I was going to just blow this off until tomorrow at the earliest, but *dear* Tsarina (of sock fame) had to go tell the world I finally had a blog, so I feel it incumbent on me to put *something* here. So I'll tell you why I was going to blow it off.

I wanted the first post to be something at least interesting, if not completely spectacular. What to do? How about a picture of the materials for the new mystery sampler in The Gift of Stitching? That would work, and the Blue Spruce Jobelan is a yummy color. Unfortunately, I received a note from Colleen that some of my latest thread order was on backorder, and would be shipped as soon as it was available. And of course the Wisper for the sampler was one of them. So much for THAT idea.

Then I thought to simply post a picture of my first rather pathetic attempt at a toe-up sock, the baby sock from Tsocks 101, authored by the aforementioned Tsarina. If you have never knit socks before, this little primer will teach you everything you need to know about the basic process, either toe-up or cuff-down, with different types of toes and heels,, and the logic behind the sock process, so you'll be able to fit your socks to YOUR feet, instead of the designer's concept of a foot, along with some delicious side commentary. However, the poor little baby sockie is having a fit of the sullens after being thrown at the wall and then visiting the pond for the second time on the heel turning, after three froggings (and still not right) of the toe, so it looks rather like a small bag, not the least inspiring, informative, or pleasant to look upon. I hasten to point out that this is not the fault of the directions, but of the thumb-fingered idiot behind the needles, aka yours truly. I keep screwing up the picking up of the wraps, usually on the last row or two of the turning. I still haven't figured out exactly how the mechanics of the wrapped, then knit, stitches work, so I'm helpless to pick up a dropped stitch, and therefore must frog all the way back to where I know what I'm doing again.

Or, I could post a picture of my major WIP in cross-stitch, an exquisite Christmas Stocking designed by the wonderful Ellen Maurer-Stroh. But I want to save that for another day.

Or, I could post pictures of all the animated fur in this zoo, and fear not, I *will* do that, but not the first day...

Or, I could rhapsodize, with photos, about the newly re-opened produce market that closed last month to the dismay of two generations of local produce shoppers. The new ownership/management is going to be a worthy successor to this neighborhood tradition, I think. Or, I could if I had taken the stupid camera with me to take pictures.

But all of these depend on showing pictures, right? So I got my new digital camera last week, and, while the basic auto mode is fairly easy to figure out, anything more involved, and this camera is very involved, really needs the manual for reference. Alas, the manufacturer somehow neglected to include such a thing. I have written to them, both e- and snail-, in hopes of getting something *done* about this. But even if I *had* the manual, and the fancy pictures, I still couldn't blog them because I've been too busy to upload the processing software and install the needed USB cable so the camera will talk to the computer.

I hope you enjoyed this little preview of coming attractions. In a way, this is probably the perfect post to start this blog, now I think about it. It is a pretty damn typical situation around here, after all. Welcome to my world!