Everyone Should Have a Thaddeus

My husband is really quite amazing in a number of ways, but researching and learning on the internet is something he does better than most.

From Shopping to Computer Upgrades

Whether it's finding the perfect shirt to give as a gift to our brother-in-law, or teaching himself to upgrade the memory and hard drive in my lap top...Thaddeus is most impressive.

Recently, he noticed how slow my Mac Book Pro worked.  It's worked this slowly since we bought it in 2011, but since I do a lot of my computer work on my work lap top, it wasn't a big deal to me.  But it was completely unacceptable to Thaddeus.  He immediately set out to find out whether a RAM upgrade would fix the performance issue and how to find out how much RAM I actually had, and how much of it was being used.

He ended up doubling my ram from 4 to 8 gig and also replacing my hard drive with a solid state hard drive.  Even though he's never done this before, he was able to order the correct parts, determine he had all the tools necessary and install the new parts in my lap top.  The installation took about 20 minutes...it was quite surprising.

The result is, my computer runs like new...well...better than new...it's about 10 times as fast as it used to be.

And, he used the RAM he took out of my laptop, to add more to his iMac.  Like I said, amazing.

Current Knitting/Spinning

Zipping along on my current scarf/wrap project and thinking I may need to start a new project soon.

I've added about 15 inches since the last photo and I'm still enjoying working on this project.  My niece has asked me to knit her a hat, so I may add that in as a new project shortly.

I also started back spinning the mohair/romney blend I got from Mindy at Puff the Magic Rabbit.

I saw some brioche stitch knitting by Nancy Marchant on Facebook that I think would be a perfect use of this handspun yarn, so now I'm even more inspired to get some yarn made.

Readers' Comments/Questions

Selma writes, "Joe, you might really enjoy knitting the patterns of Hanne Falkenberg. Lots of color changes, fascinating engineering, and, often, totally garter stitch."

Actually, I used to love Hanne's designs when I was working in the yarn store...my current project kind of reminds me of her designs in a much simpler way.  I hated that you had to buy a kit to get her designs.  I thought they were too expensive for what you got.   Also, most of the women I knit for wouldn't have looked very good in her designs, so I never ended up doing any of them.

Bring Back Patriotism

There have always been cut-throat businesses since the founding of this country, whose only concern was profits and eliminating competition.

Capitalism vs. Treason

When large companies do something that damages us as a country, it is often seen as healthy capitalism.  So, when large companies try to weed out competition by off-shoring the manufacturing of their products, not only does it eliminate jobs and manufacturing facilities in this country, but it also puts significant strain on areas of our economy affected by the trade deficit.

And as leaders of industry, their actions almost dictate that smaller companies follow suit, or get swallowed up by their inability to compete.

I've started making a personal stand in my life, to look for areas where I can spend money domestically, even when it isn't the most inexpensive way to do something.  I started with this Kickstarter program:

The Blue Lace project is project by Brooklyn-based Jake Bronstein to have a local manufacturing company make one of the most amazing shoe laces, and have it be a highly visible symbol of American-made pride by those who wear them. His initial goal of $25,000 has been far exceeded, which in my mind, is a very positive indicator that we want this kind of pride back again.  The project allowed me to take my first small step toward favoring U.S.-based manufacturers.

Bronstein also runs an underwear business called Flint and Tinder which produces underwear and other garments here in the United States.  Suffice it to say, I may be spending more on clothes in the future, but I'll be much happier wearing them.

Current Knitting/Crochet/Spinning

Working on a few things and started something new:

1. Verve Sock (not much progress)
2. Nico's Granny Square Blanket (continuing to connect the granny squares)
3. Kid Alpaca Blanket/Coffin Cover (added at least 3 inches to this project recently)
4. New Spinning Project - Puff The Magic Rabbit Mohair/Shetland Mix

I ordered this lovely roving from Mindy a while ago, and can't wait to see what lovely yarn it makes.  She's got some more beautiful rovings on her Etsy site right now...love the silk blends.