Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 77
June 21, 2018
My First Socks
I'd never had any real desire to knit socks--I hardly ever wear them, and if I do, I complain about it--but it was a beginner's Knit-A-Long (KAL) and since these are skills I will need if I do sweater sleeves, I decided to try.
OMG! You don't even want to know the trouble I had using Double Pointed Needles (DPN). Every cast on I did left me with a huge gap between the fourth needle and the first needle. Yes, it takes four (actually five) needles to knit in the round unless you use a different method (which I hope to learn soon). I must have cast on 90 times and couldn't get rid of this gap. I went to the group where the KAL was being hosted and sent out an SOS. I got so much encouragement!
The two suggestions I used were 1) add one extra stitch to the final needle when casting on and 2) tie the tail to the adjacent needle.
When I first started after getting help, I wasn't using the second item, just item 1 and I still had trouble. It was only after I started tying the yarn onto the needle and then picking it free once the join was safely made that I was able to complete two cuffs for a pair of socks.
With the hard section one done, I was confident section two would be a breeze. All I had to do was knit for four inches. I could do this without a problem, right?
Wrong.
I thought it looked wrong as I was knitting, but I shrugged it off. My stitch marker was still on the outside--everything was fine.
I finished sock one and started on sock 2. Sock 2 looked different. I looked at pictures of other socks being knit for this KAL. Everything looked my sock 2 and not like sock 1. I checked the instructions for the next section and nope, we don't turn the sock inside out to knit the heel.
Yes, I knit an entire sock leg inside out.
I tried reversing it, but now the cuff looked bad, so while I think it would have worked if I'd kept knitting, it would have been ugly. Plus I had a few dropped stitches.
I ripped the sock apart and started the cuff over again. Yes, I am way, way, way behind everyone else on this KAL, but I am going to have a pair of socks at the end of this no matter what!
OMG! You don't even want to know the trouble I had using Double Pointed Needles (DPN). Every cast on I did left me with a huge gap between the fourth needle and the first needle. Yes, it takes four (actually five) needles to knit in the round unless you use a different method (which I hope to learn soon). I must have cast on 90 times and couldn't get rid of this gap. I went to the group where the KAL was being hosted and sent out an SOS. I got so much encouragement!
The two suggestions I used were 1) add one extra stitch to the final needle when casting on and 2) tie the tail to the adjacent needle.
When I first started after getting help, I wasn't using the second item, just item 1 and I still had trouble. It was only after I started tying the yarn onto the needle and then picking it free once the join was safely made that I was able to complete two cuffs for a pair of socks.
With the hard section one done, I was confident section two would be a breeze. All I had to do was knit for four inches. I could do this without a problem, right?
Wrong.
I thought it looked wrong as I was knitting, but I shrugged it off. My stitch marker was still on the outside--everything was fine.
I finished sock one and started on sock 2. Sock 2 looked different. I looked at pictures of other socks being knit for this KAL. Everything looked my sock 2 and not like sock 1. I checked the instructions for the next section and nope, we don't turn the sock inside out to knit the heel.
Yes, I knit an entire sock leg inside out.
I tried reversing it, but now the cuff looked bad, so while I think it would have worked if I'd kept knitting, it would have been ugly. Plus I had a few dropped stitches.
I ripped the sock apart and started the cuff over again. Yes, I am way, way, way behind everyone else on this KAL, but I am going to have a pair of socks at the end of this no matter what!
June 19, 2018
Filter Faults
I'm on the bottom of a package of coffee filters and it seems as if every single day I'm having a side collapse which sends grounds into my coffee. Grounds! I finally got fed up and went in search of an answer. Someone must have solved this issue for me. :-)
The first site I visited suggested turning the filter inside out so the pressure would go the other direction. I was like, okay, I can do this, but let's see if there are any better ideas out there.
The next site suggested one of those permanent gold filters. I hate cleaning those things, but as the thread continued, someone said they put their filter in the gold basket and that way they don't have to clean it--usually--but if the filter collapses, they're still covered. This sounded doable, but I needed something until my gold filter arrived.
Suggestion three was to put the coffee in the filter and wrap it like a pod. That didn't seem part of an answer, but left too much risk of the pod opening and coffee grounds still getting into the coffee. I decided to put a filter in and then wrap the coffee into a second filter. So I've got the pod and the filter. I brewed one cup like this and the pod did stay closed. The regular filter, though, did collapse and I would have had grounds everywhere if not for the podded filter.
Notice the pod wrapped up inside the collapsed filter. That stayed intact.
There's one big problem with this pod method, though. The brewed coffee is so light, you can see through it. While I like my coffee weak, I don't like it that weak. The first time it happened, I assumed I messed up. The second time I knew it wasn't me. I poured the brewed coffee back into the reservoir and ran it through a second time to get a darker brew.
The gold filter is supposed to arrive tomorrow. I'm ready.
The first site I visited suggested turning the filter inside out so the pressure would go the other direction. I was like, okay, I can do this, but let's see if there are any better ideas out there.
The next site suggested one of those permanent gold filters. I hate cleaning those things, but as the thread continued, someone said they put their filter in the gold basket and that way they don't have to clean it--usually--but if the filter collapses, they're still covered. This sounded doable, but I needed something until my gold filter arrived.
Suggestion three was to put the coffee in the filter and wrap it like a pod. That didn't seem part of an answer, but left too much risk of the pod opening and coffee grounds still getting into the coffee. I decided to put a filter in and then wrap the coffee into a second filter. So I've got the pod and the filter. I brewed one cup like this and the pod did stay closed. The regular filter, though, did collapse and I would have had grounds everywhere if not for the podded filter.
Notice the pod wrapped up inside the collapsed filter. That stayed intact.
There's one big problem with this pod method, though. The brewed coffee is so light, you can see through it. While I like my coffee weak, I don't like it that weak. The first time it happened, I assumed I messed up. The second time I knew it wasn't me. I poured the brewed coffee back into the reservoir and ran it through a second time to get a darker brew.
The gold filter is supposed to arrive tomorrow. I'm ready.
June 14, 2018
The Scarf
When I signed up for my first knitting class in April of 2017, I bought the yarn for both class projects right away. I knitting the first scarf right away as I was learning, but the second one languished. Since I had the yarn and the pattern, one of my goals for 2018 was to knit scarf 2.
Ravelry started a new thing where you could set challenges for yourself. I think of them more as goals than challenges, but whatever. I had five projects I wanted to finish this year. Three shawls, a blanket to give as a gift, and the scarf from my beginner's class. I didn't feel too hopeful about getting to it even as I set it as a goal. It has a lot of seed stitch and that's not something I enjoy knitting.
Then the Olympics were coming up and I learned there was something on Ravelry called the Ravellenics where knitters/crocheters/weavers/etc could compete in their own mini events. My original plan was to do a shawl, but I knew I didn't have much knitting time and might not finish.
Then the light bulb went off over my head. Duh! The scarf!
I entered myself in Short Track Scarf with the added laurel for using old yarn. Yes, my project yarn had been sitting long enough to be considered old stash because it was more than 6 months old.
It was actually kind of amazing how the competition made it easier to want to finish the project. I spent a lot of time watching figure skating and knitting with a little bit of bobsled, luge, snowboarding, and skiing thrown in. Mainly figure skating, though. :-)
And voila! I actually finished knitting my scarf! I still need to block it, but the hard part is done.
Ravelry started a new thing where you could set challenges for yourself. I think of them more as goals than challenges, but whatever. I had five projects I wanted to finish this year. Three shawls, a blanket to give as a gift, and the scarf from my beginner's class. I didn't feel too hopeful about getting to it even as I set it as a goal. It has a lot of seed stitch and that's not something I enjoy knitting.
Then the Olympics were coming up and I learned there was something on Ravelry called the Ravellenics where knitters/crocheters/weavers/etc could compete in their own mini events. My original plan was to do a shawl, but I knew I didn't have much knitting time and might not finish.
Then the light bulb went off over my head. Duh! The scarf!
I entered myself in Short Track Scarf with the added laurel for using old yarn. Yes, my project yarn had been sitting long enough to be considered old stash because it was more than 6 months old.
It was actually kind of amazing how the competition made it easier to want to finish the project. I spent a lot of time watching figure skating and knitting with a little bit of bobsled, luge, snowboarding, and skiing thrown in. Mainly figure skating, though. :-)
And voila! I actually finished knitting my scarf! I still need to block it, but the hard part is done.
June 12, 2018
Small, Boring Pleasures
I discovered a feature on my new programmable thermostats that I didn't realize it had. I can select a temperature range and if it drops below the low end, the heat will come on. If it climbs above the high end the air conditioner will go on. This is so smart and the feature I always wanted, but didn't know I wanted. :-)
This is perfect for the transitional times of year--spring and fall mostly--where the temperature can be cold one day and hot the next or vice versa. And since my dad won't touch the thermostat, not even the old one we got replaced, now I don't have to worry about checking my app to see if the house is too warm or too cold for him while I'm at work. Totally cool.
I actually discovered the option when I was looking at the app on my phone, trying to figure out if it showed the actual temperature inside the house, not just what I had it set at. That's when I saw it, the heat-cool mode.
Prior to spotting this, I'd liked the new thermostat, but wasn't wowed by it. Now I'm wowed. Great feature. Yea!
This is perfect for the transitional times of year--spring and fall mostly--where the temperature can be cold one day and hot the next or vice versa. And since my dad won't touch the thermostat, not even the old one we got replaced, now I don't have to worry about checking my app to see if the house is too warm or too cold for him while I'm at work. Totally cool.
I actually discovered the option when I was looking at the app on my phone, trying to figure out if it showed the actual temperature inside the house, not just what I had it set at. That's when I saw it, the heat-cool mode.
Prior to spotting this, I'd liked the new thermostat, but wasn't wowed by it. Now I'm wowed. Great feature. Yea!
June 7, 2018
My First Binge Watch
***I received no compensation of any kind from anyone for this post.***
I never binge-watch television shows. As much as I loved Limitless, I could only manage to watch 2 or 3 episodes at a time. It was an hour long show and time is short. Smugly, I was sure I could stop with only a few episodes of anything. And then I discovered The Good Place.
The first thing is that it's a half hour show, and because it's a broadcast network offering, each episode is only about 22 minutes long. And second, I started watching early enough on Saturday evening that I was able to binge all the way through season one and have it finished by about midnight or so. I'm a night owl and tend to stay up this late anyway on Saturdays.
I'll confess, however, that I probably wouldn't have quit at the very reasonable hour of midnight if season 2 had been available on Netflix. I howled with frustration when I realized only season 1 was available.
The first thing I did was search online for when season 2 would be available. Speculation was September 2018. This was in April. Seriously? Wait 5 months?
Eventually, I discovered that episodes 8-12 were available On Demand through my TV provider. Problem is partially solved, but what about episodes 1-7? Even Hulu only had episodes 8-12. Grrr. So frustrating to only have the back third of the season.
This is the kind of luck I have with TV shows.
I loved Limitless and discovered it only had one season because it had been cancelled. ::Sobs:: This is what always happens to me--if I love it, it's guaranteed to be cancelled. My only hope with The Good Place is that it's getting raves, so it should last. I hope. If not, sorry other fans of the show.
I never binge-watch television shows. As much as I loved Limitless, I could only manage to watch 2 or 3 episodes at a time. It was an hour long show and time is short. Smugly, I was sure I could stop with only a few episodes of anything. And then I discovered The Good Place.
The first thing is that it's a half hour show, and because it's a broadcast network offering, each episode is only about 22 minutes long. And second, I started watching early enough on Saturday evening that I was able to binge all the way through season one and have it finished by about midnight or so. I'm a night owl and tend to stay up this late anyway on Saturdays.
I'll confess, however, that I probably wouldn't have quit at the very reasonable hour of midnight if season 2 had been available on Netflix. I howled with frustration when I realized only season 1 was available.
The first thing I did was search online for when season 2 would be available. Speculation was September 2018. This was in April. Seriously? Wait 5 months?
Eventually, I discovered that episodes 8-12 were available On Demand through my TV provider. Problem is partially solved, but what about episodes 1-7? Even Hulu only had episodes 8-12. Grrr. So frustrating to only have the back third of the season.
This is the kind of luck I have with TV shows.
I loved Limitless and discovered it only had one season because it had been cancelled. ::Sobs:: This is what always happens to me--if I love it, it's guaranteed to be cancelled. My only hope with The Good Place is that it's getting raves, so it should last. I hope. If not, sorry other fans of the show.
June 5, 2018
I Fail at Socks
In April, Marly Bird had another Knit-A-Long (KAL) and I was all excited. She's super good at teaching knitting and I'd been interested in learning how to make socks. And how hard can it be, right?
Well, for me, incredibly difficult.
The cast-on technique was easy enough and I started knitting my first row around the double pointed needles (DPN). Only when I reached the end of the row, I'd somehow ended up with a huge gap. I assumed that some stitches fell off the needles and I took everything apart and cast-on again. And yet again, everything looked right, but when I reached the end of the row, there was a gap. This one was smaller, but still a problem.
When I tried for the fourth time (Fourth time's the charm, right?) I made it around the row and it stayed the way it was supposed to. Hurrah!
Only I celebrated too early.
As I finished knitting row 2, I spotted a gap. I might have cursed. Profusely. I had no idea what I was doing wrong, but I ripped it out and cast-on again. And again. And again.
I'm not sure what I'm doing that gives me a gap when there's none in my cast-on, but apparently if I ever want to make socks, I better learn the magic loop method.
Well, for me, incredibly difficult.
The cast-on technique was easy enough and I started knitting my first row around the double pointed needles (DPN). Only when I reached the end of the row, I'd somehow ended up with a huge gap. I assumed that some stitches fell off the needles and I took everything apart and cast-on again. And yet again, everything looked right, but when I reached the end of the row, there was a gap. This one was smaller, but still a problem.
When I tried for the fourth time (Fourth time's the charm, right?) I made it around the row and it stayed the way it was supposed to. Hurrah!
Only I celebrated too early.
As I finished knitting row 2, I spotted a gap. I might have cursed. Profusely. I had no idea what I was doing wrong, but I ripped it out and cast-on again. And again. And again.
I'm not sure what I'm doing that gives me a gap when there's none in my cast-on, but apparently if I ever want to make socks, I better learn the magic loop method.
May 31, 2018
The Wonderful World of Books
I finally found someone at work who likes some of the same books that I do. I discovered this when she was reading a Sandra Brown book during lunch and we started talking authors we enjoyed.
Before I started writing seriously, I spent years combing through used bookstores and library sales, looking for the hard-to-find titles by my favorite authors. There are some books that I never did find. Like the Jayne Ann Krentz McFadden romances. I only found one omnibus version in all the time I searched. For the most part, though, I manged to find all the titles I was looking for.
Of course, because these books are old Loveswepts, Harlequins, and Silhouettes, they're out of print and some of them are worth a lot more than half of the cover price. Or they were. I'm not sure what the value of collectible paperbacks is any longer.
The other quirk I have is that I like my books to be as perfect as possible. When I go shopping for an actual physical book, I will study each copy to ensure I buy the one in the most pristine shape. After I read a book, you literally can't tell it was ever opened. I'm that careful and particular. It's also part of the reason why I keep a database because I can't tell by looking at a book whether or not I've read it, so I needed some way to know what was TBR and what wasn't.
So back to the woman at work. I was showing her my books database and she spotted Sandra Brown books she'd never read. They happened to be old Loveswepts and were difficult to find. We're talking original Loveswepts, not reprints.
The last time I loaned a book to someone, it was a LaVyrle Spencer single title book and I'd bought it new in the store, so it wasn't a collectible. This woman ended up buying me a brand new copy because she'd messed up the cover.
Which is my long way of saying that I don't want to loan out my books, especially not my collectible titles. They were too hard to find.
Before I started writing seriously, I spent years combing through used bookstores and library sales, looking for the hard-to-find titles by my favorite authors. There are some books that I never did find. Like the Jayne Ann Krentz McFadden romances. I only found one omnibus version in all the time I searched. For the most part, though, I manged to find all the titles I was looking for.
Of course, because these books are old Loveswepts, Harlequins, and Silhouettes, they're out of print and some of them are worth a lot more than half of the cover price. Or they were. I'm not sure what the value of collectible paperbacks is any longer.
The other quirk I have is that I like my books to be as perfect as possible. When I go shopping for an actual physical book, I will study each copy to ensure I buy the one in the most pristine shape. After I read a book, you literally can't tell it was ever opened. I'm that careful and particular. It's also part of the reason why I keep a database because I can't tell by looking at a book whether or not I've read it, so I needed some way to know what was TBR and what wasn't.
So back to the woman at work. I was showing her my books database and she spotted Sandra Brown books she'd never read. They happened to be old Loveswepts and were difficult to find. We're talking original Loveswepts, not reprints.
The last time I loaned a book to someone, it was a LaVyrle Spencer single title book and I'd bought it new in the store, so it wasn't a collectible. This woman ended up buying me a brand new copy because she'd messed up the cover.
Which is my long way of saying that I don't want to loan out my books, especially not my collectible titles. They were too hard to find.
May 29, 2018
This Just Happened
Back in March, I blogged about the ridiculous security questions websites/companies ask to confirm your identity. And recently I had the point driven home forcefully.
My power flickered on and off for a split second after I got home from work. It was enough to knock out the internet and the telephone. I unplugged the box and plugged it back in again. Nothing. Tried that again. Nope. There's a white box in the laundry room. I tried rebooting that. Still nothing.
I decided to sit and wait for my neighbors to call it in, but then I started worrying that maybe they weren't having problems since it was that brief power dip that caused this. I hesitated a little longer, but I was supposed to work from home the following day and I had to have internet. I gathered up all the courage my little introverted heart had and called my provider. Thank goodness my new house has cell phone coverage because my old house had zero bars.
After managing to get through the automated question process, I finally talked to a human. Who asked me what my four-digit security code was. Gah! I didn't even remember having a code, let alone what the numbers were. She gave me a few guesses and then suggested I go with my security question.
Okay, yeah, that's good. Thinking it was one of the questions I'd actually be able to answer. I wasn't that lucky. The question was: Who's your favorite actor?
Cue scream here. OMG! I don't have a favorite actor. I think I mentioned that in my blog post that I linked to in the first paragraph. I tried Johnny Depp, but that wasn't right. She offered me another guess and I was like, you could give me a thousand guesses and I might never come up with the right name. She then went back to the four-digit number. I made guesses and somehow hit the right one.
I was like are you seriously not going to fix my internet because I can't remember a number from six months ago? But apparently it simply had to do with remotely connecting to the modem or something like that.
This totally drove home how asinine the security measures taken by these companies actually is. Favorite actor? Really? even if I was into Hollywood and celebrity, that could change depending on the last movie or TV series that I'd seen. Sooo frustrating! There has to be a better way.
And in case you were wondering, a circuit breaker had popped that hit the laundry room and the mysterious white box. Once I reset it and rebooted the box, everything worked again.
My power flickered on and off for a split second after I got home from work. It was enough to knock out the internet and the telephone. I unplugged the box and plugged it back in again. Nothing. Tried that again. Nope. There's a white box in the laundry room. I tried rebooting that. Still nothing.
I decided to sit and wait for my neighbors to call it in, but then I started worrying that maybe they weren't having problems since it was that brief power dip that caused this. I hesitated a little longer, but I was supposed to work from home the following day and I had to have internet. I gathered up all the courage my little introverted heart had and called my provider. Thank goodness my new house has cell phone coverage because my old house had zero bars.
After managing to get through the automated question process, I finally talked to a human. Who asked me what my four-digit security code was. Gah! I didn't even remember having a code, let alone what the numbers were. She gave me a few guesses and then suggested I go with my security question.
Okay, yeah, that's good. Thinking it was one of the questions I'd actually be able to answer. I wasn't that lucky. The question was: Who's your favorite actor?
Cue scream here. OMG! I don't have a favorite actor. I think I mentioned that in my blog post that I linked to in the first paragraph. I tried Johnny Depp, but that wasn't right. She offered me another guess and I was like, you could give me a thousand guesses and I might never come up with the right name. She then went back to the four-digit number. I made guesses and somehow hit the right one.
I was like are you seriously not going to fix my internet because I can't remember a number from six months ago? But apparently it simply had to do with remotely connecting to the modem or something like that.
This totally drove home how asinine the security measures taken by these companies actually is. Favorite actor? Really? even if I was into Hollywood and celebrity, that could change depending on the last movie or TV series that I'd seen. Sooo frustrating! There has to be a better way.
And in case you were wondering, a circuit breaker had popped that hit the laundry room and the mysterious white box. Once I reset it and rebooted the box, everything worked again.
May 24, 2018
The Bucket List
I've been thinking lately about bucket lists. I don't have one, and when I try to make one, I can't come up with more than a few items, all of them travel.
I guess I'm lucky. I already did most of the things I would have added to a bucket list before I'd ever heard of them. I did have a Pinterest board for this topic, but I mostly repinned other people's items, and while I thought everything was cool, none of it was anything I was truly passionate about pursuing.
So if I include the things I've already done, what would my bucket list look like?
Write and publish books with a New York publisherVisit EuropeVisit HawaiiVisit AlaskaGo to AustraliaTake a CruiseOwn a home Go Whale Watching Complete a 5K race Stay at a Walt Disney World Resort and ride the monorail to the parkGo to IrelandVisit French PolynesiaVisit New ZealandSee all 50 US States (I have about 14 left and I possibly went to one or two of them already, but I'm unsure, so not counting them.)Oh, one more! Knit a sweater.Maybe I'm getting this list thing wrong. Maybe I'm supposed to have different types of things on here? My understanding, though, is that bucket lists are the things you want to do before you die. This is it for me.
I don't want to jump out of airplanes. I don't want to meet a celebrity. I don't want to bungee jump. And maybe I have this wrong because I don't have anything I consider highly unlikely to happen, like visiting Mars (although, yes, I would like to do that if it were completely safe and there was no hardship involved. I am not a pioneer type.)
I guess I'm lucky. I already did most of the things I would have added to a bucket list before I'd ever heard of them. I did have a Pinterest board for this topic, but I mostly repinned other people's items, and while I thought everything was cool, none of it was anything I was truly passionate about pursuing.
So if I include the things I've already done, what would my bucket list look like?
Write and publish books with a New York publisherVisit EuropeVisit HawaiiVisit AlaskaGo to AustraliaTake a CruiseOwn a home Go Whale Watching Complete a 5K race Stay at a Walt Disney World Resort and ride the monorail to the parkGo to IrelandVisit French PolynesiaVisit New ZealandSee all 50 US States (I have about 14 left and I possibly went to one or two of them already, but I'm unsure, so not counting them.)Oh, one more! Knit a sweater.Maybe I'm getting this list thing wrong. Maybe I'm supposed to have different types of things on here? My understanding, though, is that bucket lists are the things you want to do before you die. This is it for me.
I don't want to jump out of airplanes. I don't want to meet a celebrity. I don't want to bungee jump. And maybe I have this wrong because I don't have anything I consider highly unlikely to happen, like visiting Mars (although, yes, I would like to do that if it were completely safe and there was no hardship involved. I am not a pioneer type.)
May 22, 2018
Tweezer Tragedy
Am I the only one who has a favorite pair of tweezers? I can't be, right? I loved these tweezers--the way the tips lined up, the fine point, the ease of using them--and then the alignment went askew. This was my own fault because I was using them as a tool to readjust a pin in a drawer unit.
I'm heartbroken that I did this to my faithful and perfect pair of tweezers. I've had them since college, carried them with me to university and to jobs and to new homes and new cities--all without incident.
Maybe that's why I took them for granted to a degree. I'd used them before for small jobs and they'd always come through for me without incident. Not this time. The tip no longer aligns. They're off just far enough that only a small fraction of the tips are in contact with each other. I tried forcing them back into alignment, but sadly, it didn't work. It's as if they need to be tightened and there's just no way to do this.
I went online shopping for another pair of tweezers, one that could replace perfection. I wanted the widest variety of choices available and there's always more selection online, however, there was a problem with this--I couldn't see the tip of the tweezers. Many of the other scissor tweezers I've seen have a wider, blunt tip and I don't like this.
In the end, I ordered three pairs of tweezers--two scissor tweezers and one of that other kind (the common one that you see everywhere). Now I have to wait for them to arrive and give them a test run, hoping that just one of them will replace my beloved pair.
Of course, while I wait, I noticed a great big dark eyebrow hair growing below my brow and I have nothing with which to pluck it.
I'm heartbroken that I did this to my faithful and perfect pair of tweezers. I've had them since college, carried them with me to university and to jobs and to new homes and new cities--all without incident.
Maybe that's why I took them for granted to a degree. I'd used them before for small jobs and they'd always come through for me without incident. Not this time. The tip no longer aligns. They're off just far enough that only a small fraction of the tips are in contact with each other. I tried forcing them back into alignment, but sadly, it didn't work. It's as if they need to be tightened and there's just no way to do this.
I went online shopping for another pair of tweezers, one that could replace perfection. I wanted the widest variety of choices available and there's always more selection online, however, there was a problem with this--I couldn't see the tip of the tweezers. Many of the other scissor tweezers I've seen have a wider, blunt tip and I don't like this.
In the end, I ordered three pairs of tweezers--two scissor tweezers and one of that other kind (the common one that you see everywhere). Now I have to wait for them to arrive and give them a test run, hoping that just one of them will replace my beloved pair.
Of course, while I wait, I noticed a great big dark eyebrow hair growing below my brow and I have nothing with which to pluck it.
