banner

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

PINhead

Has anyone seen my camera? I was cleaning house, and now it's missing...

Otherwise I would show you a photo of the dog sweater I'm making for Oscar, which is currently incredibly unimpressive, looking a good bit like this
but darker and in yarn.

I do have this photo of a hat I knit for a holiday exchange (one of those things where you don't know who's going to end up with it)



I did enjoy knitting that a lot, but decided I liked it the most when it was evenly balanced between the colors, so if I knit anything like it again, I'll change the bottom part of the pattern to be a little less background-heavy.

The person who ended up with that hat was extremely unimpressed at the time, but called the party-host a few weeks later saying "you've got to thank her for me, that's the greatest hat ever!" (my guess is they've never worn wool, which is a good bit better in all ways than the generic acrylic stuff you get in most stores) So that person, who is stylishly bald, asked me to make a hat for him.

I like him a good bit, so I did, with the caveat that I didn't care how much he paid me. When I do charge people to make them a hat, it ends up being close to $75, which I think is fair for the number of hours it takes (I'm a fast knitter - a simple ribbed or stocking stitch hat will take me two hours, fair isle takes slightly longer - maybe four hours, cables take just a touch longer, and lace might take till the end of the millenium, depending on how idiot-proof the pattern is). But I know this person doesn't have $75 for a hat, I know he really and truly would have appreciated it, and I would enjoy knitting it, so I just told him how much the yarn cost, and he gave me an additional $25, which is fine. (He has no concept of how long it takes to knit things, and thinks I knit faster than anyone on the planet, so it was even more fair by what I'm sure he thought went into it.)

Plus, he was very easy as far as pattern and color - jokingly he said "if you feel the need to knit a hat that would make people question my sexuality, I'm fine with that" to which I replied "can I pick colors that would make people question [your wife's] gender?" and he nearly choked on his drink. So basically, super impressed, easy to please, fun pattern and happy colors (I went with Ravens' purple, black and white so people will still know he's a boy) and I'm happy to knit cheaply. There's often a lot of discussion about how much to charge for "commission" knitting, and I think it's important to have a sliding scale.

And all of that doesn't matter, because I forgot to take a picture of it. I'll see if I can get a picture from him. He loved it, and I really liked the pattern (and set it aside in my mind for a sweater I've been thinking about, too).

In other news, did you know if you mistype your PIN more than three times when you're trying to buy something with your debit card, they'll cut you off?

There are just way too many PINs in my life anyway, but I was trying to buy gas today (Shell gas is five-cents off a gallon on Tuesdays, and because I'm pathetic and have no life, this is very exciting to me.) I know there's money in the account, but I apparently don't know the PIN, because I typed the wrong one.

Twice.

And then I realized it and typed the right one but my finger slipped.

So now the line of cars behind me is extended outside the gas station lot and into the street.

And I go inside and see if the guy can swipe it.

And of course he can't.

So he comes with me to the pump and does everything I just did, but hits the buttons more angrily. And it still doesn't work. Telling me to just pump the gas and then come in, he goes inside to flip the little switch.

And now the folks behind me are honking. So I go back in, and the card still doesn't work.

Another customer in the store looks at me and says "I'm pretty sure you're going to need a bodyguard when you go back out there" and we discussed whether or not he was brave enough to take on the job, or if I should try using stale donuts as a shield. (He did offer to go out first to try to distract the masses)

The attendant was still fighting the machine and said "they say anything to you and I'm shutting down all the pumps!" (note to self: wear this color lipstick more)

Eventually (using another card) I did get the gas paid for, and pulled out quickly without getting shot or anything.

And then I stupidly went to Home Depot. I needed weather stripping and a bigger pot for my jade plant and I swear, there's money in that account! But the card didn't work. Again.

Apparently, I cannot be taught.

This time the line was shorter and their car horns were out of reach, so it was much more peaceful.

I just made sure no one was following me when I drove home.

Hopefully I can convince the bank that I didn't steal my own card and go back and get the pot and weather stripping tomorrow. Maybe by then I'll find my camera and can take pictures of the angry villagers behind me in line.

10 Comments:

Blogger Jody said...

Cool hat!

Crazy stories :)

9:52 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

You're too much!

10:37 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Too funny! I think I have days like that way too often... although for me it's been forgetting to put the NEW card in my wallet and to take the OLD card out.

9:45 AM  
Blogger Carol said...

Technology is wonderful..except for when it's not! How frustrating.

10:05 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Love the colors in your hat. They have the perfect contrast for a colorwork hat! I have totally done that with my pin before...good luck...I had to GO TO THE BANK to convince them I hadnt stolen the card!

11:39 AM  
Blogger KT said...

Yeah, it's a safety thing in case someone steals your card and tries to use it. (Why they wouldn't just use it as a credit card that you just have to fake a signature for is beyond me!)

Yay for cheap gas and new hats!

3:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What ever happened to the day-glo octopus you were working on so many years ago? You have a denizen of the deep thing going on.
I'm glad I don't try to sell any knitted things. I don't have enough self-esteem to ask for what they're worth.

10:59 AM  
Blogger Linda said...

Been there, done that. Usually I can still use it as a credit card so that's my fallback action (to avoid the lynch mob) but even that doesn't always work. Those other people may have been frustrated, but they know how that feels, also.

1:00 PM  
Blogger Bess said...

they only lock down your account for 24 hours. Try it again later.

8:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Did you come up with that pattern on your own? (Not implying whatever horrible plagiarism sin!) I was just wondering how you worked out the decreases in the patterning. I mean, I can see the decreases run along the blue, but what?

11:58 AM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home

      
Marriage is love.