As usual, I have a bunch of bits and pieces to throw at the blog this Saturday morning. I got a new camera this week. A fancy new camera, indeed. It’s a Canon Rebel Xsi – my first official DSLR. I was sick of trying to catch shots of the girls doing cute things and having my stupid Elph catch the moment just *after* they did the cute thing. The final straw was Sophie’s birthday party at the bowling alley last weekend. Low-light situations seem to be the worst, and I had a hard time catching the action moments. This new camera seems to be better, and I think it will take better pictures of my knitting stuff too. In fact, I think I may be able to claim it as a deduction on my taxes towards my knitting business. We’ll see.
This is a small thing, but it makes me very happy. I finally bought a set of hooks to hang some of my bag collection on. They’d been hanging on the doorknob behind my office door, and that was a bad thing as they kept falling down, and the corner where the door opens is pretty small anyway, so it made coming through with large things like laundry baskets and giant boxes of pop tabs more awkward.
They look a lot better hanging on the wall as decoration. Unfortunately, I’m running out of wall space in here. It’s all covered in bookcases, hanging yarn, fiber-related tools and pictures, and general miscellanea. Ahem.
I found myself a brand new group of wanna-be knitters to teach. The group that I’ve been swimming with is really nice, and a few of them expressed an interest (ranging from slight curiosity to avid pleading) in learning to knit. I had them over on Thursday while the girls were both in school, and we made a beginning. They all learned how to cast on, and I think knit. Next time they will hopefully learn to purl and perhaps start some mittens.
They all look so diligent. One lady just had toe surgery “because she just couldn’t run another marathon on this toe!” and that was part of the impetus to start them knitting – to give her something to do while sitting with her foot up.
I know you are all sick of hearing how much my family loves swimming lately, but I had to take the new camera to the pool on Friday. It was the perfect opportunity to test shooting speed.
I got some good shots, and I was pleased with how the camera worked. These pictures look nice and bright, but I know from experience with my old camera that the lighting in the pool is really not that great, so I appreciate the new one all the more. I even managed to catch the moment when Julie jumped in and made a huge splash. I feel sorry for their teachers sometimes, with the way my girls splash in with such enthusiasm. The poor teachers are always getting an eyefull of water.
Both girls had Valentine’s parties at school this week. Both took in cards for their friends and both came home with piles of loot.
Actuall, Sophie’s teacher requested that we just send in cards and not all the other junque that tends to accompany valentines these days. I much prefer that, as it limits the amount of crappy sugar and useless gizmos entering our house. The kindergarten variety of valentines fell to the other end of the spectrum. We did not send in any junque – just the cards, thankyouverymuch.
And finally, the Olympics. The knitting-crazy among my readers already know all about the Ravolympics and the KnitOlympics. The rest of you will just have to puzzle in amusement or walk away. I’ve been trying to decide all month whether and how to participate in these events. I finally decided to participate sort of as an exibition sport. I’m not going for a medal, I’m just going to see how well I can do personally. I know there is no way I will finish this project by the time the torch goes out, but I will do my best to focus on just this one item during the games, and I did start it while watching the opening ceremonies.
Really, who could wait for the actual lighting of the torch to start knitting? Not me!
I’m off to take a shower, run to the yarn shop, and then get ready for a date with my husband this evening. I can hardly believe it that my darling, stoic husband came up with the idea, arranged for his parents to watch the girls, and set up the reservation all on his own. But he did. We’re going to a new-ish restaurant in town, and it should be nice to have a real dinner out with just the two of us. Happy VD!
Hey! I got a Canon Rebel Xxi for Xmas !! I’m still learning it. I’ve signed up for a two-evening community education class on Digital Picture taking. I’m hoping to get some tips!
Have fun with the new camera. It’ll make all the difference. And no, waiting for the torch to be lit was NOT an option…
Thanks for leaving your toddler-eating tips on my blog today. They are all very helpful and assure me that I’m going about it the right way.
I’m not really participating in any knitting-olympic events either. I don’t think I can handle another deadline right now, and knitting is my release. I didn’t really feel like imposing structure on it.