Awhile ago, the center weight of my grandfather’s clock slipped off the chain, and the chain slipped off its sprocket wheel. The “how” isn’t important. I’m grateful no one was hurt — and there’s no permanent damage to the clock. If you’ve ever wound a grandfather’s clock, you know there are three chains with weights. The ones on the ends are for the chimes and striking mechanism. The center one runs the clock. And of course it’s the most difficult to reposition! Hard to impossible to reach with your fingers, and very limited room inside the... (Read More ...)

A few days ago, I started two knitting projects, with patterns I haven’t used before. Only one had a knitting gauge; the other one’s knitting instructions were well — pithy. I think of myself as an intermediate to advanced knitter. Usually I can figure out the knitting instructions as I go. This time, however, both patterns presented challenges. And after a few inches, I realized they weren’t going well. Time to restart. So, I frogged the knitting. You know, ripped out the stitches. [Everyone say it quickly: rip it, rip it, rip it! ] And the result is: When knitting instructions... (Read More ...)