Around The Blog ~ 11.8.07

Here's something I haven't done in a while - a trip around the blog!

1. Paperback Writer is back! And she has a very amusing story about vampire portrayals.
   1. and Joely has dedicated her TT to PBW.
2. Naomi is posting her NaNo progress, and amuses me no end with her “reeking of awesomeness” and “reeking of suckitude” comments.
3. I Can Has Cheezburger has some very funny pictures, as always.
4. Miriam has pictures of a new pattern up, and it’s very lovely. (Go to her site for info on the pattern - I don’t want to deny her the site traffic by linking directly.)
5. L-Squared has a sock inspector.
6. Chris is making her kitties pose in bibs.
7. Ann has up some lovely pictures for her Thursday Thirteen.
8. Jessica is home sick instead of knitting.
9. Sian is an Animal!
10. Melanie is spinning.
11. Nancy (at Romancing the Yarn) did the twist - or at least, her ankle did.
12. Bellamoden crocheted her gramma a lovely scarf.
13. … and to round out the 13, the Yarn Harlot has an unoriginal hat. (Complete with pattern.)

Happy Thursday!

Read More...

Summary only...

Spincerely Mine

Okay, okay. I did say that my ‘Around the Blog’ from yesterday was going to be short. There are lots of blogs I read these days. But due to reader request, here is one more… Charlie, the wonderful gal who also loves dragons, did indeed post this month. She has a fun little exercise with homophones.

Isn’t this yummy fiber? I just love it. It’s from Tamara’s (aka Spincerely Yours,) Etsy store. Love love love. I can’t wait to spin it up. It’s a merino/tencel blend, and looks softer and shinier than anything I’ve spun before, with the exception of the silk I used to make my feather & fan scarf. (But silk is also a touch hard on the hands, or at least my hands, and I’ve never had that problem with wool.)

I think I will have to practice spinning on my alpaca roving/top/whatever just to get back in the swing of things. The only thing I’ve spun lately is pencil roving, and so I haven’t really gotten practice drafting. And drafting is the thing that I have the most trouble with, so is the thing I need the most practice on. Argh. Don’t wanna wait. But I think I have to.

Miss Suzy watched with interest as I set out the fiber for the photo shoot. She also seemed to like the colors, or perhaps the smells. Or maybe just the tissue paper. But whatever the reason, she was very attentive. She even let me get my photos taken without disturbing my fiber.

Of course, she thought it was hers.

Read More...

Summary only...

Around The Blog ~ 9.17.07

If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions?
- Scott Adams

~*~

**Reminder: this is now my secondary blog. (Thanks, Jess, for the comment that made ME remember that...) For the best updates and most posts (because I cross-post most things, but not every thing) go to My WordPress Site.**

Secondly, I have photos. Over the weekend, M and I went to Bonfante Gilroy Gardens. It’s a lovely park, and a very relaxing place. It also has two very fun roller coasters (especially if you are the sort that doesn’t like insane death-defying suicidal intense coasters). And there are other rides, too, and places to sit and people-watch, and lovely, lovely gardens.

Thirdly, it’s been a long time since I’ve done an ‘Around the Blog’ post. So, we’ll have a short one of those today, too. With random photos of mine interspersed.

Mim’s camera is back, and photographing a lovely Seraphim shawl. Nancy at Romancing the Yarn has knit Darth Sweater. Amanda at k is for Knitter has pictures of an almost-finished Duster. Paperback Writer has posted 10 random freeware links and a sign which reads Here Be Cannibals. LesleyW reviews Unshapely Things and Ill Wind. The Sheriff of Knittingham has started her Mystery Stole, L-Squared has a lovely shot of a butterfly, and Chaos tried (unsuccessfully, it would seem) to keep his mom from going away for the weekend.

Hanna is saving the world a step at a time, and Kait has a new niece-burrito. The new Knitty (magazine) is up! Jess has discovered humility and her brain on procrastination. Bri at Have Goggles Will Fly has a couple of “musts” to share. Melanie at Pink Lemon Twist got some weather assisted knitting done. And Brigitte at Wrapped Around My Finger has some new yummy yarn to show off.

Have a happy Monday, all! I’ll be posting about my new fiber (that I got from the wonderful Tamara of Spincerely Yours,) tomorrow. Suzy pictures tomorrow, too.

Read More...

Summary only...

Around The Blog 7.30.07

I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.
~Thomas Jefferson

I don't have much of my own content planned for today, so we'll go looking for interesting things Around The Blog. Before we set off on our tour, however, here's a cute picture of Suzy, munching my bookmark as I'm trying to read. (It's a non-fiction about the Knights Templar, because I've always been interested in them and finally decided to try to find out more about them. The only problem is sorting fact from fiction, even in supposedly non-fiction books.)

Go visit L-Squared at Dog's Eye View for some awesome pictures and discussions on leader dogs (otherwise known as guide dogs). I won yarn at Romancing The Yarn, where a month-long yarn giveaway has been taking place. Zarzuela has a new baby sister, Mim is jamming, Mayhem is stealing her mom's Addi's, and PBW has a list of things to make your writing life easier. Amanda has proven how much you can knit when you want to by finishing her entire Icarus in the amount of time it took me to knit Chart 3 and half of Chart 4.

Spincerely has double-decker flowers, which are not to be confused with double-decker buses. LA doesn't like scheduling her blogs, Holly Lisle is having a sale on her Clinics (through today; I only just found out about it), and Neither Hip Nor Funky has radioactive lemonade. The guinea pigs are cold (forgot that it's winter where they live). Melanie has finished her Sockapalooza socks, and Sian does Audrey Hepburn.

Hope you're all having a good Monday!

Read More...

Summary only...

Monkeying Around The Blog 6.22.07

First thing's first. IT's THE SUMMER OF SOCKS! YAY!

I started a new pair of socks yesterday, using Cara's modifications of the Monkey socks. Here is what they looked like before I went to bed last night:

I'm using the rest of the TOFUtsies yarn left over from M's socks, and when I run out of that I have another whole skein to start. I love the way the colorway is behaving completely differently in these socks than in M's socks. Those striped. These are more of a random mash & pooling. I LOVE THEM! And the Monkey pattern is great. Thanks, Cookie!

Now for around the blog...

I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER iz goin' 2 Hogwarts. (Or they were. But it's too cute to pass up.) Bridget's mad at yarn, and Gandalf finds fun "hiding" places, while Sian's planning a trip across the pond. Imbrium loves stinky sheep fur, Amanda got the birthday blog contest prizes I sent her, and Holly Lisle is now having a sale on print versions of her writing clinics (through Sunday only; sorry for the short notice).

Grumperina plays with photoshop and bags and Lesley posts a wish list of upcoming books. Crys gives her opinions on Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Fyberduck tempts us all with the Tour De Fleece. Romancing the Yarn is loved in Australia (and in print, no less!), the Guinea Pigs are happy, Mim (and I) loves Firefox, and Chris has more neat vacation pictures. And DeeAnn and Phoenix are still MIA. :(

Plus, here are Fellow Summor-Of-Sockers:

• Zarzuela, who started it all
• Wendy, who will undoubtedly knit more socks than me
• Meg, my blog reader
• Tienne, who always knits lovely things
  

Have a good weekend!

Read More...

Summary only...

Around The Blog ~ Thurs, 5.24.07

The Constitution gives every American the inalienable right to make a damn fool of himself.
- John Ciardi

What’s happening in the Blog-O-Sphere today? Fancy asking that question. I have answers for you!

The Guinea Pigs have stack parking, and are very adorable! Last Friday, Hanna found (and posted pics of) some freakishly painful-looking shoes (along with other cool stuff) and did a review of how to design a good-looking and easy to access webpage.. Charlie and FireWolf and DeeAnn are all sadly MIA.

Lesley is being a fangirl. (Twice.) Tiennie does more socks, and Amanda is organizing. Imbrium plays with baby sweater origami, FyberDuck made an uber-cool Pirates hat (for POTC 3 which is released THIS WEEKEND! YAY!), and Wendy has successfully moved to WordPress.

Chris has posted lots of contests and Mayhem (the kitty) pictures, as well as a link to the most distracting Internet site in a long time. Mim has mostly finished Tilia. Holly’s sky looks gross. And last (but not least) for today, PBW considers ending StarDoc.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

In news a little closer to home, here is the current progress on the second Blood Diamond sock:

Oh, look! The sock is being modeled by an otter. (The hedgehog is on vacation. Maybe he will take pictures while he is gone.)

I’m into the gusset increases now, and looking forward to having this pair off the needles. Soon. Maybe. (I’m not sure I’ll finish any of the three projects I had wanted to finish this month.) Speaking of those projects, I’m into Chart 4 on Icarus - though I don’t have any new pictures - and have a shot showing the funky striping that happened in my second Tofutsies sock when I changed needle types.

See that? About an inch down from the needles there’s a place where the stripe turned into a square. I have no idea why that happened, but I suspect it was related to me using bamboo dpns instead of the metal circs I had been using. Which is why there are circs in use again.

Have a great Thursday!

Read More...

Summary only...

Around the Blog ~*~ 5/3/07

Come back to me later, Mom. I’m hunting.

Since Suzy’s busy, we’ll take a look at the blog-o-sphere.

Charlie’s going voting. Grumperina wants to be prodded. Molecular Knitting is having a blog-moving contest, Spincerely has over 1000 comments, and Mari’s seeing shadows in places where I don’t.

Wendy has posted a new sock knitting pattern. The Harlot is done with the big pink thing (but no pictures yet), Naomi goes urban, and PBW discusses reading preferences. Nerd Knits is giving me an error message. (Waah!) Gandalf is cozy at home and the P-Man sleeps on yarn.

That’s enough links for today, I think. Now let’s check on Suzy’s hunting prowess.

Mmrph. I’m a good hunter, Mom. Watch me kill this toy mouse. -Suzy

Better the mouse than my foot, Suz. -me

Read More...

Summary only...

Crafty Quickie & Around The Blog

I had planned on doing the Friday Fiver today, but the questions they have all relate to the incident at Virginia Tech. And while I am greatly saddened by what happened and wish that it hadn't, I do not feel like speaking of it right now, nor right here.

And so I am not doing the Friday Fiver.

Which means I have no planned content.

But, I can't leave you with nothing! So, I'll give you a quick update of my craft projects, instead. If I'm feeling ambitious, I might also add in a tour of the blog-o-sphere.

• Icarus: is progressing. I am down to the last few rows of Chart #1 before I get to move on to the more intricate and less repetitive Chart #2. I am very much looking forward to this.
• M's Tofutsies socks: have reached the heel. By the time I am finished with my lunch break, they should have progressed past the heel and be pausing for a fitting (to make sure that I don't need to re-do the heel placement).
• My Blood Diamond socks: are paused while I do the heel on M's first sock. Once the heel is safely turned on the Tofutsies, then I will pick back up with the second Blood Diamond.

Around The Blog ~*~ 4/20/07

Oh, what the hey. We'll do a quick look at the blog-o-sphere too. Why not?

Brigitte's Little Dudes have a new castle. Imbrium has a sock problem. The Harlot does audio, PBW is sick of punny vampires, and Romancing the Yarn is giving away sock yarn. Hanna does a book review. Kait doesn't wanna facebook. Fluffy Knitter Deb loves grits and kitty Tivo. And Mim is mad. The Molecular Knitter (from Davis, no less! Go Ags!) gets hooked. Eunny has Spring Socks. Wendy plays with words, Grumperina makes many coasters, and FyberDuck is low.

Read More...

Summary only...

Around the Blog ~*~ 3/30/07

Since I try to post a glimpse of what’s going on around the blog-o-sphere once a month, and since I don’t think I’ve done it yet this month (don’t tell me if I’m wrong. I don’t want to know) I’ll do it now. I won’t likely be online tomorrow, and so in order to call it a “March” Around the Blog it must be today.

Christopher Hopper is makingBook Trailers™, which look really cool. (Yay YouTube!) PWB talks ‘best of’ awards and book signings. Holly Lisle’s eyes are bleeding, and I won sock yarn!

Naomi is wondering about whether death is necessary, Lesley discusses Warsworn, and Darlana looks lovely on Brigitte. Crys is not allowed to rot! Spincerely has gone for a new look, is allergic to old navy, and needs to beware tomato worms (and all in one day - quite the busy lady!).

Mim has lovely new socks, but beware the moon cycle. The US Post Office will soon be using the Force. Eunny has a new knit skirt, Kait is falling, and Hanna has brought Alice and Bella into the world.

And I think that’s about all the blog tripping I can do today.

Have a great weekend, and I’ll see you in April!

Read More...

Summary only...

Around the Blog ~*~ 3/14/07

In lieu of any actual content (though I have decided to start writing RS and see where that gets me) I post here for your reading pleasure a brief snippet of the goings-on elsewhere around the blog-o-sphere…

Hanna caught the TV remote in her teeth. Kait is back from Hawaii. PBW hasn’t been seen since Friday, when she posted a turnabout, Holly Lisle is taking a breather, and Romancing the Yarn has met the sheep.

Mim is sick, the lady of the Crystalline Cave is having trouble with authorities (hah, made you look!), and Spincerely has been hijacked by cookies. The Little Dudes Wrapped Around My Finger are too cute! LesleyW has joined BlogLand. And good news! LA has stepped back into her hell!

Read More...

Summary only...

Around The Blog ~*~ 2.27.07

Life is good, there’s a light dusting of snow on the hills, and I’ve spent the weekend happily eating Chinese New Year treats. (Okay, so we were a bit late. It took me that much time to get up the nerve to try to cook the dessert that had “add water until it looks like a rat’s tail” as the crucial part of the instructions.) And here’s what’s happening in the blogworld…

S. William has posted a Harry Potter spoiler. Charlie is really Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Paperback Writer is home again, and being bold. Phoenix is apparently busy, and needs prodding. The lady of the Invisible Crystalline Cave is looking at the beauty around her, and having issues with Blogger.

The guinea pigs have a new food dish. Mim has a new look, but is in pain. Nerd Knits is knitting sleeves. Kait is going to Hawaii (take me with you!). Holly Lisle has been doing a type-in edit since before dawn, but is happy. Hanna is reviewing movies and watching Heroes.

And what about me? I’m trying to figure out what to work on of my own, and editing AD for Phoenix, when I can find the time. I’ve still been spending a lot of time with M that I would otherwise have spent writing. But it makes me happy, so I’m not complaining. I just need to work on the balance a little more. I think one of the biggest problems as far as that goes is the half-hour-each-way drive needed to go see him. (Or to go to work. Same general location for both - which is convenient, but makes writing at home on my own computer difficult.) However, moving at the moment is not an option, nor a preferred choice, so I’ll have to make do for a bit.

Read More...

Summary only...