Black Sheep Goodies & Happy Anniversary

Today is my 4th wedding Anniversary! I am really happy about it, just we are both so busy that we will have to wait to celebrate it. I think we might manage something like maybe a movie, who knows, we'll see. I just wanted to say that I love my husband very much and I look forward to many many more anniversaries with him.


Ok, on with my goodies from Black Sheep. This lot is all of the white stuff that I got to dye and spin into beautiful yarn. In the front is some Merino/Silk that I am not sure where I got it from because I can't find the company name. Next to it on the left is some 19 micron merino that I got from Carolina Homespun. They are really nice people and I shop from them every year. In fact I think all of the white that I got is from people that I have shopped with before and love a whole lot, except for the merino silk, because I don't know where that came from. In the back is some lovely Karaoke white (50% fine wool / 50% soy silk) from Dyelots. I used to go visit Janice at her beautiful shop while I still lived in Eugene. I know that she has moved into a bigger and better space since then that sounds really cool. If you are in the area it is worth seeing. Also in the back row is some Merino/Tencel from From Barn to Yarn. I have bought alpaca from them before. Their fiber is always very nice and perfect for dyeing. I think more of that really pretty sock yarn is in order, like what I did for sockaploooza.


Here are the two dyed things that I couldn't resist. The one on the right is wool with rayon slubs in it. I wasn't too impressed with how the roving looked as is, but the vendor had a sample of it spun up and it was gorgeous. The vendor being The Fiber Addict, who doesn't have a website, but does have an email address. The other fiber on the left is optim merino. Optim is where they take the merino fiber and stretch it down to the fineness of cashmere. It is super soft and less expensive than cashmere. It is also suppose to be machine washable because the stretching moves the scales on the hairs further apart so that it won't felt. I am thinking sock yarn, but whether I am going to sell it yet or keep it for myself is yet to be determined. If I decide to sell it will have to go for like $45 and I'm not entirely sure that anyone would buy it for that. Besides I really love it, so it just might have to be mine after all. This roving is from Stick and Stone.

I did buy a couple of other things, but they are for swaps and things so I can't show them. I will tell you thought that I got them from Fox Hollow Farm and Fiber, who I used to visit quite a bit when I was still in Eugene.

Black Sheep at Last

Ok, so I finally have time to write about Black Sheep. It was really exciting.


The drive down is about 3 hours, depending on traffic. So, here we are going down the long and very straight I-5.


Here is blogless Erika (She is going to get a blog soon). She drove me down and we enjoyed many hours of travel together. She is a major shop-a-holic and Black Sheep was a total temptation. I just taught her to spin, so she bought fiber, I taught her to knit, so she bought yarn, and she already embroiders, so she bought embroidery yarn too. She learned how to knit so that she could make complex lace shawls. I think she found plenty of lace weight yarn just for that purpose too. She really wants to take pictures of her work and place them up online, so I am sure she is just on the verge of getting a blog.

This is just for color. Color was everywhere and it left a lot for inspiration. More than likely this is Dicentra Designs, which I love for her bright color that doesn't bleed when it is rinsed out.


This is McKenzie Alpacas. When I was still at the University of Oregon our knitting group would go and visit their farm. She is always very nice to visit and has some of the nicest alpacas. They are soooo friendly they just about eat out of your hand.

At Lunch we took a break and hit one of my favorite places to eat in Eugene, Newman's Fish and Chips. One of the joys of going to school in Eugene is that you get to know the best places to eat for little money. My husband and I decided that they have the best fish and chips and that Fisherman's Market (the other fish & chips place) has the best sauces. Now if they would just merge my fish and chips needs would be fulfilled =)

After lunch I met up with the bloggers. I somehow managed not to take any pictures of them (where is my brain?). I met Jen, Dene, Tammy, and (of course) Chrissy! Thank goodness for Chrissy putting up all the links to their sites. I am terrible with names and I guess blog names are even worse for me to remember, though I had visited a couple of them before. I really did want to knit with them but I was so distracted. I still had one half of the last room to walk through and all the animals to see. It was too much of a lure, so off I went shopping! I also saw Asher and Emily out shopping too.


Look at the pretty, freshly sheared alpacas. These guys are such cuties! There was an alpaca show at the same time that always happens at the same time as Black Sheep. There was one year, like 3 years ago, that it didn't and made many of us sad.

Here we are back on the road home. This is I-84. I just love the gorge, it is so pretty. The weather was really nice and I was exhausted by the time we got home. I'm going to post soon about all the stuff I bought. I just need to get pics of it. Most of it is white, but I will give a nice shout out to all of the great vendors that I bought from.

Strange Relatives

Ok, so I am finally able to sit down and write out a nice long post. I was going to post about Black Sheep, but I have spent the past 2 days dealing with strange relatives and trying to avoid them.

Well, we have known for awhile that these relatives of my grandfather's wanted to come to visit. We were rather dreading it. Our dread was more than accurate. It is a toss up which one was worse, the bossy one, her daughter the low class one, the sleazy guy, or his girlfriend. The bossy one is my grandfather's sister, who mainly told us things, and did not ask. Like telling us that she was going to come to our house and look through our old pictures because she was sure that some of them were her's and she wanted them back. For one thing if there are any pictures that were possibly her's they were given to my grandfather some 20 years ago and she has no idea which ones were her's. My mother, who is the family historian, was really pissed and by no means was she going to let them go through her precious papers and photos in case the might find something.

Next, her daughter, has something like 10 grandchildren, which she decided to show pictures of each and every one of them and tell us the status of their virginity. Now really I have not ever met any of these people before in my life and really truly I don't want to know. In fact I really don't care whether they have promised or not promised to wait until they are married. In fact it rather grosses me out.

Next, the creepy guy. He is apparently the son of my grandfather's brother. We have never met him before either. Now keep in mind that he is the first cousin to my father and in his mid-50s. He managed to somehow manhandle or annoy every female person in the room. He managed to manhandle my mother's shirt until it came off of her shoulder and it was not a low necked shirt. He fondled her twin sister's hand so bad that she wasn't sure if he was counting the diamonds in her ring or coming on to her. He kept patting my hand, which people that know me know that I don't like people in my space. He watched my 16 year old cousin as she walked around the room to the point that her father, who is normally not aware of such things, comment that "it is such a difficult age." His girlfriend was not much better, since she went around trying to kiss and hug all of the guy's.

Overall they just seemed pushy and like they were fishing for information. They did everything but actually ask to see my grandparent's bank statements. We were all deeply offended by their behavior and I am so thankful that they are leaving on an early flight tomorrow.

I think that I am too tired out to post about Black Sheep tonight. I have all my pics and it will be a long post. I hope that every one out there isn't afflicted with such strange relations.

Black Sheep Post Delayed

I had planned on posting a nice long post about Black Sheep and all the neat things & people that I saw. However, my luck is against me. I ran up against crazy relations (very distant at that) that have drug out the whole day. Maybe I will post about that with my wonderful day out at Black Sheep. Sort of a balance. Anyway, I am off to go watch Miss Marple and enjoy my knitting!

Black Sheep

Well, I am up! The time is right on this post. Other than I got up at 5:30am. I actually couldn't sleep since about 3! I love Black Sheep.

So, I have the camera packed and I am ready to head out for a good day of fiber buying. My main goal is actually dye, since prochem doesn't seem to offer USPS as a shipping option anymore. $15 for 3 bottles of dye, ouch! So we will see. I am sure that I will be wiled into some lovely fiber as well! I'll post pics either later today or sometime tomorrow. It is a 3.5 drive down to Eugene, so I might just fall asleep when I get home. See ya all later =)

PS. And a happy anniversary to my parents. 27 years!

Packages

Well, I received a couple of packages. The first I won't bother you with a picture because it is just another shipment of yarn for painting. I'll show you when I get some done. I think, though, that I really won't have any time for dyeing until July. So, a couple of weeks. Things are so busy what with Black Sheep being this weekend. Then Chrissy is going to come and ride the Thomas the Tank Engine with her kids next week, so I might see her. Sarah is going this weekend with her daughter. My anniversary is also next week. Then we lead straight up to the 4th, which is also a big event. I'm more or less organizing a bbq for it, which I will hopefully get pics of to share. So, after that I will be back on track with dyeing and posting on Etsy. I think I might even manage some handpainted novelty and possibly some handpainted ribbon yarn.


The second package that I got was from Krafty1, the person that I knit socks for for Sockaploooza. She sent me her very pretty Jersey Girl Pattern and a chocolate bar as a belated birthday present. I think that it will be the right size exactly for all that sweater yarn I have been spinning. I also "stole" this lovely Knit and Tonic button from her for my sidebar, since I don't have a button for her yet. Thank you Krafty1 for the lovely present. I think that it will be perfect.



In other news Knot Another Hat's new website should be up today. My yarn isn't up there yet, but it will be soon. I'll make sure to point out where when I know it is up!

Summer Days, Cherries, and Updates

These summer days just seem to fly by. I have been really busy on a project I can't even share. I have been knitting for Knittin' Mom. So, as a hint, keep an eye out for the Winter '07 Interweave Knits for her pattern =)

Ok, so on to things I can talk about:



In my spare time I have been working on this wonder. I have now taken it out about 3 times, I think. Each time we decided that it needed to go up a needle size and have finally landed on size 13s to do the job. This is a scarf that will be a store model for Knot Another Hat. It is knit the long way out of Fiesta Rayon Boucle Yarn.


This is my husband at his brand new job. He is working for Sarah's dad during Cherry Harvest. Harvest lasts about a month, but it is good work and he is really close to home. I actually got to go up with Sarah and visit him at work. Which is something I haven't been able to do on any of his other jobs. This was his first day, doesn't he look like a pro? There are more pics on the Knot Another Hat Blog and in fact Sarah took this picture of him too. First hand experience is also posted on my husbands blog: The Porch Swing.

Art Deco Bag Pattern

I finished another art deco bag not too long ago. It just took me awhile to find the right button and I think I found the perfect one. I really love this bag. It is Turquoise and green, which are my mother's favorite colors. She has tried to get this bag away from me, but I put it up on Etsy. Maybe she will get one for her birthday or Christmas. The trouble being that she likes everything I make, like a good mother, but how am I suppose to "make-it" as an artist if she ends up with all of it?


So, I named this bag Key Lime and it is now for sale up on Etsy. I am also trying something new. I have decided to sell patterns to my bag. I was originally thinking of maybe submitting it to one of the magazines, but most of them don't like it if the item has been published in anyway. As in it has been pictured up on my blog so it is considered published. So, I figured I would try selling it myself. There is a pdf copy and a paper copy for sale. I am pretty excited about this. I am going to list it in the sidebar soon and also a couple of free patterns. I made some adorable cuffs last Christmas for my grandmother that I think would make a good free pattern. I also have a set of charity knitting patterns that would be good too. We'll see in the next couple of days.

Blog Map

I think this is so cool. It is a mapped out version of my blog. It just looks really pretty and almost flowery. I found the link off of Mason-Dixon Knitting and I had to put it up. The site is Websites as Graphs. Go and try out your own blog and see what it looks like.

Quick Post

My husband found this very interesting Wool Ferrari.

My yarn which I did decide to name Mine, Don't Touch! sold very shortly after it was placed up. I'm just going to have to love it until I ship it out on Monday. Hopefully whoever got it will love it as much as I do. *sigh*

I think I am going to head off to bed now and tomorrow I am going to order more sock yarn to dye.

Busy Week

This has been a busy week for me. Tuesday and Thursday night I had a learn to knit class to teach. Only 2 people signed up, but that is expected because of the awesome weather we have been having. They were both really enthusiastic students. They kept me late Tuesday wanting to make sure everything was perfect. I think that they will both be fine knitters =). The only downside being that I was just exhausted when I got home and just kinda blindly stared at my computer for about an hour before going to bed.

All of my yarn is now up on etsy. You can see all of it at my shop. I think that I am going to have to dye more soon since I sold Sea Turtle yesterday. I am so excited that my yarn is selling.

This week too Sarah has been working on the new newsletter for summer's session of knitting classes. I am still teaching beginning knitting, but we have added some other really interesting classes that I can't wait to teach. The newsletter should be out this next week or so, with classes starting in July.

In other news: Black Sheep Gathering is in about a week and I can't wait to go down there. Knittin' Mom has plans to meet up with people there. It will be so exciting to meet a few people whose blogs I read.

In other other news: I found out that Clover is discontinuing their mini-circulars, which is very sad to me. I love them for making socks, mittens and preemie baby hats. I once had this thought about making an entire pattern book because you can convert just about anything made on dpns to the mini-circ's. I guess that means that I should stock up before they are all gone.

Handpainted Etsy Sock Yarn

I finally have some sock yarn up on Etsy.


Here are all the colors. I put 2 skeins up on Etsy last night and they have already sold (happy dance)! I have put up 2 more and I am slowly getting them all up on there. It took me forever yesterday because my camera would not cooperate. Maybe it was the lighting. We had a good size thunderstorm here yesterday that made everything dark and weird. The two that sold were Fire (Red & Yellow) and Mountain Sunrise (Pink & More). You can check out the rest of my yarn at my etsy shop.


This is my favorite skein that I dyed. I love color, in case you couldn't tell. It won't be up on Etsy until the very last if I can help it. I very nearly named it Mine! Don't Touch (he he), but figured that would be bad, so I named it Carnivale. Which I think I have managed to name every one of my favorite yarns. Who knew I could become so attached to my own yarn? I am trying to tell myself that I can make another one and that I really should sell off my first batch of yarn. We will see =)

Sockaploooza Finally Fulfilled

I finally received a pair of socks and goodies for sockaploooza. I think (and correct me if I am wrong) that I was rescued by a swap angel. Thank you! Thank you!


Alison says that if my pal magically pulls through that I will just have 2 pairs of socks. I think that I can live with that. Included in this package was my beautiful socks (that fit great), a sheepie on a key chain, a skein of Cherry Tree Hill Sock Yarn, fruit snacks from the UK (she is from the UK), a lavender sache, and a lovely post card. I have to share the card that she included with the socks just because of how cute it is:

• Rainbow Socks: Legend has it that these are magic socks. -that the yarn was hand crafted by elves in the Hinterland of Olde English folklore. Each strand was carefully dipped in the seperate colours of the very rainbow that pours itself into the fabled crock of gold. Luck for sure is the one who owns these socks!

Believe me, I couldn't be more tickled by that note. I do feel very lucky and maybe it was just meant to be that I got these socks instead of any other.

Knit Sock Kit Swap

I found this really cool swap and I just had to join. It is a Knit Sock Kit Swap. Pretty much the project is to make a bag and put together all the ingredients to make a sock. So, for me, I chose the I love Algebra, which means that I also have to scale a sock pattern to my pal's feet. A special pattern just for her (or him). I have been in a bag mood lately. I have lots of ideas and can't wait for it to start. If you are interested in joining too check it out quick since sign-ups end Tuesday at 8am!

Squirrel Sweater

I thought that I would do a quick post and link to this adorable handknit squirrel sweater. I just love cute overload. It makes my day =)

One Skein Swap

I received my One Skein package on Wednesday, which really rounded out a wonderful day. I love the yarn I got.


The white skein is a really nice wool that felts! I am so excited. I have been poking around with options like buying ecowool or even spinning some white. I might still do both, because this is going to be for something special. I think that I will make a whole flock of white rabbits. Something that is just for me. The second is a ball of Trekking. I love it. To clarify just a little, I can get trekking at my local yarn shop, I just can't get all of the colors (and there are a lot of colors). I especially can't get the one that I got off of ebay. I even tried looking through Sarah's sample books from the supplier and we didn't see it. Oh, well. I love sock yarn. I don't think she has this color either (thank you! thank you!). The other things are a little box with little round stones (cute!) and a bar of handmade soap. I'm just so happy with everything I got. It's so awesome to get mail, especially packages of yarn =). The next package will be after she has traveled to Buenos Aires. How cool is that? For some reason I keep thinking alpaca. Hmmm...can't wait to see what's in the next package.

I had thought that I would post about the package that I sent out too, since I sent it out the same day I got mine. Just I have had second thoughts. There is the tiny tiniest possibility that my pal could possibly maybe read my blog and then she would see it and the surprise would be spoiled for September. So, I am saving up my photos of the packages and I will post them in September. I have sent out some pretty cool things. I hope that she likes them =)

My Birthday part 2

So yesterday I went out into the world to go for a day of shopping and good food. It was loads of fun even if I was totally exhausted by the end.


First stop was Woodland Woolworks. This place calls to spinners and knitters alike. They have a sale room and also tend to have pretty good everyday prices. I love visiting them anytime. Pictured above is the lovely roving that I had to get. Top row: 20% cashmere 80% Superfine Wool, Merino Heather (Hollyberry), and Merino/Angora/Silk. The bottom: 20% Cashmere 80% Superfine Wool (Mocha), Wool Heather top (Cornflower), Merino Heather (Snapdragon), and Merino/Angora (Lilac). All of them are 4 oz (116 grams) each. I especially love the Cashmere/Superfine Wool blends because they were in the sale room for really cheap. They were around $16.50 each, which is really inexpensive. I think I am going to dye them up, spin them really fine, and sell them in 2 oz (60 gram) skeins. I think that they will dye really beautifully and be so much fun to spin up. Just a dream, I can't wait! =)

Next stop was the main room. They have Meilenweit on sale for $13.50 a ball through the month of June. I just couldn't resist this ball of yarn. It is all pretty and heathery. It reminds me kinda of 50s colors and my favorited colors to dye with (turquiose & lime). I think it will make a very lovely pair of socks.

This is my main reason for going to Woodland in the first place. I really really wanted a yarn meter. I have been using my niddy noddy as the tool of measurement for my yarn. While it does work, I felt that if I am going to continue to sell my yarn that it really should have yardage that is more accurate than that. I tried it out today on my skeins of sock yarn (that are coming soon) and I am really happy with the results. My other big goal for the day was to find a better knitting bag. I think I have some ideas that combined with my mother's sewing knowledge will turn out pretty awesome. I'll post about it when I have more news.

After Woodland we headed out to eat at Gustav's. We both had the fondue and we split a small caesar salad. Then I ordered the chicken fettucine alfredo (which is to die for) and my husband had the pork schnitzel. We were too full for desert, which was too bad because they have some very good options. I just love going there, but it is a bit pricey, so we go on special occasions like birthdays =)

Then we headed out and we went on a little adventure to find the shop mentioned on the Posie Gets Cozy blog. I discovered her blog through the knitty blog and was surprised that her and the shop that she makes things for is located in Portland. There are so many cool knitters and designers in Portland. It still amazes me to find another one so close to home.

Next we headed to the button store, because I needed to find a button for my latest felted bag. It will be up here as soon as I can put the button on it with the button hole. I also nearly have the pattern finished for it which will be up on etsy as well. I'll announce both when I get it all together.


Our next stop was Powells. I still had enough money left on my card from selling back books that I could get this handy dandy reference. I haven't thoroughly looked through it yet, but so far it looks really awesome. It goes through the common motifs of Guernseys, Jerseys, and Arans, so coupled with The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns I should be able to make just about anything my little heart desires. Since I, for some reason, have been having this complete urge to knit a guernsey sweater. Mainly it is a sweater to go with the yarn that I have been spinning. Of course this is completely the wrong time of year to be sweater pattern shopping, since everyone else wants to make summer tops at the moment. I want to make summer tops too (I even have one on the needles), but for some reason an intricately textured winter sweater calls to me too.

That is just about it for my birthday travels. Other than my one skein package arrived. I will be posting up more about it probably tomorrow when I can devote a whole post to thanking my secret pal. It is really awesome =)

A Bit of Dyeing

One of the things that I love about having my own blog is that I can talk about the art that I am working on. I have aspirations to become an artist or at the very least to make something that sells to support myself and my fiber addiction. So, my latest idea is to make handpainted sock yarn. I spent most of yesterday out dyeing on my porch.


This is my pretty yarn. It will look much better when it is reskeined (so the colors mix) and pictured in a some place where it isn't backlit. Then it will all go up on etsy. I'm also hoping to do a batch up for Knot Another Hat. Though I think it will have to wait until I am a little less busy.


This is some very lovely wool that I dyed up. It is a medium grade wool that I got off of ebay. It kinda has a musty smell, but after I have dyed it, spun it, and felted it it should smell a whole lot more like lavender or clean soap. I do really like how it looks and it should make some lovely bags. It is also the kind of wool that felts by looking at it funny. Luckily it has gone through dyeing unscathed.


Oops. Note to self: Clean off the bathroom counter before rinsing lovely dyed wool/yarn. I accidentally dyed my husband's toothbrush. Who knew that it would take the dye that fast? Thankfully my husband took it very calmly. Maybe it was because he was napping =P or that he just has gotten used to me and my fiber dilemmas.

Lastly, I am going to leave off with this lovely picture of my nasturtium, which has taken off. I love the beautiful blossoms. My hope is to train it along the deck rail and cover one part of my deck with beautiful orange and red blossoms.

Thank you one and all for all of your happy birthday wishes =)

My Birthday part 1

Why is this part 1? Well, because my wonderful husband has promised to take me out Wednesday to spend some birthday money so I will put up shots of that too =)

This is what I got on Saturday. My birthday is actually tomorrow on the dreaded 6-6-06, for which I am going to ignore. I am going to be 23, (a baby I know). So a bit about what I got. My mother went a bit pink ceramic crazy for me. She loves knick-knacks and things so I got plenty to decorate my home. My aunt (mother's twin sister) got me the adorable Hello Kitty socks. I am a sock fanatic. I love both handknit socks and novelty socks. I have almost nothing else in my sock collection. Then my lovely husband got me the sock blockers (woohoo!) and a new ball winder. My old one I lost the clamp to it some time ago at one of those great outings with my spinning wheel. So my husband transformed my old one into a portable one by taking of the metal thingy on the bottom and now I have a permanent one that will stay at home. I love tools! I am also really lucky to have someone who supports my habits =). I also got some birthday money and Sarah gave me a gift certificate to Woodland Woolworks, which is one of the places that I am headed to on Wednesday. I have my eye on a yarn meter and perhaps a new ultra sturdy knitting bag. So we will see what I end up with.

Trekking: A Sad Story with a Happy Ending

Last week I received a ball of Trekking XXL Color 100. It came all the way from the UK in only 3 days. I was so impressed by this, but I should have taken it as a warning sign of what was to come. My little trekking ball ran away from me. Apparently it was so excited about the Trek Along with Me KAL that it left without me on it's own little adventures.



So, ok, here is what happened. On Saturday I took my little ball out into the world to show it off and run a few errands. It apparently had other ideas than actually staying with me and wandered off. So on Monday I realized that it was no longer with me. I briefly searched the house and my mother's house, but thought that I must have left it down at my LYS because that was one of the places that I had been when I last saw it. So, Tuesday I ventured down to my LYS and it was not there. It also wasn't at So Much Fun where it had been shown to Sabrina. I then thought maybe it would be in the car, it liked the car. Nope, not there either. Then my husband and I started to think about that day. We rechecked my mother's house, we checked my brother's car, we rechecked our car, rechecked our house. Nothing. My husband even checked the couch cushions until I pointed out to him that it was a little big to fit in there. Then he remembered that we had gone to see X-Men 3 on Saturday and maybe it was there. So, we went down to the theater and he sent me in alone. Now I don't know if any of the rest of you have been in the position of asking if there is a ball of yarn in the lost and found, but I can tell you it was not fun. There were two girls there that were obviously in high school with bleach blonde hair. I asked them if they had seen a ball of yarn and they gave me that 'you must be from another planet' look. They briefly looked through the lost and found box and said nope it wasn't there. So, back on the hunt.

On Wednesday, I decided that I would give it this one last day to look and then I would just give up entirely as a lost cause. Apparently the world was too exciting for this ball of yarn. So, I went down to my LYS (I actually was shop-sitting for So Much Fun) and looked all around. The movie theater still bothered me. I have this thing about knitting in the theater, I am always afraid that I am going to lose something because it is so dark and I can never find things. So at the end of my day downtown I trekked over to the theater again. This time the girls (different girls) were both really helpful. Both of them were sure they had seen a ball of yarn only it was purple (hmm...lots of knitters in town). They looked through the lost and found again only this time taking things out of the box and looking through it thoroughly. Then one of them thought that it might be in their back room so she went and looked. Still no luck. They told me to leave my name and number and they would ask the janitor or if they came across it they would give me a call. I thought for sure this was a lost cause and that I would just have to find another less rambling ball of yarn. After my husband and I had dinner we headed over to my mom's for one last look (after all I had given it to the end of the day). We hung out there awhile chatting and such when I got a phone call at 9pm. It was from the movie theater. They had found my ball of yarn! I hustled my husband out the door and sure enough it was my very ball of yarn, unscathed and everything. (See photo above)

I think that this pair of socks is going to have to be a pair of traveling socks. Definately socks that I go out in the world and not socks that I stay at home and relax in. I don't think that they would allow it for one thing =)