This is as much information as the U-verse representative had to share with us this evening when she called, and tonight, as a result of living in one of the “limited” number of households in one of the eighteen states affected by the U-verse outage, I get to find out firsthand if I am able to write a blog post with the family iPad. So it seems that what “no estimated time of resolution” really means is, “there is no resolution.”

As a result of the outage, which I became aware of this morning when I tried to update my Crochetbug Facebook page, my day was much different than the one I had originally envisioned.

I first started using the Internet in 1992 when I had a temporary clerical position at the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science at the University of Michigan. At that, and at almost every subsequent job I have held, the Internet has played an integral role in how I get my work done.

Additionally, I have had Internet service in my home since 1995, and it has been an important tool in bringing the world (particularly the world of crochet) into my home.

But today was more like 1991, so with this enforced vintage moment, I got to spend some quality time in my crochet empire/guest room where I found not only some waffle cookies I had purchased to send to my older sons for Christmas 2012, I also found this nearly finished headband:

Made many moons ago with Red Heart Super Saver light raspberry, this headband, nine stitches wide and 68 rows around has languished unfinished and unused for years. When I found it in proximity to the formerly misplaced cookies, I quickly put headband in the laundry basket that now serves as a staging area for UFOs so that it would not once again disappear.

With the headband-to-be safely put away, I turned to a more immediate concern: how many feet of yarn are needed to work the last round of a five-round granny square?

It turns out that for my gauge with a 5.0 mm hook, the answer is 35 feet which includes a tail long enough to whipstitch two sides if that is your chosen method of joining:

With that question answered, I did something I had hoped to get done yesterday before the mass of arctic air arrived: I felted the small currant bag I made using Merri Purdy’s free pattern:

I had wanted to test this pattern to see if it was a good project for someone wanting to try felting for the first time, and it turns out that it is better than good; it is excellent.

One change I made, however, was to use a merino wool rather than the Lamb’s Pride called for in the pattern. Lamb’s Pride is a wool and mohair blend that has an exquisite finish, but it is not quick to felt.

I used Paton’s merino wool to make the bag, and it seemed to me to felt in record time for which I was very glad.

I (and the engineers tasked with restoring my internet service) will no doubt be very happy when service is restored, but until then, I plan to make good use of this windfall of time that has blown in with the arctic air.