Blogging and Knitting Vacation

Lord willing, the next post will be March 1.

Cell Phone, Camera, Snow, and Anticipated Warmth

All the little chores and errands that need to be done before going on a trip have been keeping me busy.

Yesterday I braved the cell phone store and bought a camera phone. Can't give a reason why I need a camera phone. I have a very serviceable digital camera. But I've know for a while that I was going to get one unless it cost too much. It didn't and I did. Just for fun.

One of the things that needed to be done before my trip was to figure out how to use my new phone.

What you're seeing in the top picture is the very first photo I was able to get from my cell phone to my laptop. I went out to get the snail mail, twirled around and took a picture down the road.

This is one of my favorite pictures from last February. Same road, opposite direction from the mail box.

We live on a shaded dirt road in rural SW Michigan. Once the road gets a packed down layer of snow it usually stays covered all winter, even through minor thaws like we've been having.

Checked out the weather forecast for Post Falls, Idaho where I'm going tomorrow. They're having daytime temps in the 50's. Now that's a thaw worth mentioning!

To someone coming from a Michigan winter, a temperature in the 50's is going to feel like tee-shirt weather. I can hardly wait. Do you think the sun will shine? Maybe we can have the baby shower outdoors.

In case anyone is concerned about the sock, I only have 15 more rounds to go before reaching the toe decreases. They will be done with time to spare.

The Long and The Short of It

The short (5 foot) lady is my mom. She's the height I usually knit socks to fit.

The tall (6 foot 5 inches) guy is my son John, the one who lives 2000 miles away in Idaho and is eventually going to receive the Opal Handpainted Basketweave Ribbing Socks for his birthday in March.

This is my first time knitting socks for him, and I'm a little concerned about the fit. In addition to being tall, he is also very slender. His ankle measurement is 8.5 inches, so I cast on 64 stitches, same as for everyone else I knit for except myself. (I have a narrow 56 stitch foot.)

I made the cuff eight inches tall and hope that's long enough for him. And then came the heel. How long? I looked up measurements in several online charts and decided to go for about three inches.

Yesterday my knitting goal was to get through the gusset decreases. After picking up 22 stitches on each side for a total of 62 stitches on the heel needle, I thought the decreases were never going to end. (The reason I hate to knit to deadlines - it takes the fun out of the process.)

Now I'm back to 32 stitches on the heel needle and ready for the last 50 rows before the toe decreases. The toe decreases are where I want to be when I pack the sock in my suitcase for the trip to Idaho.

Several ladies on the Opal Chatters List wrote to me about making socks for their equally tall - or taller - sons. How did our babies get so tall?

During John's growing years, I worked at Kellogg's. The rumor was that feeding Pop-Tarts to our boys would make them grow tall. It sure worked for John.

Nancy and Nick Knit

And they both made a pair of Old Shale Two Yarn Socks.

Thanks for letting me share your pictures Nancy and Nick.

Nancy knit these for her daughter.

Nancy wrote:

"I had made myself a pair of fluted banister socks (from the Six Sox Knitalong) using Opal Handpainted #11. They were for me, and I just love them. I had a fair amount of the Opal left over, and I knew the color scheme would also be good for my daughter, Sarah.

I made the old shale two-yarn socks for her, using what I had left of the Opal Handpainted #11, and some Paton's Kroy Sock yarn (hickory color). I happened to have. The Kroy sock yarn is a little thicker, but it turned out great.

Sarah and I both wear size 8 1/2 or 9 shoes. This sock is a little bit tight on me. I will want to make the pattern again, but maybe I'll try it on 3.0 mm Addi Turbos instead.

I really, really like your idea of the k7 p1 ribbing going down
the leg and instep. I plan to adapt that idea to my next pair of plain vanilla socks."

Nick made hers child size for CIC.

When I asked her about the yarn and how she scaled down the pattern, she sounded like me when I wing a pattern and don't write it down.

Nick wrote:

"Oh golly, that was several pairs of socks ago, and do you think I made notes? Of course not! ;)

But, let's see here...I do know that it's Silja (MC) and Regia
(CC) yarns, on #2 needles, IIRC.

Yes, I did resize the pattern but I can't quite remember how many stitches I did. Maybe 48? Other than changing the stitch count I just "winged it" -- that is, knit the foot until it looked right, you know?"

Yep, I know just how that goes.

I had to visit Internet Acronyms to look up the acronym Nick used.

IIRC = If I Remember Correctly.

Of course! It's perfectly obvious now that I've looked it up.

Two Pair of John's Basketweave Ribbing Socks

As promised, here is a picture of the CIC socks knit to try out John's Basketweave Ribbing.

I put a piece of cardboard in one sock to stretch it out enough to show the purl ridge in the ribbing and the continuation of the k3p1 ribbing running down the instep without the basketweave.

John's Basketweave Ribbing stitch has an eight stitch, twelve row repeat. The stitch pattern, originally from a chart in The New Knitting Stitch Library, is written out for knitting in the round here.


John's Basketweave Ribbing Stitch is making a handsome, stretchy, rich looking, easy to knit man's sock for Son John's birthday. This six inches has taken me very few hours knitting 64 stitches on Addi Turbo #1s.

I'm loving the colors in this Opal Handpainted 14. All the Opal Handpaints are a soft, plush sock yarn with a different feel from the normal Opals where the dye is painted onto the yarn. I love working with it.

My plan is to get the sock down to the approximate toe decrease by the time I leave for the airport on Thursday. Then I'm going to put it on waste yarn, pull out the needles, and take it with me to Idaho so he can try it on.

That's the closest I'm coming to taking any knitting on the trip with me.

As fast as these socks are knitting up, there shouldn't be any problem knitting the second sock after I get home. The finished pair needs to be back in Idaho in time for his mid-March birthday. I'll let the USPS handle the final delivery.

I'm liking this pattern enough so that I may write it up and publish it on Stitches of Violet. Anyone interested?

Griffin, My New Canine Nephew

Just a short post to welcome Griffin into the family.

He's 45 pound cocker/bassett (and many other things) mix whose owners decided they didn't want him after ten years together. How sad.

He was recently adopted by my sister, Carrie, and will be overly properly loved and appreciated in his new home.

In his old home, he was not allowed on the furniture. You can see that he is adapting quickly to the new furniture rules.

Welcome to the family, Griffin.

Knitting Needles on the Plane

Non Knitlist inquiring minds want to know. Those who never want to read about this topic again certainly know they can skip this post.

There are a few airlines who don't allow knitting needles. My airline, NorthWest, does allow them, but there are reports of some security people who don't let them through.

The poor unfortunate knitters who get these security people are doomed to having the needles ripped out of their knitting and confiscated.

I'm going to take a five day vacation from knitting. I have a John Grisham paperback to read on the way there and will pick up another paperback that doesn't require a lot of mental attention to read on the way home.

Please don't tell the Knitlist. They would probably ban me for life for not wanting to knit in the airports, through all my flights, though all my sightseeing, and through the entire baby shower.

Travel is full of interruptions and interesting things to see and hear. It's much easier to be interrupted mid-sentence than mid-row. And I wouldn't want to make the other passengers nervous with those needles.

One Week To Go

A week from today I'll be leaving for the baby shower in Post Falls, Idaho, Idaho's River City, 2,000 miles away.

I'm so looking forward to seeing Son John and very pregnant Daughter-in-law Anne. This will be the first time I've visited since the wedding in Las Vegas (Anne's home town), over five years ago.

I've never been to Idaho. Montana, yes. Idaho, no. And this will be the first time I've visited the State of Washington. My plane lands in Spokane, 30 minutes from John and Anne's new home.

I'm also looking forward to visiting the Coeur d'Alene Resort where John works. I've been warned we're going to have a decadent brunch - bad enough to ruin my diet for weeks - there on Sunday. Oh well, I guess I'll have to deal with it.

This is my orientation visit, so I'm doing it without a rental car. John is going to chauffeur me around and show me the sights. Once I've looked everything over, I plan to learn how to get around by myself for future visits.

I've decided to do four trips this year whether I can afford it or not. A new granddaughter is just too special to miss.

Tentatively I'm planning a late April/early May newborn trip, an August trip with Granddaughter Kimmy, and an October/early November trip with Great-Grandma Monette before the weather gets bad.

Kimmy is excited about flying for the first time, seeing her Aunt and Uncle, and meeting her new cousin Sydney.

"Tell me about the plane. What's it like? What kind of thing can I do for 4 hours on a plane?"

Guess I better get busy and ask the Knitlist about taking knitting needles on the plane.

(For those who don't know, this is a joke. The topic of knitting needles on planes has been overdone and is now forbidden on the Knitlist.)

Additional Thoughts on Previous Posts

The Opal Handpainted
It's been brought to my attention that it's not unusual for yarn from Canada to take weeks to arrive. I've changed the February 12 post where I said unkind things about the yarn shop. It was not a fair complaint to make. Sorry.

Last night I wound the skein of yarn into two balls. This morning I cast on, knit two inches of ribbing and about three inches in John's Basketweave Ribbing Stitch.

The colors in the Handpainted 14 are looking great in the Basketweave Ribbing. I'll post a picture tomorrow or Friday.

Backyard Leaves
While Googling for a good picture of Backyard Leaves from Scarf Style, I found a link for a Scarf Style Knit-Along. It's a blog for anyone who is knitting any scarf from the book to post pictures, hints, and questions.

I haven't spent much time there yet, but I'm going back to have a good read when I have some leisure computer time.

Although I'm going to enjoy looking at all the scarf pictures, I'm specifically searching for a picture of the ends of the Backyard Leaves scarf. It looks like the perfect project to try out some of the beautifully advertised Knitpicks yarn.

Those Knitpicks people sure know how to write a catalog to make a knitter drool.

Long Sleeves on Garnet?
Dorothy left a comment asking if I had decided to make long sleeves on Garnet.

No, I haven't decided.

Short sleeves would be appropriate with the limp, light fabric I'm getting.

During my more ambitious moments, I think I might make long sleeves and run the lace pattern up the center. After all, if I'm going to redesign a Lavold I may as well change it big time.

Knitting Log for February 15

The Lavold Sweater
Slowly but surely I'm making my way up to the underarms. I'm about half way there.

What you don't see is the back. It's on a second needle and almost as far along as the front.

The basketweave is a relaxing, get in the groove and knit, rhythmic stitch pattern. It's very pleasant to knit as long as I keep reminding myself I'm not in a hurry for this sweater to be done. I have to stay relaxed and knit at a slow and deliberate pace or the yarn (Lavold Silky Tweed) splits.

When I Googled "Lavold Garnet", I only found two other bloggers who started to knit it and no pictures. One of the bloggers frogged her Garnet because she found the basketweave too boring to complete.

I'm glad I didn't do the Googling before starting the sweater. After making a few changes to the pattern to allow for hips ("hips" explained here) and selecting a completely different yarn than the pattern was written for, I think I'm going to like the result.

CIC Socks
The test socks for John's Basketweave Ribbing Stitch are about a half hour short of completely finished. I hope to finish them tonight because the yarn for John's socks arrive today. . .

New Yarn
It's Opal Handpainted 14, and it's perfect for John with blues, greens, and a hint of purple here and there. Gorgeous but manly. I'm going to enjoy knitting these socks.

My goal is to get it wound into two balls this evening - after finishing the CIC socks - and be ready to cast on tomorrow.

How many people think that if I get this skein wound tonight I'm going to be able to wait until tomorrow to cast on? It could happen. Depends on how late it is when I finish the winding.

The two skeins of Opal UNI-Solid (green #40, purple #18) arrived about ten days ago. No definite plans for them yet, but many ideas churning around in my head.

First I need to get John's socks done and then take a trip to Idaho.

What's Wrong With My Eyes?
My cranky thoughts on Scarf Style by Pam Allen.

The lower half of the pictures in the book are artistically blurred. That is the part of the scarf I want to see!

There are many scarves in this book that you can not see what the ends of the scarf look like. I want schematics. I want clear, detailed stitch pictures. I want to see the scarf ends.

This book should be knitter eye candy. Instead it's knitter eye strain.

Anybody else have this book and think their eyes are going bad when they look at the pictures?

Valentine Pappy

Pappy wants to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day. Yes, those are little hearts on his tie.

I rarely dress my dogs. They don't seem to appreciate it. I put the little tie on for the picture and took it off again as soon as I was done.

It was a gift from my friend Sue. She formerly worked with me at Pharmacia/Pfizer, but now finds herself happily unemployed and making dog bibs (she has a drooling Newfoundland), ties, and kerchiefs.

Pappy is a very active middle aged male dog. He has a very thick, luxurious coat which makes him look like he might need the Doggy Diet, but he doesn't.

John's Basketweave Ribbing

I'm still waiting for the Opal Handpainted 14 from the unnamed yarn shop. The waiting has turned impatient.

The yarn is planned for Son John's March birthday socks and the clock is ticking.

My credit card was billed January 30. After an email query last week, I got this response back on Thursday:

"Hi,
You should have it any day. I am not sure what the delay is. Keep me posted on this. I am sure it will be there soon."

I sure hope so.

This yarn shop is in Canada and I understand it takes a long time to get a package through customs and into the States. But you have to get coveted sold-out yarn runs where you can find them. If this Handpainted colorway is half as colorful as the picture, it will be worth the wait.

While I'm waiting for the yarn, I decided to try out the basketweave stitch pattern I'm planning to use with it.

This is the cuff and heel of a 32 stitch CIC sock. I'm not sure I successfully spread the cuff enough so you can see it is a ribbing. Every fourth stitch is a purl.

The New Knitting Stitch Library doesn't name stitch patterns, so I've dubbed it John's Basketweave Ribbing.

John's Basketweave Ribbing
Multiple 8 Stitches and 12 Rows

Translation from chart to words for sock knitting in the round

1. k3,p,k3,p
   
2. k3,p5
   
3. k3,p,k3,p
   
4. k3,p5
   
5. k3,p,k3,p
   
6. k3,p5
   
7. k3,p,k3,p
   
8. p4,k3,p
   
9. k3,p,k3,p
   
10. p4,k3,p
    
11. k3,p,k3,p
    
12. p4,k3,p

To help disguise the row change jog, end each row with a purl stitch, the eighth stitch in the pattern repeat.

Introduction to Doggy School

Sunny was four months old when I got the idea it would be fun to take her on nursing home visitations.

Knowing almost nothing about what I was doing or how to go about doing it, I talked to the lady at the Humane Society who tests dogs for their visitation program. She told me to give her a call when Sunny was a year old and, until then, see about getting her into a puppy class to learn some basic obedience.

Through a long series of timely coincidences, I found out there was an excellent, semi-secret (doesn't advertise because she doesn't need to advertise) dog trainer only eight miles from my house.

Sunny excelled in her puppy class. In fact, she won the top-of-the-class award. This picture was taken on puppy class graduation night. Sunny was six months old and freshly spayed, which I mention because the incision shows in the picture.

We had fun with the class and practiced almost every day. The whole doggy school thing was new to me and I needed to practice just as much as Sunny.

By the end of the nine week session, it was obvious that we couldn't quit. Sunny loved going to doggy school and we were having a great time on our night out together each week. That's how we ended up in Intermediate Class.

From there, we moved up to the class we're in now, Hobby Advanced. On Monday night Sunny and I go to doggy school for two hours. The first hour is non-competition obedience. The second hour alternates weekly; agility one week, tricks and games the next week. Sunny's favorite is tricks and games.

On Thursday night Pappy and I go to doggy school for the same class. Pappy's favorite is agility.

I'll be telling more about what we do at doggy school in future posts.

For now, I want to explain why Sunny is not visiting nursing homes.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

This picture was taken in the staging area before the 2003 Kalamazoo Christmas Parade. There are strange people, strange loud noises, bands, floats, and lots of kids.

See Pappy in the foreground? He is loving it all, holding his tail high and wagging it as fast as he can.

See Sunny up next to my leg? She wants to go home. Her beautiful bushy tail is tucked just as tight under her butt as she can tuck it.

I never made her do another parade. Or go to a nursing home.

Knitting Inspiration

I found this fun little game on Lisa's blog, Time to Knit.

1. Grab the nearest book.
   
2. Open the book to page 123.
   
3. Find the fifth sentence.
   
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
   
5. Don't search around and look for the "coolest" book you can find. Do what's actually next to you.

"Single eyelets are made by decreasing one stitch and compensating for this with a yarn-over increase."

-from The New Knitting Stitch Library by Lesley Stanfield.

I was surprised to find five sentences on page 123 since most of the book is pictures of knitted swatches and stitch charts. The stitch patterns don't even have names, just numbers.

This morning I was feeling very lazy. After taking the dogs for a walk, I grabbed this book and snuggled back in between the flannel sheets. I can spend many happy hours looking through stitch pattern books and jotting down notes on stitches and how I might use them in a knitted article.

Usually I do it with one of the Barbara Walker Treasuries, but today I remembered The New Knitting Stitch Library, a Christmas gift in 2003. And what a gold mine of ideas it is.

I jotted down twenty-seven stitch patterns that are just perfect for something I have in mind. Several of the twenty-seven I'm going to use in socks and I even have the perfect yarn.

There are several leaf/nature related lace patterns to try with the green Opal UNI-Solid, and a very manly basketweave ribbing to use on John's socks - if the yarn ever arrives from Canada.

Now I need to plan some knitting time.

Knitting Log for February 8

The Lavold Sweater
The dogs went to the groomer today. I celebrated the uninterrupted quiet by sitting down and knitting on Garnet.

The splitting Silky Tweed and I have made peace. I've learned that if I knit slower and more deliberately, I can avoid the splits. The yarn is beautiful when knit and worth a little extra attention.

I'm feeling much better about this project than when I wrote yesterday's post. It's going to be OK.

Socks
It feels strange not to have a pair of socks on the needles.

I did a little swatching on a shamrock lace pattern I though would look nice. It didn't. Moving on to Plan B for the Opal UNI-Solid green.

If the Opal Handpainted 14 arrives before I cast on the green, I'll probably knit the Handpainted first to make sure they're done by Son John's birthday in March. There is no hurry about knitting up the green now that I'm not going to be knitting shamrocks.

Six Sox KAL Socks
Now that I've had a week to ponder the fifth sock in the Six Sock Knitalong, I don't think I'm going to knit it. It's a great sock and a well written, challenging pattern. There are just too many other things I want to do more in February and March.

I've been feeling a bit blah the last few days. There's yarn in my stash for the KAL sock. I reserve the right to change my mind if the spirit moves me.

Cute Puppy Pictures
Kim at The Woolen Rabbit has newborn Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy pictures on her blog. Too cute to miss if you're a puppy lover.

Two of the puppies are very small and she's concerned about them. I keep checking her blog to see if there's news - or even better, there might be more puppy pictures.

Waning Enthusiasm for Garnet

This evening I picked up the Lavold Sweater, Garnet, to admire the twelve rows of lace completed on the front and didn't like what I saw. In row 9 there was a left leaning double decrease that I was sure needed to be a right leaning decrease.

I squinted at the pattern picture and said a bad word about pattern books that don't show close up shots of lace patterns. I looked at the stitch chart to verify the decrease was charted to be left leaning. It was. I checked the errata and there was no mention of it.

I ripped back to row 8 and dug out Barbara Walker to find instructions for a right leaning double decrease.

It's my sweater and I'm going to knit the lace the way I want it to look.

Once I got the stitches picked up, I stopped to admire the rows remaining on the needles and had second thoughts about the whole project.

I'm not fond of knitting this yarn. Lavold Silky Tweed splits easily and I have to watch each stitch as I knit it. Even then I find myself dropping back a row or two sometimes to pick up a thread that didn't get knit with the rest of the strand.

If I frog the Silky Tweed and pack it away, I'll never get it out again. I paid full price for it and even went back to get two extra skeins. I really need to knit it up to avoid feeling guilty.

My hope is that once I get several inches of the lace panel done the lovely looks of the sweater will compensate for the less than pleasant knitting experience.

I'll report back in a few days.

Opal Elements Socks Completed

Done!

These socks are for me. They're knit out of Opal Elements 1070 in a lace pattern that is a first cousin to Old Shale/Feather and Fan.

The horizontal waves in the stitch pattern worked well with the horizontal stripes in the self-patterning yarn. I like the way they turned out.

I haven't decided what socks to start next. There's some green Opal UNI-Solid that's begging to be made into Shamrock socks. If I work that into the sock lineup next, they could be done by Saint Paddy's Day and I could use the left-over green in my Six Sock Knitalong Stashbuster.

What I'd really like to do is get Son John's birthday socks started. I ordered some Opal Handpainted #14 from Canada which I'm hoping will be perfect for him. #14 was sold out in all my usual Opal enabling shops, and it may be sold out in this shop, too. They don't seem to be big on customer communication and prompt delivery. Or do I blame the slow delivery on customs?

Or maybe I should get going on the Stashbuster socks for the KAL. Too many choices.

I'm going to sleep on it and decide tomorrow.

February Thaw Time

In Michigan we have good imaginations when it comes to winter turning into spring.

Yesterday and today we're having high temperatures in the lower 40s (about 5 C) and it's feeling balmy.

At night, everything freezes solid again. This picture of Pappy walking on top of the snowy crust was taken early this morning.

For the past few weeks the snow has had a nasty crust. The two little dogs could walk on top of it as long as they kept their weight distributed on all four legs. The second they would squat (Do I have to say why they're squatting?) the crust would break and little legs and butts sink down into the snow. Even lifting one leg to pee would send them through the crust and off balance into the snow.

After the mini-thaw yesterday and the re-freeze last night, the crust is finally thick enough to support them through all their bodily functions.


I take many pictures of Glory, our black lab mix, and end up deleting them because it's hard to get a good picture of a solid black dog.

This morning on our walk I was able to get a good shot of her against the snow.


There are a few knitting related things going on. Two out of three of my yarn shipments are here. When the third one arrives I'll take a picture.

Meanwhile, Granddaughter Kimmy is coming this weekend. I'm picking her up after school this afternoon.

We will eat at McDonald's, go see a movie, make some turtle bars, play UNO, yak with each other, and whatever else we decide to do. It's been a while since we've been together and I'm looking forward to having her energy around for a few days.

She's getting the Sweet Valentine socks for Valentine's Day. I stopped at the post office and mailed them to her yesterday. She loves getting mail and I love making my granddaughter happy.

She is Our Sunshine

I always wanted a lap dog. Bob wasn't so sure.

I found Sunny's picture on Petfinder. She was seven weeks old, two pounds, and just about the cutest thing I'd ever seen.

Sunny was advertised as a Terrier Papillon mix. Since she was found by the side of the road with her mother and two sisters, the guessing at a breed was just that, guessing. One sister looked like a Jack Russell, the other sister was twice as big as Sunny and looked like a white poodle. Her mother looked like a very pretty "breed unknown."

There were fifteen applications for Sunny. Her foster mom wisely decided she needed to go to a home with older people and no kids because she was so small and delicate. We got the nod, and off we went on a hundred mile ride to meet her.

It took me about 30 seconds before I was ready to dig for the checkbook. I handed her to Bob and I'll never forget the look on his face when he took that tiny little puppy. There was no need to ask him if he agreed we needed to take her home.

We named her Sunshine after the song "You Are My Sunshine." We call her Sunny and save Sunshine for when she's in trouble.

She's a mature lady now, a little over three years old. Her ideal adult weight is twelve pounds. Right now she's on a doggy diet.

It's too bad she isn't a breed, because she is a wonderful little dog: intelligent, loving, and very expressive. She's a people dog and doesn't like to be without at least one of her people around.

One of her favorite things is going to doggy school where she does obedience work, tricks and games, and agility.

When I started this post, I was going to write about Sunny and doggy school. Then I got sidetracked on her adoption. We'll talk about doggy school some other day.

New Six Sox for February/March

This morning the next pattern for the Six Sock Knitalong, was announced. It's the Stashbuster Spirals pattern, picture here.

The entire sock is done using techniques I have never done before: Toe up, figure eight cast on, three color knitting, Sherman short-row heel with a mini-gusset, and a sewn cast off. What a wonderful opportunity to try some new things.

Janine, the author of the pattern, has a helpful pictorial showing the different parts of the sock under construction. She also has links to detailed tutorials on the techniques that might be new to us. The presentation is excellent. It is easy to see that she put hours and hours of work into the documentation for our February/March challenge.

As foreshadowed by yesterday's post, my initial reaction was panic. I had planned to whiz through these socks, get them done quickly, check them off the list, and move on to something else.

If I knit these socks according to the pattern, that is not going to happen. There's going to be fumbling and muttering and frogging involved.

I do want to take my time, do the research, and knit these socks just like the pattern is written.

In order to do that, I need to sit down and organize my knitting projects into a workable, leisurely timeline. Some of them are going to have to wait. Now I see that some of them are never going to get done. Maybe that's not a bad thing. I just need to carefully pick the right projects to work on.