Cutting Corners

For as long as I can remember, I have always been predisposed to taking the easy way.

Lazy? Probably.
When things get tough, I honestly almost always look for the way out that is easiest, even if I know there might be consequences down the road for that decision.

I'm fortunate in that most of the folks I surround myself with both personally and professionally, don't let me make those risky choices, but I still must admit, it is always my first impulse to take the easy road.

So if I'm knitting a complex piece and I make an error that can be fudged on the next row, with little chance of the error being seen, I know I really should go back and fix the error, but almost always, I'll do the quick fix if I can figure one out, even though that means the final piece will have numerous mistakes.

My one saving grace has been the ability to recover quickly from the outcome of a bad choice. So if something goes wrong with a system implementation at work, fer instance because of a short-cut that didn't end up shortening anything, I can usually quickly get things fixed up in a way where deadlines are met and the system works as expected.

Current Knitting
I've done quite a bit more on the scarf, but I'm hoping that the next "progress" picture I show will be the final scarf in all it's glory.

Current Spinning
I did also start spinning the second bonus ball of mohair (Sirius's wonderful fiber) and Border Leicester from Mindy (Puff The Magic Rabbit) that I will use to finish plying the Corriedale/Cormo blend of singles I did from Black Bunny Fiber roving.



It isn't much yet, but it is being spun a bit finer than the first bonus ball, so I'm hoping to stretch it as much as possible.

New Yarn Store in New York State
Van, one of the delightful guys that has attended both East Coast Men's Knitting Retreats, has opened Mountain Bear Crafts, a new center of hand-crafting and
creativity in Sullivan County, New York.

The store carries a variety of yarns, knitting needles, crochet hooks, accessories,
gifts, kids' craft supplies and seasonal items. He also does wonderful custom machine embroidery.

Here are the store particulars for those in the area:

Mountain Bear Crafts
8 Pearl Street
Livingston Manor, NY 12758
(845) 439-8050

e-mail: info@mountainbearcrafts.com
web address: http://www.mountainbearcrafts.com

Please say hi for me if you get the chance to check out the new store.

Readers' Comments/Questions
Concerning Thaddeus' pie-baking, Tim (teejtc) asks, "Is Thaddeus willing to share some of his secrets publicly? Recipe?"

Actually, I know his "recipe" and I've watched him make his crust and pie, but I honestly couldn't come close to making the same pie he makes...it really does take a practiced hand. I can tell you that for the fat in his crust, he uses half unsalted butter and half unsalted margarine. I think the margarine he cuts into the flour with a food processor very finely, but the butter he cuts in coarsely. He refrigerates his dough before rolling it out, and when he does, you can see the butter marbled through the rolled out dough.

Does that help, or just make you more hungry?