Crafts and Taxes...which is better than Death and Taxes

So I finished the dishcloth I blogged about last time. I like how it turned out. Sure wish I had a working camera to post a picture of it for you. I kind of feel like a craft blog is useless without pictures of what I'm working on.

This leads to the taxes discussion. My plan was to use my tax refund to pay for an iPhone. I know, I know, I'm a sheep, but I think they're really cool and I would have the iPod I want, the new phone I want, and a decent device to take pictures with all in one. But then I sat down at the computer and started my tax return. At the end, not only am I not getting a refund, I owe the federal government $40. Everyone I talk to is puzzled by this, but I've calculated my tax return on both TurboTax and H & R Block and they both say the same thing. I'm thinking of complaing to our HR department that they're not witholding enough taxes from my check.

Anyway, so that's a little despressing. Now my plan is to wait until the Bush Bandaid rebate checks come out in September and buy an iPhone then. Maybe the 3G one will be out by then.

Right now I'm knitting again on the the prayer shawl that I had put aside. I decided to put away the yarn I had bought originally because its mostly splitty from being ripped out so many times. I'll use it for something in the future. I bought all new yarn, Bernat Softee Chunky in Denim Rag, a nice white/blue combo. I'm knitting it in a pattern I found on Knitting Pattern Central that's a simple combo of garter and stockinette stitches. If I procure some duck tape to fix my digital camera, I might post some pics soon.

I'm a Bad, Bad Blogger...

So its been three weeks since I last posted, so no cookie for me. Really, no cookie, because I gave up chocolate for Lent and there are these chocolate chip oatmeal cookies sitting at home tormenting me until Sunday when I can have one if they're still good.

So anyway, crafting has been interesting the past few weeks. After completing the baby blanket I last posted about, I spent some time learning to knit. Then I started on a prayer shawl for a friend's mother. I spent the next few weeks starting that shawl in different patterns and ripping it back out. I've finally gotten so frustrated with it that I've put it away for a while.

Right now I'm knitting up some dishcloths in cotton yarn. Its good practice on simple patterns that a beginner like me can understand. I've got several friends who wanted dishcloths when they saw me knitting one, so I guess they'll be gifts.

My next project is going to be learning to knit socks. I decided I wanted to learn after listening to Lime & Violet talk about how great sock knitting is, so I bought a book on Amazon called Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd. Its a great book and I think I understand the directions well enough. Now I just have to practice on some cheapo yarn so I can learn the mechanics and get used to double pointed needles. Shelby and I bought nice sock yarn (Koigu) when I went to visit her in Fayetteville, so I'm saving that for when I know what I'm doing.

So I think that's the big update on all I've been working on. Peace, Love, and Obama...