Socks and toes

Came in (briefly, to attend to a few things - we don't have classes today) to an e-mail warning that "Something's wrong with the Dell model 700s; one of the chemists booted his up and all the files were gone."

The model 700s are the newer run; I've resisted getting a new computer (even though I was on the rotation), because at the time I was using a USB camera that had sort of idgy-to-install drivers, and I didn't want to fight installing the drivers on a new computer.

(My computer is fine. So if it's a glitch or a virus, I think I missed it. That said: everything that's really essential has been backed up or is somewhere in the "cloud" so I should be safe. I've been at this rodeo before, when the old hard drive on this thing died and had to be cloned and replaced....)

I don't even know what model my office computer is, but it still runs Windows XP, so it's pretty old.

(ETA: Apparently it was a glitch that needed patching; so far everyone who's had the patch done got all their files back)

(I am supposed to get a new one this spring, Windows 8 ahoy.)

I also went down Friday afternoon and talked to the people at the local computer store. They are putting together a quote on a new laptop for me. They seemed surprised when I told them what I planned to use it for:

1. Word processing (writing), and maybe a little spreadsheet work
2. Surfing the internet and doing e-mail. (I specified, if I get a new printer, I wanted one that would do photo-quality prints, seeing as my brother regularly e-mails me photos of my niece)
3. Possibly, watching streaming video. (I have Amazon Prime and apparently they offer all kinds of free content but I've never looked into it, because my home computer is old enough that even before one of the McAfee updates durn near kilt it, it would choke on longer YouTube videos....)

That's it. No gaming (I don't have time for shooting virtual trolls), no Photoshop, no video editing. I'm sure most computer users are similarly limited in what they choose to do?

Anyway. They can get me a machine with Windows 7 (I looked at the woman in surprise when she said, "Do you want Windows 7 or 8?" I thought 7 had gone the way of 100-watt light bulbs but apparently some smaller sellers still have a few copies. Yes, I asked for 7.) And they'll sell and install the software (MS Office, and I suppose I can download Firefox on my own, since it's free - I forgot to mention that) I want.

It'll be nice to have connectivity (fast and reliable connectivity) at home again.

***

After more than a month of letting my nails "rest," I decided to start using polish again. This is the time of year when it's less visible (I wear closed-toe shoes much more regularly, or socks and shoes), but still, it's a nice little thing that I enjoy, even if I only see it when I'm in the shower or when I'm changing clothes.

Nail polish is also an affordable splurge - you don't HAVE to buy it, but it's a rare nail polish that sets you back more than $10. So I bought a new one the last time I was out.



Essie, the color is called "Big Spender." (Essie's colors, fun as they are, bear little relation to the actual polish color). This one actually looked more purple in the bottle, and I hesitated about it, but now that it's on, I really like it.

***

And I finished a pair of socks recently. I started these, and knit most of them, over break. The pattern is called If You Know Where To Go (That's a non-ravelry link, but the pattern is also on Ravelry.)

They're another of Erica Lueder's Harry-Potter-inspired sock patterns. ("If you know where to go" is how Hagrid explains how wizards but not muggles can find Diagon Alley).

I used some canary-yellow yarn I had on hand (Lion Brand's sockyarn in the colorway called Lemon Drop - I've had this for a while, I got it for about $4 on a really good clearance). It's an odd color but I kind of like it for these. (And also - Hagrid and canary yellow seem to go together).

This was an enjoyable pattern to knit.



The "brickwork" pattern is a simple knit-purl repeat, which is easily memorized, but it makes knitting the sock more interesting than a plain stockinette sock would be. I want to do a pair of these again sometime in either a solid or semi-solid yarn so the brickwork pattern maybe shows up a little more.

They have linen-stitch heels.



I had never done linen stitch before. It's a little tedious to do, but it looks really good, and it makes an interesting fabric. I could see using this with a busy variegated to make a scarf - it almost has a woven appearance when it's finished.