve ever been able to get any was Canada. Doggone it, you’d think we’d have some ex-pats here in Portland providing them…)

  116. ROFL…ooops, I mean, oh how sad! šŸ™‚ I have to agree, that pic of Amanda is great. And the mitts will be lovely when they’re completed. Wish I could go to Madrona, too. Have a wonderful time!

  118. Hehe I’m sorry but your woes made me laugh. I went to Morrisons (supermarket) three times in the space of an hour the other day as i kept forgetting my purse. I had to go back home twice to get it. Oh and yesterday I was organising my herbs and throwing away out of date jars and refilling them, well I ended up pouring away a brand new jar of cumin accidentally! It’s good to know I’m not the only ditzy person out there!! Sorry about the laptop x

  119. Oh heck yes! Off to the naughty corner Amanda should go! That poor little thumb deserves more sympathy than that giggling. šŸ˜‰

  120. Steph,
    I can’t believe I’ve been a knitter this long and only NOW come to read your book and your blog. Just wanted to say thanks for many moments of utter hilarity and sisterhood within those pages.
    T

  121. Well, on the bright side, those gloves sure are pretty!
    I have this annoying habit of, when picking up my sock that i’m knitting, pulling out the needle that’s got stitches on it instead of the working needle that I just stick into the sock fabric for storage.

  122. Too bad those data recovery people won’t work for knitted hats and scarves. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that something works out for you on that mess. I think it’s awesome that Amanda can laugh at you like that. To me that says that your girls love you and know that you love them. Have a good trip.

  123. I am very sorry to hear of your computers amnesia. It is a hard lesson learned by us all at one time or another.
    I once followed the instructions of a help line tech for my computer and lost EVERYTHING. The cost of recovery was too high for my case since I had a 2 month old backup. Loosing the photos are the ones that hurt the most.
    If you have a lot of important data on your computer – I say go for it and just chalk it up to a lesson learned. I back up every month now and every few months I put all photos on disks.
    When I was reading up on trying to restore my old data I read this comment in an article..
    Hard drive failure is not a question of if it will happen – it is a question of when it will happen.
    I would be interested in what you decide to do.
    Sorry about the frog too. That was just uncalled for in your time of distress.
    Hugs,
    farmgirlnow

  124. Dear Steph,
    As someone who has been laughed at frequently (both good-naturedly and not) I try not to laugh at others. Some days it is not easy. I’m afraid his is one of those days…..
    Good luck!

  125. For people having trouble getting the two sides of a cardigan to match (or sleeves ditto), knit them both at the same time, side by side, with two balls of yarn. You have to be careful about where you left off if you lay your knitting down with one on each needle (yes, I do know that first-hand), but it really does get you matching pairs.
    Incidentally, here’s another handy knitting tip: don’t knit anything when you’re watching the UCLA-USA football game and you’re a UCLA alum. Your gauge will vary all over the map. Ditto the Rose Bowl. I’m hoping a little blocking will go a long way on one of my Red Scarves.
    Mary the Digital Knitter

  126. I’m sorry to have to tell you this. I know it will be hard news to take. The things you wish to do to your daughter? They do not mean you are a bad mother. They mean you are (take a breath) NORMAL! Doncha hate it when you have to notice that about yourself?

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