Thursday, September 21, 2006

Caps for the Capitol
Finally got the patterns posted. Had to put them in my Photo Albums, new album, Crochet Patterns. Designing the patterns and making the caps was a lot of fun. Getting them posted to my blog was total frustration. The more I do with this computer, the less I seem to know.
But, on a more positive note, I was talking to Heidi, my daughter, the other evening and when I told her about this project, she was excited and wanted to help. Since her computer won't print, I made copies of the packet and my patterns and mailed them to her.
I almost have my personal goal of 50 completed.
Check out my patterns, use them, and let me know if you have any problems.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

My First Original (written down) Designs
Last weekend while I was working on the 2 patterns for Caps for the Capitol, I got bored. I'm not one to do the same thing over and over again, and changing colors doesn't make it any better. So, I remembered a stitch I used a couple of years ago in a scarf, so I tried to make it into a cap. It worked! So I wrote it down, so I could do it again. Well, after a few of these, I tried another stitch that I really liked. Again, I wrote it down.
Well, at some point, I realized this is designing. I have been doing this forever, but I have never taken the time to write it down, because usually it just makes what I'm doing work for me.
When I shared this revelation with my friend, Margaret, she said, "Hello, you just never write it down." Duh! My friend, Kitty, who designs clothing for herself, and went to design school affirmed that this is the design process.
Well, it has taken me longer to write them down, take pictures, save them and try to post than it did to make up the patterns and crochet several hats from each of them. I'm going to try to post them here for you if you'd like to use them for this wonderful project.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Frustration beyond belief
Since I have joined CP I am doing so much more on the computer, blogging, posting pics, etc. So--I decided it was time to get hi speed internet. Comcast is running a special in my area right now, so I decided to go for it.
I had an appointment last Sat evening between 5 and 7 for the installer. Well, at 7:15 I called and the guy said he was probably just running a little late and to give him a few more minutes. He did ask if the installer had called to tell me that. NO! Or I wouldn't be on the phone now.
At 7:45, I called back. No notes on work order as to what happened. So the guy I was speaking with sent a message to dispatch to check it out and call me within the hour.
By 8:50 I was really steamed! This guy told me dispatch was closed and I needed to schedule another appointment and the first he could get was next Friday. Told him this was not acceptable, and he says he put in a request for supervisor to call me at work on Mon a.m.
You guessed it! No call on Monday so I called them about 2:00. This person tells me the first available appointment is Friday. I asked to speak with a supervisor and the best she could do was give me a $20 credit for the installer missing his window.
OK! Now I'm really steamed. So I march over to the local Comcast store as soon as I got off work. The young lady I spoke with there was so much more helpful than all the above people, and she suggested I get the self install kit and do it myself. Saved the installation charge and she gave a credit for one month. She said that when they start issuing credits, someone wants to know why, so heads were going to roll. I sure hope so, because up to now, no one seems to care that this guy was abducted by aliens on the way to my house. Gave me a phone # to call if I had any problems. Said it was pretty easy to do. Yea right!
After crawling around on the floor (hardwood, not very comfy) under the desk, I got it all hooked up the way the instructions say. Popped in the Install Wizard disk, and have no connection to the internet.
Back on the phone--seems to be some kind of filter on my line, so, guess what? Yep, need a tech to come to my house and check it all out. At least I didn't have to wait a week. He was here today, had to replace some lines under my house, and after a couple of calls with him and my roommate, Penny, and an additional charge of $30 for the house call, I'm supposed to be online.
Wrong again! I come home, Penny goes off to the doctor, and no internet connection. Back on the phone, again!! This time the girl I spoke with at least got me up and running.
I sure hope it's all worth it.
But, on the bright side, the tech today said he is going to waive the $30 charge, because it seems the problem was with their connections to the house, not in the house.
Also went to Radio Shack and got an extension cord for my USB port because I didn't have enough spaces to plug in everything I needed. And an extension cord for my speakers because they wouldn't reach the computer. Haven't had sound for so long I'm not quite sure how to handle that.
I'm up and running and looking forward to being able to more quickly download pics and post more often because it won't take so long.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

CA State Fair
Well, I finally went to the fair last weekend. Had a good time and met my CP online friend, Wilma, in person for the first time. The first thing I saw when I walked in the door at the Home Arts building was Wilma's doll. As I was taking a picture of it, a lady came up to us, and it was Wilma herself. How exciting! She belongs to the Sacramento Crochet Guild and they had a very nice display set up including one lady who was using a spinning wheel.
The fair pictures are in my photo album. Some of them are not so great. I'm still learning how to use this digital camera, and I got a few fuzzy pics. But I posted them anyway so you could see what was there. A lot of these entries were behind glass w/spotlights on them, so it's kinda like taking pictures thru the big window at Macy's.
I did, however, find out that there should have been a critique sheet w/my entries when they were returned. I really checked those packages, so I know they were not there, but wish they had been. At this point, there is no way to get a copy, so I will just have to be more creative next year.
My overall impression of the fair was disappointment. I have been to the LA county fair, the Orange county fair, and the Alameda county fair, and I was expecting sensory overload at the state fair. Didn't get it! The home arts area was set up more like an expensive boutique. Beautiful things, but just not that many of them. Same for most of the things we did.
The thing I was the most impressed with were the awnings over the parking area. They are solar powered and rotate as the sun moves so your car stays in the shade. Of course, did not take a pic of that.
But, I am already making a list of things to hook and cook for the fair season next year. Depending on dates, may go to county fair or state fair, or maybe both. Dream big.