Knit, Shovel, Repeat --- Knit, Shovel, Repeat ...

We picked up the truck around 8:30 am and it looked great! Apparently it was a couple of brackets that were slightly cracked and needed replacement that caused the extra day, but they came through and had things done by our firm deadline. DH went off to work in the falling snow and I returned home to have a lovely day to myself. 

One of the Craftsy classes I've purchased is this one - "Machine 
Knitting: Sweater Basics" by Renee Callahan. Her machine 
is quite a bit more powerful than mine, but mine is perfectly 
able to step up to the challenge. I want a longer sweater than 
the pattern, so have added rows onto the project. I think I'll 
be quite happy with the end project. 

I've been wanting to start knitting a sweater, and have a course on Craftsy dedicated to working out measurements for a basic sweater on a knitting machine. I downloaded the class materials and printed them out ... oh, wait. No ... I actually didn't print them out. I realized, after sending a print command that wasn't being acknowledged, that I hadn't added the printer to the network. Duh! (Hand strikes forehead.) Grabbing my code book, I added the printer to the new router's network and now all things are happy. My Fing is glowing a happy green, my modem isn't trying to reach something just out of reach, and I was able to print out my worksheet. 

Homes used to be several rooms that 
revolved around a central family area. 
Now, homes are revolving around routers 
and a variety of electronics. I had forgotten 
my printer and it wasn't happy. The router 
was trying to remind me, but I was slow to 
understand it. Now everything has been 
joined together and are happy again. 

Setting up my machine, I then watched portions of the class to understand the worksheet. I chose her "Medium" size because I'm not a "small" person (nor am I a "large" person). The worksheet had me putting on 140 stitches - almost the full width of my machine. I got the yarn on and knitted, and knitted, and knitted. 186 rows later, I pulled it from the machine. I had the back of the sweater complete ... but ... I didn't like it. It was too big - too wide. I would look as if I had drowned in a sea of knitwear. 

I'm really not into oversized sweaters. I think they 
are really cute on skinny, young people. I don't 
think they're good on me. I want something that 
will look good and help keep me warm, so I took 
it apart and reknit it in a size that I think will fit 
me better. 

I took a half-hour to shovel the walkways and driveway of the snow that was falling heavily by then, debating whether I should go with the remainder of the sweater as it was, or to review the pattern. By the time I had settled down to a bowl of soup, I had decided changing the measurements would be the better idea. So, I settled down and revised my pattern. I took apart the first knitted back, rewound the yarn to use in a second attempt, and started with 120 needles in work instead. Less than 90 minutes later I had knit my new total of 171 rows, added waste yarn to the top, and had pulled it from the machine. Much better! I'll try to do the front on Sunday, but if not, I'll catch up with it next Friday on my next day off. 

My laptop searches keep coming back to the Razer 
Blade 13" laptop. I want to step back a little and do 
an in-depth comparison of my top 3 or top 5 choices, 
however, before finalizing my choice. It might be 
the Razer, but I want to be absolutely sure. I want it 
to be my laptop for at least five years, possibly as 
many as ten years. I have to "choose wisely". 

Now I'm going to end this for today. I still have to have breakfast, shovel the walks and driveway and head out to work. Today I'll be doing more research on a new laptop. I have to get one ordered soon - Franken-Smaug is having a harder and harder time turning on. I'm not fond of dealing with new software, downloading new programs, or subscribing to Microsoft and Adobe Photoshop, but I need a reliable laptop that I can take to and from work with me. No choices. Have an excellent day - be kind, stay safe, and please wear your mask. I'll be back tomorrow.