QueerJoe's 1,000th

Who knew I had it in me to be such a gas-bag? This post is my 1,000th post since starting QueerJoe.com.

Thinking Back
A little over six years ago, I decided to bring my on-line moniker into the Blogosphere, and created QueerJoe, the blog. I had been reading WendyKnits and the KnittingCurmudgeon, and enjoyed them so much, I thought I might try my hand at it.

I needed to figure out how this new-fangled software worked, and it required a significant amount of knowledge about HTML, FTP, photography and graphics software...none of which I had when I started...some of which I still don't.

Here was the first self-picture that appeared on the blog:



And here is one taken today:



Just like the presidency, blogging can truly age a man in a short period of time!

Over the years, I have truly enjoyed writing this blog...mostly because of the amazing people I have been fortunate to meet along the way. Don't get me wrong, the on-line knitting community is chock full of ass-hats and nut-jobs, but it's also got its fair share of truly wonderful people. I considered listing some of the folks, but I was afraid if I didn't mention your name specifically, you'd think you were in the ass-hat/nut-job category.

Thanks mostly to the wonderful and not-so-wonderful readers who have stopped by and contributed in some way to this space. I set out to create a place that was first and foremost interesting, and in many ways, this site has attracted some of the most interesting and creative folks I could have hoped for.

Happy Birthday/Valentine's Day to Thaddeus
Thaddeus has a Valentine's Day birthday, so we celebrated a very nice weekend.



My birthday present to him is not making him suffer through having me post another picture of him to the blog...he's quite handsome, but he hate's pictures of himself.

Current Knitting
I made a lot of progress on two projects this weekend...I only have one or two more weekends left on the secret project, and I'm hopeful I have only one left on the stranded knitting pullover.




You can see I've gotten up to the fifth full diamond on the sleeve pattern...out of about 13, so I'm moving right along. I've tried the sweater on a couple of times, and I really like how it looks. Can't wait to show final pictures of it on me.

Readers' Comments/Questions
First of all, thank you for all the comments on hotel etiquette and bathroom handwashing. Despite the somewhat graphic descriptions, I am still convinced that there is no more reason for women to wash their hands after using a bathroom than men...like many of you mentioned, everyone should.

Zoe writes, "I tried a Neibling cause of you. LOVED IT."

This is one of my favorite types of comments. Lacefreak Jane introduced me to Niebling...I am glad I could pass it on.

JRumbles writes (via e-mail), "Why do you spend so much time in hotels? Half your time? Why? And in the same room?"

I work as a management consulting project manager, and most of my projects are for extended periods of time. My current project has been going on for about 2 years and will last until the end of this year. The project before that was for 3 and a half years. Since I need to be where my client is, I travel up on Mondays, stay till Thursday or Friday and go home for the weekends. It's pretty common for folks that do my kind of work. Sometimes when you stay at a hotel long enough, the hotel will always reserve the same room for you each week, although it's also leased out during the weekend to someone else, so I can't leave things there.