Bunny A Long

Have you seen this? Knitty's darling Theresa [she of the Techniques] has started the Bunny A Long, just in time for easter.

You might know me and the hub have a bunny. That's her. We love our bunny -- she's our little furry child. We knew nothing about the bigger pet abandonment issues when we got her many years ago. Soon after, we learned about the House Rabbit Society, which sounded like a cute name for people like us. But what it is, in fact, is an organization that works to save abandoned rabbits. Cause, see, people buy and give baby petstore bunnies to their kids at easter -- meaning well, of course -- and don't realize that when these bunnies hit their teens just 6 months later, they will begin to destroy their house and be much less adorable than the fluffy handful they'd bought. A good number of these "easter" bunnies get dumped, back at shelters, or worse -- outdoors where they can't possibly survive.

The HRS works to educate people who want to live with rabbits. The main issues are spaying/neutering at the appropriate age [this is essential if you don't want your female bunny to die of uterine cancer in later life, and to keep your male bunny from driving himself and you mad with his unsatisfyable urges], and bunnyproofing your home so you and your rabbit can live together happily and safely for a long time. There's much more on the HRS website. If you are thinking of caring for a rabbit, read it all, please.

We adore our fuzzybun. She requires different care than a cat or dog would, and gives us very different rewards. A bunny is a surprise and a delight at every moment. The fact that she allows us to be part of her life, knows her name, tells us where she'd prefer to be petted...all of these things are part of the joys of living with a bunny. The thought of the countless rabbits in shelters who have no homes and may not ever find them...

So don't give a living rabbit for easter this year. Join Theresa's Bunny A Long and give a fuzzy knitted friend. Then after you've done the reading, if you're sure a rabbit is the right friend for you or your kids, find the closest HRS chapter and adopt a rabbit who needs a home.

Thanks for listening.

The winter surprise is up!

But wait! There are three!
Two patterns...and a whole bunch of new reviews on the Cool Stuff page.

Pattern 1, pattern 2 & Cool stuff!

Make sure to check it all out, and enjoy!

camera? well, yes.

Unbelievable. A week after I ordered [noting that the Lumix was IN STOCK -- two units left, even!], I get a message from Etronics saying that they're out of stock.

I'd asked for expedited shipping, and it took them a week to realize they didn't even have one to send to me?

I cancelled my order. I'm NOT impressed.

Instead, I did a little searching around town and found that Aden had the camera for $100 less than everyone else in town was charging [even less than their web price, when I called them]. So it still cost me more than I wanted to pay, but less than what most local shops would have charged.

It's here and it's charging up now. Kind of took some of the fun out of the purchase, but since I got the camera for the magazine mostly, who said it's supposed to be about fun?

Now I have a manual to read. Later.

questions I get asked a lot :-)

When will the surprises be up?
Dear, darling readers. They are surprises. I cannot tell you when you will see them because then they cease being surprises. I will promise you that they will be up somewhere between the 1st day after an issue goes live and the 1st day a new issue goes live.

You may poke me, but still I will not tell.

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What's the deal with the archive of articles...are you going to get that up one day?
Absolutely, yes. As soon as we find a way to make it less distressingly unwieldy to navigate, it'll be up.

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Printer-friendly patterns?
We have about five million more pressing editorial and production issues to deal with, I'm afraid. Once those are settled, we'll see what we can do. Check back in about 2027. In the meantime, print in landscape and all will be well.

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That last contest thing was fun. Are you going to do it again?
Not that contest, but another one. Watch for details in the spring issue!

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Are you free for dinner?
I can probably fit you in, especially if we're talking good sushi.

Rejoice!

Cottony, stretchy Esprit is back in stock at Elann.com -- great for many of the projects in last summer's Sex and the Knitty issue, and perfect for socks, too.

Happy Year of the Chicken!

Okay, rooster. But can't chickens share the year?

Anyway, here's my favorite chicken picture, courtesy happy good luck. I don't think, when Grandma knit my nosewarmers, she'd have ever dreamt of this.

camera is ordered!

And I went with the Panasonic Lumix FZ20. I went to Henry's, one of the local good-rep shops, to handle the Canon g6 and make sure it was right for me. I mentioned, casually, that I'd been considering the Lumix and the salesguy [also a photographer, which is why I go to this shop] brightened and rushed me over to the Panasonic counter.

Sure, the Lumix doesn't have that nifty tilty viewscreen. But it has everything else I want, and more. I thought it was heavy; it's not. The lens is unbeatable [12x optical zoom, LEICA], it takes SD cards which I prefer, it's mac friendly, it has a RAW format and on and on. The man took off his ring and placed it on a cordura bag, set the camera to macro, got within a quarter inch and took the most amazingly detailed shot you can imagine. That was the clincher.

The only trouble is that this camera is way more expensive up here than in the US. So I found Borderfree.net, a service of Canada Post, which told me how much I'd pay to ship the camera, all in [including Canadian taxes] in CDN dollars. I saved almost $300cdn.

What about the really nice guy from Henry's? I was honest with him. He just can't match the US prices. So I bought my case and a new 2nd generation superfast SD card from him.

Curious. He told me they have to pay extra duties which is why their base prices are higher than in the US, but when I checked out with Borderfree, the duty rate was zero. I don't think he was lying to me, so what is the deal? Are they charging retailers more to import the same thing? How the hell are they supposed to compete with our blessed internet?

Once again I state: I love the internet.

The backstory on Blythe

In case anyone other than me cares, the Taipei Times wrote a good piece that explains the current Blythe phenomenon and a little history, too.

Oh, fine. Tag me.

Steph asked, and I must comply. I am Steph's slave.

1. Total amount of music files on your computer:
2262 songs or 18.5 GB. Oh. That's a lot, isn't it? It's not all music, though. But most of it is.

2.The CD you last bought is:
I've been buying single songs on iTunes, now that we Canadians have access, too. I seem to have bought some John Mayer, Sonia Dada and the new jazzy Queen Latifa/Dana Owens.

3.What is the song you listened to before reading this message?
I've been listening to book 4 of Harry Potter, my favorite, read by STEPHEN FRY [cause he is SO good and Jim Dale -- sorry dude -- is so NOT] for over a week now. The last song I remember listening to before this fit of Potter was Monkey Baby by Scissor Sisters. Oh, yeah.

4.Write down five songs you often listen to or mean a lot to you:
I can't stand listening to the same stuff over and over, which is why I bought the iPod. What I want to hear changes all the time, though Gillian Welch's "miss ohio" gets me all tingly every time.

5.Who will you pass this on to (3 people) and why?
I won't. I'm cranky now because, in answering question 1, i slipped and clicked the wrong button and lost my spot in the Potter book. Now I will have to figure out where I'd left off. I just can't inflict this kind of trauma on anyone else.

[weep]

Me? High maintenance? Yup.