May I just say …

how very much I dislike dial-up internet service?

I'm a graphic designer, or at least I used to be, and I subscribe to Before & After magazine for inspiration and ideas. They offer a choice of printed-and-mailed or .pdf, and I've been getting the .pdf to save paper and space. Oh, and also money. But a simple little 16-page issue takes for-freaking-ever [more than an hour] to download – it's 3.6 mb – and I know they could reduce the size of it if they tried. I'm assuming they're creating a .pdf file from the same files they use for the print edition. It would take very little effort to reduce the photo files before they create the .pdf.

So there. Harumph.

Marilyn recently stumbled over here and left a comment yesterday wondering about the mind-body effect on weight loss. Do you suppose that if we all went around chanting, "I think I can, I think I can," that it would make a positive difference? It hasn't seemed to help me as far as actual numbers on the scale or tape measure go, but I know when I think of myself as fit and healthy, I do feel a teensy bit more confident.

Maybe the answer is to limit weighing and measuring to food quantities, and chuck that bathroom scale and tape measure after all.

I wish.

Let's talk about knitting for a change. I'm nearly finished with the back of the Shapely Tank I started before I left for Tennessee. When I got back, the new issue of Knitter's was waiting for me. [Beware of their website: It's a tangled skein of broken links and also is very flashy.] I'm not usually a fan of the spring and summer issues of knitting magazines, and I definitely haven't been a Knitter's fan for a long, long time. But this issue is a winner. And if I could actually find the links to the designs I particularly liked, I'd give them to you. I'm trying, but it's taking for-freaking-ever. See above rant about dial-up internet service. And screwy website.

I especially like the Chevron Waistcoat, the Fitted Tank, a short-sleeved cardigan called Diamond Mesh and an off-the-shoulder top called Drifting Sand, although I wouldn't wear it off the shoulder. That's an unprecedented number of must-knit designs for a summer issue.

I've already made the Shapely Tank once; I kind of wish I weren't so far along with it, as I'd definitely be using the yarn for one of those four tops instead.

I'm sure you've already read Meg's post about the recently published Perfect Girls, Starving Bodies. You've probably already read the book. I'm not sure I'll order it, as it seems to be written for younger women. But I'll look for it at the library and read it just because Meg said to.

Weed-whacking is done. Mowing is done. DVD project is in progress. House is a shambles. I've got my work cut out for me today.

And you?