The Boat Sweater

I am assuming (yes, I know what that stands for) that you are getting so tired of hearing about the Boat Sweater, and I know I haven't put the umph into it that I did the Stonewall.
After restarting certain parts of this sweater so many times, I really, really do not like this pattern. Well, not the pattern as far as it is turning into what I wanted it to be, but the actual written pattern.

I am not blaming the author, it could be completely my fault as I have found only a few complaints that mirror mine. Having said that, through no fault of the author, I will never purchase another one of her patterns. I apparently can not understand the way she writes.

1. I had to restart the short row shaping twice because it wouldn't match up with the joining round. Finally made it work by moving the BOM over. Which I now hope will not mess up the short row shaping that was supposed to make the back hang a little longer than the front (which I loved about the pattern)
2. I could not get the written part of the diamond pattern across the chest to match up. I ripped that out three times before I went to Ravelry and found someone who had the same problem so used the chart instead. I did that and it finally worked out.
3. I got halfway through the first sleeve before I realized that following the pattern would give me a sleeve that would fit Shaq. (yes I am getting gauge) so ripped that out and did a 6 round decrease instead of 8 and that seemed to bring it all together.

 You know how I am about paying for a pattern. I will scour the internet for a free pattern, but if I end up finding something I really like enough to pay for a pattern????? Well it shouldn't need this much fiddling on my part for it to work out.
And not to belittle the writer at all, but don't go on my Ravelry project page and comment so sweetly about what problems I was having and then never reply in PM when I tell you.
That gave me the feeling that she was being totally fake and just wanted it to look like she gave a hollering hoot about my issues with her pattern.

To sum it up, I will finish this sweater, or become dangerously close by the end of this weekend. We have a trip coming up which will allow me 5 uninterrupted hours of knitting time. (I love daylight savings time!) That should get me pretty close to finished barring any other major rip outs.

Would I make another one? Probably, now that I have added all of my notes. But if I was just starting out, and didn't know anything about knitting a sweater, NO! I would not.
If I was recommending a sweater to a beginner knitter who had never attempted a sweater in the round? Hell no! I would not.

Whether it was my fault or the fault of the author's I would not suggest this to anyone who didn't have a complete and utter understanding of sweater knitting and construction.
Sorry!
 

REVIEW: Kindle Fire-Pros, or why I like my Deedah Fire

I was going to take some pics but I decided you can find pics all over the web. Which also leads to my first Pro-

No camera: while some may see this as a con, I don't.
I have a $350 Canon that I used almost daily with the five grandbrats. Then, I got a smart phone, now that same camera is collecting dust in the corner of my room, only to be brought out for special pictures, or, worse, when the phone died, probably from all those damn pictures I take. I don't normally have my tablet in my hand, for those goofy, hurry or your going to miss it shots, or right next to me for those, MiMi look what I can do shots.But my good old trusty smart phone, always with me. Well except when it's on that damn charger!

I bought my Fire for one main reason, to hold my pdf  knitting patterns so every time I want to knit something I don't have to print it out, or worse, try and find the previous print out. (yeah I generally give up after 30 seconds and just print it out again) Thereby saving myself ink and paper. (This is the argument I gave PB, and he seemed to think it was a sound investment!)
I am after all, first and foremost, a knitter. We must keep our priorities straight! :0)

I like the fact that it doesn't have all the buttons all around the thing on the outside.
And for those whining because the speaker volume button isn't on the outside of the unit, REALLY! Is that all you have to bitch about. I categorize those people right beside what ever idiot will take a beloved cartoon movie and watch it frame by frikkin' frame to see if they can spot the devil lurking in the background trying to hypnotize their 3 year old into stealing all their money and making off in the family car.

Amazon has loads and loads of apps for the kindle, and!, you get one free paid app a day. From what I hear it's not all those dumb ass apps that you wouldn't get even if they were free, but real honest to goodness, worth every penny apps. I like free ;0)
If Amazon doesn't have what you want, there are butt loads of websites where you can download other apps to your Kindle, one of which is GetJar.com They are frikkin loaded with apps. Check it out, just make sure the fish are fed and the cat is in and the dog is out before you visit their website, you are going to be there a while.

I have already purchased a knitting magazine subscription. It would be awesome if Interweave let you do this because it is DA' BOMB! The formatting is good, the pictures are great, and, yes here we go again, I don't have to print out the pattern, just turn on my Fire!

DD#1 set up her netflix account on my Fire so I can watch it anytime, anywhere. Hmm... wonder if they have the first episodes of Dexter? I think I missed something about the brother.... but anyway. The graphics are great on video. I am not going to lie, it's a little bit sticky when you first start the movie, has something to do with buffering, or bumping and grinding or something like that. It straightens out fairly quickly, and lets face it, who the hell likes to watch the beginning credits anyway. Unless your name is up there, then it would just be you and your Mom.

I love the fact that it fits in my one little bitty hand. I don't have to hold it like a lunch tray. Which goes along with the earlier EPIPHANY from yesterday's post.

You can pretty much see the screen anyway you look at it without too much of a problem. Now granted I haven't tried direct sunlight. I don't plan on being in any direct sunlight, do you know how frikkin' hot it gets here? Your tablet would immediately become a pile of sweating electronics that could fry the guts, which makes the direct sunlight a moot point doesn't it.

There is not mic on this thing, but the way I see it, without the camera, what the hell you need a mic for anyway. The speakers are pretty good tho, but better on headphones, which is great when you don't want anyone to hear you listening to Dane Cook videos.

There is no 3G, but WIFI is the way to go, it's a whole hell of a lot cheaper and you can just about snatch any signal out of the air and ride it. I keep my 3g on my phone turned on, because I have a top of the line 4G smart phone that should pick up 3G effortlessly, ummm... sorry Ma'am, that everywhere but where you live!. So what good is it if, even tho they advertise 3G everywhere, it's not. I did accidentally pick it up once when we were in Ga. but as soon as I went, WOW it was gone. Kinda like a one night stand without all the fun.

All in all, so far, I like it for what I bought it for. I didn't want an Ipad, I thought I did, until I saw the side by side pics of the two. It looks like a lunch tray when you hold it, or you have to put it in your lap, on the table, on something. I can use my Kindle Fire on a crowded bus in standing room only! So there!
All the griping and complaining are from those who have, or wanted an Ipad. Once again.... come on do I really need to say it again?

REVIEW: Kindle Fire:The Cons

Let me start off by saying, I am not 'tech' savvy, I don't know the difference between a GUI and ROM, though I do know what a BM is and why you need one everyday. ;0) I do, however, know what plain Jane, regular untechy people like me like, and we like Fire.
And in the interest of full disclosure, I have never laid my eyes or hands on an Ipad before. But I do know how much one will cost you and the basic gist of what they will do. I had an Iphone for a couple of years so I pretty much "grok" the Ipad.

I received my Kindle Fire, or as I like to call it, my Deedah Fire, in the mail yesterday.
I read all the reviews around the net, mainly because I was excited and bored waiting for it to come in.
What I gathered from all that reading is this, IPad users HATE the Fire.
Now you can not tell by the review you are reading that this person has ever even seen an Ipad before, but as I read, and read, and read, I began to see a pattern.

For example: One guy was complaining that the 'swipe' bar was in the middle of the screen, which made it very uncomfortable for him to swipe and unlock his Fire. REALLY!! I have teeny tiny hands and it's not a problem, or wait, here's a better idea, while you are holding it in your left hand, swipe with your right finger! WOW! An epiphany! I mean come on!

Then another complaint: Unless you have very small fingers, the Fire's keyboard will be too hard for you to navigate. REALLY!! My BFF has big hands, not HUGE man hands, but bigger hands than mine, and if she can use the keypad on a blackberry without any problems, I don't think anyone would have a problem with the keyboard on the Fire, not even in portrait mode. Are you lazy or just whiny?

Then there are the ten million complaints about the storage on the Fire! OK first of all, was this a surprise to you when you purchased your Fire? Did they hide the box behind curtain number two and tell you you couldn't have it until you paid for it? I went to the Amazon sight, guess what? The specs are right there for everyone, including I am sure this guy. So basically what he is saying that, even though he is a techy guru of some sort, he never read a review, or hey, here's a thought, checked out the specs on the Amazon website. It was all one big "OH SHIT!" shock to him when his Fire was left on his doorstep?! The Fire does have less storage than an Ipad, but the Fire gives you Amazon to back you up. You have the cloud to hold all your crap, most Ipad users probably use the Cloud anyway don't they. 'Cause lets face it, Ipad or Fire or Laptop or desktop, you never have enough room for all your crap.

My absolute favorite, The guy who has his Ipad sitting beside his Fire, going at them both at the same time. (which I think is illegal in some states)
Ok so I am supposed to believe that you, who already have an Ipad, bought the Fire because you're a tech hoarder. No! I'm not that damn dumb! You bought the damn thing to do a comparison to a product that you already had, used and liked. Let's face it dude, in the back of your mind, you were a little bit afraid weren't you? Afraid that you just spent $699 on something that my little $199 tablet could do. Don't worry idiot, THIS IS NOT THE IPAD! If you want an Ipad, don't buy the Fire!! It's a simple as that.

Now, on to what I, as a normal everyday untechy user, think about the Fire