Do you Backup?

I very rarely advertise products or services (apart from yarn, obviously!!! ;) )   But, in the search for an online automatic backup service (automatic being the most important bit!) for some financial records, I found this  Mozy.com..... and just thought that some of you might find it useful for backing up...... well, errr Knitting patterns???!!!!!

It's a free service for up to 2gb home use, (click on Mozy Home at the top, then look on the left hand side for the free service), or $4.95/month for unlimited and I also have to tell you that the link above is a referral link so if anyone does sign up I get an extra 256mb free. However, I don't need the extra space so that's not why I'm telling you!

You download a  little piece of software to your PC/MAC, select files or folders you want to backup (it also starts by suggesting some "backup sets", including your internet favourites, emails and contacts, and your My Documents folder, but they can all be changed) and how often you want it to backup - it suggests once a day.  The first backup obviously takes an age, but subsequent ones only seem to take around 5 mins.  It's not a file-share service so no-one else can access your data, unless you give them your password, and it's run using 448bit encryption and then 128bit SSL transfer, so it's pretty secure.

Backup is something most of us are notoriously bad at, and only when disaster strikes do we realise we should have been more prepared.

Anyway, just thought I'd mention it!!!! :)

Yarn Yard strikes again

My dear friend Piglottie sent me a voucher for the Yarn Yard for my birthday.. and finally I got round to choosing something delicious to spend it on.

 

On the left is 100% superwash Blue Faced Leicester, and on the right 75% wool/25% Bamboo.  I decided that as they were a gift I wanted to try two fibres I hadn't tried before. Also, although the greens mix is very much my normal colour choice - I also wanted something different and special for some lovely socks (or maybe something else) and chose the brighter pink/purple mix - which I have to say is gorgeous.

So, my dear friend, thank you so much for your wonderful gift. I will enjoy knitting them up immensely and in the meantime, I'm just going to hug them for a while! :)

Bit of a spring clean

Decided it was time for a new layout cos I had this lovely picture of Spot (actually looking reasonably intelligent for a change), and needed to get rid of some of the rubbish in the sidebars. I will put back links in time, but at the moment I am enjoying the more minimalist look! :)

Another post to follow in a minute due to arrival of a parcel! :)

How to beat rising fuel costs..

...... Knit a blanket! :)

Pattern: Hemlock Ring Blanket by Jared Flood
Yarn - New Lanark Donegal Silk and Wool Aran - Colour Swinford (gifted 3 1/2 skeins - thanks Mum! - bought another two to make blanket a bit bigger)
Needles - Boyes Interchangeable size US10.5 (6.5mm)
Mods - Did crochet bind off as didn't have enough yarn to do the knitted one.
Size - Around 4 1/2 ft across widest point.

For some reason mine won't block flat - but then it's a blanket so it's never going to be flat anyway! - Bah who needs the heating eh? :)

Summer!

Well the sun is finally shining, so we've been doing a bit of this:-

and listening to this:-

and knitting like a woman possessed:-




(The blanket thing is acutally nearly finished now but no point taking any more photos til it's blocked cos it's all scrunched up on a circular needle!)

So, obviously no time for blogging! :)

Whoa!!!

Who switched on the pollen???????

There was me ambling through this so called summer, happy as a pig in..... well whatever pigs like! - and bamm! went for a run this morning with my sister and now cannot move my head. I feel like I'm carrying a bowling ball on my shoulders, and one that hurts every time I move!

So I have taken painkillers and anti-histamine. I'll be in a coma right about supper time.

Will be back to my perky self soon (or maybe October!)

We are such stuff as dreams are made on...... (Tempest Act IV, Sc I)

Tempest: Knit in Yarn Yard Bonny, Colours Bushcraft and Mossy Logs, on US7 Boyes (Yep should have been 6's !!!! *rolls eyes*) 2nd Size. Knitted the hem on the way up instead of picking it up later, and if I made it again I wouldn't slip the stitches on the edges cos it makes for holey seaming and picking up for the bands. It still needs buttons but I knew if i didn't photograph it soon then it wouldn't get done!!

I absolutely love it, the colour is great, it's quick to knit, easy to keep track of as all the shaping is done at the beginning of a stripe, and the sock yarn knit on bigger needles gives a really lovely fabric. I don't normally make things twice - but I could make an exception here!

I'd like to say one more very special thanks to Terri who swapped the Mossy Logs and made it extra special colourwise!

So, I wonder if Lewis Hamilton was such stuff that dreams are made on this weekend. I wonder if somewhere a little boy watched that race and dreams of doing that when he grows up. Just as Hamilton did himself when he used to watch Senna......... It was a really great race, and did show Lewis for the talent he has, and good old Barichello getting 3rd - what a great result for him and Honda (I have a feeling Mr Brawn may do some good things with that team!!!)

I daresay the tennis produced some dreams too (maybe just of the game actually finishing!) but I'm not really into tennis so I'll leave that there!!

And the Tour de France has started too..... I can't begin to understand it, but whilst trying to avoid the tennis this weekend I did watch the first two days' highlights, compelling stuff!

So, it's Monday and work beckons. I've also decided to start trading again. It took a back seat when I had to take on some more part time work, but now that I have a good routine with that I feel I have some time to get back into trading. Plus the markets are doing a little more of what is expected now!!! I'm going back to trading the Dow Jones, which was always my preference. I'll spend a bit of time re-aquainting myself with the charts and getting back in the swing of it, and then we'll see what happens.

Have a good week everyone.