This morning I spent a lot of time with my one of my friends, who is about to have a baby. Talking to her reminded me of the times before my children were born, when every step is more difficult and you are both looking forward to giving birth and dreading it at the same time. Now that I have four kids I don't anticipate any more pregnancies, so it is admittedly fun to participate vicariously in my friend's experience.

I first met this friend in graduate school, where we were both training to be librarians. While we were at Pitt together we used to get together with a bunch of other students to knit and drink coffee and shoot the breeze. One thing I've been getting into lately has been social networking sites. A very good one in my opinion is Ravelry, a site for knitters and crocheters. Ravelry is particularly effective because it combines useful tools like a pattern database with more social phenomena like message boards, "friends," and blogging.

Today, after spending time with Emily and thinking about Ravelry, I have put together a group trying to unite those same people who used to knit and chat (and study) at Pitt. I'm wondering if anyone will join it. I guess that is the big thing about these technologies...you can lead a horse to water, eh?